“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12).

“The flesh” is that urge within us toward total autonomy and rebellion, toward being our own little gods–accountable to no one, responsible to no one, obeying no one, respecting no one, and running our own little worlds to suit ourselves. It has inherent in us an element of self-centeredness and selfishness that keeps us from being completely and totally His.

The Lord Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega–The Beginning and the End. He demands submission to Himself and that means every area of our lives are to be submitted to Him. To leave a pet sin is wickedness when He died for every sin. Also a good God expects us to capture every thought and denounce the flesh and announce that your mind belongs to Christ. The flesh does not run you for we run it by the Spirit of God. We are to resist the devil and the improper advances made available to us. We are to master them and punish every sign of disobedience that rises as a vagrant soldier to cut us down.

Persistence and patience is what I get to do. For we are never free from an attack of the the world or the flesh. Don’t lay down your armor until you get home. There is no vacation when it comes to the exterior foe–the world, the interior foe–the flesh, and the infernal foe–Satan. But we have won in Christ, for what He has once delivered for us now, I must and have the privilege to deal with my interior life moment by moment and hour by hour. It is possible and plausible. Praise His name!

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The fear of the Lord is the glue that holds a society together.  The fear of the Lord is the safety net that keeps a nation from falling into anarchy and great chaos.  And for the most part, unfortunately, we have lost the fear of the Lord in our nation.

Here is a story of a public school teacher who retired early. When asked why, she responded:

“The problem is really fear.  The teachers are now afraid of the principals.  The principals are afraid of the superintendents.  The superintendents are afraid of the school boards.  The boards are afraid of the parents.  And the parents are afraid of the children.  But the children?  They’re not afraid of anybody.”

We have lost the fear of the Lord in our homes.  So what is the “fear of the Lord“?  I like what Proverbs 8:13 says to sum it all up:  “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil” (16:6).

In Deuteronomy 6, fathers are instructed to teach their children the fear of the Lord.  How does a child learn the fear of the Lord?  This may surprise you, but a child learns the fear of the Lord by first experiencing the fear of a father.  They should fear their father in the biblical sense.  If a child never learns to “fear” his earthly father, then how is he ever going to learn to “fear” his Heavenly Father?

Make no mistake about it.  We had a lot of fun with our dad.  And we knew that our dad loved us.  We didn’t shake when he walked into the room with fear, or even fear that he might lose control.  He did not beat us and he didn’t go into rages.  He was much in control, but he meant what he said.  There were consequences if not followed through.  They were “Meaningful Consequences.”  And those consequences had the effect of making you avoid the same behavior in the future.

Take God Seriously

“And Joseph said unto them the third day, ‘This do, and live; for I fear God'” (Genesis 42: 18).

Joseph’s brothers were standing in fear before this “strange man, Joseph” who was second in command over Egypt. The ten brothers stood in great fear because of their past sin against God by selling their child brother from a pit to traveling strangers. Guilt ridden and guilt driven caught up with them (Numbers 32:23).

They lied to their father Jacob and lied to themselves, but their consciences would never allow them to go free. Now they were locked up for three days in Egypt’s prison and they knew God was behind it. On top of that the brothers heard a “pagan viceroy” who mentioned the name of Elohim (God) which troubled their swirling minds and souls.  This brought great dissonance to their whole being.

What was this younger brother doing? Joseph was working it out for his brothers to be reconciled to one another and to confess their sin before God and their father. He was trying to get them to bow before the God of heaven. What a reunion when the boil was lanced.

God has made it possible for you and me to be released from our sins and to be reconciled to Him and to one another. Do we want our sins to catch up with us and find us out? Or do we desire God more than our sins?

The choice is ours. As Joseph said, “This do, and live, for I fear God.” Go to the mercy seat of God and the throne of grace and find help for your soul. Confess your sins before God and you will live. This is the great power of the third day.

“…for I have provided me a king among his sons”  (I Samuel 16:1c).

These are days of immense significance to the Christian Church.  Any of us with discernment cannot but believe the truth of the Word of God, that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back soon to take His people home and thereafter establish His kingdom.  Yet how few of us relate our lives to this significant truth!

The church machinery is working overtime at a very severe strain trying to keep things going.  There is a great denominational cry for production.  Yet there is very little heavenly reality attached to the product.  The lasting quality of the goods is subnormal, and even borders on abnormal.

The Lord is still looking, as He did in David’s time, for a man after His own heart.  This ought to be the cry in prayer for the Lord’s work and Word to find such a man.  In these times, before the coming of the Lord, we should be bound to pray for a life that can stand the fiery trials and that can stand against the times.  It is through a Spirit-filled man that is the fastest way to evangelism.

Remember that the Lord is coming.  He said that the last days would be days of great trial and savagery.  The flesh is more prominent today than ever and yet we are told that “greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”  Don’t stand down.  That’s cowardice!  Don’t stand aside.  That’s compromise!  Don’t stand against.  That’s contention!  Stand Up!  That’s conviction and courage!

“After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight” (Hosea 6:2).

When we come back to God, He brings the dawning of a new day with refreshing showers. We have a God who hastens but He also heals and revives His people. Why would we delay to return to Him?

Aren’t we like a morning cloud that promises rain and yet does not deliver? We are much like the dew in the morning, our religious duty evaporates before the sun, and we are not changed. We have burning desires that smolder and at the right time they flare and blaze forth when opportunity comes. We are like half baked goods.

It is God and Him only that can tame the heart and give the grace. The people in Hosea’s day thought they could come to God and ask for a quick release. The false prophets were like physicians putting suntan lotion on a cancerous tumor instead of calling for drastic surgery.

Will we allow God to deeply cleanse us? Will we continue to be mechanical in our words and ways before the Lord? God’s desire is for us to stay before Him and surrender everything daily in dependence before and upon Him. “On the third day He will raise us up, if we will live in His sight.” Blind optimism if not the order of this day. We must seek Him and not delay.