February 8
Exodus 22:16-24:18
The most important decision anyone will make in their lives is whether or not they will repent, submit, and make Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives, His blood the salvation of their souls, for in this one decision, your eternal decision is decided. Wouldn't it be great if after that one decision, and you chose to follow Jesus, that life was easy and every decision was clear? While on this earth we must realize that there is a battle. Though our souls will securely arrive at their destination, on this earth your flesh does not miraculously go away once you make that decision. We read in Galatians 5:16-17, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." Every day, every moment we are making decisions to either feed our flesh or feed the Spirit? When we send our children to public school, and not Christian school, their flesh is being fed in ways that are beyond our imagination. They have their minds for 6 hours a day, five days a week. Do you really believe a short time of family devotion, a short prayer before bedtime, a short Bible story, and church on Sunday will miraculously replace all the damage being done the rest of the week. Then it is off to secular college, where most dorm. At this very impressionable age we completely hand them over to the flesh, whether you want to admit it or not. Besides our children, the same holds true for ourselves. Every choice, every click on your television set, every click on your i-phone, every choice of friendship is either feeding the flesh or the Spirit. May we never minimize this. Though our souls are safe, our lives can become utter misery, and our witness before others can become non-existent or even poor.
We read in Exodus 23:29-30, "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land." Just as the Israelites had real enemies, we are faced with our own flesh which has real strongholds on our lives. Just as God desired the Israelites to enjoy everything the Promised Land had to offer, He wants us to experience everything the Spirit filled life has to offer. Just as Israel will eventually win one battle after another, our flesh will not be conquered all at once, but instead little by little, and much to our dismay, it is never fully conquered on this side of eternity. Just as for the Israelites, God is giving us our territories little by little. We read further in Exodus 23:31-33, "... For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”" When we come to Christ, we should no longer be slaves of sin. The word compromise sounds so open-minded, but there should be no compromise with the things of God. We are not to flirt with sin to see how much we can allow to remain and still maintain our walk.
We read in Exodus 23:20, "“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." Forty years later we read in Joshua 5:13-14, "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”" This Angel, this Commander, as promised, is a theophany, or the earthly presence of Jesus Christ on earth in the Old Testament. Just as Jesus Christ literally led the Israelites through the desert in the cloud and fire, and would now do so as the Commander of the Lord's Army, Jesus told us in John 16:7,13, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you...However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." We have been given the Holy Spirit so that we do not have to fight these battles on our own. He is never far from us, as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" So stop saying you just can't do this or that, or overcome this or that, because God doesn't expect you to on your own. He has given us the Holy Spirit. Now it is up to us, which one will we feed, our flesh or the Spirit? That is where your battle lies. One last verse to leave you with in John 8:31-32, "“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”"
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: