April 3
Deut 23:1-25:19 | PS 75:1-10 | Prov 12:12-14 | Luke 10:13-37
Hopefully those reading this acknowledge that we all were sinners before coming to Christ, and all still are sinners, though now covered by the blood of Christ. Clearly it is revealed in Scripture that it never was and never will be our inherent goodness that changes our standing before God. We have to consider this soberly. We still have our flesh, and we still live in the world. Both of these will war against the Holy Spirit who resides in us, the believer in Jesus Christ, as clearly stated in Galatians 5:16-17. What is important is that we never glamorize our past life in the flesh. We must not toy with, flirt with, or allow the sins of our flesh to linger. We read in Romans 8:13, "...put to death the deeds of the body...". We are not to clean up or reform the "old man", but as stated in Romans 6:11, we are to "...reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord".
We read in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget."There are many "pictures" or "types" in the Bible, and Amalek is a type of the flesh. Notice the flesh attacks us often when we are weakened, tired, and straggling. It rears its ugly head when we are most vulnerable. If allowed to linger in our lives this is often when one succumbs to the attacks of the flesh. Notice the Israelites were to show no mercy to Amalek, blotting out their remembrance. Such is the way we are to reckon the "old man". There is nothing cute or romantic about our old deeds of the flesh.
We should humbly read the words in Isaiah 1:2, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;" If we have repented and accepted Jesus' payment on the cross, then we are now God's children. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." If we desire to live to enjoy the Spirit filled life that God has in store for us, it is time to stop rebelling against Him by allowing the trash that consumed our previous lives in the flesh to linger around. As stated earlier, reckon it as dead. God offers us freedom from the bondage of sin, as He has already paid the price for it.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: