I am at war!

How does anyone live this godly life? I waver between being full of determination to do the right thing but doing exactly the opposite!


One minute my mind knows precisely what to do. I know in my heart what is the right thing to do and how good it will be for me and for others. In fact, I can picture the positive outcome before it has even happened. Then the next minute I say things that don’t match up with it.


When I have faith, I have the strength to conquer my faults, sin and everything that keeps me from living a God honouring life. But one way or another I break the rules. When that happens I can’t see past the doom and gloom that comes as a cloud which brings me back where I don’t want to be. Dear me!


In a single day I can go from feeling free and full of joy, ready to start a whole new way of life, then a fleeting thought catches my attention and my feet, like an obedient slave follows sins temptation and gets me tangled up again.


Every day is a battle between what I ‘want to do’ and what I ‘end up doing’- I am at war with myself!


Am I such a failure. Can anyone help?


Paul


His testimony when recognising his inner battle with his weaknesses. (Romans 7:17-24 para.)


Also Paul - When he found complete freedom in Jesus.


With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.


God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all.


If God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!


(Romans 8:1-3,9-11 The Message Bible)


If you are struggling like Paul, please don’t hesitate to message us and ask for prayer or a chat. We are here to support you in your walk with God.


Brian & Jeannette

Lyrics: Nothing can separate / Even if I ran away / Your love never fails / I know I still make mistakes / But You have new mercy for me everyday / Cause Your love never fails / You stay the same through the ages / Your love never changes / There may be pain in the night / But joy comes in the morning / When the oceans rage / I don't have to be afraid / Because I know that You love me / And Your love never fails / The wind is strong and the water's deep / But I’m not alone here in these open seas / Cause Your love never fails / The chasm is far too wide / I never thought I'd reach the other side / But Your love never fails / You make all things work together for my good !


W/M Chris McClarney / Anthony Skinner ©2004 Thank You Music All rights admin. by EMI Christian Music Recording/Video ©2008 Jesus Culture Music