Welcome to the PoG Blog! As I write this I see a world in the midst of struggle! Boston, West, bombs, explosions, shootouts! WOW!
The struggle between good and evil is a world wide one and a very personal one - even for Christ followers! The world is in some sense "at war with itself" and a Christian is in a very real sense "at war with himself!"
Notice how the Apostle Paul struggles with "good and evil, right and wrong" even in the midst of his own being!
Romans 7
18 I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don’t do it. 19 I don’t do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don’t want to do. 20 Now, when I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it.
21 So I’ve discovered this truth: Evil is present with me even when I want to do what God’s standards say is good. 22 I take pleasure in God’s standards in my inner being. 23 However, I see a different standard at work throughout my body. It is at war with the standards my mind sets and tries to take me captive to sin’s standards which still exist throughout my body. 24 What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from my dying body? 25 I thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ rescues me!
I like the way Paul describes the war that is going on inside of him. Christ has given him a new identity that is in conflict with his old identity. The old identity is trying to do what it wants to do - the new identity is trying to do what it wants to do. The new identity wants to follow God's will the old identity wants to follow (in my case) delton's will.
Perhaps the most refreshing statement in the whole section is the last one. "24 What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from my dying body? 25 I thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ rescues me!"
The reality is Jesus rescues me in the midst of this dilemma. He comes in my war and rescues. He doesn't sit on the sidelines and wait for me to figure out this "following Jesus thing" and then connects with me. He "rescues" me.
Perhaps this is the key to living this very real Christ-life. When I come into a relationship God through Jesus I enter an identity war. I am a new creation with an old corrupt nature always trying to get the best of me. How do I live through this? I trust Jesus! Pray to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Listen to Jesus! Focus on Jesus! Obey Jesus! Seek Jesus - All day - Every day!
Who will rescue me? JESUS!
Enjoy Jesus in the struggle today!
delton
What do you all think of feel about the struggle? Let's talk!