Our Daily Walk With God

^{Our Daily Walk With God}

^14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

^17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t doit. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

^21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

²⁴ I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? -Romans 7:14-24 The Message Bible

Good morning! I understand that I started off the morning with a long scripture and from a translation of the Bible that I don't generally use, but I can't help but think this scripture speaks to me every time I read it. Just yesterday I was talking to a young man about his faith and asked him how he was doing. His response reminded me of this verse. Life had been beating him up, sin was constantly on his mind, and he was fighting his flesh with everything he had.  

The key to what I said is that he was fighting his flesh himself. I asked him if he had been in his Bible and if he had been reading and praying, his response was like many who struggle in their walk with God, "I try to I just haven't found the time". Lets face the facts real quick, we have all felt like this passage where we love God and love his Law and want to obey it but just cant seem to do it. I am reminded of an old DC Talk song where the chorus goes "what if I stumble what if I fall". Why do we get to this point it seems so often as Christians,  some say its the devil attacking you, maybe. What I believe is that we struggle so often to keep God's law because we become like this scripture we try to will it.  

If you notice this scripture always uses 'I' in it. I wonder how many of us only hear the word of God when we are at church on Sunday, or only praise God during worship on Sunday, how many of us only pray before we go to sleep?  And therein lies the problem, too often we get too busy and seem to cut God out of our every day life. We try to battle the spiritual realm by ourselves. We try to defeat our flesh and keep God's law without God. In verse 25 of this same passage it reads "The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." 

Today as you go about your day don't forget to include God because it's through Him that the battle is won. Don't forget to pray, and not just before you eat and sleep. If you walk with Christ, you will no longer be fighting alone.

Let us Pray. Dear Father, help me go through this day walking with You. Help me realize that I cant do this on my own, but that I need You in order to win the battle.  In Jesus name Amen.

David Wiggins
Youth Pastor
www.nbcornerstone.com