joyindestructible

Jesus lives in me but Pam still lives here too. Everything Jesus is I am not and everything I am not Jesus is. Before Jesus revealed Himself to me and I placed my faith in Him, I followed the desires of my heart without questioning them. My heart led me to a dark and desolate place and if Jesus hadn’t rescued me, I would have died there. I was lost in my sin and there was nothing good in my heart to lead me away from death. I knew no other way to live than to seek the fulfillment of my desires, even when it became obvious that the things I loved most were destroying me. Jesus, the embodiment of divine truth, is the light shining in the night of my heart who rescued me from death and is leading me in a better living Way. Jesus saved me from death, the final consequence of my sin and He is teaching me to live according to the Spirit rather than by the desires of my flesh. Because I am born-again in spirit but still living in flesh and blood, there is a war raging within me as I struggle to overcome my sin. I am not alone for this is the condition of every true believer in Christ Jesus. I and every other child of God is a soldier in this very same war, the inner struggle with sin and temptation. Jesus is that faithful ally who supports His own in battle, strengthens us with His righteous joy, and assures us of final victory.

Jesus is validation for every believer who struggles with sin and temptation because Jesus the Son of God is also, the Son of Man who won the war with sin and death, while living in a body of flesh and blood. Jesus possesses experiential empathy and compassion for every sinner; even though He is the true Son of God and never sinned. Jesus is not a far away God of icy perfection; Jesus relates to all we suffer because Jesus also, suffered as a human being. Jesus knows the struggle with temptation and the weakness of mortal beings to sin because He endured the agony of resisting the desires of the flesh that are enmity against God. Through obedience to His Father, He prevailed over sin and temptation and then offered His body and blood as a sacrifice for those who have no hope of thwarting (on their own) the sinful desires of their hearts. This graceful act proceeded from the righteous joy that He possessed through perfect obedience; in resisting sin to the point of sacrificial death and opening the floodgates of God’s forgiveness for every sinner, who believes and repents. Set free from the curse of death, the war against sin began and rages inwardly, in every follower of Christ; the war that still rages inside of me.

I am a hardened soldier in the war against my sin. Satan my deceptive enemy never sleeps but watches me waiting for the opportunity to tempt me when my flesh is weak. He knows He can’t destroy me because I belong to Jesus but he comes at me hard, doing his best to cause me to stumble and destroy my credibility in Christ. When I stumble, he chortles with delight and heaps accusations and guilt upon me. Nothing pleases him more than to see me wallowing in guilt, shame, and sorrow for my betrayal. In this decade’s long war, I have lost many battles but because of the forgiveness that Jesus bought for me, God restores me and I rise to fight again. I am not Jesus and to win this war, I desperately need Him! Everything I am not, Jesus is and because Jesus lives in me, His victory is mine. By faith in Jesus, I endure this constant inner war, strengthened by His righteous joy. By the hope He made sure, I look forward to my full redemption from sin. FREEDOM! With the peace within that will also, govern a restored world! Truly, this war that I and other true believers fight is the dreamed of war to end all wars!

Luke 4:1-13, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Romans 7:14-25