So, I fall again. How is it, "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." Romans 7:19
I read on, "But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me." This fallen, sinful nature stays just under the surface, rearing its ugly head.All.The.Time...and back up to verse 15 Paul states, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate."
How easy it is to fall off God's path He has for us. We have been in Romans; this is what our family is reading this month, well, the month of February, but I do believe we could stay there an entire year. We will stay there for March too...can't get enough of a good thing, right? I need it imprinted on me, in me, around me. Just as the Jewish people wore their phalactaries on their foreheads, yes, I need it.Right.There...pressing in to remind me I am His; His Spirit is in me, and I must die, die to self, die to me. He will guide me.
"For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." Romans 8:13-14
There are times when I simply do not know what to ask of God. I do not have the words, I do not know how to pray...that is when, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26-27
What a glorious promise. God, Himself, as The Triune God, uses His Spirit to intercede on my behalf! He will pray for me when I have no words, when only tears come, when sorrow is too deep to express, when sorrow over my sins is to deep to bear. He hears, He knows, and He prays for me, interceding for me.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise."
Psalm 51:17
So, in Romans 12 and verses 1 and 2, Paul tells us, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
David and Paul, men of two different times, knew what God desired, what God wanted of them, and though fallen men, they trusted in the God who knew them better than they knew themselves. As we read, learn, study, and draw from their wisdom, we too, lean on the same God who knew them and us before we were even conceived.
As David states,
"You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
Psalm 16:11
"I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken."
Psalm 16:8
"Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day."
Psalm 25:5
Let your prayer for this day be, "Lord, I am waiting here for You." And give Him all praise and glory for all things! For He alone is worthy of any praise we offer.
Jody
