During the process of sanctification Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:24,"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" But after he became the apostle of the Lord, he said in 1 Corinthians 15:31, "I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
Then, what should we do in order to achieve the heart of Jesus Christ, receive the power of God, and thereby lead many souls to salvation? Now we will look into a few most representative things from the original attributes of the flesh. Let's check if the following fleshly attributes remain in you. If they do, cast them off and achieve the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The Changing Mind
'Spirit' refers to what does not change but lasts forever, while 'flesh' to what changes and becomes corrupt. The heart of people changes to the extent of the flesh they have. Fleshly people do not know of their own hearts. They make up their minds to do something today, but they don't know what they will be doing tomorrow.
If people have this changing mind, they complain against God in trials although they were so happy at the joy of salvation that they felt that the whole world was theirs. When their diseases were healed, they worked faithfully with thanks, but as time passed, their gratitude cools down and they look at the world again. They gradually seek fleshly things saying, "I want to rest a little now."
They are determined to offer the prayer with fasting or vowed prayer but break it sloppily. They make a vow to give a big amount of offering before God but later they break it sparing the money. They vow to do something before God but later they change their words.
You should see whether you are thinking little of changing mind although you didn't do what you determined to do and did what you determined not to do. Without changing mind, you will obey whatever is told to do and will not do whatever is told not to do. You will throw away whatever you promised to throw away, and will keep whatever you promised to keep.
You will never lose the joy and thanksgiving for the grace once received and will be able to lead a joy-filled life. Therefore, let's cast off changing mind by fervent prayers by the Holy Spirit's power.
Deceitfulness
A deceitful person doesn't care about discerning between right and wrong, but his interest is in seeking his own benefits and he frequently changes in his words and actions for his benefits. And he even plots evil schemes and goes out of the right way to gain what he desires.
This kind of person spreads rumors about others here and there pretending to be concerned about them. He may change his words cunningly so that achievements are attributed to him and faults to others.
Such a person doesn't take the responsibility of poor results, and doesn't acknowledge of his faults. When he disobeys, he makes excuses. He also attributes problems to the situation, environment, others and even to God.
With deceitfulness, people hardly acknowledge their wrongdoings. Under embarrassing situations, they frequently change their words to escape temporal difficulties. When someone is wrongfully accused or mistreated because of their faults, they just close their eyes to it.
Therefore, we have to stay far away from turning to the right or left according to our benefits, plotting evil schemes to gain benefits, and causing others a hard time for our benefits. Furthermore, we should steadfastly keep whatever we determined to do and be trusted by anyone else for our sincere and upright heart.
Adulterous Mind
A lustful mind, if loosened even a little, may spread quickly. So, you must always be on the alert. The Bible clearly tells us that not only adulterous conduct but also lustful mind must be thrown away (Matthew 5:28).
Suppose as a man you like talking with females rather than talking with male friends, and vice versa. You feel good when you are recognized by other women rather than your wife. You want to look more attractive to other women. You may be different in words and attitude before some specific women. You have to examine yourself in all those matters.
In order to cast off adulterous minds, you should cut off the lusts of the eyes, put your thought and mind under control, and pray fervently. You must not give up in the middle thinking you cast them away to some extent. You must struggle to remove the roots of those sins and you should not accept any small possibility of them. It is so important for you to cut off the lusts of the eyes continually until you remove the roots of lust.
Suppose you keep a constant watch over the world. You may not commit adultery in action but you are planting fleshly things into your mind. Then, you cannot cast it off. Ephesians 5:3 says, "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints." Thus, we should put only holy things into our eyes, ears and mouth. And we should throw away all kinds of fleshly attributes quickly and adorn ourselves as blameless brides of the Lord.
Self-centeredness
If you have self-centered mind that seeks your benefits, you may change your mind and turn to the right or left in a cunning way. You may lie or plot schemes for your benefit. When others don't follow your will you may hate them or distance yourself from them. You may feel upset when you think you are not treated properly. According to your benefit you may betray your company and create a faction. You know you have to choose to fulfill your duties, but you come to choose to follow your benefits rather than your duties.
1 Corinthians 10:24 reads, "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." Romans 14:7-8 says, "For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." When you are full of grace, you can say you will give your life to the Lord. But unless you throw away your self-centeredness that loves yourself, you may change or betray the Lord.
Thus, we should throw away self-centeredness to give our true love to God and the Lord. That is, we should throw away our 'self', our family, our possessions, our honor, our pride, our favoritism, our stubbornness, and so on.
We have to empty ourselves in every matter in our daily life. Only then will we be able to recover the lost image of God and come forth as His true children who can understand His heart. God gave up His only begotten Son and His life for the sinners. When we understand the depths of God's love, live for the Lord and the souls, and achieve deeper trust and love in God, we will be able to understand the deeper heart of God and manifest His power.
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