Don't make provisions for any lust of the flesh

Today we are going to talk about not setting ourselves up for sin. Lets get right to our Bible verse which is Romans 13:14.

 ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Our sinful nature is like a dying campfire. Add a little wood and fan the embers and our fleshly desires can easily be ignited. With this in mind we should ask ourselves this question. Are we allowing anything in our lives that can set us up for sin? If we find something with that potential then we need to deal radically with it. We need to do whatever we can to remove it.

Not allowing provision for the flesh can apply to various sins. But for this devotion lets talk about sexual sin. Lets say a man is having trouble with viewing pornography online. As long as he has access to his internet service he is making a provision for the flesh. He needs to deal radically with his sin and do one of two things. Either cancel his internet service or have a household member password protect the internet so he is unable to access it.

Lets consider an example of a couple that is engaged to get married next summer. Here are some ways they could avoid making a provision for sexual sin. They could avoid alone time by planning group activities. They could avoid drinking alcohol which could lower their resistance to sin. They could make a plan to never stay overnight at each others house even if their intention is to stay in separate rooms. These are a couple of examples of how they could avoid making a provision for the flesh.

Remember this verse applies to various lusts of the flesh and not just sexual sin. So take a moment and ask God to reveal to you if you are making a provision for the flesh. If He reveals something to you then deal radically with it and eliminate it.

God bless

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)
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God disciplines us for our own good

All of God's children experience discipline from His hand. It is sorrowful and while we are going through it we don't enjoy it. But, nevertheless it is good for us. The Bible verses we'll start with are in Hebrews 12:4-11.

 ⁴ You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
⁶ For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we hadearthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject tothe Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. ¹¹ All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Verse 4 speaks about not resisting wholeheartedly in our battle against sin. And until we reach that diligent level of resisting sin we will experience times of God's loving discipline.

Verses 5 mentions two things we should not do while experiencing His discipline. We should not take it lightly. And we should not faint when it comes our way.

God is serious about sin. If God is dealing with an area of our life then we need to take it seriously too. We must deal radically with it and remove it. Also we are not to faint under His discipline. What is shared in verse 6 can keep us from fainting. Why? One reason is because we know that we are being disciplined because He loves us. He is at work in us for our own good.  It may also be helpful to remember that every son, without exception, experiences it. Additionally, it can reassure us that we are His children, since He disciplines those whom He receives. In contrast verse 8 states that if we don't experience God's discipline we are not His children.

Verse 7 tells us that discipline produces endurance and it can get us back on the right path. David spoke about how he was afflicted by God when he drifted from God's ways. Here is what David said in Psalm 119:67,71,75

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray,
         But now I keep Your word. 

⁷¹It is good for me that I was afflicted,
         That I may learn Your statutes. 

⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
         And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

Notice in verse 67 that David was going astray. But the affliction brought him to a place of obedience. In verse 71 he recognized that his affliction was good for him. He realized that the affliction he experienced enabled him to learn God's statues. And in verse 75 David sees God's love in the affliction. He recognized that the affliction was an expression of God's faithfulness to him.

Now getting back to our original passage lets conclude with verse 11. If we allow God's loving discipline to train us to obey we will enjoy the "... peaceful fruit of righteousness."


Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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Unanswered prayer from rejecting God

Today we will talk about God's unwillingness to answer the prayers of those who stubbornly reject Him. Please follow along in the Bible. We will be in Proverbs chapter 1:20-33

In verses 22-23 God calls out to three different groups of unsaved people. He calls out to the the naive, the scoffer and the fool. God expresses willingness to accept them and teach them His ways if they would listen and obey. But verses 24-25 shows that these people didn't have any willingness to obey.

And verses 26-27 show one consequence of their actions. Trouble will certainly overtake them. Some of the words used to describe their coming trouble are: calamity, dread, distress and anguish. And there will be an additional consequence. God will be unwilling to answer their prayers and help them in their distress. Their prayers will go unanswered and their waywardness will ruin them. ( Please note that there are times when the ruin of the wicked is delayed. Sometimes the wicked flourish and even prosper before their ruin comes. See Psalm 73)

I think it is important to understand a little bit more about God refusing to answer their prayers. The prayers of these people were coming from hearts that wanted nothing to do with God. The use of the word "all" in verses 25 and 30 shows their wholehearted rejection of God. Those verses mention that they, "... neglected all my counsel;" and they "... spurned all my reproof." So when these people that reject God seek Him in prayer their prayers are rejected too. Why? Because the sole purpose of their seeking God was to escape their trouble. They didn't want a relationship with Him. They wanted a change in their circumstances but not a change in their sinful conduct. And as a result of being stubbornly disobedient, God would not answer their prayers when distress came upon them.

Is there any hope for the one who rejects God and has calamity on its way? Is there any hope for the ones whose prayers won't get answered?  The answer is yes to both questions!

First lets talk about the calamity aspect. If a person seeks God with a repentant heart then God may change His mind concerning the coming distress. Remember what happened in the book of Jonah. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh that He was about to overthrow it. And the people of Nineveh believed there was calamity coming and repented of their sins. And when God saw that they turned from their evil ways He changed His mind. God did not send the calamity upon them that He had planned.

The same applies to unanswered prayer too. If  a individual stops rejecting God and chooses to listen and obey then the Lord will open His ears to that persons prayers. Jesus talked about prayers being answered when a person was abiding in Him and God's Word was made so much a part of him that he would live by it. Jesus said it this way in John 15:7

 ⁷"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

But the first step in order to achieve the above solutions is to receive Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord.  If you want to do that and get things right with God today then go to this link. "What must I do to go to Heaven? "

God bless

Scripture quotations taken from the "NASB" (www.lockman.org)

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