HEART MATTERS

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1st Corinthians 10:12 

One of the first scary movies I saw as a child was quite the thriller.  When a Stranger Calls was about a babysitter who after tucking the kids in for the night began receiving menacing calls from a man who repeatedly asks her if she’s checked on the kids.  For some reason she continues watching t.v. and never goes upstairs to check on the children.  But the calls continue.  Eventually they become so troublesome that she decides to contact the police department. The climax of the story happened when the officer called her back to tell her he traced the call.  Anyone who saw the movie (or movies, it was remade in 2006) remembers the sheer horror we all felt as the police officer told the main character the call was coming from right inside the house!  Everyone watching the movie felt the adrenaline and the terror the young lady would have felt in that moment.  Before receiving that unbelievable and shocking revelation she had to have had some sense of security in the shelter of the home.  As she processed that the threat had indeed become viable she must have believed with the doors locked and the police on alert she had a good fighting chance.  After all in order to get to her and the kids the perpetrator would first have to breach the locked doors or windows.  Little did she know the psychopathic murdered was right in the same house with her all along!  He had already started his murder spree and he fully intended on making her his next victim.  Up until that call from the police officer the whole time she thought the threat was coming from the outside.  What made this movie so terrifying was that the young lady’s worst enemy was right there inside the house with her the entire time!

Did you know that all believers have an enemy within?  A serious threat is lurking in really close proximity ready to pounce at any time.  There’s a psychopath made up of all the sinful predispositions and habits of our old man ready to wreak havoc and wreck our lives.  It’s called the sin nature-aka “our flesh” or “the old man.” He hangs in the rafters of our minds and in the crevices of our hearts just waiting for the right opportunity to make himself known.  He ready’s himself for his big reveal when our weaknesses begin to cause us to cave and we find ourselves ripe with a willingness to rebel against our God. Suppressed by the Spirit our sin nature is desperate for his chance to have his way.  Once our nemesis believes the odds are in his favor and everything has culminated according to his liking he steps forward and takes his stand.  Just as quickly as our sin nature appears out in the open the assault occurs.  When we’re able to fight just enough to come to our senses we’re usually shocked and appalled by our Un-Christ-like behavior.  We can’t believe that we-new creations in Christ Jesus-just acted like the devil.  We grieve over the casualties we left in our wake-compromised relationships, loss spiritual fruit, and ruined testimonies.

My pastor spoke briefly on the sin nature this past Sunday.  He explained it’s the reason we can bless in one minute and curse in the next.  The sin nature is the wickedness that hides in the shadows of our hearts.  If left unchecked it will rise up and put us to shame! It’s our propensity to sin which if ignored or left unguarded will turn our hearts away from the Lord and taint our testimony for Christ.   It’s so serious that there are many scriptures (ones which we have a tendency to think are directed to unbelievers) written to warn us to be aware of the threat and then guard against it on a daily basis.

Our enemy the devil knows about the enemy within.  In fact its one of his first lines of attack against us.  Our sin nature is a weapon which can be readily available.  Normally we’re either oblivious about it or apathetic towards it.  Satan and his demons are well aware of our weaknesses-the areas which can easily provoked us to sin and the sins that so easily entangle us. Every day the enemy is lurking and setting traps to unleash the beast. He wants us to misrepresent the Lord.  He wants us to get caught up in a sinful stronghold. He wants us to withdraw from our intimacy with the Lord.

But the sin nature isn’t only about what he (the devil wants), it’s also all about what we want. We think were okay because overall we have a sincere heart desire to live a godly life, one that’s pleasing to the Lord.  But there’s another side of us.  Our sin nature-the part of us that wants what it wants.  The part of us that will go there if provoked.  The part of us that takes care of number one first and foremost. The sin nature will make you curse when some one cuts you off in traffic.  The sin nature will make you lose your temper with your spouse or your kids.  The sin nature will woo you into giving into that strong temptation. The sin nature will try to either justify or minimize any sin you commit.  All this and more but only if you let it.

In a world that cunningly holds Christians to an unrealistic standard of perfection, sometimes all it takes is one moment of weakness or rebellion on our part to validate their willingness to reject Christ and justify their dismissal of the Gospel.  The enemy uses our sin nature to disable, defeat, and to try to destroy our effectiveness for Christ. Hopefully we know when we become Christians we don’t automatically become perfect. Thankfully, The Lord patiently works on us throughout our faith walk.  It’s a journey in which God allows us to go through the process of sanctification.  We can look at the lives of the men and women of God in the Bible and clearly see this truth.  David was guilty of both adultery and murder and yet he is described as a man after God’s own heart-and that he was. If you look at his life (despite his failures) you’ll see the fruit of a true believer and the faithfulness of His God working in and through him.

Is the sin nature something to be taken lightly just because we’re already eternally secure as believers, already forgiven? No way! Just read the book of Romans! If we’re wise we’ll realize we have a sin nature that’s neither to be ignored nor taken lightly.

In fact the New Testament Epistles written to Christians (look for the words brethren, my brothers, etc.) are filled with warnings to guard against our sin nature:

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched  man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. ”  The Apostle Paul Romans 7:21-25    By the way the very next verse is >“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1

“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.  I speak this to your shame.”  1st Corinthians 15:34

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead,and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:12-13

“If  we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  1 John 1:8-10

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish.” Galatians 5:16-17

“Now the works of the flesh are evident which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; ..” Galatians 5: 19-21

“Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  James 4:1

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Romans 13:14

“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion,evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”  Colossians 3:5-6

If you’re wondering why the Lord allows us to still suffer with the old sin nature after being born again just think about it.  If we didn’t have the sin nature we wouldn’t have to choose-we’d be perfect-without sin.  Relationship without choice is simply obligation. The Lord always gives us the power to choose because there’s no real intimacy without it.  Also without the weakness of our sin nature we wouldn’t understand our desperate need for Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit working in our daily lives to make us holy. We’d never get to experience The Lord’s ongoing deliverance of us as He continuously sanctifies us. Furthermore, we wouldn’t get to declare His glory to a loss and dying world. When the world sees how the Lord grows, changes, and matures us along the way, they get to witness the redeeming power of Christ!

God’s timing is perfect and so I shouldn’t be surprise that not long after beginning to write this post I also began struggling with my ugly sinful nature.  Over a month ago I started experiencing a serious allergic response to some of my every day products.  It’s so frustrating because these are my go to tried and true products I’ve been using for years now.   And all of sudden they are like poison to me.  After completing a course of medication and eliminating products with potentially harmful products I was hopeful this new irritant in my life was over.  So I became greatly discouraged when I realized I’m no better and I’m now even reacting to my new products.  When I had to interrupt my sleep to take a benadryl-things got ugly(on the inside of me).  As I lay awake frustrated and confused, self pity began to flood my soul preparing a way to justify my anger that was to follow.  I fell asleep with rebellious thoughts-thoughts I fully planned to carry out once awake.  Thoughts of recklessness and indulgence- which for me is rebellion realized through the setting aside of self control.  I’d go shopping (although I didn’t need to) and I’d eat anything I wanted to and however much I wanted to.  After all with all this going on certainly I deserved it.  When I awoke and looked in the mirror and saw my swollen eyes and puffy face-the evidence that my allergies were once again waging war on me-I began to cry.  I’ve struggled with allergies for years but now despite all my best efforts I’m suffering more than ever! Overall I’ve been trusting the Lord. I acknowledge my body, my looks, and my health-it all belongs to Him.  But this morning I struggled-to the point of tears.  My sin nature had reared its ugly head.  It had found a justifiable and prudent reason for making itself known and claiming it’s stake.  Well so it thought.

I’m so glad The Holy Spirit in me wasn’t having it!  I did cry but only for a few seconds. My recovery was swift as the power of Christ in me wouldn’t allow me to go there.  Yes I still felt all the sorrow, self pity and ugliness inside but I was empowered to fight and not fully give in to it all.  I left my bathroom and went to read the Word.  The devotional was Jeremiah 33:1-2 “Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'”  Now I know this is what the LORD spoke to the nation of Israel through Jeremiah the prophet, but I love how He still uses His words for them to bless us believing Gentiles too.

You see the sin nature can easily be squashed by the truth of God’s Word and the truth of who we are in Him.  We were created for His glory and His good pleasure.  He sees everything, knows everything, and loves us like no other.  So I can know that God knows about my allergies and He cares about them too.  However, He has a purpose in everything. I only need to continue to trust Him and refrain from seeking to control my situation by trying to figure it all out.  When I exercise faith then it is that  I am free!  After reading God’s Word I was able to repent.  I told Him I chose to turn away from all the things the sin nature was planning.  Instead I will do as He encouraged the Israelite’s to do in Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,…..”

So let this serve as a serious warning to you.  Do not allow your sin nature to sabotage you! If you think since you’re a Christian you’re above certain sins-you’re wrong!  As long as we are in this “body of flesh” we are capable of committing any atrocious sin. Therefore, like Paul we must “crucify our flesh daily”, “put on Christ Jesus”, and “make no provision for the flesh.”  My pastor said that it is the Word of God, The Bible, that empowers us to defeat the sin nature.  Reading the Word of God: reminds us of the love of God; renews our minds for God; and redirects our steps towards God. When we read God’s Word our spirit can align with the Holy Spirit of God.

We need to be ever aware of the presence of our sin nature.  However we don’t have to live in bondage to it.  Jesus came to set the captive free.  If we abide in Him we will bear much fruit.  We need to allow our awareness of the sin nature to cause us to go to God’s Word and spend time with Him in prayer on a daily basis.

Let Him speak this to your heart:  “For the Word of God s living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

HEART TO HEART: IF WE’RE NOT ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AND REFUSE OUR SIN NATURE WE RISK BACKSLIDING AND BECOMING CARNAL CHRISTIANS.