{"id":3985,"date":"2020-01-14T15:10:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=3985"},"modified":"2020-01-14T15:10:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:10:38","slug":"the-tug-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/14\/the-tug-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tug of War"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After a night of worship and praying and being in the presence of God, it was glorious. But this morning I needed some rest so I rested.<\/h6>\n
Shortly after getting up and taking care of a few things I received a message from my son Jonathan. He gave me news that one of his closest friends had passed away this morning. I was shocked and broke down immediately. I looked at this young man like a son. He was highly intelligent, witty, and he was kind. I knew he had battled sickness but I didn\u2019t realize it was this bad. We had a conversation when Jonathan was in China, we discussed how that Jonny would probably marry Qing and he did. I don\u2019t know why this has hit me so hard but I think it\u2019s just that he was someone I respected and there was a mutual kindred spirit between us. I will miss him. Rest in peace young man; God comfort his wife and family.<\/h6>\n
This is the second day of our 21 Day Prayer and Fasting\u2026and it could not have come at a better time\u2026I needed this so much\u2026<\/h6>\n
I have a confession to make\u2026I\u2019ve been a little distracted and earth bound lately\u2026filling my spirit with natural things, not unhealthy or weird, but things that don\u2019t profit the spirit much. My spiritual man had become a little neglected and complacent therefore weak. That\u2019s not a good place to be\u2026 so the message our Pastor gave on Sunday past, was perfect\u2026he talked about how, that, we are born with a sin nature but when we are born of God, he puts his holy spirit within us giving us a spiritual nature as well. And how the two war with each other constantly. Depending on what we do, will determine which nature will rule our lives. In other words what goes into our heart, mind, body and spirit is what we will produce. Our sin nature loves to sin. God never said sin wasn\u2019t fun, he just said, don\u2019t do it!<\/h6>\n
In order for our Spirit nature to thrive and be more Christ-like\u2026we have to feed it, by prayer, and fasting, reading God\u2019s word, worshiping, praising, singing psalms and hymns to him, and fellowship with other believers. Practicing these things strengthens the spirit nature and we begin to take on the personality of God. His love, his joy, his peace, his grace, his self-control, his long suffering, his patience, his kindness\u2026these are the characteristics of our Holy Heavenly Father\u2026we become more like him\u2026and as a child of God that\u2019s who I want to be more like, don\u2019t you?<\/h6>\n
There\u2019s nothing wrong with being natural except when it interferes with our relationship with the LORD. When you find yourself, being selfish, self-righteous, irritable, complaining, hateful, rude, agitated by everything and everyone\u2026that is a good indication your sin nature is in control. It\u2019s time for a house cleaning by the Holy Spirit and that is exactly what I had to do. Repentance is always the best way to get your spirit man back in sync and aligned with our Holy Papa God.<\/h6>\n
You see when our life-line is properly connected to the blood-line of Jesus, our heart will be God centered and Holy Spirit connected\u2026then we will walk, talk, hear, see, feel, and be led by the Spirit of God and not our fleshly desires\u2026<\/h6>\n
Sometimes you just have to clean your house\u2026by making God\u2019s house,(spiritual man) a house of prayer\u2026begin with humility and then ask God to cleanse you by the washing of the water of his word\u2026and a flood of grace will pour over your life like a sweet perfume filling the atmosphere\u2026no longer will putrid, disgusting words and actions control you\u2026Because you live in the image of God.<\/h6>\n
You\u2019ll have His character living in, and through you, and you will be a delight to Him and to others around you.<\/h6>\n
God will use everything that happens in our life to get our attention and bring us to his fullness.<\/h6>\n
Let God\u2019s Spirit abide in you one hundred percent, you\u2019ll be happier and healthier. Because one day we are all going to leave this earth\u2026and I want to live in God\u2019s kingdom where there is love and joy and peace\u2026and, the thing is, we can live that way now. But it takes disciple and a made up mind to exercise your spiritual muscles so that they become stronger than your sin nature\u2026it\u2019s sometimes painful but it is so much more worth it\u2026God bless you today and give you strength and grace to become the person God is calling you to be. Amen.<\/h6>\n
~Marla Shaw O\u2019Neill January 14, 2020<\/h6>\n
Galatians 5:16-17<\/em> The Passion Translation (TPT)<\/em><\/h6>\n
The Holy Spirit, Our Victory<\/em><\/h6>\n
16\u00a0<\/sup>As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self – life.[a<\/a>]<\/sup> 17\u00a0<\/sup>For your self – life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit\u2019s intense cravings hinder your old self – life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self – life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit.[b<\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/h6>\n
Footnotes:<\/em><\/h6>\n
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