week of 09/21/11 5th recorded HighQuest Romans 7:14-15

The passage I read was Romans 7:14-25

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A14-25&version=NIV

The verse that most stood out to me:

17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

&

20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

As I reflect:

I greatly understand the struggle Paul explains here. I understand what God’s written word says and what His living Word wills for me and I desire to do this will. However, I (like Paul and like most believers) find myself struggling daily against my flesh. The very soul of my being belongs to and is completely sold out for Christ. My mind is made up and I will follow Him completely without wavering for I owe Him my life and I gladly lay it down. I love God with every fiber of who I am… However, my flesh…That’s a different story. My flesh is not under the full control that I desire it to be and I find it making choices I don’t condone. There is very much two different parts to me and the one that I identify with and count my identity in is the part of me that is 100% for Christ. My flesh in failing I look forward to leaving behind when I go to receive my new body and meet my Savior. When finally my struggles are over and my body is no longer raised in a finite and sinful world.

The other note was in blame. Though I don’t use it as an excuse to sin, it is certainly good for me to know that based on my commitment to Christ, when I sin un-willfully, I can separate myself from that knowing that it is not me but my flesh which falls. May I learn all the more to control the flesh and bend it also to the will of the Lord.

My response to the Lord:

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!