THE FLESH IS WEAK BUT THE SPIRIT IS WILLING AND STRONG!
I would like to share with you a wonderful lesson I learned recently. ROM 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
God allows us to go through sufferings sometimes for our own good. Through suffering we begin to focus on the inner man and its needs. Sometimes we are taken captive to those inner cries for help and we are immobilized by satan. Many times I have been captive to my suffering and I needed either physical healing or some way out of my captivity through God’s grace and power.
My body and soul (mind, emotion, and will) are often in bondage to my constant allergies, sinus pressure, and headaches. I daily seek God and rely on Him for my deliverance. I am in a state of asking God, “How can I fulfill His calling when my body is constantly screaming for help?” JOH 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The questions then arise, “How do we overcome sufferings and tribulations while we wait for deliverance?” and “What can we do when we are depressed and have problems that are unsolvable through the flesh?” THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER! 1JO 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.
Christ holds the only answer to abundant living and is the only source of eternal life. As children of God, we know Christ is the answer and we pray for our deliverance from suffering. Satan often tries to hold us back so we cannot fulfill God’s purposes for our life. If we search ourselves for sin to see if we have let God’s hedge of protection down, but have received no knowledge of blocked prayers, then the only thing left to do is to “stand for Christ” while we await our deliverance. EPH 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
I want to relate to you my recent God experience as it pertains to this subject of being captive to physical suffering and unable to complete assigned work from God. As I was praying about my lack of strength and sinus pressure, God asked me a question. He said, “AREN’T YOU BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT?” Naturally, I said “Yes.” He answered, “THEN PRAY FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF YOUR SPIRIT TO RULE YOUR BODY AND SOUL.” I thought this statement was the oddest I had ever been told, but I obeyed. By faith I prayed for the Holy Spirit to empower my spirit to overcome my illness. The next thing I knew the Holy Spirit gave me a desire and a will to write -despite my feelings. The message and scriptures began to flow and I was unblocked. My spirit ruled my infirmity and I was given (by the Spirit) two entire lessons. ROM 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
I know God is in charge and I will be totally delivered in God’s perfect timing and will. In the meantime, I can overcome the captivity to my feelings through the power of the Holy Spirit. I am free from my bondages to the feelings of my flesh through the anointing of God’s overcoming power. In other words, God can anoint and strengthen our spirits to rise above our sufferings and carry out our work. MAT 26:41 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
God tells us: PHI 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. PSA 138:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. 2TI 4:17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
I know that Christ can rule in our lives and He is going to make a way for us to escape every snare and trial of satan. God does allow us to be tried for our own good but there are two promises I know and have proved: ROM 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. The other promise is: ROM 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Through every suffering, trial, and adversity, we win through Christ’s provision, the Spirit’s anointing, and God’s favor. GAL 4:13 You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. GAL 4:14 And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. PSA 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
In Christ’s love,
Anita
My Prayer: Lead me to victory over my trials and tests. I trust in you dear Lord, I place no trust in man. You are my salvation for everything I require or need. Make me a testimony to your love and grace! I want my life to glorify You. Send Your miracles of deliverance from my captivities. My trust is in You and I surrender my life totally into Your care. Amen.
