How do we keep the flesh a slave rather than be its slave?

The flesh needs to be kept under subjection to God because its power over us is broken. We can now as a Christ follower chose to give in to the flesh, make it a slave or reckon it dead.

Do you find this easy?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27
“…I do not box like one beating the air but [like a boxer] I buffet my body [discipline it by hardships] and subdue it or make it my slave, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit or disqualified.
Romans 6:11 “consider or reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus
Luke 9:23 – “he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Jesus).

This is our daily battle (the process of sanctification) that is the hardest part of facing the world, the flesh & the devil – our own flesh!
Too often we start here fighting against our flesh and fail here because we try to do it on our own (not in His power & strength). The ‘do your best for Jesus’ idea where I do my part and then God comes along and fills in what I couldn’t quite manage. Christianity is “by grace through faith, not works” (Eph.2:8-10). We need to learn and really believe who we are in Christ – that new creation of 2Cor 5:17.

The start? Be sure you have been born again, been made a new creature, been given a new heart, been adopted into the family or God or become a child of God – whichever you call it.
We are lost sinners heading to hell apart from the grace & mercy of God. (Eph 2:8-10)

The heart of mankind – you and I is “more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick or wicked; Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9   So,
We need a new heart. Too many try to repair, refurbish, re-paint or in some way fix up the old heart and the old flesh and make it look like and act like a “child of God” (John 1:12).
David said in Psalm 51:10-12,
“Create (ba-ra – Same as Genesis 1:1) in me a clean, or a pure, heart, O God,
And renew, rebuild or repair, a steadfast, firmly established or right, spirit within me.”
then David said,
“Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me {now spirit dwells in (Rom 8:9) believers & seals us (Eph 4:30)}. Restore to me the joy of (whose?) Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

If you want your church to have revival then focus on yourself; getting yourself completely right with God so that revival can start in “me”. I’m the only one I can join God in changing.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss said, “Proud people focus on the failures of others, but broken people are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. Proud people are self-righteous. They have a critical, fault-finding spirit. They look at everyone else's faults with a microscope but their own with a telescope, and they look down on others. But broken people are compassionate. They can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven. They think the best of others, and they esteem all others better than themselves.
… broken people have a dependent spirit and recognize their need for others. Proud people have to prove that they're right, but broken people are willing to yield the right to be right. Proud people claim rights and have a demanding spirit, but broken people yield their rights and have a meek spirit. Proud people are self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation, but broken people are self-denying. Proud people desire to be served, but broken people are motivated to serve others. … broken people are motivated to be faithful and to make others a success.”

The other day my blog was on worship and the words the Bible uses that are translated ‘worship’
Heb. ābad – to work or to serve
Heb. shāha – to prostate oneself
Heb. - kāra – to bend the knee, bow down, to work, to serve
Gr. – Proskyneō – it means to pay homage or reverence, to prostate oneself, to kiss the hand or to lick the hand as in a dog licking the hand of his master - carries the idea of humble devotion.
Gr.- latreia – means service

Worship is in real humility submitting or bowing down to God and serving Him according to the meaning of the words the Bible uses for the word WORSHIP. Broken, not proud!

It is time to get on our knees or face before him, literally if you can, and pray for Him to change what He wants to change in you – Lord bring revival in my life!
Recognize Him for who He is, bow or bend the knee before Him, serve Him, submit totally to Him and let Him use you and work through you, let Him change you and mold and make you into the image of Christ. This is worship in truth; in Jesus.

Getting right with God isn’t being busy doing things, but getting quiet and listening to God.
If enough of us will repent and let God work on us, He can change our church, our communities and even our Nation and world system. Jesus said if we love Him we will obey  & God says we were saved to ‘walk in the works God prepared for us to walk in’ – Jn 14:15, Eph 2:10
Otherwise the judgment of God on this nation will continue and we should get ready for persecution and for Jesus return.

Recognize who you are in Christ and that you do have victory over sin; that you can reckon yourself dead to its power over you. Trust that you have a new heart and are what God says you are, and see God work in your life and through it!