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Mark and Carla Gilbert

Galatians 5:16-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

We can WIN over our flesh! We do not have to be subject to every whim and desire but we can learn how to master our flesh and be everything God has called us to be.

You Can Win Every Time!

Galatians 5:14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

The secret to living a life of victory over our flesh is summed up in this verse. When we keep this one simple command, we have kept ALL of the commands of God. Our destiny, our purpose in life is the unique, individual expression of love that God has given each one of us. When we keep this verse we are living in God's best. When we stray from this verse problems show up. Fulfilling this verse is the key to the spirit wining over our flesh.

The Greatest Sin

Sometimes we act like stealing or killing is the greatest sin we could commit. Tell me which is the greater sin - murder or being lukewarm about Jesus? Take a moment and think about it. This is not a question to be judged by our opinions. We need to get God's view on this. We need to trust the Lord and not our own understanding (Prov 3:5).

Mark 12:29-31 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
31 "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Jesus never said "thou shall not kill" was the greatest commandment. I know you don't act this way, but I have meet Christians that treated people horribly. I wonder if they realize they are breaking the greatest commandments in the Bible? The greatest commandment, the most important thing you will ever do, the purpose for our life, is wrapped up in our love for God and our love for other people.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT)
1 If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

Paul was listing off some extraordinary feats. These are things that legends are made of. Yet if we did them without love it was a waste of time. What extraordinary feats do ypu desire? What are your dreams and passions? What do you want to be or accomplish with your life? What are you seeking or striving after? How do you spend your time after work or after school? Were your answers an expression of love towards God or towards other people? To overcome your flesh focus your life, your energy, your time, and your thoughts on expressing God's love. When you stand before God and give an account for your life you want to hear God say "Well done!" The more you focus on expressing God's love the less influence your flesh will have in your life.

Think on These Things

Philippians 4:8 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
8 Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.

The first battle you have to win is the one in your own mind. We have to get our thoughts off of the world and onto the Word.

Ephesians 5:25-27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

Christ is cleansing the Church by washing her with the Word. Notice the result. The Church will not have any spots or wrinkles. The Church will be blameless. To cleanse your thought life, focus your mind on the Word. Focus your mind on Godly thoughts and images. Let the Word of God do it's job and cleanse your mind leaving you pure and without spots.

Here are some practical suggestions:

• Watch what you look at. If you see temptation walking down the street, look the other way. Divert your eyes and look somewhere else. Work on diverting your eyes from every opportunity to be tempted. Guard what you look at because the things you see will create memories. Those memories are like seeds that once they sprout become temptation. It is better to not even have those memories to begin with.
• Quote a verse out-loud. You can not say one thing and think about something else. Try it. In your mind start counting to 10. Now, say your name out-loud. What happened to your count? It stopped. By quoting Bible verses out-loud you will stop those thoughts and focus your mind on the Word.
• Meditate on Jesus hanging on the cross. Get an image in your mind of Jesus up in the air in front of you. Imagine the blood splattered all over his body. Look at his wounds from the scourging he endured for you. Look at the crown of thorns embedded into his skull. Stand there and let his blood drip all over you, cleansing you from all sin. Imagine the blood of Jesus washing you and making you spotless and without sin.
• Sing a Christian song. Sing about the blood of Jesus, or worship Jesus.
• Start to pray. Start to talk to God about anything except the temptation. Praise God for the beautiful day. Thank Him for all the wonderful things you have. Thank God for giving you victory over temptation. Talk to God about how much you love your wife, parents, or children.
• Spend time reading the Bible and in prayer everyday. By spending time in the Word and with God you will develop your spirit, you will gain self control and obtain the victory. Sign up for one (or more) of our free daily emails. They will help you to read your Bible every day.
• Pray in tongues.
• Go on a fast. Fasting will help you to control your flesh.

Victory over your flesh will take persistence. You will have to make a moment by moment choice to live for God, to walk by the spirit instead of the flesh.

Walking by the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-24 New International Version (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Make it your quest in life to pursue these qualities. The more you focus your life on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc. the more you will have victory in your life. Make God the purpose and main focus of your life and you will live a life of purity, abundance, and total prosperity. Walking in the spirit is walking in love with everybody around you.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Amplified Bible (AMP)
4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]...

The best way I know of, to develop your walk love walk, is to go to Church every chance you get. If they have 2 services on Sunday then go to both of them. Go to the mid-week service. Go to any home Bible Studies they have. Go to the classes they offer. This will do several things for you. It will help to occupy your free time so that you have fewer opportunities to slip up. You will also develop some Christian friends. Your relationship with Christians will develop your love walk. You will grow spiritually, which will make it easier to say "no" to temptation.

Volunteer at your Church. Every time they ask for help, volunteer. Don't just do the things you like to do. Volunteer to do anything and everything that needs to be done. This will help you to develop a spirit of excellence and self control. Volunteering at Church is a selfless act of love, towards those who are most precious to God, His children. Plus, when you give to God, then God will give to you. The busier you get with God's business, the busier God will get with your business. Volunteering at Church is the best way to develop some strong Christian relationships.

Did You Win the War?

You may lose a few skirmishes, but if you stay focused you will win the war. If you stumble and fall from time to time, then get back up as fast as you can. You are not in a sprint. Life is a marathon. It does not matter if you stumble or fall a few times. What matter's is "did you finish your race?" Focus your life on serving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You will live a life you love and God will say to you "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Brief Note on Pornography

Pornography has reached epidemic proportions. Everyday 30 Million people log onto 300,000 porn Web Sites. A survey of men at a Promise Keepers rally showed half had looked at porn during the week just before the rally. 37 percent of Pastors admitted to struggling with pornography in a survey done by Christianity Today Magazine (statistics from CBN). Pornography is no longer a subject that the Church can just ignore. It is time that we reach out and help our brothers and sisters overcome this issue.

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A resource that some may find helpful is a web site called XXX Church "The Number 1 Christian Porn site". This site is dedicated to helping people overcome Porn. They offer a FREE software program called "X3Watch". This software program will email a report of web sites visited to 2 people. This site also contains a number of other resources that some will find useful.

XXX Church Home Page

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