Quote from Forum Archives on June 19, 2001, 11:51 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Subject: Word for Today, Mon, 18 Jun 2001: Maturing by Believing

Our list server, welovegod.org, has been changing to a different Internet
Service Provider. The change was supposed to happen over the weekend, but
like many things, ran into delays and problems, spilling into Monday.
I think the problems are resolved. At the risk of duplication,
here is the Word for Today message again from Monday.

Dear friends,

Last week, Neil Anderson had a message that dealt with our
rebellious nature. In his message today, Neil takes a slightly
different turn and talks about how our bodily desires affect our
actions.

There is plenty of room for many people to grow and mature in
this area. Though many claim to know and love Christ, there are
significantly smaller numbers of people who genuinely surrender
their own bodily concerns each day for the cause of Christ, even
though Christ is the One who renews us and gives us "strength for
today and bright hope for tomorrow", as the Hymn, "Great is Thy
Faithfulness" testifies. Well, if that is the case, and I
believe it is, then why do we struggle so much with these things?
Could it be that we are not very clear about who we are "in
Christ"? I pray that God can clearly work in our hearts to
identify who we are, (both our "condition" and what He can do
about our "condition"). I pray that each of us will allow God to
shape our lives, to the extent that we freely offer ourselves to
Him. When that happens, the response to Neil's questions will
change.

Your brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: Neil Anderson <neilanderson@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Monday, June 18, 2001
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 05:14:55 -0400

N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

June 18

The Fleshly Person

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet
able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for
you are still fleshly. (1 Corinthians 3:2,3).

The spirit of the fleshly person is identical to that of the
spiritual person. The fleshly person is a Christian, spiritually
alive in Christ and declared righteous by God. But that's where
the similarity ends. Instead of being directed by the Spirit,
this believer chooses to follow the impulses of his flesh. As a
result, his mind is occupied by carnal thoughts and his emotions
are plagued by negative feelings. And though he is free to choose
to walk after the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, he
continues to involve himself in sinful activity by willfully
walking after the flesh.

His physical body is a temple of God, but he is using it as an
instrument of unrighteousness. He has the same troubling
physical symptoms experienced by the natural person because he is
not operating in the manner God created him to operate. He is
not presenting his body to God as a living sacrifice. Since he
yields to the flesh instead of crucifying it, the fleshly man is
also subject to feelings of inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy,
guilt, worry, and doubt.

Several years ago I did some research to discover how many
Christians are still the victims of their flesh. I asked the
same question to 50 consecutive Christians who came to me to talk
about problems in their lives: "How many of the following
characteristics describe your life: inferiority, insecurity,
inadequacy, guilt, worry, and doubt:" Every one of the 50
answered, "All six." Here were 50 born-again, righteous children
of God who were so bogged down by the flesh that they struggled
with the same problems of self-doubt which inundate unbelivers
who only live in the flesh.

If I asked you the same question, how would you answer? I
imagine that many of you would admit that some or all of these
six traits describe you. It is evident to me that a staggering
number of believers are still confused about their spiritual
identity in Christ and its implications for their daily lives.
We are struggling with the behavior aspect of our growth because
we are still struggling with the belief aspect of our growth: who
we are in Christ.

Father, help me live above my fleshly desires today by exercising
my spiritual inheritance at every temptation.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil Anderson at
christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
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