Daniel Fast: Day Seven

3 minutes ago near Anniston ·

• Day Seven:
  
  Romans 6:11-14
  “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:11-14).
  
  I am under grace! What a journey this has become!
  
  A believer may supernaturally experience deliverance at the moment of salvation or even later as he grows in the Lord. It is also true that a believer might not miraculously experience deliverance, but he can mature spiritually enough to realize that deliverance has already happened in the spiritual realm, and that it can become real through faith. Deliverance at any time or in any way is appropriated by faith, but for it to continue, a believer must daily yield his old nature to the Lord.
  
  When Jesus looks at His child, He doesn’t recognize sin, but only sees potential. For me to remain on a straight path I must also see the potential that Christ sees in me. As I seek this potential, I make a daily decision not to succumb to temptation, and to trust in His Word and in His strength. I decide whether to sin or not, but it is Christ’s strength and His strength alone which breaks sin. I don’t have to cry and beg for His strength to be real. I apply His strength to my temptation by focusing on His Word instead of focusing on my weakness. I will not feel guilty when temptation hits. I decide not give in to its invitation. Sin is not my master. Since I know Jesus and I'm under His grace, I have the authority to rebuke it!
  
  
  The apostle Paul writes to the Romans. “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 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” (Romans 7:14-20). Paul recognizes the battle that rages between his new and old nature, and understands that his human desire alone to be good is not enough.
  
  He continues in the next chapter of Romans. “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8: 6-7). A sinful mind is incapable of submission because it is antagonistic towards God. A carnal mind focuses on sin, and even if it wished deliverance from sin, it cannot supply or apply the strength that is needed to fight.
  
  The conflict between good and evil is fought on the battlefield of the mind. A mind controlled by the Holy Spirit has the strength to win the battle. With each battle I win in my mind, peace is the result. “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3). He will keep me, and He will keep you in His peace......when He is the focus of our mind.
  
  When Christ lives in us, we should be free from sin! God the father who raised Jesus from the dead, gives us the power over our mortal body’s desires. When the battle is won within your mind, self-control is attained. Because the Holy Spirit controls your mind, each member of your body is brought under the righteous control of the Holy Spirit. The body, which once controlled you, is now controlled by the living presence of a Holy God (Romans 8:10-11).
  
  This is my daily prayer. Controlled by His living presence, there is no battle I can't win. There is no test that I can't pass. There is nothing that comes against me from either within or without that I can't master, because He is my Master.