The massive passenger plane gently lifts off the runway and majestically rises through the clouds to 30,000 feet. However, make no mistake, gravity is still operating. It is just that the thrust of the powerful engines and the lift of the airflow over the wings has overcome the force of gravity that would keep the plane on the ground. Even at 30,000 feet, if for some reason those engines stop, gravity will instantly engage to bring that plane down.
Faith works the same way. Paul, in Romans chapters 7 and 8, points out that our flesh does not submit to God's laws and is at emnity with God. Fallen-nature man cannot please God. No wonder Paul cries out almost in desperation, "Who is going to deliver me from this body of death?" Yet he answers his own question "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Jesus has overcome sin, the flesh, and the devil through His victory on the cross, and by the same power of the Spirit that raised Jesus, we are able to put to death the deeds of the body and live.
Keep the engines running! Keep the Word in our mind and heart.
Man is spirit, soul, and body according to 1 Thessalonians 5:23. When we are born again we become a new creation, our spirit that was dead because of man's sin, is born again to partake of God's nature. Our body remains fallen until we die and are given a new glorious body, However, the crucial part of man is the soul, usually defined as our mind, emotions, and will. The soul must be transformed by the truth of God's Word which enlightens the mind, renews right feelings, and causes us to delight in choosing to do God's will. When we choose to hear God's Word and let the truth come in that we are sinners who need Jesus Christ as savior, we are born again. However, just like the seed sown on rocky ground, if it is not allowed to get rooted, the heat and pressure will overcome the plant. Or in the third situation of the parable of the sower, the weeds such as the cares of this world and desire for riches choke the good plant. Therefore, it is a necessary to continually nourish the good soil of our hearts by simply accepting the truth of the Word, asking the Holy Spirit to help us understand it, and by faith holding it fast so it can bear fruit.
Jesus came to give us life, overcoming abundant life. Romans 5:17 even declares that those who receive the free gift of righteousness will reign in this life. The point is Jesus has defeated the devil and restored to man all that was lost by the sin and fall of man. Salvation means being saved from, or delivered from all man lost. The key is that as long as we let the Word of God abide in us, and abide in Jesus Christ, we will bear fruit and overcome. The seed of God's Word grows naturally in our good ground. God told Joshua that if he would not let this Word depart from his mouth and keep it in his heart to do it, that he would make his way prosperous and have good success. God is not a respecter of persons, the same prinicple is true for all of us.
Colossians 3 reminds us to set our minds on things above. On the other side of the coin, Romans 8 warns that to set our mind on the flesh is death. When we allow the cares of this world or negative thoughts, feelings, or desires to dominate our thoughts rather than the truth of God's Word, it is like turning the engines off on the airplane. So the crucial decision, or discipline in our lives, is whether we live by the Word of God or by the thoughts and wisdom of fallen man.
Faith, which comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, overcomes the world. Jesus said we live in the world but are not of the world or controlled by the world. Every time you take a flight or see a plane flying overhead, remember that is a physical example of overcoming gavity just as your letting the Word dwell in you richly builds you up to overcome the world. In the same way Jesus answered the devil with the Word of God, we must declare God's truth over doubt, fear, condemnation, and whatever negative the enemy throws at us. Praise God for the gift of the Word and the Spirit to continualy work this Word in our hearts and minds. We are so blessed to be free to fly.
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