SHARE IN CHRIST’S SUFFERING; CRUCIFY THE FLESH!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY  NOVEMBER 24, 2019.

SUBJECT : SHARE IN CHRIST’S SUFFERING; CRUCIFY THE FLESH

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Memory verse: 

"But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when the glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy?" (First Peter 4 vs 13.

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READ: Romans 8

 vs 12 - 17

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8:12: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors - not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

8:13: For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

8:14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

8:15: For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba Father."

8:16: The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

8:17: And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we suffer with him; that we may also be glorified together.

8:18: 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

INTIMATION:

When you become "Born-again," that is, when you believe in Christ and His finished work for you on the cross, and confess Him as your Lord and Savior, you are adopted as a child of God. And as a child of God, you have the opportunity of the leading by the Holy Spirit. 

Being the children of God exact the price of being "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." 

Because we are God's children, we share in His great treasures as co-heirs. God has given us His best gifts: His Son, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and Eternal life; and He encourages us to ask Him for whatever we need. 

As followers of Christ, we are led by the Spirit, and consequently, are indebted to the Spirit, and not to the flesh. Just like Christ, we have to suffer in the flesh in obedience to the leading of the Spirit. The flesh is the playground of the devil, and the Spirit has nothing to do with the flesh.

 Our flesh is never going to want what the Spirit wants, and even when our spirit wants to follow the Lord, the appetites of our flesh will tempt us to disobey God. 

As a result, w

e will sense a war going on in us as we choose to conform to God's leading.

As long as we're here on earth our flesh and our born-again heart will not be in natural agreement; 

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5 vs 17.) 

Though the desires of the flesh are not going to disappear and go away, but if we choose to be led by the Spirit, we won't fulfill the desires of the flesh, therefore, devil won't get his way. The 

desires of the flesh leads us away from God's best. T

he apostle Paul said, "I say then; Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5 vs 16).

The bottom line is that our flesh wants to do one thing and the Spirit wants us to do something else, and if we choose to follow the Spirit of God, our flesh is going to suffer. We don't like that, but the Scripture simply says that if we want to share Christ's glory, we have to be willing to share His suffering. 

Christians must face suffering of the flesh, and as Christ's followers we must endure the suffering. 

What kind of suffering are we to endure? Sometimes we get the suffering message out of context and balance. 

True Bible suffering is not poverty, disease, or disaster. Jesus came to heal, deliver, and set us free from that kind of suffering. Satan certainly attacks us with those things, and we may have to take them for a season while we are waiting for God to deliver us. B

ut that's not the kind of suffering that God wants us to endure permanently. What the Lord wants from us is to be long-suffering with each other.

What does "longsuffering" mean? It's the patient endurance of trials or prosecution.

A true sign of maturity is demonstrated in the way we react to situations, especially the way we treat other people. The Bible is a Book about relationships—our relationship with God, our relationship with our self, and our relationship with other people. Most of us will agree that the biggest challenge is getting along with other people. 

For true believers and followers of Christ, striving to be like Him should be our main target. Jesus Christ is forgiveness personified. Even in the most crucial pain on the cross, He was pleading with God for forgiveness on His persecutors. What a strange act! But for us, when people make us mad, the tendency to react madly and give it back to them is very high. But to be Christlike, 

if people make us mad, the Word of God in us should start prompting us to forgive them. It's not easy to do, but we have to choose whether we are going to fulfill the desires of the flesh or whether we're going to be led by the spirit. 

If we walk in the flesh, we won't get along with anybody, because the bottom line is we all like to have our way about everything. The flesh is selfish and self-centered. If we walk in the flesh, we will never act like Jesus Christ. 

To live as Jesus did—serving others, giving up one's rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world—always exacts a price of longsuffering. He crucified the flesh, so that He was completely led by the Spirit. Jesus is our role model. Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.

God teaches us what is right through the Spirit indwelling us, and all day long, seven days a week, we have to choose the right thing over the wrong thing. Until the last trumpet sounds, and Jesus comes to get us, we're going to have to say no to self and yes to God. We must realize that in order to follow God, the flesh must be told no, and when that happens the flesh suffers. 

Prayer: Abba Father, I thank You for the privileges of sonship You have given me. My utmost heart desire is to join in Your suffering, crucifying the flesh and lead by the Spirit, that I may glorified together with You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!