I'm going to just jump right in, then go back and give the introduction. In 2 Cor. 6:17, we are told, to "come out and be separate", Jesus said, "Go and sin no more". When today's devotion is over I am going to ask you to get on your knees and say a prayer for me. You see, my childhood growing up, all the way into my late teenage years things were not easy for me, and there was a long list of things that happened to me that gave me a desire for a certain sin. One that I just can not get rid of. I have spent most of my life praying that God would remove it from me, as He has with other temptations. However, I have received no word on it. With my physical health I have heard Him say "My grace is sufficient". But with this, I have never heard anything from Him. That does not mean He has not spoken, and I just did not hear.
Romans 6:15&16, says that just because we are under the forgiving grace of God, instead of the law of Moses, that does not mean that we should sin. It also says that who we allow to control us, is who will control us. Verse 2 same chapter ask "How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Yet I am just unable to put this in my past.
We are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God, therefore we must be holy and acceptable, which is the least we can do for Him, Rm 12:1. Verse 2 goes on to say that we should not be like the world, but we should renew our minds, so that we might be transformed into His likeness. I do this daily, and yet some days I do not have the victory.
"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" Gal. 5:16. Verse 24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts". Some how these two verses just do not describe me, where this subject is concerned. I pray, read my Bible, pray even more, I seek God's will for my life, and do my best to know, understand and do His will. I don't know how I could walk more in the Spirit than I do. Don't misunderstand, when I decided to get my heart right with Him, and return to His fold, I lost all desire for any and every other sin I had been committing, but this one remains, now some 15 years later.
If you look at Gal. 6:7&8, we are told that "God is not mocked:", that we shall reap what we sow, whether it be of the flesh, or the Spirit. I do everything I can to not only sow to the Spirit, but to water, and fertilize what has been planted. I am not saying that other than this I am perfect, however this is the only thing I have a recurring problem with. Some days, I am just not strong enough to fight the temptation, I'll be praying that God will help me overcome it, and my mind will wander during my prayer. Until it has wandered to the point, I have forgotten all about praying, and I give in. I know that God wants me to have the victory, I just don't understand why I can't get it. So I am asking you to pray for me. I know that one day I will have the victory, I just want it to be on this side of the grave. Either that or for God to show me that He wants me to fight this for a reason. If I know He has a reason then I am happy to fight it, I just have not heard anything at all, and that is what makes it so hard to fight. Thank You.