Feed the Spirit; Starve the Flesh
October 2012
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Galatians 5:16-18
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify it's desire." Romans 13:14
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5
We have all heard the "Feed the Spirit; Starve the Flesh" message. And many times we only relate "certain things" to the flesh like lust and sex, but this message is much deeper than just that. Today, I challenge you to take a look in the mirror and do a self-check. Today, we will discuss the following:
1. What is considered the flesh?
2. Am I feeding my flesh?
3. How am I helping my flesh to grow?
4. How can I starve my flesh?
5. How can I feed my spirit?
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify it's desire." Romans 13:14
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5
We have all heard the "Feed the Spirit; Starve the Flesh" message. And many times we only relate "certain things" to the flesh like lust and sex, but this message is much deeper than just that. Today, I challenge you to take a look in the mirror and do a self-check. Today, we will discuss the following:
1. What is considered the flesh?
2. Am I feeding my flesh?
3. How am I helping my flesh to grow?
4. How can I starve my flesh?
5. How can I feed my spirit?
Okay, meet "the flesh." He's a ugly thing isn't he! lol! Your question may be who or what is he exactly? The flesh is the physical you.....it is your body. The flesh desires and wants things that go against Christ and His Word. He has the nature of sin. He is disobedient....he wants to live for self, instead of for Christ. He seeks his own pleasure over God's! He will control you if you are not born again and constantly renewing your mind with the Word of God! He initiates wrong thoughts that manifest into sinful actions. His nature is to do things that dishonor and displease God. He is a "distraction." He wants your focus on him and not on Christ. He can be very cunning, misleading, and deceitful. He will say things like, "No one will know," "You are human....everyone does it," and "Type that name in the search engine and be noisy (he knows that being noisy can sometimes cause a disturbance in your heart that will then lead to you being focused on the wrong thing.) He is the anger, the strife and un-forgiveness, the revenge, the hate, the lying, the cheating, the selfishness, jealousy, envy, vanity.....he just isn't a good guy. But I do have great news for those of you who are born again! That good news is that Christ defeated flesh's rule over you when He died and rose again. Even though the devil tries to tempt us every day; as Christians we are no longer slaves of the devil, sin or the flesh. The flesh has no control over a blood bought believer....Hallelujah.....unless you allow him to. You feed it or attack it, give into it or deny it....it's your choice!
Now that we have defined what the flesh is and we now know that it is our choice to feed or starve it. I have one question for you. Are you feeding your flesh? Let's do a self-check. There are many ways to feed your flesh. In gardening, we know that water and sunlight is what causes a plant to grow. This can also be applied to our flesh. Giving into and submitting to the flesh is as water is to a plant; it causes the flesh to grow. Be mindful that the more you feed into the flesh the more dominant it will become and it will lead you contrary to the Word of God! You feed the flesh by focusing on anything and everything other than God. Here are some subtle ways of feeding the flesh: when you listen to, watch things, read things, or do things that are not glorifying Christ. Recently, I was talking to a friend and she was educating me about twitter. lol! I don't have a twitter, but what she said stuck with me. She said, "Well, if a person only tweets foolishness, I won't follow them." Question: What or who are you following? Are they contributing food for your flesh to grow? Think about it.....do as my friend did.....STOP FOLLOWING! As a believer it is vital that we do not "make friends" with or feed our flesh, but that we FEED OUR SPIRIT so that our spirit will dominate and lead our flesh!!!! Because if your spirit is not leading.....then......
.....THE FLESH WILL GROW AND LEAD!
For this reason.....we must FEED OUR SPIRIT WITH THE WORD OF GOD. And as a result........
......our flesh will starve and will have to be lead by our spirits!. So first things first, how can I really starve my flesh? It is vital that as a Christian you stay deeply connected to, rooted in, and focused on Christ. No more half-hearted Christianity. You know what I mean...half of your heart belongs to Christ and the other half belongs to......(you fill in the blank). No more "Sunday is God's day," but Monday through Saturday it's all about me! No more! Social networking is a great thing, but the devil can use these things to get your focus off of God and onto the things of the flesh. Beware.....certain songs, certain books, certain statuses, tweets, and pinterest pins (I love pinterest...lol) can contribute to your flesh being fed and spirit starving. BEWARE! In August, we learned about guarding our hearts....we talked about watching what we say, what we allow ourselves to look at, what we allow our minds to think about, who we hang around, who or what we listen to....and the greatest of all.....who we serve! Beware! All of the answers to these "who's" can either feed or starve our flesh......or feed or starve our spirit! We've all heard the saying, "Don't eat from everyone's table." What wisdom in this simple statement. You know YOU! You know what causes you to become defocused! You know what causes you to do the things that your flesh desires over doing the will of God! Friend, don't eat from everyone's table.....choose wisely. Starve your flesh and feed your spirit!
I challenge you to pull out your Word and read, write down, and meditate on a scripture.....MAKE IT YOUR STATUS ON FACEBOOK; TWEET IT, PIN IT.....do whatever you have to do whenever you are tempted to feed your flesh. I assure you that when you starve the flesh by feeding your spirit; those negative desires, and those negative emotions will die! Joshua 1:8 says, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." I love how God works! Instead of meditating on your flesh and observing to do according to all that is sinful....God suggest that you meditate on His Word day and night! Not just on Sundays....but all the time....then you will obey it and then you will make your way prosperous and have good success. Friend, God knows that our meditations (the focus of our thoughts, and what we think and rethink) will ultimately turn into conversations which will result in deeds that either do or don't glorify and honor God. That's why He tells us to meditate on Him and His Word.....not the desires of our flesh....but on Him and His Word! Friend, let your desire be to have a "single eye" for the glory of God. Whatever might blur the vision God has given you of His work; whatever could distract, deceive, or tempt you to seek anything, but Christ......eliminate it! "Whatever you are gripping to bring you "satisfaction" is a lie....unless it is Christ!" "Life only works when Jesus is everything and we are fully submitted to Him!" Wake up every morning and make up your mind to have a "single eye" for Christ alone! Cast every care onto Jesus.....He cares for YOU! Surrender all of you....every plan, every dream, and every desire to Him! Ask Him to satisfy all of your longings and fill all of your hollow places with His lavish and unfailing love. Ask Him to give you a heart to love Him and know Him more than anything in life. I assure you that He will meet every need of yours according to His will and that He will empower you to conquer your flesh! HE LOVES YOU FIERCELY! He died for you to be free! Free from any and everything that Satan has to offer!
Let's make a deal.....every morning before you start your day choose a chapter in the Bible or few scriptures to read. Write the scripture(s) down on notecards and write what God reveals to you. Get a Bible study book (some great authors that have blessed my life are Beth Moore, Pastor Bill Winston, Pastor Creflo Dollar, Pastor Mark Hankins, and countless others) and read a chapter and write down a specific quote that stirs your spirit! Then pray and pour out your heart to God! Spend time in the presence of God and let Him fill you up with all that He is. And then carry these notecards around with you to school, work, the gym...etc. Whenever you're tempted to give into your flesh....feed your spirit by pulling out these notecards, reading, and meditating on the scriptures or quotes that you wrote. Pray and communicate with God constantly throughout the day....He always loves to hear from YOU! I leave you with this quote by Francis Chan. I pray that whenever you are tempted that you remember not only to feed your spirit and starve your flesh, but that you remember these words:
I challenge you to pull out your Word and read, write down, and meditate on a scripture.....MAKE IT YOUR STATUS ON FACEBOOK; TWEET IT, PIN IT.....do whatever you have to do whenever you are tempted to feed your flesh. I assure you that when you starve the flesh by feeding your spirit; those negative desires, and those negative emotions will die! Joshua 1:8 says, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." I love how God works! Instead of meditating on your flesh and observing to do according to all that is sinful....God suggest that you meditate on His Word day and night! Not just on Sundays....but all the time....then you will obey it and then you will make your way prosperous and have good success. Friend, God knows that our meditations (the focus of our thoughts, and what we think and rethink) will ultimately turn into conversations which will result in deeds that either do or don't glorify and honor God. That's why He tells us to meditate on Him and His Word.....not the desires of our flesh....but on Him and His Word! Friend, let your desire be to have a "single eye" for the glory of God. Whatever might blur the vision God has given you of His work; whatever could distract, deceive, or tempt you to seek anything, but Christ......eliminate it! "Whatever you are gripping to bring you "satisfaction" is a lie....unless it is Christ!" "Life only works when Jesus is everything and we are fully submitted to Him!" Wake up every morning and make up your mind to have a "single eye" for Christ alone! Cast every care onto Jesus.....He cares for YOU! Surrender all of you....every plan, every dream, and every desire to Him! Ask Him to satisfy all of your longings and fill all of your hollow places with His lavish and unfailing love. Ask Him to give you a heart to love Him and know Him more than anything in life. I assure you that He will meet every need of yours according to His will and that He will empower you to conquer your flesh! HE LOVES YOU FIERCELY! He died for you to be free! Free from any and everything that Satan has to offer!
Let's make a deal.....every morning before you start your day choose a chapter in the Bible or few scriptures to read. Write the scripture(s) down on notecards and write what God reveals to you. Get a Bible study book (some great authors that have blessed my life are Beth Moore, Pastor Bill Winston, Pastor Creflo Dollar, Pastor Mark Hankins, and countless others) and read a chapter and write down a specific quote that stirs your spirit! Then pray and pour out your heart to God! Spend time in the presence of God and let Him fill you up with all that He is. And then carry these notecards around with you to school, work, the gym...etc. Whenever you're tempted to give into your flesh....feed your spirit by pulling out these notecards, reading, and meditating on the scriptures or quotes that you wrote. Pray and communicate with God constantly throughout the day....He always loves to hear from YOU! I leave you with this quote by Francis Chan. I pray that whenever you are tempted that you remember not only to feed your spirit and starve your flesh, but that you remember these words:
God loves YOU and so do I!!! Be encouraged!
(Pictures: Josh Harris)
(Pictures: Josh Harris)