We all at one point in our lives go through struggles. These can be a wide variety of things that we deal with on a day to day basis or every once in a great while. The purpose of this message is to help you understand the struggles you will go through and give you some insight on how to deal with them. There are two main struggles that one will encounter in his or her life time; one being the everyday struggle between your flesh and your spirit and two being the spiritual warfare that you may or may not be aware of.
Let us take a look at the first battle we encounter and that is the one that deals with the flesh and the spirit. In Galatians chapter 5,verse17, Paul goes on to tell us that (For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do no do the things that you wish). Right here Paul states quite clearly the struggle that we will deal with as long as we are in these fleshly bodies. Now let us go on to see the works of both flesh and Spirit. Continuing in Galatians, Paul says this in verses 19-21 (Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornification, uncleanliness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, out bursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissension, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the alike; of which I tell you before hand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God). There are two things to note in this particular set of scriptures; one is he uses the phrase and the alike. This is to include anything that is not specifically mention that may go along the same lines as the others. I guess that was put he used this terminology because people of that age are not too different than today. What I mean by this is people tend to play word games or semantics a lot, so that was put in there to stop any such game. Number two, is that even though we are in the new testament, he says that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Quite clear and to the point, don�t you think?
As we go on, Paul outlines the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22-23 (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law). Now if any of these fruits are evident in your life, then let it be known that it is the Spirit that is within you that is shinning through. It is interesting what Paul says in the next two verses though, 24-25 (And those who are in Christ�s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, then let us also walk in the Spirit). If you are still unsure as to what I am referring to, remember the story of David. Well David was out on his balcony one night and he notice a woman bathing across the way. The Spirit thing to do would be to simply turn around and not give that lustful thought a second chance. Well we all know what happened next. David summoned one of his guards to find out about the woman, and come to find out she was married to one of his most honored military leaders. Well because David gave into his flesh, he committed adultery and then killed Basheba�s husband. Here we see a cut, clear, dry sense of a battle between one�s flesh and spirit. Something a little more subtle may be when you are having a beer. Well I think to drink a beer in and of itself is not a sin. However, once you drink one, your flesh will go on to say well go and have another, you can handle it. Then you have another, well this goes on to the point where you either do not know your limit, or your mind becomes clouded. Now you may not be drunk or buzzed, but it says in God�s word, that we are not to cloud the mind. Here is another instance of when the flesh one the battle over your spirit.
Now that we have identified the problem, what can one do to fix or eliminate it. Well I have some good news and bad news for you listeners. First the bad news, as long as you live on this earth, surrounded by this flesh, you will always have the temptation and your flesh is always going to want to sin. The good news is, there is something you can do in order to become victorious in such battles. Well first things first, one must accept Jesus as their personal lord and savior in order for them to have a victorious. When God caste the devil and a third of his angels out of Heaven, the devil had dominion over the earth, hence the term the prince of the air. Now the only one who was able to overcome the devil while here on earth was Jesus. He was victorious, not only because he lived a sin free life while walking in His flesh, but he defeated death by rising up to heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. So the Holy Spirit must be in you in order for you to be victorious, this happens when you accept Jesus as your savior.
The second thing you must do is to bring your flesh into submission. This is a little harder for some than others because they may have been serving their flesh for while some time while starving their spirit. What I am saying is, �The longer you were living in sin without Jesus in your life, the harder it will be for you to conquer your flesh. Now what you are really doing is starving you flesh and nourishing you spirit. By focusing on the fruits of the spirit and denying your flesh its works that were mentioned in Galatians, you will soon begin to become victorious. Paul is a good example of this. He, before he followed Jesus, was a persecutor of Christians, matter of fact, he was probably the head dude against Jesus and us Christians. Once he realized the error of his ways and turned to follow Jesus, he began to have the victory over his murderous and worldly ways.
You see you can compare this to the way you would raise a child or the way you would train a pet. As you raise your children, you raise them in a way that you see acceptable, trying to eliminate all forms of their sinful wants and desires. I mean to say that you do not want your kid to grow us trying drugs or alcohol, you do not want them lying and skipping school. No matter how hard you try; they will slip and attempt some of these things. This is how it is with your flesh and your spirit. Also you train a dog to sit a listen to your every command, especially when potty training. No matter how hard you try, they will poop on the floor even though they know its wrong, but they either want attention or something else. They will bark at strangers even though you have trained them not to and they will still try to steal your food. Can you see where I am going with this? It takes training and discipline to get it to work for the most part, but soon as you start to get out of the habit of correcting you flesh, it will turn on you. You need to be aware of your flesh and its sinful habits, if you are going to be successful against this battle.
We have recognized that we will constantly have a battle between our flesh and spirit. We have also drawn conclusions on how to have the victory over our flesh when it comes to the show down. Now let us look at the results of living according to the spirit rather than the flesh. Paul tells us in Romans 8, verses 5-6 that (For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace). Well I think there is no mistaken on how we should live, because when he says death, he does not just mean physical death, but spiritual death as well. To put it simply, if you live according to the flesh, you will go to a place that is in dire needs of peace and air conditioning. Paul goes on further to say in verses 8-10 (So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells within you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness). Now Paul says that one must have the Spirit of God in order to be His child, and after you have the Spirit within you your flesh is dead (physical death). In order to please God, you must live according to His Spirit that dwells within you.
The second struggle we will talk about is the one that is considered and called by many, spiritual warfare. Now in order for you to be victorious in the spiritual battle, you need to be victorious in your battle with your spirit and your flesh. Now the spiritual warfare I am talking about is outlined to us in Ephesians. Paul goes onto tell us in chapter 6, verse 12 (For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places). So many times we try to fight the battles with our flesh, this is why we more often time than not fail and get discouraged. We need not depend on our own selves to win the battle, but on the word of God, which is also the Spirit that lives within us. You see the key step in all of this is Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You need Him first to win the personal battle and the overall battle.
Here is an example of spiritual warfare at its finest. Remember the story of Job? You see he did nothing personally to bring the major three adversities that struck him. Well after the first one when the devil took all of Job�s land and livestock, Job�s wife told him to denounce God. Well Job told his wife that everything they had and all the pleasant times in life were from God, so what is it to endure a little hardship. At the end of all of this warfare in Job�s life, he ended up with twice as much as he started, because he held fast to the Lord. Another example is our current situation while here in the desert. Most of us had no control over us ending up here, but we are here none the less. We have been torn away from our families and put in this desolate land. Now it is up to us to recognize that the Lord has a purpose for us while we are here. It is up to us to say to Him that we recognize that our faith may be being tested, so let us rely on Him who got us here to bring us through.
Now here is the million-dollar question, �What are we suppose to do about it?� I am so glad you asked! Paul goes on to tell us in verses 13 through 17 (Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waste with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God). I would like to point out the fact that the first thing that is mentioned is the belt of truth. You see, the thing which holds our weapons our first aid kits, is all held together by truth. Also we have many things here to protect us from the wicked one, but we have an offensive weapon as well. You see, God does not want us to sit around and just be on the defensive, He gives us a weapon. He says take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. You see the bible and the word of God is how you are to attack the devil. You are to not fight the devil with your own body, but with the word of God. If you lean on yourself and you try to fight the devil, you will lose, because you are not using your weapon correctly.
Now if we are to use the word of God, then what exactly does the word have to say about it? I will list a couple of scriptures that have to deal with what we are to do and how we have the victory! First remember the story of Job, well in Job chapter 28 verse 28 it says (Behold, the fear of the Lord, that which is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding). You need to have wisdom and understanding in order to be effective, otherwise you will not know what to do and why you are doing it. Second thing we need to do is pray, because through prayer we are able to fight the offensive fight and to cry out to the Lord. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18 Paul tells us (praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with perseverance). Now we talked about the fact that we will have to do battle until we die in our physical bodies, so the Lord tells us to endure these hardships. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3 the Lord says (You must therefore must endure hardships as a good soldier). As we are enduring these hardships, let us lean on the fact that we will have the victory in these battles. In Colossians chapter 2, verses 9through 10, it says (For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head over all principality and power). In John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus says (These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world). Finally it says in Romans chapter 8 verses 35 and 37 Paul says (Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all things we are more than conquers through Him who loved us). It is important to look at this last set of verses. You see these things will not separate us from the Love of Christ, but it does not mention sin, because sin will separate you from the Lord. Also Paul says that we are not mere conquers, but we are more than conquers!
In order to understand more of what God wants us to do with His weapon and sword, look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 22 (Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, Give thanks in everything, don�t quench the spirit, don�t despise prophecy, test all things and hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil). If we follow the word of God and do according to His will, we have one promise. If you look in James chapter 4 verse 7 it says (Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you). You see we not only have the weapons, but we have the victory no matter what the devil does to us.
In conclusion we need to first bring our flesh into submission to our spirit so that our spirit can fight this spiritual battle. Second we need to stop worry about what is to come. We just listed a few scriptures on what we are to do and what the overall outcome is. Finally we need to realize that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. It doesn�t say that we are able to do all things, but only through Christ may we do all things.

I bring this to you in love and sincerity, with compassion for your soul. Please take time and focus on what this message is saying!
Love,
Jason