Courts or Prison

 There are two opposing forces at work in this world. The King Yahweh who rules over the affairs of men. There is also Satan who tried to usurp God and was cast down to earth. He rules as the prince of darkness. These two are in constant opposition. God is more powerful and knows the Devil's days are numbered. He is allowed to go about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. [I Pet 5:8] He is powerful, but he is not all powerful. He is a liar. He is a deceiver. 

God offers us an invitation to come into His courts. We don't deserve it. We, who are flawed and unfaithful, never deserve entrance into His courts. We are extended an invitation to come into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. [Ps 100:4] In His courts, we find joy forever in God's presence and pleasures forever. [Ps 16:11] In His courts, we are offered refuge, strength, and help. {Ps 46:1]

What does Satan offer? Those who follow him will only get an eternal prison sentence. Oh, some may enjoy passing pleasures that sin provides. They will be short lived and cannot compare to the misery of the prison of hell that awaits those who reject God's love and forgiveness. This prison is called hell. It is described as a place of outer darkness. There is no light to comfort and illumine the way. It is more than just physical darkness. It is also spiritual darkness. Hell is also described as a bottomless pit. Imagine the sensation of falling and never having your feet planted on solid ground. It is described as a lake of fire. Fire may be the most common description of hell prison. Imagine the sensation of burning and the intense heat, but never getting a moment of relief. It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a place of torment and agony. 

According to [Matt 7:13-14], there are more people headed for the prison of hell than the courts of God in heaven. That is a sobering thought. People live out their lives. They choose their own morality never knowing they are storing up wrath for themselves in the day of judgment. They do what they want. They refuse to have anything to do with Jesus, God, the church or religion. They think by not believing God is real that it will all work out in the end. One second after those people take their last breath they will see how Satan lied to them. Billions will perish into everlasting condemnation with no hope of escape. 

Even though a loving God sent His Son Jesus to take the punishment for people's sin, rejecting that love to the end will result in the full wrath of God being poured out on those who refused to believe. Unrepentant people will be sentenced to the prison of hell because they believed it was not real. Satan will smirk because he stole, killed, and destroyed another soul. [John 10:10]

On the other hand, many do believe in Jesus. These are the saved who come into the courts of God. These are the ones snatched from sinister Satan's grip. These are the ones who get eternal life and will escape the prison of hell. You have a choice. Courts or prison. 

Mortify the Flesh

 Christians have two natures. We all have the sin nature. The bible refers to this nature as the flesh. It is our human nature. That nature that is opposed to God and His laws. It is the nature that is drawn to sin. That carnal nature wants to sin. On the other hand, we have the spirit nature. This is the part in us that wants to obey and honor God. This is the nature that resists sin. 

We need to mortify the flesh. The word mortify means to subdue and deny self. You can only mortify the flesh by resisting, saying no, and refusing to give into temptations. Temptations of the enemy are enticing. You could have said no to sin 1,000 times in a row, but the flesh is relentless and can trip you up on the 1001st times. Mortifying the flesh means crucifying the flesh. Read Galatians 2:20. Paul said he had been crucified with Christ. He was not talking in the literal sense. Symbolically and spiritually Paul advocated crucifying the flesh. That means dying to the flesh. I promise our flesh will not give up a single bit without a life and death struggle. Go ahead and test this. Choose an area of your flesh you want to crucify. Pay close attention how that area of your life will refuse to surrender to the cross of Christ. 

If I decided I wanted to physically crucify my body, and grabbed hammer and nails I would not be able to complete the task. I could painfully get the nail in my feet and in one hand. What about the other hand? How could I nail the other hand to the cross if I already had a hand nailed? Somebody would have to do it for me. In the same way, you can't just decide to mortify the flesh, or put another way, to crucify the flesh. God has to do that in us. He has to mortify that carnal nature. It will resist, rebel, and refuse to submit. It is a supernatural work of God to mortify the flesh. THE FLESH NEVER GIVES UP. 

Mortifying the flesh is not a one time decision. It is a daily decision. Maybe even an hourly one. You have to choose the path of surrender to God. He makes the spirit nature more dominant and subdues the sin nature. As long as we live in these bodies, we are going to fight against the sin nature. It is not impossible to overcome. It is just impossible to overcome in our ability. 

Mortifying the flesh is not pleasant. It is painful. To say no to things your flesh wants to say yest to is excruciatingly difficult. You will be going against every natural desire, craving, yearning, and longing to do evil. Even some natural things that not bad. Try fasting from food. Try abstaining from television or social media. Try sleeping less so you can pray more. You will find yourself in a war. When the flesh is mortified, the battles are easier. You say yes to God and no to sin. It is that simple, when we mortify the flesh repeatedly.