The spirit is willing, but the body is weak

Matthew 26:41 (NIV)

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 

“The spirit is willing but the flesh (body) is weak”.  How true this statement of our Lord is.  You see evidence of this all the time.  People resolve to change, to be somebody, to make vows never to do something again or to start doing something every day, to accomplish some major task.  Indeed, some are successful in achieving what they resolved to do.  But, most fail. 

Look at the disciples with Jesus at the Mount of Olives.  In Matt 26:33 Peter boldly declared that even if all others fall away from Jesus, he, most self-assured Peter, would never do this.  Oh yeah?  As Jesus predicted, Peter eventually denied any relationship with Him, not once but three times.  In Matt 26:38 Jesus admitted to His closest colleagues that He was so grieved and asked them for their help and support.  So what did they do?  They fell asleep.  Does sleeping show your help and support?  Of course, Jesus was dismayed at their failure, declaring, “Could you not even stay awake and help to protect Me for one hour?”  Then He made this statement about the willingness of our spirits but the weakness of our bodies. 

If you are thinking, “how could those disciples do that to Jesus?”, think again.  Think about your own prayer life.  Think about your own thought life.  Think about your own ability to be disciplined in what you eat, watch, and do.  We all are guilty of this statement of Jesus.  We don’t watch and pray all the time as we should and we fall into temptation.  We fail to do what our spirit tells us to do. 

This verse focuses on the sin of omission in your life.  Reminds me of a sermon illustration I heard many years ago about a child who said, “Sins of commission are the sins we commit.  Sins of omission are sins we meant to commit but forgot.”  What do you forget to do; more frankly, what do you neglect to do that you know you should do?  Again, think about your prayer life.  Are you praying like you know you should?  What about your quiet time, your time in the Word, your time and effort in service to the Lord?  Who should you be helping, but are doing nothing?  Sure, there’s a willingness in your mind and heart to do what you know you should, but do you act on that willingness?

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, "The Cost of Discipleship," he writes on page 170:

"It is always true of the disciple that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and he must therefore "watch and pray." The spirit knows the right way, and desires to follow it, but the flesh lacks courage and finds it too hard, too hazardous and wearisome, and it stifles the voice of the spirit."

Think about these words, but then do more than think, starting doing………

What chokes out the Word of God

Matthew 13:22 (Today’s NIV)

The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

This is one verse from Jesus parable of the sower where He describes four kinds of soils.  The sower is God and the seed He sows in His Word.  There are four ways in which the seed reacts on the soil, representing four ways that people respond to the Word of God.  Three of the four soils results in the Word of God having little or no effect.  Only in the fourth soil does the Word of God thrive and results in unlimited fruit.  The soil of Matthew 13:22 points out the wrong priorities in people’s lives.  Such priorities are worldly that simply choke out the word and results in a person who bears little or no fruit in others’ lives. 

So many people go to church, hear a great sermon, are inspired to make changes in their lives to apply the sermon message, then go to work on Monday, get involved in the secular world, encounter a myriad of problems in their professional and personal/family lives, and quickly forget their desire to make changes.  Jesus refers to two main worldly phenomena that choke the potential positive influence of His word.  One is worry, the other is wealth and its deceit. 

There is a great verse, perhaps one of the most loved verses of the entire Bible that gives God’s perspective on worry.  Philippians 4:6 says that we are to worry about nothing (the Living Bible says “don’t worry about anything”).  That is what God thinks about worry.  Worry is the opposite of faith.  We are human and to worry is natural, but we can control the extent to which we worry.  We are to replace worry with prayer (Phil 4:6).  Jesus Himself said that we are not to keep worrying (Luke 12:29).  Worry has to be a major weapon of the devil that keeps us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives.  In fact, did you know that when you worry you are outside the will of God.

Scripture has a lot to say about wealth/money.  Greg Laurie said that 15 percent of everything Jesus ever taught was on the topic of money and possessions-more than His teachings on heaven and hell combined.  Jesus’ summary about money is found in Matthew 6:24 where He clearly stated that we either serve God or we serve mammon (money, riches, greed).  When we allow (give priority to) money, riches, and materialism to dominate our lives, we for sure choke God’s word right out of our lives 

What kind of soil are you?  May it not be the thorny soil described above; may it be the good soil that bears wonderful fruit in others' lives.  May this be your priority, to be the good soil.  In whose life/lives are you bearing fruit?   

The preacher

Romans 10:13-14 (NASB)

for “ Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  And how will they hear without a preacher?

How will they hear without a preacher?  A rhetorical question, perhaps, but how did you first learn of the gospel?  Did you read and understand yourself or did someone explain it to you?  Likely you heard it.  And from whom did you hear it?  Was it a true preacher, i.e., a pastor, someone at the pulpit, an evangelist on TV or at some youth camp, revival, etc?  Or could it have been your father, mother, another family member, a friend or even a stranger?  Preacher means to be a herald, to proclaim like a herald, to publish and proclaim openly.  The Greek word for preacher, kēryssō, also suggests formality, gravity, and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed.  How will people hear (the gospel) without someone speaking with a formality, gravity, and authority that deserves people’s attention and response? 

The apostle Paul quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13.  What is the meaning of “call upon”?  The Hebrew word used here is “qara” meaning “to proclaim”, “cry out”, “summon” or “invite”.  It is a very commonly used word in the Old Testament, used 736 times in 688 verses.  It’s the verb God used in Gen 1:5,8,10, e.g. called (“qara”) the light day and the darkness night in Gen 1:5.  This is the word God used in calling for Adam in Gen 3:9 and calling for Moses in Exo 19:20.  This is the word used throughout Genesis when a person was named, e.g. Gen 21:3 when Abraham named (qara) his son, Isaac.  This word is used many times in Psalms and Proverbs when someone is crying out for the Lord, e.g. Psalm 34:6, Proverbs 2:3.  Therefore, “qara” is a very personal verb involving some sort of action, some sort of involvement, some sort of a much deeper connection. 

You cannot simply and casually say, “OK, Lord, here I am, save me”.   Jesus Himself said in Matt 7:21 that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.   A mere calling out the name of the Lord will not save a person.  Salvation is more than words.   You can claim Romans 10:13 alone without having this verse in context.  Go back a few verses to  Romans 10:9-10 where it is written that it is not only what you say, but also what you believe in your heart.  The first part of Romans 10:14, Paul asks the question about calling on the Lord when you haven’t yet believed.   Salvation comes after inner conviction.  When a salesperson “calls upon” a customer or a doctor “calling upon” a patient in a hospital it is more (or should be more) than merely saying hello.  There is a much deeper meaning to the words “call upon”.

To be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His claims, His death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, and His resurrection (Eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5).  However, as Paul writes, how can anyone believe in who the Lord is and what He did if you have not heard the gospel?  And how do you hear the gospel?  From a preacher.  From someone who preaches from what is written in the Bible about belief and salvation.   It’s a preacher who tells you that you are lost, separated from God, and there’s nothing you can do or say on your own efforts to be connected to God.   It’s a preacher who tells you that you are a sinner according to the Word of God and the penalty of sin is death, eternal separation from God.  It’s a preacher who then tells you that Jesus Christ is the answer, that belief in Him and the cross will save you from the penalty of sin and connect you with God.  And it’s the preacher who helps you understand what you need to say and do to be saved in Christ forever. 

Who was the preacher in your life?  Or, might there have been several preachers, e.g. several who witnessed to you over the years (planted seeds, I Cor 3:6)?  And to whom have you been the preacher?  To whom do you need to be a preacher now?         

Do not be afraid any longer, only believe

Mark 5:35-37 (NASB)

While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”

The synagogue official’s name was Jairus (Mark 5:22).   He approached Jesus who had just crossed the Sea of Galilee and was standing on the seashore of Capernaum.  Capernaum was Jesus’ home location during His ministry after He left his hometown of Nazareth (Matt 4:13).  Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and begged Jesus to heal his daughter was at the point of death.  While Jesus was healing the woman with the hemorrhage problem because of her faith (Mark 5:25-34) Jairus was told that his daughter had died.  Jesus overheard this news and then said to Jairus not to be afraid any longer, but to believe.  Jesus then went to Jairus home, said to the little girl, “Little girl, I say to you, arise” and she did.

We all have significant fears in our lives and have experienced many times when we have felt real fear.  What have been your experiences of fear?  Have you ever experienced the feeling or sensed/heard the words of Jesus, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe?”   Oh, indeed, it takes deep seated faith to (1) remember these words of Jesus when we are experiencing fear and (2) truly believing them.  The Polish leader, Lech Walesa, is quoted as saying, “Deep faith eliminates fear”.  Do you have this kind of deep faith that can always replace your fear(s)?   

I’ve heard that there are 365 verses, one for each day of the year (minus leap year) that contains the phrase “do not be afraid” or “fear not”, but that’s not true.  You can look up several websites (e.g. http://wordnuggets.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/how-many-times-does-the-bible-say-fear-not/) where people have found not more than 100 times this phase is used in the Bible.  Yet, as several pointed out, even if there was only one “do not be afraid” verse spoken by Jesus, would that not be enough?

Jesus’ words about replacing fear with faith are similar to Paul’s famous words in Philippians 4:6 “Do not worry about anything, but pray about everything……”  In Matthew 6:25b, 27, and 30b Jesus also spoke bluntly about fear and faith---“…….do not be worried about your life……and who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?.......You of little faith!”.

Someone once said that “fear & anxiety is based on not knowing what’s next...faith is based on knowing the One who does!”  The Bible is very clear that if you believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ, you are not to fear or worry about anything.  You are to have faith and put your trust in the Lord and let Him take care of whatever is causing you to fear and worry.  If you candidly know that you fear and worry excessively, you do not have sufficient faith.  You deepen your faith by getting more serious about knowing your bible and incorporating its promises about faith deep within your heart and soul.  You know what you need to do. 

“Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.”—Max Lucado

The inclination of your heart

Deuteronomy 5:29 (NIV)

“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear Me and keep all My commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever.”

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed a 10-day trip, part business, part pleasure, to Switzerland several years ago.  Two main memories I still maintain from that trip—the awesome splendor of the Swiss Alps and central Switzerland and my reading Phil Yancey’s book, “The Bible Jesus Read” while on the trip. 

The bottom line of the book is the requirement of faith that God has for His people.  From the patriarchs to Job to the prophets and the Israelites, God required faithfulness.  Faithfulness, in part, means to remember Him always and the think about Him, thank Him, enjoy Him, and worship Him always.  Do you do this all the time?  Perhaps at periodic intervals throughout the day, yes, you do.  Yet, you likely don’t include Him in everything.  Otherwise, you would not overeat and watch excessive TV and do other things that do not glorify God.  Faithfulness also means going out, doing His work, telling others about Him, acts that you know you do not do much of or perhaps could do more than you are now. 

As I read and thought about Yancey’s comments on Job, Moses, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the prophets, I realized that faith undergirds everything.  Faith is most challenged, interestingly, when things in life are going well.  You don’t rely on God and His leading you when you are healthy, you have a nice job, your family doing well, and things in life are good.  Of course, this changes once you life starts encountering the inevitable storms of illness, pain, loss, failure, drudgery, disappointment, and so forth.  Yet, the wish of the Lord is that you would be inclined--that you would give Him priority—to respect and reverence and obey Him no matter what is going on in your life.

Why must you practice these things?  God promises that not only will you be blessed, but also your children will be blessed, not only now but forever.  The phrase “it might go well” in the Hebrew means “to be good, be pleasing, be well, be glad”.  These good things are what the Lord God desires for you and your children. 

Note what seems to be the Lord’s exasperation---“Oh, that their hearts……..”.  Why?  Because most people simply never seem to learn to walk in the Lord’s ways.  He knows this because He gave His human creation free will to make our own choices and most humans choose to turn away from Him.  May that not be the case with you.  Remember His promises, especially for the sake of your children!