"You Have To Do It"

"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 1 Corinthians 9:27

So you won't misunderstand what I am about to say, let me say this first- only the Lord can truly save us, heal us and deliver us, we can't do it ourselves. I do not have the power to set myself free from the bondage of sin. I cannot give myself eternal life. I cannot bring myself out of the pit of destruction. I can't heal my body when it is consumed with sickness. Only the Lord can set the captive free and open the prison door to those who are bound. I can't do it, but He can. He is able and with Him nothing is impossible or too difficult.

Now, having said that, let me say this- when we have a besetting sin in our lives, when we are going through a time of temptation, when we are wrestling with some lust of the flesh, we often think that the Lord is going to just "miraculously; magically" come down and take it away from us, slap it out of our hands or snatch it from us. We think that all we have to do is sit back and let Him just do it all for us. That is not the case.

Although He can do that there are some things that He expects us to do and He will empower us by giving us the grace and strength to do it. Paul, in the verse above, said that "he" kept his body under subjection. That meant that he was the one who disciplined it, he was the one who did not allow it to have everything it desired. He took control of his flesh and would not let it give into every desire and craving.

There are some things that you are waiting for God to do for you but He has told you to do it. You are waiting for Him to come and "take it out of your hands" but He is not going to. You have to do it. You have to lay it aside. You have to stop it. You have to turn from it. You have to decide not to do it. You have to discipline yourself. But when you do, like I said earlier, He will empower you with everything you need to do it.

Have a great day. You are waiting on God to do it, and you are the one who has to do it, then He will come to your aid.

For further reading:
Hebrews 12:1
Galatians 5:1
Philippians 4:13
James 4:7

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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