THAT OTHER MAN

 

Friday, March 3, 2023

 

THAT OTHER MAN

 

Rom 7:22-24

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? KJV

 

          Most of us would admit that there seems to be another individual living inside us. We have secret conversations with this person and even argue at times. Who is this person? Well, the Bible speaks of him often.

 

          Romans seven is one of the most agonizing chapters I have ever read. Not because it is so confusing, but because I understand it so well. Paul is having an internal struggle with that other man. The word “law” is nomo and indicates that which is parceled out as food is given to grazing animals. The idea seems to be that while he is trying to feed one self, another hungry self shoulders in for a portion. There seems to be no resolution to the conflict. Paul drags around this body without relief.

 

          In several places Paul tries to explain how to manage this struggle. One must be put on and the other must be put off (Col. 3:10). This new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. In another place, Paul said that he must “die daily.” How can that be? Once again, he tries to explain.

 

Gal 2:19-20

19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. KJV

 

Rom 6:11-12

11 Likewise reckon [consider it so] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. KJV

 

Dear Lord, as the argument continues with that other man inside, let me say no to all that displeases you so that I may say yes to you. AMEN

DESPERATELY WICKED

 

Thursday, March 2, 2023

 

DESPERATELY WICKED

 

Jer 17:9-10

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. KJV

 

          A brief look around, and a guilty look inside, will confirm the truth of verse 9. The word “desperately” doesn’t seem to appear in the original. In fact, Young’s literal translation puts it this way: “Crooked [is] the heart above all things, And it [is] incurable — who doth know it?” Without objection, I think we can stipulate that the condition of the human heart is, as Young says, incurable.

 

          One, and only one, remedy seems to be available, but it requires a spiritual transplant. It is an elective surgery.

 

Ezek 11:19-20

19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. KJV

 

Dear Lord, thanks for the new heart and for the Holy Spirit who acts as an anti-rejection medicine. Certainly, you are The Great Physician. AMEN

ABSALOM WAS NOT WELL NAMED

 

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

 

ABSALOM WAS NOT WELL NAMED

 

2 Sam 18:33

33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! KJV

 

          David’s third son by his wife Maacah, did not live up to his name. When David sinned with Bathsheba, Nathan, the prophet, told him that his punishment would be that “the sword would never depart from his house” (2 Sam 12:10). In other words, David would not know peace but war.

 

          David named his second son Solomon, meaning PEACEFUL. He named his third son Absalom which means father of peace. Absalom is a joining of Abba and Shalom, but Absalom was anything but peaceful. The events of his life can be found in Second Samuel chapters 13 through 19.

 

          The first mention of Absalom was his revenge against his half brother Amnon. Amnon had raped Absalom’s sister, Tamar, and Absalom had him killed. He then began a three-year self-imposed exile. The “father of peace” would be known by subterfuge, murder, and pride.

 

          Absalom led a rebellion against his father. While riding his mule through a thick forest, his long flowing hair, of which he was very proud, became tangled in the branches of a strong oak. His mule walked on and he was suspended by his hair. He was killed by darts or arrows, when ten of David’s soldiers disobeyed his orders to spare Absalom. So, a life built on pride, disappointment, resentment, and subterfuge came to an embarrassing end.

 

I’m a child of the King by Harriett E. Buell

 

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,

A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth,

But I've been adopted, my name's written down,

An heir to a mansion, a robe, and a crown.

 

I'm a child of the King,

A child of the King;

With Jesus my Savior,

I'm a child of the King.

 

Thank you, Lord for changing my name, my path, and my destiny. AMEN