STINKY FLESH -- PART 2

"There may have been created within you a genuine desire to serve God, out of a sincere sense of gratitude to Christ for dying for you; you may be impelled out of a sense of duty as a Christian, to seek conformity to some pattern of behavior that has been imposed upon you as the norm for Christian living; you may be deeply moved by the need of others around you, and holy ambitions may have been stirred within your heart, to count for God; all that has happened is that your sins have been forgiven, because you have accepted Christ as the Savior who died for you, leaving you since your conversion only with those resources which you had BEFORE your conversion, then you will have to alternative but to 'Christianize' the flesh and try to teach it to 'behave' in such a way that it will be godly.

That is a sheer impossibility! The nature of the flesh never changes. No matter how you may coerce it or conform it, it is rotten through and through, even with a Bible under its arm, a check for missions in its hand, and an evangelical look on its face!

Any person whose Christian life is centered on service is doomed to a life of frustration . . . Sooner or later, a person whose life revolves around service will experience burn out. And what a wonderful realization when that day comes -- the realization that human energy and efforts CAN but out, but that THE LIFE OF CHRIST WILL NEVER BURN OUT!

Christian service which doesn't overflow from our walk with Christ is nothing but flesh. God cannot receive glory from flesh, regardless of how dedicated it might be." from GRACE WALK ... What You've Always Wanted in the Christian Life by Steve McVey -- Copies are available for
purchase in the KESWICK BOOKSTORE. Call 800-453-7942 or write to DeEtta
Marsh @ dmarsh@americaskeswick.org.