Jesus said- "I will send you anoher comforter that he may abide with you forever." Paul said "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption." Imagine a room is being rented. There is you- you're just a normal good natured guy, and there is your two roommates, that are always fighting. One of them is a scumbag, but you like to hang out with him sometimes because hey, nobody's perfect. The other one is Jesus. Now whose side is it best to take? Your flesh will constantly be fighting against the spirit of God if you are born again. If you listen to you flesh it grieves the spirit, it quenches it like a fire. Not that it leaves you forever but you lose the power of the Spirit if you walk in the flesh. And if you know the peace that comes from being filled with the spirit and the heartbreak that comes from walking in the flesh it is good to keep in mind. By the way it's important to remember your flesh will die one day... In other words one of your roommates will stop being able to pay the rent and one will remain- so which one do you want to stay friends with?

You've all heard people say it, "I work hard everyday." Well that's all fine and good but there is more to life, and more to being righteous than just working hard. (Consider the difference between Mary and Martha.) What if people tried to treat there wife or husband the way we treat God? "Honey you haven't talked to me in a week!" "Well that's okay because I have been working hard, you have enough to eat so who needs love." I watched a documentary recently called- "Just, Melvin- Just Evil" About some violent hillbilly who raped his daughters and killed a nurse, never was arrested for it either. Well his one relative, who you can tell was one of those guys who just liked to be laid back and not get involved, which is ussually a good quality but there is a time to step in too. Anyway he is asked about the guy and he says "he was always a great mechanic." Well I won't judge cousin Billy or whatever his name was but I'm pretty sure God will look at more than his mechanical skills on judgement day. This is not meant to be a post only about relying on your own hard work (and not the hard work of Jesus on the cross) but about relying on anything besides the completed work of Christ. So back to the documentary; Anyway, when this guy died, the minister at his funeral (you know they have to try and say something nice) said "well he loved to read the Bible and read it several times." Now yes; I doubt it's true, but that's not the point. "Not the hearers of the word will be justified but the doers!" And what does the Bible say to do- have faith in Christ. My friend had a dad who raped her. One day they were watching Ricky Lake and it was an episode about a guy who raped another man's daughter. Her dad said "I would kill someone if they did that to you." Implying - "It's okay when I do it though." Well unfortunately even that statement didn't end up being true, but it just shows you how far people will go to put stock in their good qualities and downplay their glaring . Why can't we just admit that we are sinners and we need the Holy Spirit's help?