Colossians 1:9 That is why we keep on talking to God about you since the day we heard about you. We ask him that you may know everything he wants you to do. We ask him that you may be very wise and that the Spirit will help you to understand.
10 We ask him that you will live the way the Lord wants you to live, so that you will please him in everything you do. We ask that you will do everything that is good. We ask that you will see the fruit from what you do. We ask that you will know more and more about God.11 God has wonderful power. And we ask him to give you all the strength you need to go through all your troubles, to be very patient in them, and to be happy.
12 Thank the Father who has made us ready to be with the people of God who live in his light.
| Day 6—Sexual sins nearly always begin the list of sins that must be put away from one’s life. |
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The Lord Jesus was the first to present the list of wrongs that must be put away from a believer’s life. We see this in Mark 7:20-23, a most unusual passage.
And He said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man (that makes the man’s life like a common place where anything can enter). For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts (the dialogues of evil, personal arguments that go on within a person’s own heart): adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness (indecent conduct), an evil eye (envy), blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Personal arguments over these things often go on within one’s own heart. Whether they are committed in actual fact, or not, they make a person’s life like a common place. There unclean spirits of any kind can take up their work with the intention of leading the person on into a committed sin. Thus, Jesus knew that what was in the heart of a person could begin their downfall. He also knew that uncleanness in one’s heart will make that life like a house open to anything. Thus, it will be a common house where all sorts of unclean things can go on.
Because of what Jesus taught, we want our lives made pure to the innermost parts. Through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, we have the hope of becoming pure. See Colossians 3:5 again and take note of the word mortify, remembering that it means “put to death.” Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. This verse connects us, very well, with Romans 6:11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The word reckon means “put it down to your account.”
FATHER, I take the above Word that came through Paul and put it down to my account that when Christ Jesus died, I died. When He was raised from the dead, I too was raised with Him. In doing this, I present the unclean sexual desires that arise within me. I trust in the power of Christ’s death and resurrection to set me free from those arguments that go on inside me that try to make me commit acts of uncleanness.
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