Latest / The Daily Word / June 1 – Make No Provision
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, let's talk about a few days into that diet. You you've been doing well. You've been cutting things out. You're starting to feel more energy. All the things are good, except for the fact that you're still missing out on some of those things that you were editing. then one day in the back of your mind, you have this thought. You know. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good wee hours of the night, whenever you are joining us. Welcome to the Daily Word Podcast from Lakeshore Christian Fellowship. My name is Corey. It's my privilege to pastor Arcitava Campus. I'm excited to be sitting down with you two days in a row again on the Daily Word Podcast. We're going to be doing a devotion of today's New Testament portion from our Bible reading plan. We're joining in together on as a church. Traffic's kind of rough today. You know what? Maybe, maybe I should change the way I drive home and take that other road. You know, the one that drives past the Krispy Kreme. And I'm not gonna stop at Krispy Kreme or anything, but but I guess if that hot light is on, well, I've been doing so good, I've earned this one. Well, if we were if we were following Paul's advice, he would say don't do that. family and today on the docket is Romans chapter 13. We talked yesterday about the fact that Romans 12 Paul shifted gears into practical application and that's still where we are in chapter 13. Now he begins this chapter with seven verses about how a Christian should interact with civil authorities or the government. Practical application there. Then in verses eight through ten, Paul repeats what he had already shared with the Church of Galatia when he wrote in Galatians 5 14 for all the laws fulfilled in one word, even this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Paul summarizing there that another practical application, way that righteousness works for. Through us and out of us is by us law loving one another. Then this chapter ends, it's a pretty short chapter, with Paul encouraging the Romans to wake up, to cast out darkness, and to put on Christ. So I'm gonna read those last verses to you, starting in Romans 13 11, New King James Day. So if we're walking after Jesus, ⁓ are we eliminating the things from our life that tempted to fall back into? If there was an an addiction ⁓ or an unhealthy habit or a toxic relationship or worldly influences that pull us away from Jesus, are we actually cutting off things that might provide And do this, knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. For those desires of the flesh to be met. If if alcohol had a hold on you, maybe making sure that there's provision to to not have it in the house. If you were addicted to to video games, maybe it's getting rid of the console or the gaming PC. If lust has been a struggle, maybe it's deleting apps or putting safeguards on our devices. All I'm saying is. That if we really truly want to make no provision for the desires of the flesh, it starts by getting things clean and removing anything that could feed into those temptations. And then once we're into that diet, it's making sure that we're aware of that voice that says, just look, just drive by, reinstall it. Just just just one one time. When those voice comes, are we entertaining those thoughts or are we shutting them down before they turn into provision for the flesh? And the thing that I want us to focus on here is verse ⁓ 14. And that's going to be the central thought for this ⁓ devotion. ⁓ But put on the Lord Christ make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. So what we need to recognize is that when Paul says, Put on the Lord, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts That means beyond fighting sin the moment it appears, it actually means that we stop feeding at opportunities to get a hold of us before we ever get there. And that's the application for today. Looking at my life, is there anything that I have consciously or unconsciously aligned or set up to provide for the desires of my flesh? That word there for provision is the Greek word pronoya. And it's a compound word that comes from the word pro, which means before, and then noia, which is thought. We're kind of familiar with that last part from like paranoia, which is about the way we think as well. So thought there. And it captures the idea of giving thought beforehand with the intention of preventing harm. Am I doing things? Is there anything I need to clean out of my house? Is there any conversation that I've allowed to happen in my head that has made me change and go back to driving by the Krispy Kreme? If so, maybe it's time to deal with that. Let's pray. Father, I just thank you for having your hand on us. I thank you, Lord, that we have the privilege of putting you on and getting to where you And beyond just merely giving forethought, it also means to make provision for something and to be concerned for or about something. So what Paul is saying is that as we cast off the works of darkness and choose to put on Christ to clothe ourselves with him, that we should do so without making any considerations, without giving any forethought, or any provisions to meeting the desires of. And that we get to walk with you and live with you and dwell with you and be loved by you. And I pray that you would give us the wisdom and discernment and foresight to make no provision for the desires of the flesh, but rather to live according to your will, according to your way, and to grow in intimacy and knowledge of you, that our relationship could be deeper and deeper and deeper. And help us. Of our flesh. Picture picture it like this. This is what Paul, this is a modern way of considering what Paul is saying. Let's think about when you're going on a a diet, okay? So you want to change your eating habits, you want to become healthier, you want to do all these things. Well, if we are making sure that we are to make sure that we're getting these things out of the way before they become a problem. We love you, Jesus. We really do. Amen. Doing that the way Paul says here with the dictates of the flesh, and we want to make sure that we're making no provision for our flesh during this diet, that would mean that we want to make sure that we actually do give some forethought into our health. And by doing that, we eliminate any provisions in our house for our flesh. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm talking about coming after the Twinkies and the the the the snacks and the cheeses and all the delicious stuff. And before we even jump in on that diet, if we're gonna take Paul's advice to make no provision, we're gonna be dumping out all those things that could later be used to to satisfy the desires of the flesh. And this actually goes in even deeper than that.