God has not delivered me from....

Mike, the question you should be asking yourself is why are you struggling?

I know exactly where your at, everyone on this forum, if they are honest enough, will admit that they too have some problem with some thing in their life. It's easy to shoot out scriptures, but it equally hard to stand to them, because not one of us can truly do the scriptures.

How many of us thought, "If I prayed more, or If I fasted and prayed, If I read my Bible more" surely I would get my victory.

But the victory is at the cross where we died with Jesus Christ.

There is only one thing that will please God and that is your faith exclusively in what Jesus did at the cross. That by placing your faith in Christ and what He did our victory will come.

Remember there is nothing that you can "DO" to have this victory, it has already been done for you.

Should you stop praying or reading the bible or even fast here and there? God forbid, these things are vital, but they are not going to give you the victory.

If you or I sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the righteous. Sin is not your problem, sin has been dealt with on the cross, what your problem is, is YOU and I!!

We "think" that if we do this or do that we'll find favour with God and we'll get our victory. Hogwash!! We have the victory today thru Jesus Christ our LORD, by what He has accomplished on the cross.

You pray because you Love Him, You read the bible because you want to know Him, you fast because you want to be more sensitive. While these things are all good, WE MUST NOT EQUATE THEM WITH TRYING TO PLEASE GOD, If we do, failure awaits, condemnation sets in. Why??

Because any kind of law that we establish in our lives that we "think" will cause us to find favour with God, will end up in failure.

What should we do then?

Firstly enjoy the freedom of Grace that Christ has given to us of God and Love the LORD your God will all your heart.

Will you be tempted? Yes, you may even fall a couple of times, but shake yourself, forgiveness is just a breath away. Don't beat yourself up, quickly give it to Jesus and continue trusting in the LORD.

As you trust in the LORD and you don't put your trust in your abilities, the holy Ghost is working on your behalf searching the inward parts of the belly, dividing between soul and spirit, discerning the thought and the intents of the heart.

Behold.........the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

5nva said

My question is this. Sometimes, we as Christians, when we are struggeling with a sin or weight in our lives say that God just has not delivered me yet. So the question I am pondering is, [b]has God not delivered us or have we not responded to the grace He has given[/b] us and obeyed Him, to be delivered.

Many times on this forum, though, I have posted Hebrews 10:14

[color=0000FF]For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.[/color]
The word 'perfected' means 'completed'. This is a spiritual truth.

It would also be true to say we have been sanctified wholly, meaning that we have been set apart unto God. But, the word 'sanctified' would be better translated 'glorified', in the way that Paul describes in 2 Cor 3:18 (TNT) [color=0000FF]But we all behold the glory of the Lord with his face open, and are changed unto the same similitude, [b]from glory to glory, even of the spirit of the Lord[/b].[/color]

It took me [i]many[/i] years to realise that I could only come into the good of His life, if I was prepared to come into the good of His death, [u]first[/u].

Paul expounds this in Romans 6 (NKJV)
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [i]in the likeness[/i] of [i]His[/i] resurrection,
6 [u]knowing[/u] this, that our old man was crucified with [i]Him,[/i] that the body of sin might be done away with, [b]that we should no longer be slaves of sin[/b].

Tyndale uses the picture in this verse, (that Paul uses later in Romans 11), that we have been [u]grafted[/u] into His death. Having watched this process in real life on fruit trees, and understanding how important it is to bind the graft securely in place, and don't fiddle with it or move it or take off the covering to see how it's doing, I understand this has a time constraint, which the word 'uniting' doesn't really convey.

Therefore, I would not be swift to condemn yourself, as if you had [EDIT] not (sorry...)[EDIT end] responded at all, but rather, accept that this is a process to which we may need to apply [u]all[/u] our human strength to get through successfully. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as we are looking to the Lord to make up the difference between what we can do by ourselves to show willing, and that for which we are dependent on Him because it IS too hard for us to overcome sin on our own. That's the whole reason He came to save us. That's what it's all about.

I know we are not to work out our salvation in the flesh but we must have a role to play in being free and laying things down

1 John 5:21
Little children, [u]keep yourselves[/u] from idols. Amen.

It is by God's grace, yes, that we have the power, but He expects us to give 100% effort to co-operate in every possible way, to [u]keep[/u] our selves.

Romans 8
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors -- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but [u]if[/u] by the Spirit [u][b]you[/b] put to death the deeds of the body[/u], [b]you[/b] will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.