40 Days of

Fighting the Flesh

Week 5 Devotions

How to Fight the Flesh

Day 27

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. The beating of the body - or the fighting of the flesh, is something that Christians throughout the ages have attempted to emulate in one way or another. Some do it by sleeping on hard beds, giving up material possessions, not eating meat on Fridays, or by walking around in cowls and whipping their backs. Martin Luther had some serious health problems later in life - probably due to the way he abused his body in the monastery.

Perhaps this is also gauged from what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29ff, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." If what Jesus said was literally interpreted, that would be more than beating your body - that would be putting yourself to death. Isn't Jesus getting at the fact that we ultimately CAN'T rid our bodies of sin? For if we wanted to eliminate everything that caused us to sin, we would have to cut our brains and hearts out as well.

So when we talk about "fighting the flesh", how do we go about it? What does beating the body have to do with it? Think about what Paul did in his beating of the body. He didn't purposely put himself in situations where he knew he'd get beaten. As a matter of fact, he at one time appealed to his Roman citizenship to halt such a beating. The only time his body was beaten was as a result of his fulfilling the calling that God called him to - which was to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles throughout the Roman world of his time. It was a tough calling - one his body did not want to go through. Therefore, the beating of his body involved doing what God called him to do - which also involved putting his body on the line.

Living with sinful flesh is kind of like living with lazy kids. They constantly leave a mess in your house, and whenever you want them to clean up after themselves they whine and moan and act as if you've just asked them to run a marathon. If you don't keep on them, they'll end up to be the laziest slobs on the planet and your house will be trashed. That's how our sinful flesh works in our lives. He just wants to sit around and do nothing. He wants to eat and play video games. He wants no responsibility. He only wants to have fun. If you give in to him, he'll just get lazier. Before you know it, he'll end up to be 500 pounds - unable to move - and need to be cut out of your house with a chainsaw. When Paul said that he beat his body, it meant that he forced himself to do things that were not fun or pleasurable for his body - like professing Christ when he knew it would lead to him being whipped, beaten, stoned, or jailed.

This is a part of what God calls us to do as Christians. Fulfill the duties that he calls you to do. Has God called you to spiritually feed your children? Then make sure that you get up in time for church - and make sure your children get there as well. It may not be "fun" for them. You may lose some sleep. Beat your body and do it anyway. You may not want to tell your spouse he or she is spending too much money - because you know it will cause a big uproar. But if you don't you're going to end up broke. So beat your body and make yourself say something. If you don't call your fellow worker to account for not fulfilling his quota, then your whole office will be blamed. So beat your body and do what your calling requires. Some of these things may not appear to be very "spiritual," but when you consider the fact that God has given you the job you have and the abilities along with the responsibilities to carry them out - then you can look at them as your own private little beatings that He is calling you to.

Just prior to going through a beating - you know the drill you go through. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and you drag your feet. You say, "why do I have to do this?" But what else do you do? You pray for strength. You ask God to help you and bless your efforts. In faith, you then plow forward. God gives you the courage to do it, and occasionally He rewards your efforts. Either way, you grow in faith through your beatings. You recognize how miserable life can be, and look forward to getting out of this world. Get the idea?

Key Point: Fighting the flesh means doing the things your flesh doesn't want to do. It involves prayer and trust in the midst of doing the difficult tasks of life.

Scripture Readings: 2 Corinthians 11-12. Note how Paul's weaknesses became his strength.

Day 28

One of the most important duties that a doctor can perform in the day to day business of his work is to make a proper diagnosis. Diagnosis is really the key. Until a proper diagnosis is made of a problem, the doctor and patient really have NO IDEA as to which way to go. One of the most frustrating things for a patient is when he knows something is wrong, goes to the doctor, and he can't find anything. Then what do you do? Go home and feel miserable another two weeks while they either run more tests or you live with it. I wonder how many people a year end up dying because of a missed diagnosis of some problem? We recently had a neighbor lose their 23 day old baby due to the fact that the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with him - why he wasn't breathing right.

When we talk about fighting with the flesh - we need a proper diagnosis as to WHAT we are supposed to fight against. Sin, like a mushroom, likes to grow in the dark. It doesn't want to be diagnosed. The longer it remains unlit, the greater control it has over the flesh - it's breeding ground. Therefore, as a good Doctor, God has given us a wonderful diagnosis as to what exactly to fight. Paul wrote in Romans 7:7-13 I would not have known what sin was except through the law. . . . when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. . . in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me . . . so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. Before his conversion, Paul was living in the dark - and he thought he was as healthy as could be. He was living the Pharasaical life to a "t". He thought that as long as he wore the right robes and walked the right amount of steps and ate the right foods it was all good with him. All of that time pride was growing to unforeseen proportions in him. He thought he was living the good life, when in reality he was earning hell. That all came to a crash when the law came into his heart and showed him what sin really was - how much filth was really growing on the inside.

This is why we need to review the law every day - to study it inside and out - so that we can see where the filth is growing in our lives. Until we see the sin we are actually committing, we will not be able to repent of it or even try to get rid of it. Think about how - for instance - Americans like to excuse sinful thoughts and smut with the idea that it's not a sin because they aren't physically doing anything wrong. God's Word shows us otherwise. It shows us that anger and hatred is also sin - making us cling to the cross ever tighter as we see more and more of our sins. The law helps us to see what we really need to get rid of our lives, if we really want to grow in faith and fight our flesh in the proper way. So as much as we may hate the law and as much as it may make us feel guilty - thank God for it - without it we wouldn't have a proper diagnosis as to who we really are.

Key Point: Study the law as much as you can. It will reveal to you what sin really is - so that your sinful flesh will be exposed and you will know what needs to be put to death. Without a proper diagnosis, you cannot find a cure.

Scripture readings: 2 Samuel 12-13. See sin get exposed by the law and impenitent sin be exposed by actions.

Day 29

In the 1980's the Clash remade a song called, "I Fought the Law and the Law Won." John Cougar Mellencamp reiterated this idea when he sang "the Authority Song". In it he sings, "when I fight authority, authority always wins." In the video he pictures a young boy trying to fight against a huge man in a boxing ring. It pits the low and helpless of life against the rich and powerful. It's a losing battle because the rich and powerful have the money and authorities on their side.

In our spiritual fight, we also are in a seeming fight against the law - and the law always wins. It has the Authority on it's side - God's authority. We can't claim that those demands that God writes out in the Bible don't really apply to us - especially when we hear Jesus Himself saying that we can't hate, lust, or even be angry with our neighbor. The law also has Satan on it's side - as a sort of promoter and trainer - as he uses it to drive us into the ring and convict us of sin. Our flesh hates this law and fights against it. The flesh tries to make excuses against the law. The flesh loves to drag it's heels. The flesh tries to appease it by doing as much as it can - and even trying to do more. Yet at the end of the day, no matter how much of a fight we put up, the law wins. The guilt still comes. Even when we drown our guilt, the law still demands it's piece of flesh on Judgment Day.

So how do we fight against the law? By throwing up our hands and letting it kill us. Total surrender. Let the law put your flesh to death - send it to hell - and condemn it. In othher words - when the law puts on it's boxing gloves and says, "do this, be perfect, or go to hell!," say to it, "I give!" This sounds ridiculous - to give up to the law and give in to guilt. But in our corner we have a tag team partner, who wants to fight the battle for us. His name is Jesus.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Did you ever wonder why God didn't just allow Herod to put Jesus to death when he was a baby if He came to die for the world? Doesn't this verse answer it? He didn't just come to fulfill the threat of death and hell from the law, but also to obey the law as our substitute. He came to fight the full 15 rounds. That's what the Gospel of Christ is all about - how He came to appease the demands of the Law. A part of fighting the flesh also involves fighting the temptation of the flesh to try and battle the law by our own efforts - and not rely on Christ. The flesh wants to deal with guilt by punishing the self - perhaps by drinking too much. If it feels lousy enough it says to itself, "I've paid my price." Or the flesh says, "let me do my share of the fight - let me try to take care of half of the battle, Jesus you take care of the other half." The flesh tries to convince itself that it can at least do some of the work. But then the law says, "you have to win every round perfectly." Instead, God tells us to get out of the ring and to grab hold of Christ, put Him into the ring right away - and let HIS flesh take on Satan and the law with His blood and righteousness. This really isn't a tag team battle - as if we do half of the work. Christ doees all of it - so keep your flesh out of it - and let Jesus defeat Satan. Remember that next time your flesh wants to do more than it can or is able to do.

Key Point: A part of fighting the flesh is keeping it in it's place. Instead of trying to fight the battle against the law by trying to improve your life or by punishing yourself with guilt, let Christ fight the battle for you. That's why Christ took on flesh in the first place.

Scripture Readings: Matthew 4-5. Notice how Jesus fought the battle for us.

Day 30

When I was a freshman in college I was assigned an advisor to help me to make the right decisions and just make sure I was doing alright. He was a big German man with a great sense of humor - just had me laughing all the time. The only drawback was that his humor was usually at my expense. He used to rag on me all of the time - but they were very funny and good digs, so I couldn't help but laugh. This ridicule was taken to a whole different level when I had to learn German from him. At this point he actually used ridicule in front of the whole class. If I didn't come to class prepared, he would ridicule me right in the middle of translation and absolutely humiliate me - and others - in front of the whole class. If I remember correctly, I didn't really care for that ridicule. I used to dread going to that class, especially when I didn't do my homework.

The interesting thing is that his ridicule actually motivated me to DO my homework and be a better German student. As much as I didn't like his ridicule, I deserved it. I also got much better at German, to the point where he thought I was using a cheat of some sort. Now when I look back on those days, I thank God for that professor. As much as he railed on me and worked me over, he taught me a very important thing - and that was humility. Humility is a trait which helps you to realize who you are - that keeps you in your place. My advisor helped to do that to arrogant little 18 year olds who came trotting into his class with a chip on their shoulders.

That's what God's Word does for us as well. Paul tells us, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Isaiah says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Jesus says in Luke 17:10, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " The law is our piece of humble pie - it keeps of mindful of who we are. God can also work - not only through the written law - but also through those advisor type people in our lives - those people that seem to drag us down and make us feel about an inch high.

What's the natural tendency when we find ourselves around others that bring us down and hinder us from feeling good about ourselves or drag us down? Isn't it natural to get away from them? You'll find that advice from a lot of modern day Evangelicals. They say, "hey, if someone is dragging you down - leave them behind! Get away from them." Luther had a different approach. In speaking on the petition "thy will be done" he said,

through other people who antagonize us, assail us, disquiet us, and oppose our will in every way, who mock not only our worldly actions but also our good spiritual works, such as our prayers, our fasting, our acts of kindness, who, in brief, are never at peace with us. O what a priceless blessing this is! We should really pay such assailants all our goods, for they are the ones who fulfil this petition in us. They are the ones through whom God breaks our will so that his will may be done. This is why Christ says in Matthew 5 [:25], "Make friends quickly with your accuser." That is, we must surrender our will and accept our adversary's will as good, for in that way our will is broken. Luther's Works (Vol. 42, Page 44)

Isn't that an interesting concept? Instead of running from those who oppose you, he considered them wonderful gifts of God's grace. Why? Because they kept him from becoming proud.

Therefore, if we follow this idea - a part of fighting our flesh is not running from ridicule - but accepting it. A part of fighting our flesh is not ignoring and staying away from people who don't make us feel good, but letting them remind us of who we are. We need these people in our lives to give us the hard truth. Force your flesh to listen to the ridicule and the judgments that people are ever willing to give you. That way, when we are shown for what we are, we will have only one place to go - one Person to trust - to get us where we need to be. That Person is Christ. That place is the cross.

Key Point: Fight your flesh by allowing it to be dragged down from time to time. It will teach you a sense of humility and hopefully drive you to the cross.

Scripture Readings: John 21. (Note Jesus' words to Peter.) Numbers 22. (The donkey worked against Balaam's flesh.)

Day 31

Ultimate Fighting was a sport that was banned from the United States for some time because of the sheer brutality of it. When they first started out, there were basically no rules. You could kick, scratch, gouge - do whatever you want. It lead to guys geetting their teeth kicked out, arms broken, and a bunch of other terrible things. As the sport progressed, they had different fighters from all kinds of different backgrounds try to compete with one another. Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, wrestling - you name it. As time played on, it was soon discovered what the weaknesses were in some of the styles. As it turned out, it was also soon discovered that they ultimate fighting style that seemed to beat all other competitors was the Jiu Jitsu. In a no holds barred competition Jiu Jitsu used a combination of wrestling and fighting to bring it's opponents into submission on a regular basis. There were far less weak spots in that fighting style. Usually, when the fight ended up on the ground, Jiu Jitsu would win every time.

When fighting against the flesh, the devil is like one of those seasoned Jiu Jitsu fighters, who knows what your weaknesses are. He knows where to attack, because he's been studying us and he knows us well. He's probably seen what TV shows you are attracted to, what kinds of people get under your skin, and what you really hate doing. He's taken you into the ring, and he's beaten you up on more than one occasion. We all lose battles - and the problem is that our flesh has weaknesses. We know this. The key to fighting the flesh is knowing where your weaknesses are and learning from your losses. Know where Satan is going to attack - and close the opening that you keep losing to.

The question is - how? Look at what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 26. After they had continually fallen asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said in verse 41, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Watch for where your weaknesses are, and pray for strength. The next time you feel the temptation to say something you shouldn't say, pray "Lord, please keep me from saying what I want to say." The next time you want to look at a web sight that you know isn't good, pray "Lord, give me strength to turn it off." Pray about it.

Paul also gave some other directives. He wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Notice that all of the things that Paul says are directives to us - to get into the Word of truth and surround ourselves with the Gospel of peace. This takes work and effort on our part - spiritual training - in order to fight against the flesh and our own weaknesses. God is a God of grace. He gives us many gifts that we don't earn or deserve. Yet we can't use God's grace as an excuse to be lazy in our fight. We can't assume that the Holy Spirit will just take over and do all of the fighting without any cooperation on our part. Fighting the flesh takes work - and it's work that the flesh hates - going to worship, studying the Bible, praying - there are lots of "better things" the flesh thinks it has to do. Fight it by staying in the Word and sacrament and praying, so that the Spirit inside grows stronger and the devil has less weaknesses to exploit the next time you're in the ring with him. That way, maybe next time you won't "tap out" so easily.

Key Point: Fight the flesh by learning from your sins. Fight the flesh by praying and training your mind and body by constant study of God's Word and partaking of the sacrament. These are the Holy Spirit's training tools.

Scripture Readings: Matthew 26. Ephesians 6.

Day 32

One of the most sensational stories in the Bible is found in Mark chapter 5, where Jesus heals a demon possessed man. In this story, the guy was REALLY possessed - I mean this was stuff like you might see in the Exorcism. He was tearing apart chains, running around naked, cutting himself, and running around through a graveyard. If you remember the story, Jesus came to him and healed him by sending the hundreds of demons from his body into the pigs that were nearby. After the man was healed, verse 18 then goes on to read, "As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him." This man was genuinely thankful for what Jesus had done and wanted to be a full time disciple of the Lord - following him around on his journeys and serving him wherever he went. This is the response of many people who have had what we might call "conversion experiences." I met a man in jail who had had an awakening, so to speak, and told me that he wanted to become a minister. I hear that a lot from guys in prison who have visions of starting a ministry somewhere. They really want to do great things for the Lord.

Yet, how did Jesus answer the formerly demon possessed man in Mark chapter 5? Verse 19 reads, "Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Instead of going overseas, the Lord had a call for him right at his home - with his family - to tell them how much mercy the Lord has had on him. Who knows, perhaps the man had a wife and children at home. How could he overlook them? Wouldn't he want them to know first and foremost? This is what I often say to those who want to start their own ministries. Here they are in jail, and often times they are having problems with their own families over domestic abuse and drug problems. So I say to them, "get you own house in order first." They have visions of grandeur and they want to save the world, yet all the while their wife and children are at home and don't even know the Lord. They need to start at home.

Here's where the flesh steps in. The flesh says to such a request, "but I wanted to do great things, Lord! I want to go overseas! I want to start my own ministry!" The flesh secretly craves for that recognition - that desire to be powerful and do powerful things. It is scared of going back home - because at home those people know who you are and what you've done. It will take time and effort to rebuild your reputation there - and they won't recognize you as someone wwho walks on water. They won't be as inspired by your rags to riches story, because they had to endure the brunt of the rags. So the flesh says, "no - no Jesus - let me go overseas with you! Let me get in the boat with you!"

How did the formerly demon possessed man respond? Verse 20 says, "So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed." He gladly did what Jesus asked him to do - and the Lord blessed his trip home. It wasn't a situation as to whether he was serving the Lord or NOT serving the Lord - he was serving the Lord in the place the Lord wanted him to serve, and he was blessed through it. It may not have been as glorious as he had envisioned. His flesh may have wanted to go with Jesus. But Jesus had better plans.

If you have that itching in your bones to go out and do greater things - to start a mission somewhere or a ministry - you have to ask yourself first and foremost - how are you doing with your mission at home - where the Lord has called you to be first and foremost? Are you giving your family devotions? Are you praying with your spouse? Are you reading your Bible? Coming to Bible class? Before you get the visions of grandeur or want to serve on the Church Council or lead a new ministry - get your own house in order first. God will bless it. When He does, then in His own time and in His own place He may decide to expand your horizons to beyond your own Decapolis. If not, tell your flesh, "this is good enough."

Key Point: Fight the desire of the flesh to do what it considers the "great" things - and only concentrate on doing whatever the Lord has called you to do. Whether it's cooking, cleaning, going to school - do it all to the glory of God. Make your flesh do as God requires - and let Jesus provide the boat across the sea if He so desires.

Scripture Readings: Mark 5. Genesis 39. Note how Joseph did the duties he was forced into.

Day 33

Come to class at 9:15 to learn more about how to fight the flesh!