So often hear of those who have been among us in church or even people we know and are around. They take great pains to live good lives.  Everyone says, “hey do you know so and so, isn’t she/he a great person?” I never see her/him do anything wrong, and I never hear a bad thing come out of her mouth.  I know in the past she/he had several problems and was always hanging with the wrong crowd, but not anymore, she/he turned her/his life around. Everyone agrees “she/he is doing well.”

 

Time goes by and you start hearing little murmurings that things are not going to well anymore for this person. Not only are they back doing the things they did before, but worse things. They seem to have lost their mind and their way. Why? What happened. They seemed so determined to live a better life. They seemed to be headed in the right direction.

 

Does any of this sound familiar? I have known people like that. One minute, their lives are all apart and then they seem to be doing things write. Everything is falling into place for them and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.  And just as I applauded the good news, someone tells me of a prayer need, this person seems to have gone back into their old lifestyle or worse.

 

Well, I can tell you the why behind it and in saying that I can tell you what goes wrong, do you want to know?  Let me first give you some scriptures to think on, they are found in Luke 11:24-26 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left. ‘ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

 

Unfortunately, we as humans have a tendency, it is a sin tendency. We are attracted to sin. We want to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Our desires are what makes us get up in the morning. So often we want to reform ourselves. We put into practice those things that we think will help us and for a time they do. But over time we start desiring those things again and other things start looking pretty good to us, so we abandon our efforts and fall back into the same things we left and often worse things. Our efforts on our own do not last long. See, it isn’t enough for us to be emptied of evil. To stop what we are doing. There is something, someone we need to have in our hearts if we truly want a change that will last. If we want power over sin, we must have the Holy Spirit in us to do it. He does the work we cannot do. He comes in and cleans the house for good!

 

When the Holy Spirit comes in we start to see the evidence of it. When we have Jesus in us when the Spirit of God is at work these are the fruits that come from that. Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentlenesses, and self-control.  Against such things, there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Do you see what comes from knowing Christ and being full of His Spirit? All of these are great, but the two things that speak to the why of it are these: (self-control and crucifying the sinful nature.) On our own, we cannot do this.

 

We all want to think we are pretty good people, but the word of God is clear on who we are outside of Christ. We are sinners. We are bound for hell. We are wretched and blind.  John 15:6 “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

Ephesians 4:22 “that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.” Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Lastly: Romans 8.8 “and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

 

Check your heart. Make sure you know Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life.  Repent from your sins. He is the only way to heaven and the Father. We cannot be good enough on our own and it is clear that no good is in us outside of Christ. He is the way.  You will one day stand before God and you will be judged, if you do not know him, hell is your future. Think about it! When you come to Christ He forgives your sin and you are instantly a child of God, and fills you with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit begins the work of making you new. He never stops teaching us and molding us into the person God wants us to be.  The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth and will never tell us to do anything contrary to God’s word. My prayer is that you kno