Good Intent!

For Wednesday, September 24, 2025:

Mark 14:38 NLT, Jesus speaking to Simon: “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

That the body (or the flesh) is weak is an understatement. Romans 7 says it best. “18. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

Another way of explaining it: “14. The trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

Just because we acknowledge the truth doesn’t mean that we can live our lives perfectly. We need to combine knowledge of God’s Laws with obedience to make it so. It may be time to send a couple of demons packing! At least then we would level the playing field! If sin is cast out, if we’ve been delivered, we have a shot at keeping sin at bay. But if sin still dominates our lives, obedience doesn’t stand a chance.

We can choose to live God’s way, and that’s a good choice!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship