Our Default Setting

Scripture

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

~Galatians 5:19-21, NLT

Quote

Our sinful nature fights to control us even after we become believers.

~Shugie Collinsworth

It is difficult to get people to be honest about sin, especially their own. We are born with a selfish tendency that is rooted deep in our nature: we want what we want when we want it and we will show out if necessary to get it. It is in all of us, young and old alike. It may not be evident in cases of special needs like Downs Syndrome children but in healthy people, it is there. When we get saved, the Spirit moves in and the war begins. The Holy Spirit is God antiseptic, it fights sin. A true believer can sin but we don’t want to, it is not our desire to sin. The day that Jesus was arrested was like any other day to the disciples. Peter didn’t get out of bed, eat breakfast and then make plans to betray Jesus. Peter did not intend to betray Jesus. Peter was confident that he would not betray Jesus. What happened? Peter underestimated the power of the flesh. His survival instincts were much stronger than he imagined and when the threat came, he automatically reverted by to his default setting which is– “To look out for number one.” It all happened so fast, that Peter had sinned before he realized what he had done.

I’m sure you noticed the list above…sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness and wild parties. Every time I read this list, my prideful nature recoils. I don’t want to confess any of these sins yet to be honest, the only thing on the list that I might be innocent of is drunkenness and wild parties. The outburst of anger, the selfish ambition and impurity always convict me. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in sorcery or idolatry but I guess that would depend on the definitions. The point is this: I sin but I don’t want to, I don’t intend to but like Peter, I get in a tight, in a pressure situation and the old fleshly nature kicks in and like Peter, I always regret it later.


A week ago, our garden was too wet to plow: today it is a dust bowl and parts are too hard to plow. In just a short time we went from rain to needing rain. Plus it is getting warm which means I go to summer mode. Work outside in the mornings and late evening and study in the middle of the day. I got my sweet potatoes out this morning and I intend to plant some cucumbers and corn this evening.

I think I have learned my lesson on getting things from LOWE’s. June bought me a pressure washer for Christmas or Father’s Day or something. I never got to use it. Seth tried to use it and it would not crank. I carried it to my neighbor who is a wheeze with small engines and he said the automatic choke was sticking. He unstuck it and it cranked fine, ran five minutes and quit. I would fiddle with it, it would crank, run 2-3 minutes and quit. I can’t live like that folks, it drives me nuts. I carried it back and the automatic choke was made of plastic, and it broke. He went to remove the carburetor and the bold twisted off. I think the thing was made by slave labor in a Chinese prison. It is a piece of junk. It’s brand new, never been useful to anyone and now it is going to cost me time and money. I told June today: if Willard does sale pressure washers, we will not have another one.

One other thing: The Samsung appliances that are supposed to be better than American made appliances {which are all disposal now} are not any count either. June’s dryer, one year old and one heating element is already out and I have not had Greg Keenum over to fix it, yet. I sure wish Greg read the blog. I hate working on appliances: I’d rather slide down a 50 foot razor into a pool of alcohol than to work on a dryer. I had rather have a root canal than work on a dryer.

I had a good visit with Michael and Mickey Hembree today. I got a tour of the shop and I was impressed. Michael gave me two caps and I have already gotten one of them dirty. Hard to believe, isn’t it.

Visitation for the Danny Foreman family is 6-9 pm tomorrow night at DBC. The COLS is Thursday at 3:00. We are not having mid-week services this week.

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