Take Out the Nemeses That Beset You. Part 2.

Reference passage: 1Samuel 15 — The story of King Saul, the first king of Israel, when God gave him instructions through prophet Samuel to completely destroy the Amalekites because they violently hindered the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness on their way to Canaan. Saul obedience was partial, but God counted it as total disobedience and rejected him as king.

Every human being has besetting sins, those nemeses lurking in the dark ready to bring you down. Apostle Paul called himself a miserable man at the mercy of his nemeses, but he thanked God because the answer is in Jesus who has set him free from nemeses [Romans 7:24–25 (NLT) — Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So, you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.] Jesus can also set you free from your nemeses only if you will surrender all to him and obey him promptly and completely (John 14:15–17). King Saul obeyed partially, and God counted as disobedience [1Samuel 15:18–19 (NLT) — And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”], the nemeses of greed and men pleaser that he did not deal with became his master and eventually took him out.

Apostle Paul in his letter to the Roman stated that anyone we choose to obey becomes our master [Romans 6:16(NLT) — Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living]. The more you obey God, the more you stifle those nemeses in you, and acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship over you. Don’t let your nemeses become your master and eventually take you out of God’s presence this year, pause and reflect on your life in 2024 and identify and ruthlessly take out those nemeses by the help of the Holy Spirit before they master you and take you out. Jesus in Matthew 5: 29–30 gave us the idea of the ruthlessness required in taking out whatever is hindering your obedience to God. He is not talking about you removing your eyes or cutting your hands, He is talking about taking out the habits that hinders your obedience. Remember that you need to accept the salvation the Lord Jesus has provided for you and actively work with the Holy Spirit to stand fast in the liberty Jesus has provided for you. Shalom.