STOP SINNING

JESUS
Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion. He knows that the will of God is for Him to take up the sin nature of the whole world and die for human kind. In the garden, we have what I call a “battle of wills”-Jesus’ will and God’s will. I want you to understand, that Jesus could sin and therefore this was an opportunity for him to fall to the temptation and sin against God by disobeying. It was so hard on Him that the bible says He resisted sin to the point of shedding blood. How did Jesus overcome this in the garden? If you ever understand how he did it, you are on your way to overcoming sin in your life. If you don’t know, let me teach you. Look at Hebrew 12:1-4

Heb 12:1 Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us, every weight having put off, and the closely besetting sin, through endurance may we run the contest that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 looking to the author and perfecter of faith–Jesus, who, over-against the joy set before him–did endure a cross, shame having despised, on the right hand also of the throne of God did sit down;
Heb 12:3 for consider again him who endured such gainsaying from the sinners to himself, that ye may not be wearied in your souls–being faint.
Heb 12:4 Not yet unto blood did ye resist–with the sin striving; (ASV)

Jesus resisted sin to the point of shedding blood by looking up. I mean He considered what was laid before him.(Read Heb 1). If Jesus had considered the cross instead of despising the shame thereof , He would have sinned and what a dark day we would have had in this life. This is how you are going to resist sin and overcome it. I don’t care how much you have sinned before, I don’t care what kind of sin it is-whether homosexuality, adultery, murder, pornography, drug addiction etc- the moment you understand this, you are on your way to overcoming that sin.

MOSES
The bible says at the word of 2 or more witnesses, a word is established. Let us look at

Heb 11:
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Amplified)

Look sin is pleasurable for a season but its end is destruction. Moses refused to enjoy the pleasures of Egypt for a season but chose to suffer. Listen, you must be willing to suffer in regard to your flesh by denying it the lusts it craves for. Moses overcame! why? The last part of verse 26 tells us that he looked ahead to his reward. Look forward to the reward that is set before you. I wish I could make you understand but I can’t, you must do it yourself. You are not going to overcome sin by scheming but by working according to the knowledge of the word of God.

I OR YOU
I will end with this and how I pray that you grasp this truth. Your ears are for hearing, to help the eyes of your understanding to grasp the knowledge. You are concentrating so much on not sinning but end up sinning because your focus is wrong. This is why when a temptation comes, you fear that you going to end up sinning like last time and you sin. Fear connects you to what you dread. Faith overcomes sin. As that word that comes through your ears, is mixed with faith, your knowledge emanating from listening to faith, grows and develops. The inner man gains ascendancy over the old man in whom we walked about in times past then you are able to resist sin. The bible says that we are to resist him(satan and sin) steadfast in the faith.

Look at Col 3:1-10. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul said, “1IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.”
This is similar to what I have been saying before, set your mind on the things above and one of those above is Christ. Christ is the image of God that created the new man. As you behold Christ, your understanding of him, increases, and the new man is renewed and this makes your inside man gain ascendancy over the old man. Listen, you have to put off the old man and you do it by renewing the new man in knowledge after Christ. (Col 3:10). The reason why you sin is because you have failed to mortify your earthly members.(Please study Col 3 in the amplified)

Don’t focus so much on falling. Focus on your right standing with God. Col 3:10, talks about putting on the new man that is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him that created it. Look, let your knowledge abound more and more. Whether it is love, let it abound more and more in knowledge.(Phil 1:10-11)
The best and efficient way to overcome sin is to abound more and more in knowledge. This knowledge should be according to the likeness of Christ. This is what sets us free. When you gain this knowledge and this word abides in you in all wisdom, it will result in among other things, songs or worship as you give gratitude to God.

Recently, I was in Church, the pastor talked about how we need to be worshippers and just said, “Praise stilleth the avenger”.
Immediately this clicked in my spirit, “that is the way you overcome sin or struggles in your life and it works.” Look worship helps you to focus on your right standing and God’s greatness instead of sin that you seem oblivious of its existence. Don’t you remember the first verses of Colossians 3 tell us to set our minds on this above. We have to resist our personal will desires even though we are free moral agents if they lead to sin. For example, sex is good, but if your body wants it before you get married, do not choose that because that desire contradicts God’s will.
Even though I have a free will, Jesus became the lord and savior of my life and therefore I have to yield my will to his will and that is exactly what Jesus did in the garden. He yielded his will to God.

When you set your mind on things above and you reach a situation that tempts you to sin, you ignore what is around you and like Moses, you consider the treasures of God a greater recompense than the pleasures of Egypt(sin) for a season. Jesus resisted Satan in the wilderness because He had knowledge of who He was.

AS YOU CONSIDER SO MUCH NOT TO SIN, YOU WILL SIN. AS YOU CONCENTRATE ON RIGHT STANDING, YOU WILL STAND. IN YOUR FIGHT AGAINST SIN, YOU HAVE NOT RESISTED TO THE POINT OF SHEDDING BLOOD. (1John 2:1 note the if)