FAITH ISN'T THE FLESH DOING BETTER

I guess as long as we live we will be tempted to conquer life through the flesh standards of accomplishment and success.

Faith truly challenges us to move into an entirely new zone.  The leader of that territory is the Holy Spirit; invisible, flexible, and known only by faith.

It would seem that the deepest desire for most is to be a better people.  The road to this victory is not in self-improvement nor in self-maintenance; but is to be found in a Person named Jesus.  Think it not strange that such an admonition, alone, seems nebulous.  Ah, welcome to the Spirit world!

No, when it comes to faith, the flesh has a low tolerance for the vague.  We are a meat and potatoes kind of believer that wants understandable guidelines.  Yet, the Guide gave us Guidelines to lead us to the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen definition of FAITH. 

The Bible contains one story upon another of individuals too weak and sometimes too awkward for the task at hand to guide us to the God who can accomplish through us.  Abraham was assumed too old to father a child.  Joseph was betrayed and dumped in a pit only to arise as a national leader.  Moses begged off--at first--when God called him to do what could not be done (but did get done) in rescuing God's nation held captive.

The reason churches fail a community could be found by drawing people in only to admonish its members they can do better if they will just try harder.  The reason a church blesses a neighborhood is discovered when one surrenders his or her self-effort for the heroic trust in our active and invisible God. 

Faith isn't the flesh doing better.  It is the spirit of a person leaning into the Spirit of God trusting that He will do better with us than we would by our own steam.

For further evaluation of such a concept, I think you would thoroughly enjoy Sharon Hersh's The Last Addiction (Why Self-Help Is Not Enough).  You will be blessed.