1 Peter 4:1-2 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
 
Wow, what an opener…right?
 
I know this may be challenging to some, but this is the crucible of freedom. I want you to have an idea as to what you can head toward and experience that will catapult you into a very blessed place to exist while on earth.
 
The enemy has done a really masterful job of convincing the opposite of what this passage tells us point blank. The devil says that if you go this path, you are going to lose so much, so don’t even think about it. He attempts to convince us that it is impossible to say “no” to ourselves.
 
Peter is telling us in military terms to arm ourselves, which is battle talk. He is framing our understanding of overcoming ourselves with a term that seems to indicate the same motion as reaching into a cabinet and grabbing a sword.
 
Maybe it would be easier to picture yourself in the kitchen with a nice chicken on the butcher block, ready to be quartered, seasoned, and placed on the grill. You grab the cleaver and raise it up to come down on the chicken. Do you get the idea?
 
Yes, but pastor, I am a tender sort – are you saying that the same motion (minus the cleaver – something else in its place) needs to occur on my flesh too? Why… yes I am.
 
If you can wrap your mind around the need as Peter instructs – this will lead to a super rich blessing for you.
 
Think of a thing in your life that you wish wasn’t. Now, don’t think of a person… hahaha… think of a trait or habit that bothers you about you. It sits there and says to you that it has power over you. It tells you that you do not have what it takes to overcome it.
 
So, right now name it! Call it out. Point to it and say that it is an issue for you. If you don’t, or won’t, that is because the enemy has convinced you that even mentioning it will produce despair and failure.
 
Yes, the first step is naming it! Who brings out the cleaver and walks around in the kitchen with nothing to chop? Who puts battle armaments on and walks around without any mission to either prepare or actually go to war?
 
What is your chicken today? We all have them – yours and mine might be the same thing, but you cannot cleave mine and I cannot cleave yours. We certainly can encourage each other though.
 
Spoiler alert! You are the chicken (at least, parts of you). You are on the block. You have a cleaver in hand to swing against…you. That’s the super hard part. It seems illogical considering most everything in this world tells you to breathe life into the dead chicken (that’s your flesh).
 
By now, left uncleaved, we can have rottenness in our being because we are trying to keep alive something that God doesn’t intend for us to. His love and mercy, His grace and compassion invites and compels us to put the cleaver to the old decaying flesh. He even gives us the power to pick up the cleaver and swing!
 
2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
 
Again, what do you need to swing at today? Can you name it? Not doing so will leave the smell of death within you. There isn’t enough cologne or perfume to cover that.
 
One of the hardest aspects of going to battle is admitting that you need to. You need to. So, you need to go to battle, and the battle is an act of suffering in the flesh – meaning, to say “no”, to bow up against the flesh that is saying, “Yes, I want this, and I want this now!”
 
Are you ready for liberty and freedom?
 
Father in heaven – Your mercy and compassion are great. We see that You long for liberty and freedom to be ours. Let us not be afraid to call out those places that we need to apply the Word of God with fierce courage and strength that comes from Your Son Jesus. He truly has given us what we need to walk into freedom. Thank You Jesus!
 
Blessings,
Pastor D