Flesh

I've been kept from writing for a few reasons and it's a short post I have today but the principle is one I'm sure will help everybody.

I try to be asleep between 11 and 11:30. It doesn't always work out but I'm getting to the point where going to sleep at the right time is more important than everything I can accomplish while my son is asleep.
The reason I *try* to go to sleep at 11 is that I want to get up at 7 so that I can spend a few quiet hours to myself before chasing around my three year old. I need eight hours of sleep. I will not get up at 7 if I go to bed at 1. It just won't happen. My son used to nap for 3-4 hours a day so my bedtime wasn't important. He doesn't nap at all now so I have to be more rigid in my schedule.

Going to bed at 11 and waking up at 7 is the right thing to do for me. It's not just physically good for me but spiritually. If I don't get up early and spend time with God, I won't do it the rest of the day. There's no time to. The other thing is that I am more likely to get things done, pay good attention to my son, and have the energy I need to make the right choices when I have my alone time.
I get very VERY grumpy, impatient, and volatile when I don't have my quiet time. I know that sounds spoiled and selfish.
As I've taken the time to discipline myself and manage my time wisely, I've learned that the time I spend with God in the morning is always affected by the choices I make the night before.
So first there's the discipline of going to sleep at the right time. It's not easy but I've learned the value of it.
Then there's the discipline of what I do before going to sleep.

The more fleshly I am at night, the less likely I am to get up in the morning.
The whole 'one more' thing is really detrimental to my relationship with God.
While I may be in bed by 11, I find myself getting sucked into my phone watching debates on Youtube, scrolling through Pinterest, Twitter, or just blogs and news sites I like to read. I tell myself 'one more video, one more minute, one more article' and it's never just one more and I wind up sleeping between 11:30 and 12 or later because I can't shut my mind off.
I always, without fail, end up sleeping later and it's harder for me to get up in the morning. What's more, my attitude toward getting up isn't right because I filled up on flesh the night before and it didn't go away with sleep.
I didn't fight my flesh when I was in the right position to so I pay for it dearly the next day and have to fight it off twice as hard.
I hope this is making sense.

In all this experience and learning of a very simple principle, I was reminded of a sermon I first listened to almost five years ago called Royal Blunders.
First off, it takes place in one of the most interesting passages of scripture- 1 Kings.
Second, it involves one of my favourite biblical events: reading about God surrounded by the host of heaven and deciding how to deal with wicked Ahab.
Third, and most importantly, the preacher, Dilbert Terry, talks about the snares of the flesh.

Our flesh traps us in so many ways- whether it be fatigue, laziness, deception or anything else. This sermon really taught me the value of cutting my flesh off at the pass. He talks about simple mistakes two kings- Ahab and Jehoshaphat make that we can learn from, as Christians.
It's practical knowledge and you'll definitely benefit if you listen to it.
I learned a lot from it the first time I heard it. They're principles that have shaped my thoughts and magnified my understanding of the flesh.
One of the best things he says is that whenever we give in to our flesh it fights back twice as hard the next time.
It's true. I've seen it in my own life with big things and small things.
If I give in to my flesh to stay up later than I should, it fights me twice as hard to stay in bed in the morning.

A few other things he says in it are: 'because he's a liar he listens to liars' referring to Ahab.
'Men like Joel Osteen are God's judgment on people who want the goodness of God without God.'
Tough.
'What God has separated let no man put together'.
You can't truly love God without hating what He hates.

I listened to the sermon again today to refresh my memories of it. It's interesting how I was once eating it up because I needed the food it provided so badly and now I've eaten it, digested it, and it's part of who I am.

You see, the more you work on your relationship with God, the more you say 'yes' to Him and 'no' to your flesh, the less leeway you have to sin.
It's no longer worth it to me to watch a questionable TV show because it puts bad things in my mind and separates me from God. I feel that separation too keenly and I don't like it. My husband and I are clearing out all our questionable movies and we'll likely go through our books again. We just want to be close to God.

So if you're having trouble making time for God, I suggest you look at the things you are surrounding yourself by. What sins, no matter how small, do you allow yourself?

Sin never leave you better than it finds you (Gary Boyatt).
Remember that.