Spurred to Ruin

 

We went to Santa Fe, NM this past week for my husband's family re-union.  While we were there, we toured around the mountain areas.  We were driving along and saw two people on horses.  One appeared to be instructing the other.  There was a place in the road to pull over, so I asked George to pull over so I could watch.  One lady was schooling a horse and the other lady was sitting on another horse watching.  They were working on spinning the horse.  The one riding him would ask him to spin and instead of swooping around smooth and correct, he was locked up in the shoulder area and would hop the spin hitting his front legs together.  The rider would then spur him behind the cinch area.  This was causing him to move the back half instead of the front half.  The horse was getting more and more confused and would paw the ground and toss his head up and down.  The more the rider cued him and then spurred him, the more confused, mad and aggravated he became.  I thought at one point that he would go up and over he was so confused. 

 

This horse was being spurred in the wrong place to teach him the spin maneuver.  He was submitting to everything the rider asked him to do - but the rider was not asking correctly to get the response she was looking for.  When the horse submitted and tried to do what the rider was asking, he got spurred for it.  She never did try to supple the shoulder to correct the problem - just kept spurring behind the cinch.  I see this a lot in working with barrel racers.  Spurring and causing a horse to submit to the wrong cues will leave him confused and mad and eventually cause him to either become a bad horse or give up.  The more talented the horse is, the better bad horse he will become. 

 

As we sat there and watched, a teaching came into my spirit.  Many people are being spurred by their flesh.  This causes responses that leaves them confused, sick, unfulfilled, mad, depressed and unfruitful in life.  They will never fulfill their destiny.  People who are being spurred by the flesh will often respond in one or more of six ways.  (There are others, but these are the most common.) 

 

1.  Over eat - my flesh says that extra food and sweet foods look so good and make me feel good - the results are that I become too heavy or even ill from overeating or eating wrong foods.

 

2.  Shopping - my flesh says I must shop and buy new things - the results are that I get in debt buying things I do not even need.

 

3.  Drinking and Drugs - I must have something to alter my mind state so that I can stop thinking of my problems or just so I can enjoy myself - the results are that if I continue doing this on a regular basis, I will lose my health, money and peace.  I will become a slave that is addicted to a destructive habit.

 

4.  Sex out of marriage - This is very high on the list of fleshly activities and one that we are warned about many times in scripture to avoid at all costs.

 

5.  Over work - this one seems to be such a good habit to have until you finally see that the outcome is that I become stale, unfruitful and mentally tired and even die early.  

 

6.  Over talking - this one is very common in people who do not want to experience quietness and be alone with themselves.  The results are that no one wants to be around this person and they experience loneliness.        (This partial list taken from the studies of Dr. Osborne - The Art of Learning To Love Yourself)

 

All of these are responses that can ruin lives.  People, like the horse, become more and more frustrated after responding to the spurring of the flesh and sometimes even give up.  The flesh never prods us to a successful life until it is trained and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

 

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:24 (NIV): Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  This message today is intended to spur you on to think about decisions that you may be making in every day life based upon the crying out of your flesh.  John 6:63 tells us that the flesh profits nothing.  In other words, being spurred on by the flesh and its appetites will not profit us.  When we live to fulfill the cries of the flesh - we are headed for sure disaster.  What is the solution?  This I say to you, walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit - responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh - of human nature without God.  Amplified Bible  Galatians 5:16  Read the rest of that chapter to see a list of fleshly desires that destroy. 

 

We must be very careful what we yield and submit to.  I heard Bill Gothard speak one time and he said the best formula for conquering flesh is to memorize Romans 6.  Read it this week and meditate the fact that we are no longer slaves to our fleshly desires and appetites.  We can become slaves to all that is holy and good. 

 

When we walk in the Spirit instead of prodded by the flesh, confusion and destruction are replaced by peace and fulfillment.  Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death, because the old sinful nature within us is against God.  It never did obey God's laws and it never will.  That's why those who are still under the control of their old flesh, bent on following their old desires, can never please God.  But, you are not like that.  You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you.  So, dear ones, you have no obligation whatever to your old sinful nature to do what it begs you to do.  For if you keep on following it you are lost and will perish, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you crush it and its evil deeds, you shall live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  (Romans 8)

 

Unlike the horse and rider that we watched continue in frustration, we have the opportunity to be guided by a leader that knows how to lead us from within to reach the responses that will change our lives continually for the good, better and best.     Thank you Jesus!