Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

If we see the life of Cain what God told him was “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” If you do well, what is this means? This means that you overcome sin or overcome the temptation that you do not sin. Temptations will come, but how do we over come is the ‘do well’ part. Rom 1:2, Paul says, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. When Cain presented his sacrifice God did not accept that sacrifice, so something is defiled in that sacrifice. Jesus said that any defilement comes from within our heart. This defiles our body and our sacrifice. That defilement is the sin that is committed because of excess craving of our own desires. The devil is only fueling the defilement. He only tempts you to achieve the desire that rose within yourself. In Rom 6 Paul says do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey to its lusts. The obedience to the lust of the carnal body which is fueled by devil or his messengers leads to defilement. But the power of the Holy Spirit will enable you to control that desire or quench that flame of desire in your heart, so you do not sin and overcome it. This is the attack of Satan towards your body to be defiled and inturn it will defile any service or sacrifice that you do in the body of Christ. When you present your body undefiled, then the fire that you are baptized with will burn in the Altar as an acceptable sacrifice like that of Abel.  Would you like to receive this power of God to overcome the temptations? Ask God and He will give you.

Prov 29:1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Many who are born in a Christian family believes in Jesus Christ from their childhood, so how and when they are joined in the new covenant? How do they receive this power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the temptations? Faith in Lord Jesus Christ is a not a question among those who are brought up in a godly way from their childhood. But even though they have faith in their lives, they do not have victory over sin or death. They are trapped in the habitual sins, which they cannot overcome even if they want to. God pulls them through His love on one side because of their faith and sin pulls them in the opposite side because of their carnality.

What will you do? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in your life if you are in this situation? The key for everyone who is born in Christian family to receive this power of the Holy Spirit is ‘Brokenness’.  You have to allow God the Holy Spirit to break you. Break your carnality, traditions, self righteousness, desire, entertainment, worldly ambitions etc… Once you are willing to surrender your life to be broken, you will see the power of the Holy Spirit come upon you wherever you are. When God the Holy Spirit fills your cup, you will have the power from Him to overcome all temptations. You can see this victory beginning with your habitual sins. Men and women, you who are born in a Christian family, received a privilege or mercy from God the Father to know Jesus Christ in your life in an easier manner. You have the privilege to grow up in faith. If you are not willing to surrender your life to be broken for God’s kingdom, someone else from other religion will take that place and enter into His kingdom. You will be left alone in front of the gates shouting Lord! Lord! Allow yourself to be broken by the Lord; He will give you the power when you need it.

Mat 9:17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

When one hears the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, he believes in the WAY and faith arises in his heart. When the faith in the Lord comes, process of repentance and sanctification takes place. One should not stop in the belief; they have to give way for the Holy Spirit to break them completely from their self. Some today get convictions because of guilt and not because of faith. These convictions or guilt will not withstand the heat of the discipleship. It will be like a seed that fell among the rocks. Deep conviction, repentance, sanctification and the newness of life all happens in a new disciple of Jesus Christ.  When one’s vessel is purified with water, a new wine is poured in to it; a wine of a new covenant, a blood of life, which gives life and power to the soul, spirit, mind and body. New wine must be poured into the new wineskins. The power of that vessel through its Content is the potent weapon against the gates of hell. The Content in which the vessel is sustained is the power of God manifested among men who trust in Him and born in Him to be God’s children.