Text: Romans 13:11-14
Memory verse:
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Rom. 13‬:‭14‬).‬‬

The flesh is the seat of sin and rebellion toward God, and it must not be indulged or gratified if we must walk in the Spirit. This is in accordance with our memory text.‬‬
‭‭The word for “provision” in the original language carries the idea of “thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening.”
Sometimes ago, a husband had a disagreement with his Christian wife for not allowing their daughter to keep a pack of condoms given to her in school. In that country, school authorities are supported by law to distribute condoms to students as a remedy against teenage pregnancies and STDs. His wife’s view was that permitting it was a way of encouraging and strengthening their daughter to indulge in premarital sex, which was contrary to the value they teach at home. It was like making provision for sexual sins.
This is the point. Thinking about pleasing the flesh is to furnish the fuel to make it happen. Our thoughts gather the necessary provisions to move forward and act upon our lustful desires.
The NLT puts it like this, “…And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.” And the NIV says, “…and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
The opposite is to make provision for the flesh, that is, to expect to fail, like the father of the teenage girl. It’s also like a drug patient who has just left the Rehab Center but hides some drugs, “just in case”. For both cases, failure is guaranteed because they have already made provisions for the flesh.
Also, to make no provision for the flesh means that we seek to take everything away from the flesh that would allow it to have any strength at all. After putting on Christ, that is, having the Spirit of Christ in us, it’s now our responsibility to identify and remove these stumbling blocks. These include ‘the what, the when and the where’, that strengthens the flesh. God has broken the power of the flesh at calvary, and so, the flesh does not on its own dominate the believer (1 John 5:18-19). Rather, it gains strength when we feed it or make provision for it.
Friends, to desire to walk in the Spirit and at the same time, making provision for the flesh is to prepare for mockery. It’s like having a ship controlled by two masters or, like strengthening your enemy to fight against you!

Prayer points
1. I enforce death in my flesh, and by the Spirit, I mortify the deeds of the flesh, in Jesus’ name.
2. I remove every stumbling block of the flesh, and I refuse to indulge it nor gratify its desires in Jesus’ name.

Today’s declarations
1. I don’t make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts nor think of how to gratify its desires.
2. To walk in the Spirit, I take the responsibility to identify and remove stumbling blocks of the flesh and to set boundaries.