Romans 8:13-17; 26-27
As is typical, I read a couple of different versions of our passage and I found myself really liking the language of the ESV (English Standard Version) in verse 13 where it tells us that we can "put to death" our flesh, our sinful acts, our "deeds of the body" if we live according to the Spirit. Those words--put to death--triggered a pretty good image.
So what kind of action will it take for us to live according to the Spirit and stop being controlled by that old sinful nature? Tami W.
I have to remember Galations 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ.. the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.. that is quite a picture also. I must keep that in the forefront of my mind, what Christ did for me, He was crucified.
For me to live by the Spirit means to be connected through prayer and His word.
Psalm 63:5-8 speaks to me about what I hold important in my life and what brings me satisfaction.
5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
If I can not be satisfied with Him then I will not stay connected and living by the Spirit will be little more than just following the law with no grace. There will be no putting to death fleshly things.
It would be so easy to just argue with my unbelieving wife last night, as she cried and attacked in a fit of depressed mood. But instead, I prayed silently for her and thanked God that I could still maintain an inner peace and compassion for her in her turmoil. Without the Spirit's help, a bad situation surely would have been made worse and I would have struck back verbally and misseed that she needed to vent and needed needed to know she was loved anyway. Thank you, Lord!
Four simple words come to my mind when I read this selection;
Let Go,Let God!
The older I get, the more I realize that not only does God "get it" but I don't always. It is comforting to know that He understands us so deeply that words are not always needed. He gave us His Holy Spirit for that aspect of our lives!
To live a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled life, we need to do what's instructed to us in Gal 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me".
It's a hard to always do, as many times our "old nature" climbs down from off the cross and starts to take over again! I guess this is where our faith needs to be exercised! We need to maintain a healthy relationship with the Lord so we'll always be able to subdue our old, sinful, natures by the power of His Spirit living in us!
I failed miserably at this last night! Ugh-old Adam get off me! It was over something at church. The persons who normally handle the kids walking in with palms are sick, one contacted me and wanted to back out of doing it this year as he forgot to inform the Sunday School staff. When the Pastor was notified of our decision, he insisted that we must still do this as it is a long standing tradition. I was not happy about all of the leg work involved that I must accomplish in the next two days to pull this off. My thoughts were NOT Christ-like at all. And at one point I thought about praying for God to change my feelings, but I didn't want to-talk about the devil invading my thoughts!
Thanks be to God that Jesus died for my sins yesterday! And that I am forgiven, yesterday, today, and every day thereafter! "Renew a right spirt within me, God!"
God never said it would be easy, but He promises He will never leave us nor forsake us nor will He give us more than we can bear. We will always have some type of adversity or trial bur we have to remember to trust Him. As Ed says, to live a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled life, we need to do what's instructed to us in Galatians 2:20.
The New Testament is filled with Jesus' teachings and revelations to His Apostles. Let us not be hard on ourselves but thank God that we trust Him and are focussed enough to know when we depart a little from Him. We know all we have to do is to call on His name and He is there for us.
We all go through some trials because Satan loves to stir up trouble but you know what we should feel safe that the devil cannot pluck us from God's hand. God has truly blessed us, so as we read the Powered by 4 blog let us pray for each one and ask God to strengthen us as the Spirit of God works in us. I feel there are people hurting sometimes and I pray that God will be with you every step of the way. Be not dismayed or discouraged. Spend a quiet time with Him. He knows everything.
Love and hugs to you all.
Study! If you don't study, you won't grow. Trust! If you don't trust the guidance of The Holy Spirit, you won't grow. Faith!
As it was said earlier, Let Go and Let God!
I liked all the comments today. Thank you for sharing. His word helps keep us in the Spirit. His death brings us in as sons and heirs. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I had trouble for quite some time Heather with anger thankfully with prayers, fellowship, reading His word and asking His help I've been able to stand in the Spirit and not get angry at work. Praise be to God for His goodness and love, You will get there. He is making us clean through the blood and one day soon we will all be together praising him in our new bodies. And won't that be just wonderful!
So what kind of action does it take to live by the Spirit? Think before we speak. Stop, look and listen before we judge, crucify and destroy. It's all in our head. Literally. Our thoughts will just run away with an idea -- anger, jealousy, greed, any negative thing -- and we have to rein it in by being consciously aware of where our thoughts are going and stopping them from getting there. I have dealt with life-long depression and it is a neverending job to keep myself from falling in that pit, but when I feel myself going there I redirect my thoughts. It is not as difficult as it seems as it is a learned behavior. You can control your thoughts. Thanks Joyce Meyer for teaching me that. (Read her book Battlefield of the Mind.) I have been free of antidepressant medications for more than 2 years now.