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In my previous write up, I talked alittle about the two warring forces in us as Christians by default if we fail to realize the provisions Christ has made for us.Now, we are going to see what it means to live according to the flesh. Let's look at scriptures
Romans 8:1-7
THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
(A)2For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
3For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [
[a]the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [
[b]subdued, overcame,
[c]deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
(B)4So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
5For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and
[d]pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and
[e]seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.
6Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that
[f]comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].
7[That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.
The first question that pumps up in anyone's mind is, What is the flesh ? Does the flesh mean my earthly body or does it mean a kind of force or does it mean my biological skin. Well, the flesh as used in the above scripture simply means any action, thoughts, ambitions, desires that are not guided by the Holy Spirit. So let me ask you, how times have you acted without the Holy Spirit directing you. It is not only when we fornicate or cheat or steal that we are being fleshy. What about when the Spirit directs you to go visit someone and you don't or vice-versa. Or he leads you to stay put in a place and you don't. You are also being fleshy. I read a story once about a man whom the Spirit of God had been convicting of sin so he could come to Jesus, the man said he would only accept Jesus as his lord and saviour if he goes to a petrol station and sees an old woman who is above 80 years standing on her head. So he went to the petrol station and lo and behold , there was an 85 years old woman standing on her head, he approached her and asked why she was there at that time of the night standing on her head. She told him that the Holy Spirit told her to go stand on her head for sometime. This is one of many such examples.
The next disturbing question is why Christians (spirit-filled, tongue speaking ) cannot deny the pleasures of the flesh and chase after the things of the Spirit?. Let me show you why
(a) They have not trained themselves to know when He speaks ( this in itself is being fleshy ).
(b) They are not in an intimate relationship with Him ( The Holy Spirit )
(c) They are ignorant of His abundant grace
When I watch love movies ( especially Bollywood ) am amazed at what length lovers are ready to go for each other to ensure their happiness, to avoid pissing off each other, I will be like wow!, truly love is the most powerful feeling there is. We can't live according to the Spirit because we don't love Him enough. Until our love for Him completely outweighs our fleshy desires we will continue to struggle. Painfully, Romans 5:5 tells us that this love has been shed abroad in our hearts i.e just as breastfeeding comes naturally to a baby so does the love of God come naturally to you as a child of God. I pray for you that as you submit to walk in His love and grace, living according to the flesh becomes a thing of the past in your life in Jesus name.
How do you know if you walk in the flesh. Well Gal 5:17-21 answers that beautifully. If you notice these things in your life, then I guess you know the right thing to do.
Then we have to look at what it means to live according to the Spirit of God? Does it only mean to wait for revelations, visions or prophecy before doing things? Does it mean always waiting for a sign to happen before acting? Well to properly answer these questions, we must first look at how the Spirit of God directs or leads us as Christians .
(1) Through our inner witness :
You see in every christain there is this inner witness from the Holy Spirit ( romans 8:16 ), we sometimes call it promptings or leadings or we say I perceive this or that or I feel this or that. But in truth, it's the Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us or directing us through our inner witness. This is one of the ways that the Holy Spirit trains us that we have seriously failed in training ourselves as Christains. For instance, in my personal life when am asking God for directions on something and He answers there is this unusual peace and submission to His will. Or also when He gives me a word of knowledge or prophecy, my heartbeat increases and there is this urgency to quickly give it out like its a hot coal on my lips. The way he talks to me, is certainly different from every other human. So learn and know how he speaks to you.
(2) Through Scripture :
One other way, the Holy Spirit talks to us is through scriptures ( romans 12:1, 2 Tim 3:16-17 ). Romans 12:1 only takes place as you continuously study God's word and decide to change your ways. No wonder Apostle James admonishes us to not only be hearers but hearers and doers of the word. One problem with Christians is that they just read scriptures for reading sake. When you study scripture, you should do so for but not limited to the following reasons
*What is God's promise for me today? then confess it .
*What conditions do I have to fulfill for these promises to come to pass?
*What mindset do I have contrary to what scripture is saying,so that I can change for the better by His grace.
*What is God teaching me from scripture, not popular opinion of men of God?
*What instructions, lessons and morals should I begin to practice?
If you read scripture for these but not limited to them you should see changes in your characters, behaviours etc. Because Jesus said "you are clean by the words that I have spoken", again he said "the words that I speak they are Spirit and Life ".
(3) Through the brethren :
This is the one most Christains know of and want to pay attention to and thereby abusing it. You see Christians running up and down narrating their ordeals then they will tell you pray for me oh, but there are not praying for themselves. The Holy Spirit most of the time only guides us through our brethren as a confirmation for the directions he has been giving us through our inner witness or scriptures, not limited to this only. So you see that this is the Holy Spirit's last resort but we have placed it as the first. That's why you hear a lot of rubbish that Christians do all in the name of my pastor or daddy G.O or prophet told me so, because they have not learnt to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit so they can be tossed to and fro by any wave of doctrine.
How do you know if you have been following the leading of the Spirit Gal 5:22-24 answers that beautifully. If you notice these things , then I congratulate you but I admonish you to be more on alert.
I hope you have been blessed by this write-up. Living waters wishes you a happy new year, your year of fulfilled promises.
If you realise that men need to hear the gospel more than any other thing in the world then assist us in increasing our world audience by being a constant visitor to the blog and see sharing of the blog as an opportunity to evangelise the gospel to the ends of the earth that you may never get to but internet has made possible. God bless you as you do so in Jesus name. Amen. Enjoy the rest of the year and we hope to bless you again next year. Remember the world is in dire need of the word of God, so join us spread this word. God bless you richly and do have a wonderful night rest. Shalom.
Prayer point:
Ask God for enablement inorder for you to walk in the fullness of His love and grace.
Ask for forgiveness for all the times you grieved the Holy Spirit or even quenched Him by walking in the flesh
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