The Spirit Trumps Flesh Every Time

Let's be frank about the current condition in the Church: Unless there is a radical change in our perspective we are going to see continued major splits over biblical teaching. Far too many of us are interpreting God's Holy Word according to our flesh. We look at it to justify our established pattern of thinking. We are not coming to it to be changed, to be transformed into the character of Christ. We want to use it to back up our version of love, so the parts that don't agree with us we dismiss.

The Christian life is not about us getting what we want while trying to be good. It is just the opposite to such a self-centered philosophy of life. The Christian life is about dying to our flesh and living in obedience to the Father's will. But people really don't want to hear that. They just want to shout at Yahweh that they are willing to serve him on their terms. In truth, they aren't shouting at Yahweh because they don't know him to shout at him. They know of him through traditions but their acting out they are shouting at the Church : I will serve Jesus as long as I get to do it as I want to do it". Listen to Jesus:

The Spirit is the one who gives life and the flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Yet some of you don’t believe. (John 6:63-64)

The flesh doesn't help at all. I don't need to list all the issues splintering the Church right now, I think you are well aware of those to list them yourself. But as you list them, mark beside each one whether it is a flesh issue or not. We can all think for ourselves and I pray you are possessed by the Spirit that you are able to think in spiritual terms. You should be able to discern these matters for yourself. Is it a bunch of people who want what their flesh desires and all that Jesus offers, or is it those who have been crucified with Christ and who no longer live according to the desires of their flesh but it is Christ who lives in them?

You see, we live this life in these weak bodies only by faith in the Son of God. We deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. We live here in this place according to the Spirit and truth not according to the desires of our unredeemed and deceptive flesh. We have to live in these bodies by faith in Jesus, what he taught, what he did, how he directs us now, by the power of the Spirit, because if we try to trust our own desires we will be lost again to that from which Jesus set us free. Jesus has given us life by the Spirit which is not life by the flesh.

The real question is, will we believe Jesus over the flesh that gives no life at all? Will we receive the life the Spirit gives.

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity,promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:16-21)

For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you.But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Romans 8:5-9)

Holy Spirit Smack Down

We think we are living an authentic Christianity. We think we are okay. We think we are getting by on the faith that we have. We think it's good enough.

We are lying to ourselves.

It's not good enough.

Grace is seen as a free ticket, but for those who are pursuing Jesus as they should, it is a great power propelling us forward, giving us a desire to go higher, deeper and wider with Jesus.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)

I dare you to read that with your eyes open,
not half asleep,
not skimming through but
with eyes wide open.

... who do not walk according to the flesh

but according to the Spirit.

Who is in control of your day? How much thought do you give to Jesus? Who are you living for? What desires are propelling you forward?

Who do not walk according to the flesh.

We don't even know enough to ask ourselves the right questions. We actually think we are okay; that what we are doing (which isn't much) is somehow pleasing and honouring to Jesus.

As if the God who gave us his everything is pleased to accept our nothing.

Are you ready for this?

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5)

"What? I don't understand. What you are saying? Are you saying I am carnally minded?"

You tell me.

"What about grace?"

Grace is not a free ticket to let you do whatever you want because whatever you want is always going to come from the flesh and if you live by the flesh then you have nothing to do with Jesus.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

There is more.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:6-8)

"Well I think I am okay. I don't think I am carnally minded."

That's because most of us don't give it a thought. We do what we think is best, which is a pretty good definition of what it is to live by the flesh. We think that a half-effort is good enough.

Jesus said it isn't. He said all or nothing. Yes, that is right. To live by the Spirit means that we have held nothing back and our only longing is the will of the Father.

Does that describe your day?

No? Mine neither but the Spirit smacked me across the head with this scripture and I for one am paying attention.

This is not fun and games boys and girls. This is life and death for eternity. This is serious relational stuff. Jesus has called us to something higher and greater than what we have been willing to live.

What will you do with this? Whatever you do, don't go back to getting by.

Open My Eyes Lord

"Open my mind and let me discover the wonders of your Law." Psalm 119:18 CEV

So many people approach the Word of God as they would a novel, a book of history, or some impossible thing to understand, and approaching it in such a way will make it impossible to understand. What is worse is when we approach it like unbelieving theologians, tearing it apart like some ancient text book that has to be proven or disproved. The Word of God does not need to be defended any more than the Ark of the Convenient needed to be protected. It is not in need of being proven. It is from God, of God, holy and protected by him. He will defend it. He will prove it.

I cannot teach you the Word of God unless I am anointed by the Spirit to do so. You cannot receive from the Word of God unless you have a spiritual mind because only God can provide revelation. Only the Spirit can give us the heart and mind to understand what is spiritual. What is so difficult to understand, that the Word of God can only be understood by the mind possessed by the Spirit of God?

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. (Romans 8:5)

The Spirit, through apostle Paul, made it plan for us to see:

Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. (1 Corinthains 2:13)

Spiritual things to spiritual people. And by this Paul refers to those possessed by the Spirit of God. It is great that we have accepted Jesus as Saviour but to grow spiritually, to be one with Jesus, to understand the revelation of the Word of God, we must be Holy Spirit possessed. We can understand nothing but our selfish desires when we try to understand in our flesh.

I read a lot of "junk food" theology in the sphere of social networking, but much of it is propagated by people who have understood the Word through their flesh. Certainly they have taken courses and may even have letters behind their name, but it does not mean they are anointed by the Spirit. Many are unpiritual people teaching an unspiritual people, and it is just creating a mess. It is not a new phenomena:

My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That’s why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

I encourage you, if you want to dig deep into the revelation of God, into his holy Word, then cry out to God to be possessed by his Spirit. Die to your own understanding and caste away your selfish desires. Soak in the Spirit, making sure that you are fully surrendered, then ask God to open your eyes to the Word. There is nothing new under the sun but that does not mean you understand what is of the Spirit. Make it your heart desire and God will see that you receive it and he will give you a spiritual mind.

We Need To Get Out Of Bed

There are some days when it is hard to get moving; you just don't want to get out of bed. Sure there is a long list of things to do, but it would also be great to be able just to stay under the covers and keep the world at bay for a few more minutes. Then there are those days when, even though you did get out of bed, you just don't feel like doing those things on your list. If only we had fewer responsibilities, fewer items on the "to do" list, fewer work hours in the day. This flesh can get lazy at times.

Now, I am not talking about those necessary down times or vacations. Our bodies and minds need rest. God created it and we need it. But there are times when we want to take rest in the midst of the work. It is at those times that we have to dig a little deeper, push a little harder. It can make the difference between success and failure in the day. It is no different spiritually. There are a lot of parallels in the physical and spiritual realms.

How often have you felt too tired to spend time in the Word or to go to the Lord in prayer? How many days or weeks have you spent having nothing to do with God except for your little prayer before you eat? How many times has the Spirit provoked us to call or visit someone but we just didn't feel like it? Our spiritual failure often happens because we do not know how to push through those moments. It is called discipline and many of us lack it. It is the reason our walk with Jesus is often more like a roller coaster ride.

We admire someone like apostle Paul but we are not willing to pay the price to serve with the intensity he had in service. And when we encounter other Christians who do have that similar spirit we often marginalize them so we don't feel guilty. They have discipline and we don't. They have determination and we don't. They push through and we don't. We decide that they are not normal and we are. But, according to the Kingdom they are the normal ones.

This is what Paul said about keeping his flesh in check so that the Spirit would reign:

You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. I don’t run without a goal. And I don’t box by beating my fists in the air. I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won’t lose out after telling the good news to others. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

The knowledge of how to make our bodies our slave is something that the Church is lacking. Wait, let me get personal with this; it is something that I am lacking. I am doing my best to gain it back but I know the ability to do so only comes from the Holy Spirit, so I am taking steps to ensure every day that he has control. I do this by repenting for every incident where I took control back. By being aware of what I am doing I am demonstrating a deep desire to change. The Word says that God loves a repentant heart.

We are a new creation because of Jesus and we live that out by the Holy Spirit in us, but it means we must take control of our bodies. It means the desires of our flesh must be denied so the will of the Father will be our priority. It doesn't mean austere actions but a disciplined approach to life. Just as we need to know the right foods to eat and the right activities to participate in for a healthy body, we need a regime of discipline to feed our spirit what it needs and to participate in activities that bring health. It means we need to say no to ourselves or understanding the words enough and satisfied. It means a denying of self and taking up that cross. It means following Jesus, not just admiring him. It means keeping the body under control and making it do what we want it to do.

A walk with Jesus is not a coasting along in life; it is a process, a growing, an increasing, knowing what our goal is and making the correct decisions to enable our Lord to get us there. So get off that spiritual coach and do something. Plan out your day to include alone time with Jesus. Decide on a course of study in the Word. Plan worship in your day. Seek the face of God. Ask for a greater anointing. Seek more of the Spirit. Meet with brothers and sisters to pray, share in testimony and encourage one another. So no to evil. Turn your back on the enemy of your soul. Pray with and for your spouse. Pray with and for your children. Pray for your parents instead of criticizing them. Fight for your pastor and the church leadership. Desire greater maturity, a closer walk, greater sensitivity to the Spirit and to be used in the battle for the souls of this doomed planet.

At the very least, take the first step; get out of bed.