“He Always Leads Us Through His Written Word”
Sometimes it seems that our country has descended into a complicated slop of angry, contentious vindictiveness. As one sees loud attacks on traditional values, especially Christian values, it's easy to get worried. Many seem to have forgotten that Christianity was the foundation from which many of our present blessings were built. Things like dignity of the individual, universities and tolerance of dissent. But what is a Christian to do?
In looking at Romans 8, we see in verse 6 that "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." Who doesn't want that? This isn't just sticking our heads in the sand and letting the world go to hell in a handbasket Quite the contrary, no Christian should sit idly by and let people go to hell, with or without a handbasket. But first, we are to tend our relationship with God so we know what to do, how to do it and to do it in the right fearless attitude.
How? Romans8: 5 says: " those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." The intent is that we fundamentally transform our thoughts from total focus on the world, with all its skewed selfishness and septic priorities. Instead, all Christians are to walk in the Holy Spirit. This is not just the self-styled “super” Christians, but ALL Christians.
Paul reminds us in verses 8 & 9 that "Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit." Don't expect godly actions from ungodly values.
The question is "how do we stay in the realm of the Spirit while we're in a place that constantly screams at us for attention?" It sounds like an old riddle: "How can someone extract all of the air out of a drinking glass?" Well, the most direct way to get all the air out of a glass is by filling it with something else. "Well, Duh" you say, but life is much the same. You cannot simply extract thoughts that displease God from your mind. Kind of like saying "Don't think of a green & white polka-dot elephant"--I know you are just now. Instead, like the glass, you need to be filled up with thoughts— an entire mindset, really—that is oriented toward the things of the Spirit (e.g. Gal. 5:22–23).
The person who has been regenerated by the Spirit need not be a sucker for sin. Romans 8:11 says "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you." This means that by the Spirit, the pull of the worldly can be resisted. To "put to death the deeds of the body" is pretty much the same thing as "saying no to sin," but unlike the anti-drug campaign among youth many years ago, just say no by itself will never be successful. Just saying no will never allow you to consistently overcome sin. Then what must you do? You must say no by the power of the Spirit. We are to be led by the Holy Spirit.
How? He always leads us through his written Word, which was revealed to the prophets by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20–21). We are to prayerfully, carefully, and humbly apply broad biblical wisdom to the situations we face in our lives.
Note that being led clearly implies that we then ACT!! Living in the Spirit does not mean a free pass to doing nothing in this world, quite the contrary. We are to act against evil. But be careful, right now the worldly folk are saying that being Godly is evil. A clever reversal, but not at all a new ploy of Satan.
May you be controlled by the Holy Spirit, the director of real values and peace. Pastor Groff But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21