Hi peeps, sorry been away from my blog for sometime now. Blame it on work :) as usual.
Lately, I have been thinking about stuff relating to God, time, purpose etc. However, one particular question that surrounds most of my thoughts is- how have I been living my life: according to the flesh or to the Spirit?
An important choice that I think all believers are faced with, daily, is between living by the flesh or the Spirit. The bible says: 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. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom8:5-6).
To me this means that when a Christian deals with life by his flesh, he/she typically thinks about:
"what I want out of my life"
"what I can accomplish with my life"
"what I can get out of this"
"what I can do for God"
The result of this is spiritual deadness.
On the other hand, when a Christian deals with life by the Spirit, he/she generally thinks about:
"what God wants for my life"
"what God can accomplish through my life"
"how much I need the Lord"
"how great the Lord is"
The result of this is eternal life and peace.
The truth is that the "flesh-spirit" choice is something believers will face every day as really those are the only two options for every issue of life. Personally, I know most times I think about what I want and not what God wants, I think about my heart desires, not God's heart desires. I need to get past thinking of me, me, me and start thinking of what the Father wants/desires. I need to get past spending time on my stuff and start spending time on God's stuff. I need to start living according to the Spirit!
So how then do I do that- I need to ask God for supernatural power to renounce the path of the flesh. Practically, I need to feed my Spirit by feasting on God's word and place my expectations on Him, so that his Spirit can bring forth fruit like "love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" in me. (Gal 5:22-23).
Any other tips or practical steps? Please feel free to share.
By the way, here's something else I have been thinking about-The Spirit, Soul and Body. Do you know that when one becomes born again it is his/her spirit that became born again, not the body or soul? Ok that's a discussion for another day. :)
Hmm I have to re-read this later. Preach it sister preach it.
ReplyDeleteOk...i'll be waiting to read your comments when you get to reading it :)
ReplyDeleteVery true ... very true. I think i can say that the spirit/flesh battle is one of the greatest battles fought by Christians... and it's a fight we cannot win on our own. We have to Let go and Let God. I'm still learning to do that. God help us all.
ReplyDeleteI feel you big time. The battle between the flesh and the spirit is intense. We just have to make sure we keep feeding our spirit with the word of God so the world influences and pressures dont drown us in.
ReplyDeleteNice one ;)
Deciding between the flesh-spirit is a constant battle. Like u rightly stated it's only by his grace we can win the battle. For me, fellowshipping and befriending "true" believers has helped to an extent. I say true believers to mean those whose life and dealings reflect the savior's love.
ReplyDeleteAbove all, i pray that just as the word was like fire in Jeremiah's bones, THE WORD will be like fire in every true believer's bones consuming even to the very depth of our souls- Amen.
About the spirit, soul and body i've got loads to share on that. That was studied in my bible study group. I'd love to hear ur views on it.