Conflict

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:22-25 (day four)

There is an obvious conflict in this passage—the Spirit and the flesh.  Our lives are going to be led by one or the other.  The conflict is not a congenial one either…when we belong to Christ, we crucify the flesh.  Crucifixion is a violent and painful means of death. There is a great conflict or clash between the Spirit-led life and the life led by the flesh.  Scripture says old things pass away, new things are come.  There is no room for the flesh in the life of the believer.

Paul writes to the Galatians that to belong to Christ, our lives will necessarily exhibit the fruits or qualities of the Spirit.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…all things we would want in our lives.  What are the character qualities that are evident in your life?  Can you give demonstration of having victory over the great conflict in your life?

Evidence

Re:Verse passage – 1 Thessalonians 1:2-6 (day four)

Notice the fruits of the Spirit that Paul identifies as being evidenced in the Thessalonians…work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hopeFaith, hope, love…these three, but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).  Throughout all of his writings, Paul speaks of the impact or result in our lives when the Holy Spirit is present.  We cannot be ‘unaffected’ by the Holy Spirit when He is in our hearts.  He is not a token we take out occasionally and flash around.  He permeates our lives and is evidenced in all of our relationships… we become imitators of Christ.

What does the evidence in your life indicate?  Can those around you clearly recognize the fruit of the Spirit or is your fruit mashed and spoiled?  Do those who know you see Christ or do they see a counterfeit that is a poor imitation?  Evidence reveals the truth!

Sealed

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 1:13-14 (day four)

We were outsiders, excluded from a relationship with the Creator God…Gentiles who had no inheritance in Christ.  Then, we discovered the Truth of God’s plan.  We were included all the time!  The Gospel was open to us.  When we believed in Christ, our eternal relationship was sealed with the Holy Spirit.

In our Western culture, we do not have kings.  We are not as familiar with the trappings of a monarchy.  To ‘seal a command’ would mean a proclamation was made, then wax was applied to the document and an image was impressed into the soft wax before it cooled.  When the wax quickly hardened, the remaining ‘seal’ carried the full power and authority of the king.  The weight of the realm assured that the proclamation would be carried out.  It could not be broken!

The Holy Spirit is our ‘seal’ of promise.  We have an inheritance with Christ…forgiveness, redemption and abundant life.  The impression of the Holy Spirit (the gifts of the Spirit…another study!) on our lives is the visible sign of our inherited relationship with Almighty God!

Voice of the Spirit

Re:Verse passage – Romans 14:17-19 (day four)

In order to grasp the full meaning of a passage, it must be examined in context.  ‘In context’ means looking at the verses surrounding the passage to gain a wider picture and understanding.  Looking at all of Romans 14 helps us to understand verses 17-19.

Romans 14 deals with principles of conscience.  Conscience is an important work of the Holy Spirit.  When our conscience tell us we should or should not do something, it is often the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our spirit.  We are convicted of right or wrong.  In Romans 8:16, Scripture says, “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit…”  [Henry Blackaby, in Experiencing God, taught that one of the things that only God can do is to convict of righteousness.]

Our Re:Verse passage this week teaches us how we are to live to please Christ.  We are approved by God when we “pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”  Are you listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life?

Fix It!

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:26-27 (day four)

I am a planner/organizer…I like to ‘fix’ things.  When I am confronted with a task or challenge, my mind immediately goes to a step-by-step solution to the problem.  It is a gift, but like every other spiritual gift, it can be used in the Spirit or out of the Spirit.  The danger for me is when I immediately go to my own solution and never seek counsel from the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, the challenge is just too great!  It is so overwhelming that I cannot even see a way to fix it!  (Think…major health issue, global pandemic, or close friend that just will not turn to Christ!) It is then that I understand the ‘groaning too deep for words’.  My ‘need’ happens more often than I care to admit, but it is in these major events that I am confronted more clearly with my failure to follow the Spirit.

The Spirit is constantly at work in our lives.  Learning to walk in the Spirit is one of the key elements of becoming more like Christ.  How do we live every day, completely surrendered to the direction of the Holy Spirit?  Sounds like a question that needs ‘fixing’…in the Spirit!

It Will Never Fly!

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:5-11 (day four)

I worked for a summer at DFW Airport for Eastern Airlines.  I never tired of watching the planes take off.  Working on the baggage crew, I knew how much weight we loaded on the planes.  Add to that the fuel, the passengers and the actual weight of the aircraft…there was significant weight to lift.  Every time I would watch a jumbo 747 lumber down the runway, I would say, “It will never fly!”  Gravity was always at work but the thrust of the engines was a greater force…it always lifted off.  (Thanks to Dr. Wayne Barber for the analogy.)

The law of sin is always at work in our lives.  It can seem to be overwhelming and strong at times.  When we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit is a greater force in our lives than the gravity of sin.  The Holy Spirit supersedes the power of sin and death.  No longer are we confined by the law of sin, but, in Christ, we live for eternity under the power of a new law…the law of the Spirit.

High Standards

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:1-4 (day four)

As a young teenager, I competed in the High Jump.  Never with any degree of success because there was a problem…the standard was raised with each jump until I could no longer clear the bar.  The standard was not at fault, it was my inability to jump high enough to clear it.

In our passage this week, we see the intersection of the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ vs. the law of sin and death.  The deficiency is not with the Law (God’s Law), it is with man’s inability to overcome the high standard on our own.  God’s Law has set a high and perfectly obedient standard and we cannot attain it…only in Christ can we achieve the standard!

If my short-lived track and field career could have had a spring board like Christ is to my spiritual life, I could have been an Olympic jumper.  Christ, through the Holy Spirit, enables us to achieve the high standard of the Law…it is only by His grace!

To the Ends

Re:Verse passage – Acts 1:8 (day four)

Looking at our passage this week in context, the disciples were still looking for a political leader to deliver Israel from their enemies.  Rather than turning inward to focus on their own nation alone, Jesus expanded their mission to reach the whole world.  It was a radical plan and without the power of the Holy Spirit, would have been impossible to accomplish.

In John 14:26, Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and will remind them of everything He had said to them.  Only the Spirit could change their narrow, nationalistic beliefs and give them a heart for the nations.

Has the Holy Spirit changed your heart and given you a heart for the nations?  Have you moved beyond your narrow perspective of restoring your own nation to sharing the Gospel with the remotest parts of the world?  God’s plan is still at work through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Sealed

Re:Verse passage – John 1:29-34 (day four)

John’s assignment was to prepare the way for the Lord.  He was to give witness to others of the Messiah.  In our passage, John is being faithful and obedient to his call.  John knew Jesus was the Lamb of God because he had been told by God that when he saw the Holy Spirit descend and remain, that would be the seal of divinity.  It was the work of the Holy Spirit to seal Jesus’ identity.

We are also sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him (Jesus), you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”  One of the greatest works of the Holy Spirit is sealing us for the day of redemption.  When we believe in Jesus, we have the faithful promise of God that we are forgiven and saved.  That promise is sealed…we are sealed…by the Holy Spirit!

Clouded By Sin

Re:Verse passage – Mark 11:11-19 (day four)

The Temple in Jerusalem was supposed to be a place of worship.  Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah when He said, “My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all the nations.”  Jesus recognized that sinful man had so distorted the function of the Temple, that it was no longer a house of prayer.  In His love for God and zeal for His house, he cleansed the Temple.

In our lives, we can let sin take over to the point that the Holy Spirit cannot even work through us.  Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  Do we need to cleanse our lives as Jesus cleansed the Temple?  Do we need to overturn the tables of sin in our hearts so we can fulfill God’s plan in our lives?  Don’t allow sin to overshadow your life and cause you to no longer be of any use to the Kingdom.  Be imitators of Christ!