Romans 8:5-6
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.
What of Today’s Verse…
The crucial choice that believers in Christ face day by day is between living by the flesh or living by the Spirit. The difference concerns facing life by our resources and perspectives or by God’s. “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.” When a Christian deals with life by his flesh, he typically thinks about “what I want out of my life” or “what I can accomplish with my life.” Conversely, when a Christian deals with life by the Spirit, he typically thinks about “what God wants for my life” or “what God can accomplish through my life.”
The consequences related to this choice are monumental. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” When a believer allows his mind to be set in a carnal direction, he will be thinking about worldly self-indulgence (“what I can get out of this”) or religious self-accomplishment (“what I can do for God”). The result of either carnal perspective is “death” (spiritual deadness). On the other hand, when a follower of Jesus sets his mind on heavenly matters, he will be considering issues of humility (“how much I need the Lord”) or faith (“how great the Lord is”). The results of such spiritual thoughts are “life and peace” (spiritual vitality and spiritual tranquillity).
Another analysis of these two options can be seen in the contrast between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit.” When we put our hope in our own capabilities, our flesh produces deeds such as “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Gal_5:19-21). Contrariwise, when we place our expectations upon the Lord, His Spirit brings forth through us fruit like “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal_5:22-23).
Consider this fundamental truth. These “flesh-Spirit” choices are what all of us will face every day of our lives. The persistency of these issues is inherent in the fact that God only offers two options for every issue of life; namely, “live according to the flesh” or “live according to the Spirit.”
Let us Pray:
O Sovereign Lord, I bow to Your wisdom and authority that offers these two choices alone. Lord, I renounce the natural path of my flesh, which brings severe, but deserved, consequences. I gladly embrace the supernatural path of Your Spirit, which brings the undeserved results of Your grace at work in me, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
Look Again And Consecrate
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us if we are not simple. How are we going to be simple with the simplicity of Jesus? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, obeying Him as He brings the word of God, and life will become amazingly simple. “Consider” says Jesus, “how much more your Father Who clothes the grass of the field will clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him.” Every time we have gone back in spiritual communion, it has been because we have impertinently known better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed the cares of the world to come in, and have forgotten the “much more” of our Heavenly Father.
“Behold the fowls of the air” – their main aim is to obey the principle of life that is in them and God looks after them. Jesus says that if you are rightly related to Him and obey His Spirit that is in you, God will look after your ‘feathers.’
“Consider the lilies of the field” – they grow where they are put. Many of us refuse to grow where we are put consequently we take root nowhere. Jesus says that if we obey the life God has given us, He will look after all the other things. Has Jesus Christ told us a lie? If we are not experiencing the “much more,” it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us, we are taken up with confusing considerations. How much time have we taken up worrying God with questions when we should have been absolutely free to concentrate on His work? Consecration means the continual separating of myself to one particular thing. We cannot consecrate once and for all. Am I continually separating myself to consider God every day of my life?
“If God so clothe the grass of the field . . . shall He not much more clothe you?” Matthew 6:30
