Whenever I have made any
kind of life decision without taking into account the wishes of the third
member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the end results have always been disastrous.
Does Romans 8:5-14 (MSG)
describe how you are right now, or how you wish to be in the future? “Those who
think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own
moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find
that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God!
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end;
attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.
Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely
absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God.
That person ignores who God is and what He is doing.
And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God Himself has taken up
residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of
Him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present
God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.
But for you who welcome Him, in whom He dwells –
even though you experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience
life on God’s terms.
It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the
alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life,
He’ll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to
Himself?
When God lives and breathes in you (and He does, as
surely as He did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With His Spirit
living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s! So don’t you see that we
don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent?
There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The
best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life,
God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!”
Being led by the Holy Spirit
requires one to trust in God’s power and goodness. The Almighty’s will is to
develop godly qualities in your life like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Who
are you submitting your will to? Is it the Father of Love (God) or the Father
of Lies (Satan)?
Being led by the Holy Spirit
means one is focused on things of the Holy Spirit. It’s always important to do
your best in trusting God. (James 1:6-8)
Keep your mind focused on ideas (and images) where ever you discover them that
are proper, dignified, right, wholesome, and beautiful. (Philippians 4:8) Give
yourself grace when you make mistakes as you will. (Romans 8:1)
Being led by the Holy Spirit
implies cooperating with what the Holy Spirit wishes to do in one’s life.
Whatever consumes your thought life will eventually come out in your actions.
Instead of avoiding the
Heavenly Father when you’ve disappointed Him, make things right immediately. (He
will always love and understand you.) Do what you can to become closer to Him
(prayer, Bible reading, church).
Enjoy the positive in your
life as in comes, and avoid emotionally preparing for the next catastrophe.
Deal with that as it arrives. (Matthew 6:27)
I Peter 1:14 (MSG) makes
this wise observation. “As obedient
children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a
life energetic and blazing with holiness.” Are you inflamed with your own
selfish desires (whatever they might be), or have you decided to submit to the
divine will of a God (who has an eternal love for you)?
*Inspired by the sermon “Because You
Belong…You Can Be Lead by the Holy Spirit!” (Installment Two) Ryan Edwards, July
17, 2016, CenterPoint Church Gahanna, Gahanna, OH
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