Living in the Spirit or in the Flesh

March 31, 2014

Opening Hymns:
710 Faith of Our Fathers http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh710.sht

Scripture Reading:
Romans 8:6-11
8:6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

8:7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law-- indeed it cannot,

8:8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

8:9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

8:10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Message:
This reminds me of the scripture where Jesus explains that no one can serve two masters (Mathew 6:24). Likewise, this scripture describes either being “in the flesh” or “in the Spirit”. When our focus is not on ourselves we act differently. We think and respond to things in a different manner. Perhaps we donate more money when we feel concerned and see the needs of others. Perhaps we focus more of our time to heal and do good in the world. When we focus in on the flesh we can find ourselves giving in to the desires of our sins. Our world can start to revolve around us and those who are close to us. We might cheat others we don’t know well in order to get what we want. Wars, violence, and thefts can result in a person who is inward focused. Wars often begin because one group of people want land or possessions that another group of people has. They are focused on themselves.

I heard about something interesting today. Way back when people were in the “hunter gatherer” mode… they would occasionally live in caves and draw drawings. During this time, there was no other form of written history. People were surprised that no pictures depicted any sort of war or fights at all. Most of the drawings were of animals, and some of people. Why would that be? There is a theory that they didn’t have wars back then because everyone was simply struggling to survive. They didn’t have any energy left over to focus inward, because each clan was focused on each other’s, and there is evidence that they also helped support other clans as well.  

While that sounds like a peaceful time, I’m not saying that we should put ourselves in a state where we can barely survive. However, our focus can be changed in a similar way. The earliest humans had a focus on survival which hid the desires of possessions. We can have a desire to serve God, and others which could then hide the desires of the flesh. If we care about other human life, it is harder to steal or commit sins against others. Our focus, and choice to follow our human desires or God’s desires leads our day to day actions. We can tell what our focus is by looking at our actions. What actions show that you are living in the Spirit? What actions show that you are living in the flesh? How can you continue to change and grow closer to God?

Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank You for sending Your Spirit down so that we can feel Christ alive in us. Help us on this day to live in the Spirit. Let our focus be outward, on You and Your children. Help guide our actions so that we may better serve Your will. Amen.


The Lord’s Prayer


May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God