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Today’s reading is Galatians 5:1-6:18.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

I want to quit sinning. I want to quit gratifying the lusts of my flesh. I want to overcome those temptations. I’m tired of the strife and turmoil sin causes. I’m tired of how sin wreaks havoc in my relationship with my family, friends, neighbors, etc. I’m tired of how sin destroys my faith in and fellowship with God. I want to get over all this. But I keep coming up short.

Paul explains the key in Galatians 5:16. I need simply to walk by the Spirit. I need to let the Spirit guide me. Instead of trying to be justified by law, which will only cause me to be severed from Christ (Galatians 5:4), I need to seek justification by the grace of God’s Spirit. I need to be led by the Spirit, not law (Galatians 5:18). That means I need to crucify my flesh, with its passions and desires. I need to put it to death and quit letting it lead me. It twists the law and leads me back into sin (Romans 7:8-11). I need to put away my conceit, my reliance upon me and the competition it produces with others. Instead, I need simply to surrender my life to the Spirit today and what He says I should do. Why? Because God’s way works.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. How do you think we walk by the Spirit?

Today’s reading is Luke 11:1-12:59.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spiritis more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).

I have learned that making a change is not the same as quitting something. I’ve quit bad things a thousand times only to wonder how they got even worse later. Making a change means putting something in its place. Jesus uses the metaphor of spiritual possession to talk about a changed life. We may “cast out the demon” and tidy up the heart. But if we do not invite a different spirit to live there, the evil one will return with a vengeance.

I’ve learned that I invite the Spirit to dwell in my heart by spending time in God’s word, by spending time in vulnerable, intimate prayer, by spending time with others who are making changes, by calling someone and talking to them about what is happening when it seems the “evil spirit” is trying to get back in, by getting outside myself and serving others, by singing, by listening to others, by teaching others, by meditating on God. As these things change my life, I can’t describe the joy and peace they bring. In this case, the last state is much better than the first and even than the second.

I need to spend some time today inviting the Spirit to take residence within me so the evil spirits won’t have any room.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Jude 1:1-25; 1 Corinthians 1:1-31.

What a great reading today. Through Jude, God has told me four things I need to put on my checklist today and every day.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21).

1. Build yourself up in the most holy faith.

What am I going to do today to build my faith? For starters, I’m spending time in God’s word. I think I’ll talk to some other Christians today and seek encouragement in the faith. I’m going to spend some time praying. I think I’ll write a gratitude list to remind me of the many blessings God is showering in my life.

2. Pray in the Holy Spirit

I don’t think this is a reference to prayer through some miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit, but rather a parallel to Romans 8:26-27, recognizing that in my weakness I don’t always know how to pray or for what to pray. However, as long as I’m hanging on to God, the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. When I pray today, I’m going to do so with confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit to intercede for me in my weaknesses.

3. Keep yourself in the love of God.

That also sounds like Romans 8:31-39. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. However, if I choose, I can walk out of His loving hands. Today, I’m going to work on drawing closer to God through His love. Instead of going my own way, I’m going to consider what God’s love suggests for my life. What would God have me do? I know He loves me and therefore His way will be best for me. 

4. Wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus.

No matter what good or bad things happen in my life today, I’m going to remember that I am turning to God’s love, praying in the Spirit, building up my faith because I’m hanging on to an eternal hope. I love God not because He is giving me a good day or a good week. I love God because He has saved my soul for eternity. That is where my inheritance and reward are: in eternity. I won’t be turned aside from that hope no matter what happens today. I want to keep my mind firmly focused on heavenly things and eternity. 

Well, I guess my plate is full for today. How about yours?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 3:1-4:25.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Whoa! Now that is shocking.

The Spirit led Jesus out to be tempted by the devil? There are some lessons I need to learn from this.

First of all, I think I need to learn to be comfortable with statements about being led by the Spirit. Because of the errors of pentecostalism and modern emotionalism, I’m usually pretty leery of any such statements. And yet, the New Testament is filled with that kind of language. Even Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. I need to be led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:25), though I admit, I don’t think that phrase refers to some internal SPS (Spiritual Positioning System).

Second, the leading of the Holy Spirit will not always put me in easy situations. This is the bigger lesson I need to get. I hear so many people today attributing things to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. However, almost without exception, people only attribute something to the guidance of the Holy Spirit if it made their lives easier or gave them what they wanted anyway. I rarely hear anyone talk about how the Spirit led them somewhere and it brought hardship on them. But look at the Holy Spirit’s guidance of Jesus. 

The Spirit led Jesus:

1. into the wilderness
2. on a 40 day fast
3. to be tempted by the devil

I don’t know about you, but neither of those three things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today. These are all hardships. Yet, the Spirit led Jesus right into the midst of them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the Spirit’s guidance always leads us into hardship. I’m certain there are great many things the Spirit leads us to do that directly make us happier and makes our lives easier. I just want us to note that the Spirit’s guidance often leads us into places we wouldn’t go because the path of least resistance isn’t always helpful.

For instance, according to Matthew 5:23-24, the Spirit guides me to have face to face talks with those I know have something against me. That is not easy. In Matthew 5:27-30, the Spirit guides me to get my lusts under control even if it means cutting of my hands or plucking out my eyes (let’s not get distracted by the hyperbole here). In Matthew 5:31-32, the Spirit guides me to make my marriage work even when my wife has made me really angry or has hurt me tremendously. In Matthew 5:38-42, the Spirit guides me to accept hurt without retaliation. In Matthew 5:43-48, the Spirit guides me to love my enemies, to pray for them and bless them. To be honest, none of these things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today, but the Spirit is leading me there anyway. 

The practical take away is that the test for the Spirit’s guidance is not simply whether I like where it is leading. The test is does it fit with God’s word. If it does, then I need to follow, even if I don’t like where it is leading. I just need to trust God that where He is leading me is ultimately for my good and His glory.

***Question: What do you do to help you obey God even when you don’t like where He is leading you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brother affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

II Peter 1:5-11 (ESV)

I recognize we cannot earn our way into heaven. If we are saved, it will be because God is good enough; not because we are. At the same time, I recognize not just everybody will be provided with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, it seems not just everyone who has ever believed and obeyed Jesus for a time will be provided that entrance. 

Rather, those who pursue this standard of growth will gain entrance. Our growth rests on the foundation of faith, but we must add to it. We must continually work on…

• Faith–believing in God, believing God and trusting God’s way is right.
• Virtue–the moral excellence to do what is right because it is right.
• Knowledge–getting God’s word into our heads and hearts.
• Self-control–doing what is right in the face of persuasion to do otherwise.
• Steadfastness–stringing moments of self-control together in a row, even in the face of opposition.
• Godliness–honoring God and revering Him with every action.
• Brotherly affection–treating our brethren with kindness, tender-heartedness and forgiveness.
• Love–obeying God from the heart and seeking what is best for others.

There are some things I recognize from this passage:

1. “Going to church” is not the equivalent of being a disciple.
2. I need to work on me; I need to work on my relationship with others; I need to work on my relationship with God; I need to work on these every day.
3. I don’t get to rest based on what I accomplished yesterday, I have to keep growing.
4. I don’t have to be perfect today, I just need to make progress.

If I plant watermelon seeds, I won’t get pumpkins and vice versa. Or as Jesus would say, we can’t get figs from thistles or grapes from thornbushes. We grow what we plant.

Therefore Paul says:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8, ESV).

All too often, as we Christians argue about where to draw our personal moral lines, we end up defending planting the seeds of the flesh. You may not agree with me regarding issues like the lottery, social drinking, couples dancing, etc. I just ask you to think about this passage.

What seeds are we planting if our best friends are drinkers? What seeds are we planting when we attend their parties filled with drink? What seeds are we planting when we hang out in casinos? What seeds are we planting if we look the other way as our friends get high? What seeds are we planting if unmarried couples rub their bodies together to the rhythm of the music? What seeds are we planting when we watch shows filled with the immodest and the immoral? What seeds are we planting when the songs that entertain us glorify immorality? What seeds are we planting if the books we read, the movies we watch, the tv shows we enjoy provide a constant and steady stream of the immoral?

I hear people all the time justify the “gray areas” in which they delight and then they wonder why they struggle so much with sin? Anecdotally, we hear of the increasing numbers of unmarried pregnancies, cases of adultery, alcoholism, drug abuse, homosexuality, prescription drug abuse, divorces, etc. These stories are not from the worldly but from within Christ’s body. I’m not sure a month has gone by over the past few years that I haven’t heard of another preacher or elder committing adultery. Of course, I cannot think about these who have fallen without thinking of my own sins and recognize but for the grace of God go I. 

What is happening here? Is the problem starting at the moment of the major sin? No. The problem is in our continual fight for our personal rights to claim we can watch what we want, read what we want, listen to what we want, go where we want, drink what we want and do what we want. Whether we realize it or not we are sowing seeds to the flesh. When our general practice is to justify and defend sowing the seeds of the flesh, we shouldn’t be surprised when we reap corruption. Paul proclaimed the hard and fast rule. If we sow seeds to the flesh, we will reap corruption from the flesh. 

Somehow, Christians today think we can plant thistles but get figs. We think we can plant thornbushes but get grapes. It doesn’t work that way. When we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.

If we really want to help people overcome full blown immorality, we need to quit telling them to just say, “No,” to the biggies. We need to help them start planting the right seeds. We need to start planting seeds to the Spirit. We need to increase our prayer and Bible Study. We need to deepen our relationships with other Christians. We need to come clean and confess to our brethren. We need to assemble with the saints, worshipping God and edifying one another. We need to cut off our right hands and pluck out our right eyes if they get in the way. 

Here is the great comfort. If we plant grapes, we won’t get thornbushes. If we plant figs, we won’t get thistles. When we plant seeds to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. That cannot be helped. It is just the way things work.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

Acts 10 is the source of a great deal of controversy. Many use it to claim baptism is not essential to salvation. After all, Cornelius received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Surely no one who was not already saved could possibly receive baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, some say, Cornelius must have been redeemed from his sins before he was baptized. 

That, of course, neglects the fact that Peter said baptism is for the remission of sins in Acts 2:38 and that he wrote that baptism now saves us in I Peter 3:21. 

So, what is the answer. Was Cornelius saved and then baptized by the Holy Spirit and then baptized in water?Or was he baptized in the Holy Spirit and then baptized in water and saved through that baptism?

I believe Acts 11 answers this question for us. In this chapter, Peter is defending his actions to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who don’t like the idea of opening their fellowship up to the uncircumcised. In Acts 11:4, Luke recorded that Peter is recounting the story in order. In Acts 11:14, Peter revealed that Cornelius had been told by an angel that Peter had a message, by which Cornelius would be saved. Keep that in mind. Cornelius had to hear Peter’s message in order to be saved. But then Acts 11:15 says, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them…” (ESV). 

Remember, Cornelius is going to be saved by the message he hears from Peter. However, Peter didn’t get the message out before the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius. If Cornelius had to hear Peter’s message to be saved, then he wasn’t saved when the Holy Spirit fell on him. But what message did Peter finally give Cornelius? That he had to be baptized in water. When Cornelius did that along with his household they were saved.

Someone will ask, “But how could the Holy Spirit fall on Cornelius if he weren’t saved?” That could happen because God is not bound by our rules. God can do what He wants. I certainly believe God could save someone without water baptism. I just don’t believe He did that here or anywhere else after Jesus died and was resurrected. Don’t you believe that if God wants to, He could let the Holy Spirit fall on anyone He wants? Or does He have to live by the rules we set for Him?

I would love to hear what you think about this or any other topic in these two chapters.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

No, I don’t mean evangelizing like Pentecostals. I mean evangelism like the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. 

Have you ever stopped to think what caused folks to listen to the Apostles in Acts 2? Why did the people come rushing to the spot where the 12 were gathered? Was it because they liked the 12? Was it because the 12 offered money? Was it because the 12 offered entertainment? Did they advertise a musical? Did they promise comedy?

No. The people came rushing because of the work of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:2, the Holy Spirit made a humongous sound like that of a rushing mighty wind. People from all over Jerusalem showed up. But then they stayed and continued to listen because of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit granted the apostles the ability to speak in other languages and everybody could tell these men were just Galileans, yet all could here their native tongues.

When we start thinking about evangelism, we need to do exactly what the apostles did. We need to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. Granted, I Corinthians 12 teaches that the miraculous working of the Spirit through personal gifts such as speaking in tongues would cease when the Word was fully revealed. Therefore, we can no longer wait for the Holy Spirit to make a rushing mighty wind sound. We can no longer rely on the Spirit to give us utterance in foreign tongues. But we can let the Spirit attract attention by walking in His fruit.

Galatians 5:22-25 says we should let the Spirit lead us. When we do, we will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let me ask you. Do you think if a whole bunch of us actually started living with these virtues that the world might stand up and take notice? 

Let’s quit relying on our gimmicks. Who needs the power lift team? Who needs comedians? Who needs rock bands? We have the Holy Spirit. The apostles relied on Him to attract the attention of the world. Let’s do the same today.

ELC