Latest / The Daily Word / May 27 – Led by the Spirit
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well hello and happy May 27th. It's Pastor Jenny here, and we're continuing our journey roaming through Romans as Pastor Brandon says, and we are in Romans chapter 8 today. And ⁓ my goodness, I think we could spend the entire month of May in Romans chapter 8. I read the reading today and I thought, where do I even begin? How do I even pick a verse maybe you've read today? And perhaps you think one of two thoughts. Maybe you thought like I did. Where do I begin? Or maybe you thought, I'm so confused. There's so much here. ⁓ or maybe you had a third thought that was, holy cow, I think I've probably heard twenty different messages from this passage. If Paul was sitting in front of me today, I think I would my thoughts would be, are you like about to die because I feel like you just laid out every thought you could possibly be thinking in this chapter. But hey, if we're gonna dive in, let's dive in. really I want to lean into the first few verses or kind of the first, I'll say few passages of Romans chapter eight, where we're gonna be talking about walking according to the spirit and not according to the flesh. ⁓ because as I was kind of looking, there was so much to choose from. That was really what stuck out to me the most. And I would say as we ⁓ lean into our denomination where we come from, our Pentecostal roots, as we're learning to even live according to the Spirit and worship according to the Spirit corporately, one of the things that I hear, ⁓ won't say I don't know if often it's the right word, but that we definitely encounter is that People are looking for a move of God. They're looking for sometimes the next big move of God will be words that we hear. But for sure, every Sunday, every time we gather, we're believing for the for God to move. We're believing and believe that God meets us in that place of worship, that his spirit is there. but sometimes I wonder if people are looking for the Holy Spirit to move in a corporate gathering. neglecting and forgetting that the Holy Spirit is moving within us and through us, that he should be moving in us and through us. And so I think this is a great passage to lean into and be reminded of what that is supposed to look like in our everyday life. So let's start just from the beginning with Romans chapter eight verse one, which starts out with There is therefore now no condemnation. To those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Verse two, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit in us. We no longer have to. live according to the flesh, to what our flesh desires and craves and wants to do. But because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we can put to death as we go on to continue reading in Romans. We can put those things to death. So what does that look like? We go on to continue reading. Verse three says, For what the law could not do in it what was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. So Jesus we know came in the flesh On account of sin, he condemns sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Verse five for 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. So it's important that as we call, not just call ourselves believers, but as we live as believers, that we learn to set our minds on the things of the spirit. So it's not just about looking for the next move of God. It's not just saying, where's the Holy Spirit moving? But we, even in of ourselves, in our day to day, in the moment to moment, we are setting our minds on the things of the Spirit. We're not just looking for God to move around us. But we're looking for God to move in us. But verse nine says, But you are not in the flesh, but you're in the spirit. If indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. And we know as believers, as we profess and call on Jesus as Lord, the Spirit is in us. And as you go on to read in verses twelve, ⁓ through fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, talks about sonship through the spirit, how we have been adopted into God's family. I love verse fourteen. It's the last one I think I'm gonna read you. It says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. That's really the verse that stuck out to me. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. And I think that stuck out to me because that is definitely a phrase I hear. Well, we just want to be led by the Spirit. Yes. Not just in our services, not just in our corporate worship, but we want to be led by the Spirit and Every moment in every decision would we be sensitive to Lord, how do you want to lead me today? When we from the moment we wake up, may we take a moment before we pick up our phone, before we hop out of bed to say, Lord, thank you for the breath of my lungs. And Holy Spirit, would you lead me today? Would you help me to love my family? Maybe you wake up and you're not refreshed. Maybe you didn't sleep well. Maybe you're catching up after. months of working hard and ⁓ maybe taking care of the baby. whatever your situation or circumstance is, we all find ourselves in moments where maybe we're in the thick of suffering, of where, whether it's emotional, where it's ⁓ physical, the fatigue and the challenges can be so real. And it's in those moments that When we are weak, that we can call upon the Spirit of God and say, Lord, help us, for we need you, and Holy Spirit, we need you to lead us and to guide us in all we do, and we can call upon him. And he will help us in our weakness to do all things that we can put aside the flesh. And we don't have to be ruled or dictated any longer by whatever's going on in the flesh. Maybe things are going really great for you. But don't be deceived. Even when things are really great, we have a tendency all the more to put God aside and not allow Him to lead us, but we allow our pride to come in and we allow ourselves to become our own God. So today it's my reminder and my encur to myself and my encouragement to you. Would we not just look for the Holy Spirit to lead us corporately and be looking for that next move of God, may we be doing that too. But would we be reminded in and of ourselves to let the Holy Spirit lead us in all things, to be leading us? Would we be putting continually laying down that flesh, crucifying the flesh, setting our minds on the things of the Spirit? I know we've taught it before, but another way to think of it is to unplug what we're unplugging from the flesh. and plugging into the spirit when we need to recharge just like we recharge our phones, would we plug into God? that's the reason we're spending time in the word, spending time in worship, spending time in prayer. There are ways to plug in and recharge and be filled and led by Him today. So with that, let's go to Him in prayer. Lord, we come to you. God, we thank you for your Son Jesus. We thank you that because of Jesus, who came from heaven to earth, Who became flesh for us, that he lived the perfect life we could not live, and he died the death that we couldn't, so that we could have life and life eternal. Lord, we no longer have to live according to the flesh, but we have the spirit, we have your Holy Spirit inside of us, and we can now live according to the Spirit. So, Lord, would you help us to fix our minds on the things? things above. Thick help us to fix our mind on that which is eternal today. ⁓ Holy Spirit, would you when we begin to veer off to the left or or to the right, would you help pull us back onto the straight and narrow path? Keep us focused on you today. Help us to love those who are in front of us, to go steady and to go slow. Lord, we fix our eyes on you and all that you have for us today. In Jesus' name, amen.