October 12, 2020 IT DOES MATTER
As believers, the choices we make matter. We tend to segment or compartmentalize our life into various categories such as business, social, family, and spiritual. However, because we have been made new creations, because we have been joined to God and have a new identity, and because the Holy Spirit of God resides in us, every aspect of our life is affected if we are living according to the Spirit. Living according to the Spirit means we have died to self and are living according to the new creation that God has made us. Dying to self is an occurrence that happens at some point in time, but the important factor is that it is a continual process where we die daily-or perhaps hourly. Dying to self is non-optional if we are to live according to the gospel and the ways of the Lord. (It is clear from scripture that a believer can choose to not die to self and walk according to the flesh.) The thought of dying to self has a negative connotation; the natural self thinks that if we die to self, we will have no fulfillment or fun in life---and that is the problem. However, the opposite is true; by dying to self and walking according to the Spirit-the new us-we will experience ultimate fulfillment and joy. So, the most far-reaching choice we can make is that of dying to our self, and choosing to walk by the Spirit. When the choices we make flow out of our relationship with our Father, it brings peace, joy, and life to all we do. This is not saying that walking by the Spirit means that I must hear a ‘word from the Spirit’ instructing me in every detail of life and it is not saying that life will be easy. Oswald Chambers makes the point that as we grow in the Lord, we get familiar with or use to the Spirit-in a good way; we do not have to have an ‘experience’ to know that He is near; He guides and we follow. The beauty of making choices and making decisions according to the Spirit is that life takes on new meaning because we are living and expressing the life of God, and His life is characterized by love, joy, purpose, light, healing and encouragement. To be living-walking-talking expressions of His life is the ultimate experience we can have in this life. It means that even in the small things, we can know the joy of following Him. In God’s economy, there are not ‘big’ decisions and ‘small’ decisions; God is into ‘all we do.’ In reality, helping a neighbor change a flat tire is as important as preaching to ten thousand as long as it is following what God has put in our heart to do. We do not have to live in fear of making wrong choices if we are walking in the ways of the Lord and listening to and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for man.”
Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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