Read these verses. What does the Holy Spirit do?
Matthew 28:20 “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
John 16:8 (NKJV) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
The Holy Spirit is God with us, our teacher, One who convicts us to lead us in righteousness, and our power for a godly life.
When the Spirit of God lives in us, we need to surrender our lives to Him. He needs to be the one who directs our speech, our thoughts, and our actions. We call this walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25 (NKJV) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
How do we walk in His ways?
What does this verse say?
Romans 8:5 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
We live by the Spirit if our mind is on the things of the Spirit. The opposite is having your mind on the things of the flesh. What do you think are the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit?
Do the verses below help you have any ideas about the things of the flesh?
1 John 2:16 (NLT) For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
Philippians 3:19 (NLT) They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
Both verses talk about cravings, appetites. They are desiring things that aren’t God and aren’t from God.
We are to have our minds on Jesus! Here is our command:
Philippians 4:8 (BSB) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
Only God fits all those categories. We’re to set our minds on Jesus, on God’s word, on the good work He is doing in us and around us, on thanksgiving and praise. We’re told to praise always and give thanks always. That’s what our job is: walking in the Spirit, seeing God with us, acknowledging Him in everything in our day.
This is very important. Read the next verse from Romans 8 to see why.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
You are choosing life or death when you choose what to let your mind dwell on. It can take a lot of practice to change your thinking. You start by putting good thoughts in there by reading the Bible (and doing a discipleship course). You also remove things that turn your thoughts to things of the world. Ask God what needs to go. If you aren’t ready to get rid of it, try fasting from it for forty days and see how your mind and life changes. You may be eager to have it gone after that. You can get rid of it all if the Lord inspires that in you, but you can also ask Him to help you remove one thing at a time. TV and movies, games, videos, social media scrolling, hobbies that take time and money away from what really matters, etc.
Lesson Point: To walk in the Spirit, in the way of life, we need to have our minds on God and the things of God.
Challenge Question: What holds your attention most of the day? What distracts you the most?