Keeping In Step With the Spirit

When we think about the keeping in Step, what do you think of? What do you think of do you think I just marked walking together with someone else and not in harmony. Do you think of like a marching band that is trying to play and and also to keep in step and move along and in unison do you think of marching as a solo a group of soldiers or maybe you just think of moving step-by-step through a unified plan at work or what about what about an A in dance needing to keep in step? All of these things are means by which we use the phrase. Keep in step. Probably the most one of the most beautiful pictures of it is skin when a band performs maybe at a halftime show and and does coordinated moves and many intricate moves. And so every person's movement and steps needs to be in time, but also needs to be in place and then the same thing while they're playing that's Way Beyond me I can tell you that let's pray that you have given us your spirit. You have caused us to be born again via his power into a spiritual personal relationship with you that is ongoing and eternal. I pray that you help us as we approach this passage here today are these passages here today that they might speak to us and guide us as to how we can keep instead. With the spirit in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Back when I was in high school junior high school my last year before we moved to Florida. I was in the van. I played a horn a flat horn it was if you know, what a baritone is, you know, the baritone horn looks like you shrink it down into the size is a little bit bigger than a trumpet and that's the size wasn't very good at it and neither was a whole band the poor guy. I mean hit the the conductor was brilliant and he worked really hard with us and it people actually commented on how good we were and I knew how badly they were lying. Okay. But anyway when we came to Christmas, all right, we were asked to play in the Christmas parade. We worked and worked and worked and getting the marching down. You know what they did they hired a trailer and we sat on the trailer that tells you how big the band was not very big and how badly we were at marching particularly. We didn't want any you know of art are a brass section to be ended up, you know on a side street someplace, but that was that was an event. I I didn't see the humor in it at the time but I have laughed at it so many times since it anyway, we have been going through a series on the Holy Spirit actually sits up series of a larger series on biblical Doctrine and by biblical doctor and I don't mean something that you take you know it night if it yourself to sleep I'm talking about what you are to learn and know because the word Doctrine means teaching and the purpose of teaching the truth of scripture is so that week Used a be aware of them and be able to activate our lives around them and build a life on something that sperm and steadfast and something that will fade away. So the intention of Doctrine is for us to act on it to take action accordingly whether that action is being confident in Christ and his promise of Salvation or whether it's a choice we make to modify our lives that we limit our self to one spouse. Or living ourself to to certain behaviors that and apart from other behaviors or to take an action to share the gospel with someone because by Bible Doctrine we know that they need Jesus just as badly as we do. So all of those things are very important. So the purpose of of the truth that we teeth is not just a buildup of a storehouse of knowledge. But that is a means to an end to know God better to know his will personally and then to act on what is his will so we can spend some time just recently going over the ministries of the holy spirit in our lives and we saw that there are some preliminary activities Ministry said he carries on inspiring scripture spreading God's word praising Jesus convicting and inviting glorifying Jesus preparing for salvation and Beyond empowering Witnesses and restraining a all of those things. He does before we even came to Faith. And he'll continue to do those things in the lives of people and continue to carry it those out now. This one here convicting inviting relates to some of the others there and preparing us for salvation and Beyond but that conviction is convicting us of sin righteousness and judgement John chapter 16 verse 8 and that Saint is the saint of unbelief and when we are aware that we need to believe in Jesus as our only hope of heaven we need to trust in him as the one who died to pay for our sins when we know that need and we respond to that truth by faith. We are then born into his family that is the initiating one of the initiating ministries of the Holy Spirit by initiating. I mean getting it started getting your spiritual life started by regeneration. Being born into his family the new birth, which comes as he comes to then not just cause us to be reborn but to live within us he that places us into the body of Christ. He seals and secures us in Christ. He gives us spiritual gift or gifts. He then sets us free from sin and death. He empowers us to live and witness for Christ. All of those things are available went at the moment. You come to Faith In Jesus, all of those things are available to you that are the ongoing aspects as well. And that ongoing aspect of his work. He intercedes helps. He guides he witnesses to our sunship then he transforms glorifies us in Christ Jesus Christ in us and through us he fills and f*** bills and then he produces fruit now, Focus today I focus today is going to be on this right here, he feels and fun-filled and he produces fruit. But all of these others are true and they're necessary for him to work that out. What we chose to do today is to deal with four passages primary passages that have to do with our interaction with a spirit on a day-to-day basis based on what he's done in the past and what he has done in our lives when we came to Faith. So all of these things are in your cruel to each other and they tie together beautifully one of the things has been exciting to me and one of the reasons I get I get excited about this is because each time I study it it becomes more clear more cohesive and mope more coherent to me. Hopefully now is going to become more coherent to do so. let's turn to the book of Galatians the book of Galatians chapter 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse Corinthians chapter 2 now the Corinthians Where are a Motley Crew if there ever was one? All right, they had some people there who were very responsive to God's teaching and they had some people who weren't hardly responsible and responsive at all. That sounds like a lot of churches. I know and I have been part of it sounds like my life. Sometimes as varied from place to place. They were they were Afflicted with the division selfishness even in Morality and they were they had this attraction to bolts wisdom or pseudo wisdom up a perspective that exalted philosophy over truth and and over a Simplicity and soap all addresses that in the first chapter and he carries on that into the second chapter as he touches on some of the issues. They had the book of 1st Corinthians answers a lot of Questions that the people at court probably sent a letter to him to to ask about and he does that and actually there's Brantley was another letter that game from the Corinthians to Paul later on to get more answers or maybe even the guy who delivered. The letter said you got to write another letter they don't they didn't get it yet. All right. But anyway, that's where we find ourself is. We're reading the first letter and getting a sense of that and verse 18. It says for the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing those who are perishing is those who do not know Christ. All right, and it appears foolishness and if it just doesn't make sense because they live in a workspace mentality no matter what religion they are part of no matter if they have no religion at all, but everybody has a religion even if they only worship themselves, but they they consider the truth of the gospel to be foolishness But to us who are being saved it is supposed of God you see God Saves us and that is he rescues us from the penalty of sin, but he continues to work in our lives to rescue us from the power of sin. That's the reason he says here who we who are being saved and you noticed he includes himself to us who are being saved. It is the power of God. The gospel is absolutely essential to our understanding and our proceeding and our development is Christian. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves regularly not in order to be saved from the penalty of sin, but to be saved or rescued by God's ongoing work. From the power of sin because if Satan had his way even though he can't get us lost. He can get us bring us to a point of being either neutral or Worse detrimental to the cause of Christ. So that's what Paul said answers here. He took the cross is very important. We see here in verse 24, but to those who are being called who are the called that is Jews and Greeks Christ this verse 24 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than me God is powerful and he wants to activate his power in our lives by his truth and that's what Paul wants them to see and wants them. To know now, there's two of me verse 1 of chapter 2 he says and when I came to you brother and I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God for I determined not to determined to know nothing among you accept Christ Jesus and him crucified I was with you and weakness and fear and trembling he had some difficulties some of those were physical some of those were throwing threats from the outside, but Paul didn't come with a great deal of personal impressiveness. And he chose to speak simply and clearly and that was being now used against him by those who were eloquent and who had a sense of power and Charisma. Paul was saying no the power needs to be in God and the gospel not in the presenter of the Gospel. So anyway, what we find is he says in verse 6 yet. We do speak wisdom among those who are mature. So Paul is setting up a level of our understanding that that tells us that there are some believers. Who are mature what does it mean that they're mature? I hope there is there's there's two great classes of people in the world the Lost in the say the natural and the supernatural those who have been who have not been born again. And those who have doesn't matter what race what color what what denomination what ever that there's just those two but within the group that are the save there's a lot of variety. All right, just look around you. There's a lot of variety. I wish that we had more variety here. Okay, but what you can't see and everyone around you is there their degree of spiritual maturity. Now we all want to put on the airs at 3. We're mature and thoughtful and it was full of joy and all that kind of stuff. But we need to be real with one another and we need to to to get the help that each other is designed to give but that's for another message. I think we did that about three three messages ago anyway, and we're going to talk about again in the future. But then what we find is Paul kind of explain some things in verse 20 verse 14 of chapter 2, but a natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of God or they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. The natural man is the man as he was born with no spiritual life know he's not a lot now, he's walking around you knowing he looks like he's alive he is physically but spiritually he's dead. He is he doesn't have the ability to evaluate spiritual things. That's the reason he calls the gospel foolishness. All right. Then he goes on to say this but he who is spiritual appraises all things yet. He himself is a Praise by no one that is a person who is spiritually mature. That's the sense that he's talking about here because he's still talking about the the the the people he speaking wisdom to the mature want that we saw earlier in verse 6, he says but you who are spiritual are spiritually mature. You are able to appraise things properly now. Can you imagine this? All right here it is a person who is carrying out their lives and all and they have the they've been in some kind of third world country really promote and they've never been able to access an optometrist. Okay, and that you're near-sighted just like I that means that they can see things up close very clearly but yet things at a distance are kind of fuzzy. All right, some of you're probably happy unit want to take off my glasses and because of that, you know, what kind of covers up something but what that person who is nearsighted and not have access to an optometrist and and the Optics of a pair of glasses. They might not even know that they might think that's the natural way of looking at things. That they might have that. It's there might be a whole culture of people who are nearsighted. And they evaluate things on the bait on that basis. That's the way the world is. It does not evaluate the greater deeper things. Now, we know that spiritual things are invisible things. And so they have no ability. They don't have a pair of spiritual glasses to put on to see the dimensions of spiritual reality.

There's several illustrations of that in the in the scriptures. But let me just use this one about the Optics of the the glasses. Now. There are presently right now all around us radio waves, right TV. We can't see those they are not visible to our physical even with the Best glasses in the world. You can't see them you need special instruments to be able to pick up those things. She was reaching for my my cell phone that picks up on those things. Now those things are very real even though they're invisible you see there are spiritually things that are real very real and actually those are the Eternal things that the person who is born again and growing to maturity knows about like you, you know, that those things exist, you know that those things are important, you know, that those things are more significant than a lot of physical things that we see

It's so much more important that they spiritual things are so much more important than what kind of car you drive what school you went to and all of these physical things more important than what you have in your bank account. But yet the World by enlarged doesn't know that but you because you are spiritual have learned to Value them up raise them more correctly. It is our privilege to do so, it's not that we are so much greater than the world is we have just been benefited by God's grace so that we can come to understand that the objective is to move from spiritual infancy then to spiritual maturity so we can have a better understanding of an appraisal of all of reality spiritual physical and material. All kinds of things you see you after you come to faith in Christ and you begin to grow in him. You have an ability accessible to you. You have knowledge wisdom accessible to use that many of the brightest minds of the world have do not have not because it's not available to them, but because they had not come to faith in Christ. So you who are spiritual up Ray's all things yet. No one properly appraises you God looks at I mean the world looks at me Christians and their worthless. They are 9 cancer take a look at what happened this past week.

Tragedy horrible evil where 30-40 people now were killed in to sin tattoo mosque in New Zealand.

Did you know? They close to a hundred Christians were killed this past week in. Ethiopia. Nigeria Nigeria and worldwide it was much more than that. But the world doesn't take that in consideration because it happened so frequently, it's no longer news. And you know what a lot of times it's as long as they're doing that now, I'm not saying that we don't value those Muslims who were killed in in a New Zealand. I think we should but I'm saying let's have a proper understanding of all life whether they are believers or not, whether the Muslims or Christians or whatever we should value them all but because the world's poor perspective and because of the redundancy and the regularity of the martyrdom of Christians, they are not as praised is valuable.

As this particular instance and also because of the the environment in which it was occurred as so-called civilized country. But what I'm saying is this we know how to appraise things hopefully better and better and better by God's estimation and by spiritual evaluation now, let's keep moving cuz we have a lot to cover and so what we find is the natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of God for their foolishness to him. He cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised but he have a spiritual appraises all things yet. He himself is appraised by no one for who has known the mind of the Lord that he would instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ. In other words. We can understand these things not because of our greatness, but because of his greatness and his mind which we have access to Not only for the word of God, but through the spirit who teaches us the word then it bursts one if chapter 3 it says but I would rather and could not speak to you as to spiritual man, but a stream in a Flash as two infants in Christ. You see what was happening is the Corinthians were stuck in the infancy stage. They weren't maturing as they should therefore. They didn't appraise things properly and that then therefore they had two visions and stripes and things that were common in the world and we'll see how important that is in just a little bit. It says I gave you milk to drink not solid food for you or not yet able to receive it indeed even now you are not able but you are flashlights for for you are still fleshly for since there is jealousy and strife among you are you not fleshly and are you not walking like we're men that is like natural man and other words often times. You can't can't tell a Christian who is an immature Cristiano a fleshly Christian a carnal Christian from The World At Large. Because they have not learned to apply God's truth. To evaluate things properly and to live accordingly. So the the significant thing that I want you to understand this spiritual maturity is developed by accepting God's truth and what? Acting on it. You see? I know I know Christians who know a lot more truth than the average Christian does they've been Believers for years, but they don't act on it. And therefore they still haven't grown as they should they have a lot more knowledge, but not necessarily a lot more wisdom. All right, let's move on from here because what Paul picks up what Paul dealt with their head actually dealt with earlier in in his letter to the galatian church it so turn to Galatians chapter 5. In the book of Galatians where we're studying on Wednesday night you find in the first four chapters the first three chapters primarily that he's dealing with truths about salvation particularly in relationship to where the Loft fits in teaching us that we are sinners and need to say, okay and that the wall is not meant for us to live our Christian Lights by there was a survey taken back in 2008 by Barna and essentially what they discovered in these Christians that they called different church members from all kinds of different churches. They found that most of them thought the Christian Life was following certain rules. Wow. We're going to we're learning that what and we're going to be learning at home on the Wednesday night study when we moved from chapter 3 and 2 chapter 4 and then chapter 5 and 6 that the Christian life is not just following rules. There are certain standards and certain things that we are given as command but those are not primarily rules or principles that we got our lives by their certain prohibition. Certainly there are but those are not those born of the law, but born of the spiritual reality. Now what we want you to what happened here. I went backwards. All right, here we go. We're going to deal with eventually verse 25, but let's just take a look at a couple of other verses for so the the chapters 5 and 6 is talking about the fact that the law is not how we operate as Christians. We are free looking for a 1 Chapter 5. It was for Freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. I'm not going to go into the Yoke of slavery thing, but that's what happens with legalism. You're bound your constricted and their many Christians who lived their whole lives under some legalistic standards set by their church or their group or by even themselves. Keep moving to burst 13 where it says for you have been called to Freedom Brethren only do now. Turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flash but through love serve one. Another God has called us to a higher standard. Not just the standard of the law. Even though it is a very good standard it. It has fulfilled its purpose when it teaches us at your that we are sinners and we need to savior. It's it's the field is purpose are and so God has given us another standard and that is the love of Christ the example that he sets before us and a true love one. Another for the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. So what we find is our relationship with Christ and our love that is born up by him in us through the spirit Romans chapter somewhere near where that love which the Holy Spirit verse within us is what constrains us and controls us and directs us so that we can actually grow spiritually and growing that love then it says this inverse 816, but I say to you walk by The spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Now. Some people have really gone way off on this. I'm not going to touch on all of their errors. I don't have that much but walking by the spirit means walking by his direction will see more about that and verse 25, but let's move on for the inverse 17. It says the flash sets his desire gets the spirit and the spirit against the flesh now, it's not by the term flash here. We'd have to go and explain it from earlier in the book. He's not talking about our physical flash, but it does relate to our physical Flash. He's talking about the the the condition that we are in prior to Salvation our habits Tendencies and desires that are ours by human nature and by experience and bi had all of those things are marshaled not in order to make us good Christians, but to go against the Holy Spirit just like the natural man just like those Believers in Corinth who were walking like Mere Men men a flash now notice what he says here. He said that there is this this Force within a six drives these habits. He's Tendencies and desires that are working against God's purpose in our life, but in verse 18, if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the wall. So don't think I'm going to control these habits and desires by imposing on myself a whole group of rules and restrictions that came from the Old Testament not that they were bad. They have their purpose and they fulfill that purpose. Well when they brought us to Christ but notice now the Deeds of the flesh. This is what you know, the Deeds of the flesh are in the whole list of them here and that's contrasted against the fruit of the spirit in verse 22 and 23 vs 22, but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace, patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things. There is no law one of the things to notice about all that fruit of the spirit particularly in contrast to the works of The Flash The Works of The Flash, maybe one different types of sin, but the fruit of the spirit transcends anyone Act You can be kind and millions of ways. You can show love you can experience God's love you. Can then share God's love you can enjoy God's love you can read all of these these the fruit of the spirit is so multiple so multifaceted. It's it just puts the the the attraction of The Flash in such a bad light that we can properly appraise it and when we were attracted to Something in the flash, what we should do is is choose to focus on what that leads to we're going to see that in just a few moments, but in verse 24, it says this but those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires when you trust in Jesus, Who died on the cross with Jesus? You did you did cuz he died there for you. And when you choose to trust in Christ, it's just as though you were seeing yourself crucified for the sin that you have committed. You're identifying with him. We talked about water baptism earlier and in our worship service today. Well, that's one of the values of water baptism. Oh, yeah. I was crucified with Christ and buried and then now I've been raised to walk in a new life.

The baptism doesn't make that happen, but the baptism is a picture of it. And so when you died when Jesus died on the cross, it's just as though you died there and that's what it means hear Jesus. If you belong to Christ you have crucified the flesh so that you don't need to deal to its passions and desires now. That doesn't mean you won't because every single human being on this side of death Is subject to those Temptations?

But you don't have to send any more the problem is we do we have solutions for that too. But then noticed verse 25. He says since the word if means if then in other words we would say since we have since we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit and when he he says that what he means is you have been born again, you are alive because of the Holy Spirit living within you so Then walk according to his Direction. Keep in step with the spirit. That's actually the sense of the word their walk. It's it's like that illustration that I used to earlier about marching as a soldier and it came to mean in the culture to be in harmony with and that's the reason I like yellow stration of the the marching band does a halftime show where there they're all moving in harmony, even though they have each has a different place on the field a different place in the the shape that they're forming or the words that they're they're just they're carrying out. You can keep in step and be even though your steps may be different from somebody on the other side of deal. They all are working together. And that's the way it should function to and that's how God designed the body to work. But here but that won't work unless each of us keep in step as we should and that is so valuable to understand and it's so how do we didn't find out, you know, the music in the the choreography and all of that. Oh, well, that's pretty easy.

Turn right here.

You probably experience it every week and you don't even think about it. If you sit down and take time to read a certain portion of scripture, maybe use a devotion like our daily bread or today in the world or something like that and you read something and you say I've got something coming up. I know this applies directly to today. How did that right didn't know it but the one who is helping them helps you and so there is the truth of God's word that is used by the spirit to prompt us to action. Sometimes we pay it sometimes we don't it's sad when we don't because then we can develop bad habits and bad and carry out bad actions and live just like Mere Men the continuance. Alright the continuance in and they habit of being in step with the spirit develops spiritual maturity.

Make a look very quickly at Ephesians a Nextbook to your right chapter 5 I'm going to skip some of the stuff here but walking is an important part of the Christian life not just moving around on your feet or whatever. But but it is a picture of how we carry out from step to step our life. We are told to be careful how we walk in verse 15. Therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise man, but as wise I could substitute in there not as spiritually immature, but as spiritually mature remember we speak wisdom among the mature. So here he says be careful to walk wisely and how do we walk my sleep? Well, we make the most of the time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is It's no big mystery. Just read it everyday and you'll find out what the will of the Lord is. You'll find your marching orders. You'll find the music score. You'll find the tempo. You'll find the beat. You'll find that the holy spirit said so standards for you to walk not somebody on the other side of the field, but you then he says this. Okay in verse 18 do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit now, obviously if you are regularly controlled by wine, you're going to waste your life away. That's what it means to be drunk right the alcohol in the wine then cause you to have bad judgment. Sometimes it appears in and how you walk. Sometimes it appears in what you say. Sometimes it appears in what you do. We have breakfast every night every day because people are controlled by wine or other Spirits. Okay, so don't go wasting your life. Actually there are two or three different translations who actually put it down that way. You're wasting your life. Who is going to purposely choose to waste but be filled with the present active here in the Greek language means be being filled with the holy spirit. So the idea is that this is a continuous thing a regular thing an ongoing thing. Remember our illustration earlier when the fruits of the Holy Spirit was to feel Lots but he doesn't feel you unless you choose to be filled. You don't have to necessarily ask him. But you have to choose to take his word. His direction is guidance, but be being filled with the Holy Spirit, you know what that sounds very similar to the verse that we looked earlier that said to live by means of the Spirit by means of the spirit. Keep in step with the spirit. These are synonymous Concepts or practically synonymous there supplemental to each other at the very least speaking to one another then he gets some very specific ways that we can do. So as to ways that we can be being filled with the spirit not turn quickly to Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 You see this the continuance of this habit of being filled that leads to improve perspectives on life because the spiritual man of Praises all things when you how many of you have, you know, if your ears hear something I've learned. Okay, I have a car problem. And so I want to solve it myself if I can one time. I went to fix the brakes on my older Sonata. All right, I mean it hit run for a hundred some Thousand Miles and finally the brakes were out and I had to replace so I go and watch the video I go out and take the tire off. I need to find out more information. So I went back and watch a video again. I came out and then I looked at those things I said. Oh, yeah. Now I know what they're talking about and I started taking off one part and then I said, well that doesn't look exactly like it's only back and watched it again and that turned it and found another video that was similar and and I said, oh I see the difference. This is this is the early part of the Year. This is the later part of the year. And so then I was able to come back. So what I did is I was getting information and then acting on that information referring back to that information and gradually that experience. You know, what by the time I finished I was very well acquainted with that but it didn't happen overnight. It happened. It happened over a. Of time. It actually took me a couple of times first time. I didn't do something right it was squeaking. So the next morning I took the thing off and and fixed it I did I correct it something I had missed her. And that's what happens in our Christian lives. We make Corrections in that that patients consistent with the the guidance of the spirit just like those people did that marching forming that word on the football field? They didn't do that overnight. It took them probably weeks of practice to get that thing down. It didn't and they didn't get all the notes property that properly the first time they looked at that piece of paper, but eventually they were able to do it so that it just came in a normal fashion.

And so it is with our Christian Life don't be discouraged if things don't go right all the time and don't be discouraged if they you don't get everything down pat. I'll get you in on a little secret. You probably never will get everything down pat. You'll constantly be referring back to the information Pages. You'll constantly be looking to the author for wisdom and strength and help and guide.

But you're fine in that fellowship with the spirit a growing spiritual maturity that enables you to evaluate things so much better and so much clearer keep reading. I tell you to turn to Romans chapter 8 verse 1 there now there is there therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus beginning Point Look Down 2 verse 5 for those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who are according to the spirit the things of the spirit for the Mind Set On the flesh is death, but the Mind Set On the spirit is life and peace Christians yet to choose where they set their minds. the world gets to choose to But Christians need to be reminded this thing of the Christian Life is is not. I just got up and then throwing you along and drag was sometimes he does drag his but it is a pattern that you have active choices in. To set certain principles to set certain principles before you and to live according to those principles notice this the Mind Set On the flesh is death. That doesn't mean that you lose your salvation because you're thinking like I'm your man like like the natural person. But it does mean that you are producing more death in your life more alienation from God and from others more deadness of works that don't amount to anything and actually will come back to bite you. bore bore there is fruit for the choices that we make then it says this but Okay, because the Mind Set On the flesh is hostile toward God is not even able to do so and put those who are the flesh cannot please God when you're making choices that are solely Earthly in basis and in reasoning you're going to make mistakes particular and spiritual round. However, you are not of the flesh. Hey. What did what we find if we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. You are not of the flesh, but you can't choose wrongly. But in the spirit if indeed the spirit dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the spirit of God, he does not belong to him if Christ is in you through though the body is dead because of sin yet. The spirit is alive because of righteousness, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the spirit who indwells you now long long time that we could go into this. We're not going to spend any more time on it. What I want to close out with this this you have a choice to live according to the flesh to have a flesh Focus or have a spirit Focus. Now I buy spirit. I don't mean some weird thing, you know and outlandish activities. I'm talkin the values that God sets in his work the standards that he approached approaches all of Life by and you can do it every single day and what you learn is everything won't work out fine because notice if you read a little further in the book of in the in the chapter 8, you'll find that when he says in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loves us what kind of things were they Tribulation afflictions all kinds of problems. So you're still going to have the problems of the world has and probably some more because you were part of a God's group and the world's going to be against you but in all those things you can't overwhelmingly conquer through him. He loves you. so what I'm pleading for you to do is keep in step with the spirit. Do you have new life in Christ? If you do then live it out. It's going to be so much better and may not appear to be so until you cross over from this life into the neck that you will never ever ever regret it. If you do choose to take his lead to keep in step with the spirit hear his music Follow his steps.

The fruit of the spirit will be yours by your heads and close your eyes father. We thank you that you are the gracious God who cares for us and seeks us out when we are lost and have no interest in you whatsoever. But you once you have borne us into your family by means of the spirit give us the opportunity to live in to grow in to develop to become spiritually appraisers looking at life as it really is according to your eyesight your vision your direction help us to walk. In step with the spirit in Jesus name we pray. Amen.