​The Christmas season is upon us! It’s a time we choose to set aside to ponder and proclaim that “…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

For the next few weeks, we will take time to pause and consider the coming of our Savior Jesus—reflecting on the account of His birth and the significance of the greatest gift that God has ever given.

Three of the four Gospels have detailed accounts of the birth of Jesus. This week, we considered the account recorded in Matthew 1. Next week (12/18), we will look at Luke’s account. And then on Christmas Eve, we will look at The Gospel of John. Read ahead!

​Ministry can be so discouraging, depressing, and frustrating IF we only rely on feelings. That’s because feelings (although tangible and real) are not always the greatest communicators of truth. When we only rely upon our feelings, we fall into making faulty assumptions about others. And if we entertain those assumptions, we’ll eventually believe the best about ourselves, and the worst about everyone else.

This is such a common occurrence for those who take ventures of faith in serving the Lord—like Elijah.

Elijah was one of Israel’s most powerful prophets. He single-handedly took on 450 false prophets by calling down fire from heaven. Then he received a death threat from the wicked queen of Israel…and things started to quickly unravel for him because he focused on his feelings.

Elijah became so scared and discouraged because of this threat that he ran into the wilderness and asked the Lord to end his life. Elijah went from living out great faith to focusing on his feelings. He became depressed, weary, and (quite frankly) annoyingly cranky.

But instead of immediately correcting him, God provided Elijah with good food, good rest, and time to recover. Then God drew Elijah out with thoughtful questions. Once Elijah was quiet and ready to receive, God firmly but gently reaffirmed his calling, giving him something specific to do. You can read all about in 1 Kings 19.
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We can learn an important lesson from this episode in Elijah’s life. When we’re tempted to only listen to our feelings, we need to take our eyes off of what we think, feel, or assume others are doing (or not doing), and put it back on the Lord. The discouraging feelings, frustrating assumptions, and constant criticisms of others that we entertain reveal our own immaturity and keep us from doing the work that God has called us to do. But when we take our focus off of our feelings and put it back on the Lord, He will restore and revive us for the work He has prepared for us to do.

God is not done with the nation of Israel. His promises to Israel are to Israel, and He will be faithful to fulfill those promises. God is still stretching out His hands to His covenant people, longing for them to come to Him.

We see that throughout Israel’s history. Even if the majority were functioning in unbelief, there was always a faithful remnant who believed.
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Paul points to the prophet Elijah as one of these faithful, but even Elijah struggled at times with discouragement and frustration in his ministry. Why? Watch our study in Romans 11:1-5 as we consider the danger of relying upon feelings rather than the facts of God’s word.

The public proclamation of God’s word is important—and it’s important that we are faithful to proclaim God’s word. You might not have the opportunity to preach the Gospel to a stadium full of people, but we have all been given the same commission by the Lord Jesus Christ: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We have all been commanded to go and audibly communicate the Good News of what Jesus has done to everyone. 

The best opportunity for this to happen is if we develop the discipline of seeking the Lord before and above anything else, talking to Him in prayer, and having Him talk to us through His word. And then, with hearts full of love for the Lord and His people, the watching world would see that love in us and be drawn to Jesus. 

Try this—capture whatever comes out of the overflow of your heart during your time with the Lord. Maybe it’s a single verse. Write it down, carry it around, and dare the Lord to bring somebody to you that needs to hear that verse that spoke to you that day. Then watch what He does–you and the person you share it with might be surprised!

In Romans 10:21, the Apostle Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah, who records the word of the Lord: “All day long, I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Israel didn’t believe that God was going to follow through with what He said He would do if they turned away from Him and were unwilling to repent. They had misinterpreted God’s patience for permission to sin. 

So God sent prophet after prophet with the same message: “I am serious—if you will not repent, I cannot relent in bringing the judgment I promised.” After 490 years of pleading with His people to repent, God brought the judgment He said would come if His people walked away from Him. 

He says the same to us, expect the judgment that awaits us is more severe than a 70 year exile in a foreign country. The judgement that awaits us if we refuse to repent is eternal. And so, the same God who sent the prophets to plead with His people in the past is the same God who sends preachers to us today to plead with us to repent so that He could relent in bringing eternal judgment. 

The public proclamation of God’s word is important. Watch our study of Romans 10:14-21 as we considered the vital role preaching has in our times of gathering.

We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard of righteousness. We are all in the same position relative to the Lord. No amount of effort will ever make up the difference. 

And yet, we try so hard to be a good person, to follow the rules, to honor the rituals, to obey the regulations—hoping that will be enough to garner God’s favor. But after all of that effort, we are still uncertain of our salvation. All of that trying and striving—though zealous and well-intentioned—will never be enough to earn salvation. Any attempt to attain self-righteousness by trying to follow the law is futile. 

This reality can lead to discouragement…or to the realization that we can’t earn or deserve salvation. If we could, then Christ had no reason to come to earth to live a perfect life, to be crucified, to die, and to rise from the dead. But He did—and since He did, Jesus is the end of the unnecessary pursuit of self righteousness. 

This is the good news! Once we realize that we can’t earn our own righteousness, then we don’t have to climb some spiritual mountain or plumb some unattainable spiritual depth. We can simply believe that Jesus was raised from the dead to give us His righteousness. 

If you believe this, but haven’t declared it, simply confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. The Bible says that if you do this, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Ask God for forgiveness. Believe that Jesus died for your sin and that God raised Him to life. Trust Him as your Savior and follow Him as the Lord of your life.

The Apostle Paul was a passionate person. He loved his brethren, his countrymen, his family according to the flesh—and wanted them to be saved. 

His passion and emotion for his brethren was so intense that he was willing to be cut off from Christ if that meant that they could be saved. Even though this desire was deep in his heart, in his head he knew that this wasn’t possible. The Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth—had already given His life to them and they had every opportunity to be saved!

In Romans 10, Paul begins to process why his family according to the flesh have yet to yield to Jesus to be saved. Watch our study of Romans 10:1-13 as we unpack Paul’s heart and head for those he loved who weren’t saved—and what we can learn as we consider those in our lives who have yet to yield to Christ.

​Way too often we take God’s mercy for granted. But when we realize that God chooses to be merciful, we cherish the many ways we have been blessed by His mercy. Aren’t you thankful for all the merciful choices that God has made in order to bless us, to serve us, to love us, and to make us righteous in His sight? He didn’t have to—He has the choice to be merciful!

You have a choice too. If you choose to harden your heart after you clearly hear from the Holy Spirit, God is not bound to be merciful to you if you are not in Jesus. God may sovereignly choose at any moment to strengthen your resolve to fortify your own decision and allow you to reap the temporal and eternal repercussions of your decision.

So don’t dismiss the bad news about your sinful condition—or the good news of God’s grace and mercy! He has every right and reason not to show mercy. And that should terrify us and incentivize us to figure out why and when and with whom God make these choices. We should want to learn how we can be in His good graces and how we can be in the middle of His merciful choices.

God is sovereign in His decisions AND we are responsible for our decisions. God sovereignly has the ability to make a choice on who He will have mercy upon. But He tells us plainly that He chooses to have mercy eternally upon whosoever chooses Him. Throughout scripture, we hear that invitation to the whosoevers: 

“…whosoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:33). 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“And whosoever lives and believes in [Jesus] shall never die.” (John 11:26)

“…whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

“…whosoever believes in [Jesus] will receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43)

“For whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…” (1 John 5:1)

“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whosoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. He has made an invitation to you—choose Him today. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Call upon Him now. Ask God for forgiveness. Believe that Jesus died for your sin and that God raised Him to life. And trust Him as your Savior and follow Him as the Lord of your life.

There’s a faulty assumption about God that presumes He is obliged to have mercy on everyone. This assumption objects to anything that runs contrary to God automatically being merciful to all people in all places at all times.

But as we’ve been learning in Romans 9, God chooses to be merciful. He isn’t required to show mercy, and yet very often He does. Because He chooses to show mercy, there are times when He chooses not to be merciful. Sometimes God, as a just judge, does not show mercy. Sometimes He allows someone to experience the consequences of their actions. Sometimes He allows a person experience the just judgement for their sins.

That is His choice. That should terrify us and incentivize us to figure out why and when and with whom God make these choices. We should want to learn how we can be in His good graces and how we can be in the middle of His merciful choices. Because, after all, it’s His choice.

Watch our study of Romans 9:14-33 as we consider who God chooses have mercy upon, and how He chooses to have mercy upon whosoever chooses Him.

“As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.””
– Romans 9:13

In Romans 9:13, Paul quotes a verse from Malachi as an illustration of the futility of working for God’s favor rather than simply receiving God’s favor. You might have an intense difficultly with what God says—“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” But if we were to think through this statement in light of all that we have gone through in Romans so far—in light of the holiness of God and His standard of absolute perfection—our difficulty would not be with the fact that God said, “Esau I have hated,” but rather with the fact that God said, “Jacob I have loved.”

The gift of God’s favor has nothing to do with earning or deserving. It has everything to do with God’s merciful choice. Since we cannot merit God’s love and since we have all fallen short of God’s holy standard, it should be logical that God would be in opposition to Esau. It seems entirely illogical that God would love Jacob…that God would love us. But that is God’s merciful choice! He mercifully chooses and calls those who don’t deserve His favor.

Now, you might be wondering if God has chosen you. It’s a good question, but one that shouldn’t lead you to analysis paralysis. Simply choose Him—and you’ll find out that He has chosen you! God sovereignly saves by election, choosing according to foreknowledge from before the very foundations of the world. AND we have the free will—invitation and responsibility—to choose Him. He gives salvation as a free gift to whosoever will come to Him, believing and receiving by faith what His one and only Son has done. 

Have you chosen God? Have you accepted the free gift of salvation that’s offered through Jesus? Today is the day of salvation—simply confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. The Bible says that if you do this, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Ask God for forgiveness. Believe that Jesus died for your sin and that God raised Him to life. Trust Him as your Savior and follow Him as the Lord of your life.

​In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul writes about his desire for his family—his fellow Israelites—to be saved from an eternity of paying the just penalty for their sin. But they are missing the key component—Jesus, The Messiah who ends all self-righteous pursuits by offering His righteousness as a gift.

This is important to understand as we work our way through Romans 9, 10, and 11 as Paul deals directly with the past, present, and future of his family—the Jewish people. He loves his own people enough to be willing to be cursed if that meant they could be saved. And while Paul acknowledges their zeal and enthusiasm to honor God, it won't bring about righteousness by following the law.

That’s because everyone has sinned and has fallen short of God’s holy standard. Everyone—whether Jew or Gentile—needs salvation. The only source of salvation offered to all of humanity is found in a flawless, sinless, substitutionary sacrifice who can take our place—Jesus, The Messiah.

Watch our study from Romans 9:6-13 as we discovered the importance of receiving Jesus and whom God has chosen to give His great gift of salvation.

The entirety of the Scriptures—from Genesis to Revelation—are the revelation, the revealing, the proclaiming of Jesus of Nazareth as The Messiah that all of creation was waiting for for all of time.

In Genesis, Jesus is present in creation. He is the seed of the woman who is promised to not only defeat sin and death, but also the sacrifice who will be given in our place.

In Exodus, He is the Passover lamb.

In Leviticus, He is our High Priest.

In Numbers, He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

In Deuteronomy, He is the promised prophet who is greater than Moses and will teach us how to love God with all our other, mind, and strength.

In Joshua, He is the captain of the Lord’s army who brings us salvation and calls us to go and take His name with us.

In Judges, He is the perfect judge and lawgiver.

In Ruth, He is our kinsman redeemer.

In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is the One about whom every future prophet will speak of, and the covenant promise from the line of David.

In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning King who will inherit the throne of David forever.

In Ezra and Nehemiah, He is the rebuilder and restorer of His people and the true temple of God’s Spirit.

In Esther, He is our advocate in the face of destruction.

In Job, He is our ever-living Redeemer who walks on the waves of the sea.

In Psalms, He is the True Shepherd and the One who was forsaken for our sins.

In Proverbs, He is the Word, the true Wisdom of God.

In Ecclesiastes, He is our only hope for resurrection in the face of judgment. 

In Song of Solomon, He is the lover of our souls.

In Isaiah, He is the Suffering Servant and the Prince of Peace.

In Jeremiah, He is the righteous branch who is treated wrongly.

In Lamentations, He is the prophet who weeps over the sins of His people.

In Ezekiel, He is the Lord who makes atonement for all who have done wrong.

In Daniel, He is the Son of Man who is sent by the Ancient of Days and who is with us in the fires of life.

In Hosea, He is a forgiving husband who never stops loving His bride.

In Joel, He is the giver of the Holy Spirit.

In Amos, He is the builder of the city of God.

In Obadiah, He is our deliverer on Mt. Zion.

In Jonah, He is the good news that we can be saved from death.

In Micah, He is the ruler of all ages from Bethlehem.

In Nahum, He is our stronghold in the day of trouble.

In Habakkuk, He is the God of our salvation

In Zephaniah, He is mighty to save.

In Haggai, He is the restorer of the kingdom.

In Zechariah, He is our humble king riding on a colt.

In Malachi, Jesus is the Lord who will come in His temple, the Sun of righteousness, with healing in His rays.

And these are just some of the ways that we see Jesus, The Messiah, in the backstory to the greatest story ever told.

But is He a part of your story? In your life, is Jesus Lord? Don’t be mistaken—knowledge alone about Jesus won’t save you. You can have a knowledge of Christ without the reality of a genuine relationship with Him. But we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Simply confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. The Bible says that if you do this, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Ask God for forgiveness. Believe that Jesus died for your sin and that God raised Him to life. Trust Him as your Savior and follow Him as the Lord of your life. Then, tell others of the love and hope that Jesus freely offers! 

At the beginning of Romans 9, the Apostle Paul expresses great sorrow and continual grief for his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. This week, we further explored the reasons why he experienced such deep emotions. 

Paul knew that the Jewish people have so much evidence of God’s existence. No other people group has maintained their national identity, religion, culture, cuisine, and language for as long as the Jewish people have. All of this was woven in within the history and regular rhythms of daily life for the Jewish people.

Also woven in within this heritage is the evidence of the validity of Jesus being who He said He was—the long-awaited Messiah. For all of what was entrusted to the Jewish people for all of their existence was to point to Jesus. And that is what prompted Paul to feel great sorrow and continual grief—the realization that many of his Jewish countrymen were lost without Jesus.

Watch our study of Romans 9:4-5 as we considered the great heritage of the Jewish people and the great hope that is offered through Jesus.

The love of Christ compelled Paul to not only be willing to be bound, but to die for Jesus (Acts 21:13). In his letter to the Romans, he goes even further to say that he wished he could be accursed from Christ so his fellow countrymen could be saved (Romans 9:3). 

This passion came out of the overflow of his awareness of the mountaintop of Romans 8 (nothing can separate us from the love of God) and the valley of Romans 9 (the realization of the future that awaits those who refuse to receive God’s gift of salvation in Christ). This is how the love of Christ looked as it work its way out of the overflow of the heart of Paul.

Here’s a question for us to consider: what does the love of Christ look like as it overflows in your life? Remember: there is no shame or condemnation for those who are in Christ, but there might be conviction—when we finally say what the Holy Spirit has been saying. 

There might be conviction that we haven’t been under the spout where God’s love pours out. Maybe there’s conviction that we haven’t allowed our cup to overflow, let alone be filled up. Maybe there’s conviction that we think more about the things of the world rather than the promises of God.

If we would simply turn from that meaningless nonsense and invest time thinking through and meditating upon the truths of God’s word, then we would find ourselves compelled by the same love that Paul was compelled by. Maybe not to die or be accursed from Christ, but to make an effort to die to ourselves and to serve Christ and others. 

That’s what investing time with Jesus in His word will do—it will cause you to care. It will change you from the inside out. It will compel you to live counter-culturally by sacrificially putting other’s interests above your own. 

Last week, we finished Romans 8, where the Apostle Paul described the highest heights of our eternal condition in Christ. Those eight chapters led us up to a mountaintop of truth…and in the next sentence, Paul immediately brings us into a deep valley of grief and sorrow.

What could possibly pull Paul off that mountain top and plop him into a valley of grief and sorrow? How could the assurance of nothing ever separating us from God’s love lead Paul (in the very next sentence) to confess the “great sorrow and continual grief” in his heart?

The answer…is something we discovered this past Sunday as we began Romans 9. Watch our study as we learned about Paul’s realization for those who aren’t in Christ, how we share that sorrow and grief, and—most importantly—what our response should be!

*Due to some technical difficulties, the audio drops out around 28 minutes into the message, but comes back about a minute later.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
–Romans 8:31

God is for us and no one can be against us. Even if our greatest enemy intends the greatest evil against us, God can allow this for our good. For we know that all things work for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 

And what is His purpose? That we would be conformed to the image of His Son—a glorious process, but not one that is without pain. And when the pain clouds our vision and tempts us to question His love for us, the cross remains to remind us that He does love us and He is always good.

He is for us. He is with us. He will freely give us anything that would be of eternal benefit to us. And if He doesn’t, that means that He has a better plan and a better purpose for us. What He is allowing to happen is working out that plan and that purpose in our lives. 

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) 

​In the last portion of Romans 8, the Apostle Paul gets inquisitive. In just six verses, he asks seven questions. But the questions he asks aren’t because he’s curious. He asks them with the aim of producing an effect rather than eliciting information.

They are good questions to ask and for us to consider—especially in light of the clear and compelling, layered and logical argument Paul has been making since the beginning of his letter. The question marks in this section are answered with a resounding exclamation point as Paul draws the immutable conclusion that God is for us and nothing can separate us from His love! 

Watch our study from Sunday as we slowly and carefully considered the eternal truths at the end of Romans 8.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.”
–Romans 8:26

The original word that’s translated ‘weaknesses’ literally means “frailty of the soul.” The definition goes on to say, “a soul without the strength and capacity requisite to understand a thing, to do things great and glorious, to restrain corrupt desires, to bear trials and trouble.”

These are the weaknesses that the Holy Spirit helps us with when waiting and enduring has been so draining that is seems like we just can’t understand a thing. He brings us His aid when we can’t do anything—let along great and glorious things. And He offers us His help when we can’t restrain corrupt desires and we just can’t bear any more trials and troubles.

Praise God that we have a Helper to help us in our weaknesses! He is here to help us when our soul lacks strength to understand, to do what we need to do, to navigate temptation, and to endure pain.

God’s purpose conforming us to the image of His son can be a painful process. But one day, that process will be complete. The weaknesses and frailty of our souls will come to an end. Until then, our Helper will be present to help us—even when we are so weak that we don’t even know what to pray for.

There are a finite number of days until we are with Jesus in Heaven—forever! Until then, we lift up our heads and stand on our toes looking for and eagerly awaiting what is to come. As we wait, we have the hope of Jesus and Heaven in our hearts.

And yet…this time of waiting can seem unbearable and difficult, can’t it? At times, we find we don’t know what we should be praying for. We have the hope, but is there help?

YES! There is help from a Helper—the only Helper who helps us in so many ways. The Apostle Paul knew of the difficulties in this time of waiting. He also knew of the help that God offers us. 

Watch our study from this past Sunday as we considered Romans 8:26-30 and the many ways the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.

One day, we will finally be with the person we were made for, Jesus, in the place we were made for, Heaven. But we are not there yet! So we find ourselves wavering between eagerly anticipating on tiptoes what’s coming, and inwardly groaning because the waiting is excruciating.

Yes, this in-between time, this meantime, certainly is a mean time. The suffering and agony we experience here and now seems tortuous as we long for what’s to come. And yet, no matter the suffering we’re enduring—whether it be spiritual, emotional, or physical, it cannot compare to the glory of what will be revealed in us.

In fact, the sufferings of this life (as intense as they may be) are not even worthy to be compared to the glory of what will be. The Apostle Paul reminds us of this promise: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him…” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

It’s true! God is preparing a place for us which will include a body that will not only be able to endure eternity, but also able to enjoy eternity. One day, there will be no more decay, no more rust, and no more dust. Everything will be living in glorious liberty, no longer bound to breaking down. But until then, the breakdown is pretty much all we see all around us in just about every category. 

That frustration is on purpose by God in hope that we might search for Him and find Him—then look forward to being with Him forever in the place that He has prepared for us—where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

So until then, may the Lord lift up your head and keep you on your toes as you eagerly await who and what is to come—Jesus and the place He is preparing to be with you…forever!

​There is a longing and hoping among believers in Jesus as we wait for the person and the place for which we were made. This time we’re waiting in now can be so disorienting, frustrating, and non-fulfilling that we find ourselves groaning for Him and His Kingdom.

But this isn’t by accident. Scripture tells us that creation was subjected to frustration by God on purpose in hopes that we would long and look for someone and something—the Person and the Place we were truly made for. 

Between seasons of frustration and groans, we get little glimpses of what’s to come. It’s those glimpses that help us keep looking up and looking ahead to that Person and that Place. Watch our study of Romans 8:18-25 from this past Sunday as we considered the person (Jesus) and the place (Heaven) for which we were made.

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
–Romans 8:16-17

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we read about God’s amazing grace and His salvation that’s available to all through faith. There is nothing we can do to earn it. And yet, Romans 8:17 makes it sound like there is something we must do to maintain it. However, this ‘suffering’ speaks to our identity in Him—a mark of genuine salvation when we begin to become like Him.

When we are a part of God’s family, we begin to experience the same emotion, the same passion as Christ. We suffer with Him as we begin to see things the way He sees things. We begin to see people the way He sees people. We begin to love the way He loves. We’re compelled to live self-sacrificially because of His great love shed abroad in our hearts.
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Jesus, living His life through us, compels us with His love to live self-sacrificially for God’s glory and for the benefit of those that we love so much. This is His passion—His emotion. When we suffer with Him, we care deeply about the things and the people that we never cared about before. That can be agonizing at times, but it is the passion of Christ that He is sharing with us and that we share with Him. As we live and love in the same manner as Christ, we are no longer bound by the fear of losing anything because we know we have the greatest thing in knowing Him!

Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

In previous studies, we’ve learned how we can become a part of God’s family by grace through faith. So what does it mean that we “suffer with Him”? Must we experience persecution in order to belong to His family? Or is there more to this idea of suffering than meets the eye?

This past Sunday, we slowly studied just one verse—Romans 8:17—as we carefully considered what it means to suffer with Christ. Watch our study and take time to think about what emotions God experiences.

​Who are you in Christ? Are you a carnal creature at odds with and in enmity against God? No! That’s who you were before you yielded to Him. In Christ, you are a new creation—old things have passed away, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

You have been set free from your old nature and you have been given a new spiritual nature. You have been born again by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God LIVES and DWELLS within you. You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit—if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

That’s why your identity in Christ is so important. You have been given the Spirit of adoption. You can call God “Abba Father Daddy” because you are one of His children. So don’t permit the world, the devil, or your old nature to convince you that you are still a slave to sin, bound to the muck and bound to the mire. They trick you into sowing to the flesh, bringing serious harm to yourself and others.

If the Spirit of God dwells in you, sow to the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit. Cultivate a relationship with Him—beginning with acknowledging that He is here, leading us home, available questions and full of answers. He would love to tell you who you are and who Jesus is. He would love to unfold for you what it means to be a child of God and what it means to be an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. He would love to show you how you can be more than victorious through Him who loves us.

Talk with Him. Spend time with Him. Consume what cultivates an unhindered relationship with Him. Continually set your mind on the things of the Spirit.

Sowing and reaping are real things. One small seed sown can, in time, produce thousands more seeds. This principle has spiritual applications. The content we consume is seed. If that seed feeds our flesh, then we are sowing to the flesh. If it is seed that feeds our spirit, then we are sowing to the Spirit.

It’s important to remember that there is a delay between sowing and reaping. The Apostle Paul knew this, and encourages us to not grow weary of sowing to the spirit for in due season we will reap if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9). 

After a season of sowing, you may find a harvest of right living and the fruit of the Spirit in your life. But the presence of that fruit doesn’t mean we should stop sowing to the Spirit! It’s a continual process of sowing and reaping.

This past Sunday, we continued looking at Romans 8 as we considered the importance of sowing to the Spirit.