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About The Episode:
Have you ever felt a longing in your soul for something more, something deeper in your faith walk? Today’s podcast takes you on a profound exploration of what it means to live a Spirit-led life, one that brings your heart into alignment with the divine. We peel back the layers to discover the essence of a heart transformed by God’s touch, using the wisdom of scripture from Ezekiel and Jeremiah to illustrate the journey from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. This episode isn’t just about theory; it’s a hands-on guide to nurturing that tender, responsive heart that echoes the love of Christ in every interaction.
- Biblical study into Moses and Paul
- How to acknowledge sinfulness and embrace grace
- What does it mean to walk in the Spirit
- How to discern and act according to the Spirit’s leading
(0:00:00) – Understanding Walking After the Spirit (9 Minutes)
This chapter focuses on the spiritual aspect of walking after the Spirit and what it truly means to live out our faith in love, rather than succumbing to destructive behaviors like name-calling and backbiting. I share insights on the transformative power of a new heart, as outlined in the scriptures, and the importance of softening our hearts to align with God’s perspective. By examining passages from Ezekiel and Jeremiah, I highlight the contrast between a heart of stone and a heart of flesh, and how we, as Christians, are called to embody this new heart in our daily walk with the Lord. The chapter serves as a guide to recognizing and nurturing the Spirit-led life that is both expected and attainable for believers.
(0:08:35) – The Hunger to Know God (15 Minutes)
This chapter examines the concept of understanding and seeking God through the lens of faith, paralleling the experience of Moses with our own spiritual journey. I reflect on Moses’ transition from a life of power in Egypt to his humbling experience in the desert, which led to a closer, more earnest relationship with God. I discuss the importance of having a desire to truly know God and the implications of this hunger for a deeper connection. The narrative also touches on the nature of human sinfulness and the transformative power of salvation through Jesus Christ, emphasizing the significance of recognizing our own flaws and the redemption offered to us. Furthermore, I contemplate the consequences of our actions as representations of Christ to the world and the continuous challenge of living a life that brings glory to God rather than shame, drawing upon the history of the Israelites and the teachings of the New Testament.
(0:24:05) – Importance of Spirit-Walking (11 Minutes)
This chapter examines the significance of walking in the Spirit as a transformative process for those who believe in Christ Jesus. I discuss the different interpretations of walking ‘in’, ‘by’, ‘after’, and ‘according to’ the Spirit across various Bible translations and how ‘walking after the Spirit’ particularly resonates with the active pursuit of spiritual growth. Reflecting on Galatians 6 and Romans 8, I emphasize that walking after the Spirit involves a conscious effort to follow the Spirit’s guidance, contrasting it with walking in the flesh. I explain that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus who walk after the Spirit, indicating a lifestyle change post-salvation. Furthermore, the chapter connects this concept with the Holy Spirit’s role as our guide, accompanying and escorting us, akin to a guide on a safari. The discussion also ties in Jesus’ ministry and actions as exemplified in Matthew 14, showcasing the practical application of walking after the Spirit in one’s life.
(0:34:42) – Living a Life That Honors Jesus (9 Minutes)
This chapter invites listeners to reflect on how their lives might testify to the character and mission of Jesus Christ. I encourage self-examination, questioning whether our actions and choices bring glory to God and serve as a living thank you for the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. I emphasize the personal nature of Jesus’s sacrifice, urging listeners to live with purpose and gratitude, particularly during the Christmas season. Through a call to repentance and a return to spiritual hunger, I stress the importance of aligning our lives with the Holy Spirit’s guidance to avoid the temptations of the flesh. Closing with a prayer, I ask for renewed strength and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so we may fulfill our calling and exemplify what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
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Full Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.
00:00 – Jaime Luce (Host)
but to tear people down, to be ugly, to call names and to backbite one another, that’s flesh and that’s no more godly than the things that they think that the other person is breaking. Because all of the law is built on the two things that we love God with all our heart, our soul, our strength, our might. We love Him in every possible way that we can and in all that we do and say the other is to love your neighbor as yourself. Well, it’s not love to rip one another apart. Welcome to the Jamie Lu’s podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I should start that all over. Thank you so much for tuning in today.
00:46
I want to talk about a subject that I really feel like the Lord kind of. I’ve said this to you before how he leads me, how he kind of talks to me when I’m reading the word, or if he brings a particular scripture to mind, and then, all of a sudden, there’s a word in there that he highlights to me or that I think what is he trying to say? Like you know, there’s more there and you’re just not sure what it is, and he takes me on these journeys to find out what these things are, and then he unfolds things to me. So it’s just kind of His in my way of unearthing what’s in scripture and giving some fresh revelation to whatever knowledge I might think I have, and I love sharing that with you. But today we will be talking about what it means to walk after the Spirit, because what if we don’t know? I mean, I was thinking about this that, as we are Christians and we’re wanting to please the Lord and we have this new birth experience and we’re supposed to walk after the Spirit, well, what is that? What does that end up looking like in our lives, so that we can know? It’s one thing that we know by the Spirit that we’re saved. The Holy Spirit, the scripture says, is our guarantee that we know we are saved, that we’ve got a future in heaven, or even if Jesus comes back and puts His foot on this earth and reigns and rules from this earth, we will reign and rule with Him. We have this guarantee that there is not a permanent death or hell for us, that we now have new life. So I wanted to start by giving us first a few scriptures explaining about the new life in our heart, what needs to take place in our hearts, and boy did this lead me into something else that I’ll do a whole other episode on having to do with that subject.
02:50
But today I really want to answer the question how do we know if we’re walking after the Spirit? So I want you to do what I always tell you to do. You’re going to want to take some notes For those of you who love Bible study. I love Bible study. I have notebooks everywhere and pens and pencils and glasses everywhere, so that I’m able to take notes and write things down, and I encourage you to do that as well.
03:15
You just never know what nuggets all of a sudden just bring life to what you’re needing in those moments. And when it does, when that life comes, it never leaves you. When the Holy Spirit gives us something of value, something of great worth, boy, when you learn something, have revelation, it just never leaves and it comes back to you over and over again as you need it to. So I’m going to give you a couple scripture references right now, while I’m making sure that I don’t have any distractions here. I want you to first look at Ezekiel, chapter 11. And I’m going to read verse 19. And it says and I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.
04:18
So we’re seeing that there’s a difference, that, in the Lord’s eyes, before we have accepted Jesus Christ, before we have had a new birth experience, before we have begun the process of regeneration by the Spirit of God taking what was dead in us, we have the Spirit of resurrection, life. Jesus Christ, who resurrected from the dead, that same spirit that raised him from the dead now resides in us. So there is a difference. We’re being shown that there’s a difference Without that, through the lens that God sees us and he has the only correct lens, he’s God, creator of all. We were dead in our sin, in our trespasses, and because of that death our hearts are hard. They were hardened.
05:11
I’ve talked to you in previous episodes about the hard heart and how dangerous a hard heart is, and that Pharaoh, upon all of all the opportunities of seeing God’s greatness, remained with a hard heart. He refused to soften his heart. He had a hard heart. And so there’s a difference between a hard heart and then having a heart of what the Lord calls of a fleshy heart. So a soft heart. Now I’m going to refer later to the flesh versus the spirit, and I’m not talking about the same thing when we talk about the spirit versus the flesh. We’re talking about our carnal nature. But in this particular scripture, when we’re talking about a heart of stone versus a heart of flesh, I don’t want to confuse you, but that simply means he gives you a heart that’s pliable, a heart that’s soft, versus a hard heart of stone. Ok, then if we look at Ezekiel 36, verse 26, it says I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. So again reiterating from Ezekiel both those references in Ezekiel to the difference between a hard heart and a heart, that God has made a flesh a soft heart.
06:32
Let’s also look at Jeremiah 31, verse 33, says for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. Now we are grafted into that vine, so we get to read these scriptures, knowing God was speaking to Israel, but it also refers to us After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Then, hebrews 8, verse 10, basically reiterates this verse in Jeremiah. It says for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. So those are just the.
07:29
I wanted to give you those first, because those give us the understanding that the new birth experience that we should have all received coming to believing in Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross, the resurrection that he had in the physical body, that brings new life not just to his physical body, but lets us know we have that same resurrection, life and that we will also someday, because he is ascended to the Father and sits at the right hand of the Father, that we will also have new bodies and be risen into. In fact, the scripture says that we are currently our position spiritually currently, is already in heavenly places. We’re already there spiritually. So if this is true, if we are those who have a new birth experience, people of God, our lives need to look different. Now I know that we all have a journey of learning what is in the Scripture.
08:34
Who is God? We come by faith like a child not really knowing very much at all, and we have to learn who he is. That’s the beauty of the relationship that Moses had with God that here he was, on the backside of the desert, even though he was a Hebrew. He was raised in both his home while he was nursed and brought up, but then he was raised in the house of Pharaoh with all those teachings and everything else and he didn’t quite have the right understanding. He thought he could do things in his own strength in his own time. He had a right heart to want to deliver the people, but he also had a timber and he killed an Egyptian.
09:19
So he runs from his current situation and kind of forsakes the call that he felt that he had to be a redeemer, so to speak, of the people of Israel, to be a rescuer of them. And he’s in the desert. But then, as God calls him back to himself and calls him back to be his representative and takes him through those processes, we see that the heart of Moses was to desperately know God. I want to know you, I want to know and see your glory, god. I want to have a revelation of who you are. And if we don’t have a hunger to know who God is, something’s wrong. Something’s wrong. If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ, there should be a hunger within you to know him more, to know who he is, to know what he loves, to know what he wants. If you understand the depth of your salvation, if you understand that your sin was, it was beyond, beyond, ugly, beyond, oh God. There aren’t strong enough words.
10:39
Our righteousness, whatever right we think we’ve done, whatever good we think we’ve done, I mean we, can we go around as a regular practice, at least here in the United States? In the Western world, we just say all the time well, they’re a good person, I’m a good person, we think of ourselves as good and I’m sorry to sound like a wet blanket, but the truth is our righteousness, according to scripture, is like filthy rags. It’s like filthy rags. Have you ever seen a filthy rag? I mean just something. That’s just where you don’t even think you can wash it. You just have to throw them away. They’re worth nothing. A filthy rag, it doesn’t seem redeemable in any way. That’s what our goodness is. Whatever goodness we think we can do, it’s just filth. It really is.
11:28
And our sin was deplorable. It was disgusting. It was beyond saving filthy. It was, before God, something he had to turn away from. It was the only thing that could save. It was Jesus, literally in his most pure state, with no sin, coming and taking our place and dying the death that we deserved. He took on himself our sin. He took on himself the punishment of our sin that we deserved to give us his righteousness. So there’s this exchange, and if I understand what he’s done for me, if I realize how dirty and filthy I was, and then he saved me and he washed me, he cleansed me of my unrighteousness and he gave me a white robe of righteousness that belonged to him, instead of the marred, dirty, disgusting, filthy, torn up rag that I had. He changed places with me and bought back, redeemed my life back from the pit.
12:48
When I understand what real salvation is, I’m not only grateful, I want to spend the rest of my life serving him. What do you want from me, jesus, my Lord, my Master, I serve you. What do you want from my life? It is now my reasonable service to give my life to please you to do and to suffer for your sake. Whatever that costs me, he’s worth it. What he has purchased for me is worth, whatever it costs me to do so. With that knowledge, folks, I should desire to know him. If I don’t have a hunger to know God, I am still living a very carnal life. I have to question where I’m at. The condition that I have allowed my heart to be in.
13:46
The whole Old Testament, through the prophets, is riddled with the understanding that God’s people, who he gave everything for, were continually and constantly in a state of backslidden living, searching after things and giving themselves to things that did not glorify God, bringing a shame to his name. And boy, every scandal that takes place, every folks, our life, whether we like it or not, whether we are choosing it intentionally or not, our life and our choices are telling a story to the world around us, to our family members, our friends, our church members around those who see your life, your coworkers, whoever your sphere of influence is. When they see you, they are seeing the story you are writing about Christ and we are either bringing glory to his name or we are bringing shame to his great name. And so many times he would rescue his people, not because they deserved it, because they didn’t. He would do it for his own great name, his own great name. He would deliver because he didn’t want reproach brought on his own name. He would defend himself because his people would not live according to the law that he was wanting to write on their hearts and the law gets a bad rap. We couldn’t live up to the law. Our flesh couldn’t live up to the law. It took Jesus to satisfy the law. So I’m not trying to say that we can live according to the law, but our love for what God loves should be first and foremost in our hearts to obey his commandments.
15:54
The whole New Testament. Jesus says they will know that you’re my disciples first of all by the fact that you love one another. So if we’re constantly backbiting one another and constantly bringing division amongst the body of Christ and pointing out I was reading this oh gosh, was it this morning or yesterday? Anyway, it doesn’t matter All the different places that Paul is rebuking the body of Christ because they are, whether they’re saying well, I’m of Paul, well, I’m of Apollos, well, I was baptized here, and Paul’s like thank God, I didn’t baptize only but a few, because I don’t want people saying that I’m baptized in the name of Paul.
16:34
We do that. We do that with denominational lines. We do that thinking we know better each group and each gosh what would I want to call it? Arms of the body of Christ. So you’ve got this arm here and that arm there, this leg here and that leg there and this mouth here and that mind there, and everyone seems to think they’ve got the corner on and the best knowledge and their best definition of who God is and what God says and how it’s best to serve Him.
17:05
And we’re not supposed to be fighting one another. That shows our carnality. We’re supposed to be coming into unity quickly, especially with the body of Christ. We need to be loving one another and if we think that there’s a problem, unless they are breaking the laws that we see in Scripture, those you need to confront, but confront in love. When you confront in harsh words, in an ugly manner to tear down that does not line up with the Word of God, now it doesn’t mean you don’t say the truth. It doesn’t mean that you don’t say this is what God says and what you’re doing is not this. You are living contrary to this Word. Well, that’s the truth. But to tear people down, to be ugly, to call names and to back bite one other, that’s flesh and that’s no more godly than the things that they think that the other person is breaking. Because all of the law is built on the two things that we love God with all our heart, our soul, our strength, our might. We love Him in every possible way that we can and in all that we do and say the other is to love your neighbor as yourself. Well, it’s not love to rip one another apart and I guess the Spirit wanted to get that said because that wasn’t in my notes at all but we need to understand what it is.
18:26
Then, if we are saved and we know what it is to turn our lives over to Christ, there needs to be an actual change, and I started to say that. I know we all are on a different journey, coming from different parts of knowledge, and some of us are just beginning. But our heart, no matter how far we are on our journey of following Christ, no matter where we are in that process. If you look at Peter, he had a process, he had a total process, but yet he’s Peter on this rock. I will build my church so there is hope for us, no matter where we are. I don’t want to take away our hope, but I don’t want to diminish us in any way. But we need to continually be hungering after Christ. I keep, I’m building all this to say if you don’t have a hunger, something’s wrong. If you don’t want to know who your God is and what pleases Him and live according to that, something’s wrong. There are barometers that we can tell when are we at. Am I in a backslidden condition or am I truly seeking to live my life, to bless the Lord and to live the purpose he’s put me on this earth and to bring glory to His name? So all of that is my leading up to.
19:47
I want us to go to Galatians 5. And I want to read this. There are several scriptures here and I’m going to give us something that I’ve the Lord gave me. That I think is really awesome. But Galatians 5, I’m going to start in verse 16. And it says but I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
20:17
Now, that verse all by itself. I’ve been meditating on that and it wasn’t because I recently read it. The Holy Spirit brought it to my mind, he brought it up in my spirit and I’ve been meditating on that. I love that. To walk by the spirit and I let me read it again. But I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
20:43
Now I’m going to keep reading, but we’re going to go back to that. But we’re going to go back to that, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other. To keep you from doing the things you want to do meaning in your flesh, but if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Okay, the works of the flesh are evident. Remember I said at the beginning how can we know for walking after the flesh or after the spirit? Let’s look at this, because here is our answer. Now the works of the flesh are evident Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the spirit. So these are the proofs, okay, that you’re not doing these other things. Here are the proofs that you are doing the right things, that you are living according to the spirit. That is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
23:04
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24:04
And then he goes on chapter 6, his brothers, if you’re caught in a transgression, you are spiritual. Restore such a one. So this goes on to even further explain when someone is wrong, how you deal with them rightly and by the Spirit. But I want us to go back to that first verse in 16. But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the Spirit.
24:27
When I was reading that, I like to read it in all kinds of different translations and there were four different things that I saw over and over again. One would say walk in the Spirit, one says walk by the Spirit. Another says walk after the Spirit, one says walk according to the Spirit, and the one that the Holy Spirit brought up in my heart was walk after the Spirit. And I thought about that when you’re. Have you ever tried to catch up with somebody walking with them? You’re walking after them, you’re trying to follow after them, or if you’re ever driving on the highway and you’re supposed to be following somebody and you’re trying to keep up with them so that you don’t lose them, to go after them. Or maybe you’re in a brand new relationship, the Lord’s led you to somebody and you’re going after it. Or what if it’s a job position you’re going after. You know what it means to go after something.
25:33
And as I was looking this up, I read Romans 8, verse 1 in the King James, and it says this therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. So we talked for just a second about all of those things. I’m going to bounce a little bit right back and forth here and toggle in here, where we know all those things that are of the flesh that we shouldn’t be doing. And then there is the work of the Spirit in us to prove that we are walking after the Spirit by the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit in our life. I should say the fruit of the Spirit, and I liked this verse adding to it, because he says there’s no condemnation, and the King James was one of the only places I saw this and I’m not sure I didn’t do the study on why it was here and not in others, though it does reiterate just a little bit further down in all the other translations.
26:38
But this particular, this verse in the King James for me, turned light bulbs on helps me to see clearly, like walking into a dark room and turning the light on. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. We all know that verse, we’re all familiar with that verse. We like to quote that verse. We like to say if anybody’s feeling guilt or shame, we want to pull that off of them and we say there is therefore now no condemnation. God’s not condemning you. But this particular version adds to it and says who there’s no condemnation for? Who? For those who walk not after the flesh. So there’s. What he’s saying is there was, there was a change in this person. This person received Jesus Christ and there was a change in them. They were no longer walking to satisfy and please their flesh. Who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. So they’re going after the spirit Again.
27:37
That word after was calling to me, pulling to me, saying Jamie, there’s a difference. I heard the Holy Spirit saying there’s a difference. There is a difference between just simply walking along. Okay, I wasn’t a Christian and now I got saved. I pray to prayer and now I’m I’m. I say I’m walking after Jesus, I’m just walking, I’m just walking this walk. There’s a difference. If you’re walking after something, there’s a change in your gate, there’s a change in your speed, there’s a change in your style. To walk after is a very purposeful thing. Not just walking, I’m not just wandering around, I’m walking with purpose. And when I started reading and looking up this word after, this same word and this it’s the meaning of this word in Hebrew is the same thing that was used, only it says it different, but it’s exactly the same word and meaning in in the strong’s concordance in Matthew, chapter four, versus 17 to 20.
28:41
Okay, because this word to walk according to the spirit, to walk or to go after means to guide, to accompany, to escort. I liked that because if you think that the Holy Spirit is our escort, meaning he is not just saying hey, go there, and then expect you to go, do it by yourself. They are escorting you, they are going with you, they are arm and arm with you, they are taking you where you need. You are being escorted to where you need to go. You’re not just being told where to go. They accompany you, they go along with you, they guide you. People who go on safaris in Africa, higher professional guides who take them, who know the territory, who know the animals, who know the terrain, who know how to react and respond in the situations they’re going to face. You don’t just go out there by yourself thinking, well, I’ve got a gun, you know. You don’t just set up a tent and camp wherever you want, you need a guide. And so they guide.
29:52
This word to go and walk after the spirit means that the spirit is coming alongside of you, guiding you, accompanying you and escorting you. And it takes us into this passage. Listen to this. This is so good. Matthew 14, verses 17 to 20. This shows us the same pattern that Jesus did this. This is what it looks like. Look at this. Like going from flesh to spirit.
30:19
From that time, jesus began to preach and to say repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee. So this walking by the sea is the exact same words being used that we see in the Old Testament I’m sorry, not the Old Testament, in Romans eight, it’s the same thing in Matthew in the New Testament and it’s that same. Going after, walking after, means the same thing. Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, simon called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto them follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And they, straight way, left their nets and followed him. It even goes on to say if you keep reading, that he also then goes along and finds James and John.
31:25
So this is really important because we know that Jesus didn’t do anything. He didn’t see the father doing. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t hear the father saying. Everything he did it was because the father was doing that or telling him to do that. He saw that. He saw that from the father and now he is following the father and doing that.
31:45
So Jesus, already been baptized, gets the spirit of God on him. And what does he do? He’s preaching repent. First thing he does is he preaches repent. He’s telling them the kingdom of God is at hand. And what does Jesus do? What is his purpose, mission, what is God calling him to do? The Holy Spirit is directing him after. In other Gospels we see that he had prayed all night before he did this and had totally been asking the Father for direction, and the Holy Spirit, his guide, who’s walking with him, shows him Peter and Andrew and then later shows him. He picks all his disciples. So there was purpose in his walk. He was walking after the Spirit. It’s the exact same meaning.
32:30
I loved that because we see this is how Jesus walked, this was the example he led, and what did he say to his disciples? He said follow me, follow me. So our walk has to change, our life has to change. The way we live has to change, the way that we make decisions has to change and the way that you know if you’re not just saved, but that you’re actually following Jesus, that you’re actually being a disciple following the Spirit of God. You know, in the last several episodes we’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit and we will again, even next week.
33:08
We’re talking about the Holy Spirit, but you need to understand the Spirit of God. He is our paraclete, the one who comes alongside us, the one who guides us, the one who escorts us, the one who shows us the way by accompanying us. He did this with Jesus, and our life is a proof of our relationship. The words we say. We can say we are Christians all day long. We can say that we follow Christ all day long. We can say we’ve made him our Lord and Savior. But what is the proof is how you’re walking, how are you living?
33:44
Folks, we could have started this the first of the year 2023 off with a heart focused on God, and things happen, dramatic things happen in our lives, things change in our life and the year wears on and very few stick with the focus they had at the beginning of the year. And I wanted to say today, as we are getting close to the end of this year, there’s only a few weeks left, and I wanted to say that we can finish strong, we can finish this year following the spirit of God, and the proof is in our life. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. You know, christmas is coming and we like to sing the songs and say figgy pudding. Well, I’d like to say that the proof is in this pudding at the end of this year, and it’s what is your life saying? What is the story you’re telling? What are you showing to those around you, who is Jesus based off of your life?
34:42
If we had to ask your friends and your coworkers and your family, and we asked them this very pointed question who is Jesus based off of what you have seen in my life? What’s he like, what does he want, what is he doing? If we asked those questions of those who know you, what would they say about Jesus Christ? Would you have given glory to God? Would they know something about Jesus that brings glory to His name, based off of how you’ve lived? If you have, and if they do, oh praise God. Keep up the good work, keep it up, stay focused, finish strong this year.
35:38
If you’re concerned with what those answers would be, it’s not too late. You can change course. You can do as Jesus said in repent. We can follow after Him and change direction. Repent means to turn and go in the other direction. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to come and accompany us, to show us the way that we’re to go, to lead us, so that there is a distinction between the works of the flesh that used to be evident in our life, based off of our actions and our words, and our choices, our decisions, and let’s give glory to God with our life. We’ve just had Thanksgiving. Make sure your life is saying thank you to God that what you do with your life is a huge thank you for the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for you individually.
36:45
I know we like to say Jesus died for the world. We like to quote John 3.16. And that’s accurate, for God so loved the world that he gave His only Son. But it’s more than that, folks. It’s deeper than that. He died for you individually, not just for the world. He died for you, for your sin, and sometimes we forget. We need to meditate on what we did, because we deserved that death, we deserved hell, we deserved that punishment and an innocent. And what was that song that everyone used to sing? Oh, my goodness. And it would say the.
37:25
I believe it’s taken from one of the Psalms, but that Jesus was the darling of heaven and he was the innocent. He’s God’s Son, the one who was pure. If you think of a newborn who’s innocent and pure. They haven’t committed any sin, they can’t speak a word yet, they’re just born, and the purity that’s there. And we look at that and we could say they wouldn’t deserve to die for someone else’s guilt. And yet our precious Jesus gave His life, sacrificed everything in obedience to the call of the Father on his life, following the call of the Holy Spirit to take him into the depths and to lead him into the grave. But praise God because our God reigns, because Jesus is God, because he is divine, because he is who he said he is. He rose from that grave and gave us new life. We have a second chance. We have an opportunity to get right what was wrong. And this Christmas season the end of 2023, let’s focus and finish strong.
38:54
Let’s let our life answer the question of what it means to be saved, that those around us what was the old thing that you said? The saying that they used to say if you were brought into a court of law, would there be enough evidence to convict you that you were actually a Christian? Can we say that of ourselves? Let’s do some self-examination. Let’s make sure that we have a healthy hunger for the Lord, because how do we know if someone’s sick and body? They can’t eat, they barely want to drink water, they can’t hold anything down, they begin to waste away, so to speak. Death is evident when someone is wasting away. The work of death in the body, the work of dying of cells is in the body, when someone’s wasting away and there’s no eating, no hunger. But when someone is hungry, in a good appetite, they’re living, they have life in them.
39:50
Our Christian walk is the same way. We can self-examine, we can look and see. Am I hungry for the word? Am I hungry to live for the call of God on my life, to fulfill with the purpose that he’s put in me and live my days showing and giving glory to God? It’s what’s expected of us. It is our reasonable service. Are we walking now after the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh? If we feel that there’s way too much flesh there, I’m hungering after the fleshly things and I’m hungering after old desires and old passions and I’m giving myself to them.
40:36
Folks, we need to get back to the altar, get back to a place of surrender, repent and give our lives back to Christ. We don’t have time to waste. It’s time to make sure that we are living for the return of Jesus Christ. Let’s not just live for the end of this year. Let’s live for the return of Jesus Christ. Let’s show our thanks for the price that he paid with the life that we live today and let’s be examples to those who are watching. This is what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
41:14
Can I pray for you, heavenly Father? We just thank you, first and foremost, for your Son and for the work that you have already accomplished at the cross. We and ourselves could not live the way that we need to live. We could not fulfill the law. We needed you, we needed your spirit, we needed your ultimate sacrifice. You gave yourself once and for all, and it was enough. And so, father, we ask for a fresh outpouring on our lives of the Holy Spirit that we would receive from you and be able to walk in the power of the Spirit, to turn from whatever the works are of the flesh and to live according to the powerful work of your spirit. That we would not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but that we would fulfill the call that you have placed on our heart and to live a life bringing glory to your name.
42:13
Give strength to those who feel weak today. Strengthen their knees, o God, that they stand. Give strength into their heart and desire for what is right, father. Fill them with the courage that they need and the ability to do what they could not do in and of themselves, that they know your presence and know your voice and walk after the Spirit of God. We give you all the thanks and all the praise for what you have done and what you’re going to do. Help us finish this year, father, strong and focused on what you are saying, that we can say, like Jesus, I do what I see my Father doing, I say what I hear my Father saying, and that we will accomplish all that you’ve given into our hands to accomplish. And we ask all of these things, lord, in your Son, jesus Christ’s name. Amen, amen. Thank you so much for joining me today. I pray that you are living a blessed life in this blessed season and we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.
