The Death in Perpetrating
Romans 8
Romans 8:19- For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.
We know that creation struggles with the bondage of corruption. We as God’s sons give it a hope for redemption. In other words, for those who are lost, they stand in a hope of the revealing of the truth. Sadly, many Christians haven’t heard nor seen the shaking of the ground as the harvest waits to be plucked out. Instead, we join into the fancies of our flesh, entertain the carnal things of our soul, and feed our spirit with those things that are corrupt and disdained. In turn, nipping, staining, turning pungent, and making filthy our holy garments.
“For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the spirit is life and peace. For the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. Those whose lives are in the flesh are unable to please God” (Romans 8:6,8).
Those who walk in the spirit only have an appetite and desire to please God. In these last seconds before the Lord’s Coming, God is drawing a fine line between flesh riders and Spirit riders. Spirit riders will inherit the Kingdom of God- righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17, Luke 12:31, Luke 6:20). For example, the Beatitudes clearly says, “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). In Matthew 5:3, it says “poor in spirit”. Blessed are those who made God their sole source in life neglecting the things of the flesh. They shall receive their inheritance. We should not be the prodigal son, focusing on the now factor. We should not the mentality of “give me my inheritance now, let me have fun now. Let me do me, spend my money, and live it up”. If we do, we will come up empty handed, embarrassed, and regretful. So God is asking us to choose this day whom you will serve. You cannot serve God and mammon which are those riches, material wealth, and things that satisfy out flesh or ego (Joshua 24:5, Matthew 6:24). Sometimes it is hard and you want to let loose or let your guard down.
I struggled with complacency in my teens until I was 19 years old. I was tired of being the “goody two shoes”, always doing right and having the right things to say. I wanted a little bad side. I had fleshly desires I wanted to quench. I went places I knew I shouldn’t have gone. I hung around too long with people who would drag me down. My end result of this flesh quest was heartache, regret, and empty handedness. I knew my calling and I had to return to my Maker, the One who purifies. I had to operate in the design He made me to be. I felt out of place everywhere else.
Many Christians are compromising by watching and involving themselves in forms of entertainment that is okay, but not beneficial to them. They are quenching curiosities that do not need to be quenched (Psalm 37:27). 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says to “abstain from every form of evil”. May no evil be found among you. The Sons of God carry the Holy Spirit with them. Jesus lives inside of them. We cannot afford to go places and carry the Holy Spirit into settings not conducive to holiness. We need to stay away from watching movies on witchcraft, vampires, Harry Potter, scary movies, love/lust scenes, reading dirty books, romance novels, black fiction, listening secular music, neosoul, or even indirect inspirational music that makes you feel good for the moment but does not deliver or minister to your soul. All of this is latent with false doctrine. 2 Peter 2 spells this out clearly how Satan wants to deceive and devour us to desensitize our spiritman to allow us to be spiritually cloudy, have fussy spiritual antennas so we may not decipher lies and hypocrisies from the truth. Nor live a life of joy, peace, and sincere direction. Revelations 2:8 and Revelation 3 describe a church that is having this problem. If he can allow us to be confused and lack direction making us weak, he has conquered us. But we are more than conquerors.
I ask you Sons of God to stop perpetrating. Stop acting worldly. Stop putting down your spiritual guard. Make God your first love. Manifest His glory in your life. Stop endorsing and investing your money into cheap entertainment. Do you not understand we are in the last seconds. Jesus is coming back. Heaven is real. Hell is real, stop choosing to go to hell. When God comes back, what do you want Him to find you doing? As Sons of God we carry the Holy Spirit with us. Are you okay with what he sees and watch you with you?
“You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness… so then brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live” (Romans 8:9-10, 12-13).
Let us live life abundantly, only through that of the Holy Spirit. Let’s finish the race strong (2 Timothy 4:7) and fight the good fight of faith to receive our crown like that in Philippians 3. For us, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:22). From the very core of our breath our goal should be to make God proud. To fulfill the prophesy in us to produce good, strong, and solid fruit that multiplies. Therefore, as we follow Christ, let us know that our work isn’t done until Jesus comes back or we return to dust. May we consider ourselves to not have taken hold of the final prize yet, but we do one thing, “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, [to] pursue as [our] goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13)*. Track stars reach for their goal. They stretch their bodies to the finish line. Therefore, let us put behind our fleshly desires (riches, popularity, past hurts, and failures) and run with endurance to that prize. A perpetrated Christian life never finishes the race to receive the prize. So let us be true to our calling as Sons of God.
*emphasis added
