The Right Directions

Scriptural Readings: Galatians 5:14-18, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Romans 8:5-10

Getting in the perfect direction is everyone’s interest. We must admit, though, we fall in the wrong direction most of the time. Whether we are looking for someone or someplace else, there is a complication. Using the GPS, thanks to ultramodern technology, it is easier to find an uncharted course.

 

Galatians 5:14-18

King James Version

V.14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

V.15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

V.16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

V.17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

V.18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

New Living Translation

V.14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

V.15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

V.16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

V.17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

V.18  But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

How about continuing our lives? Are we on the definite course? Are we confident that we are on the right path? If we think we are, how positive are we? Confusion haunts us once in a while. When it happens, we start questioning ourselves. We can say for a time we are perfectly fine, then almost quite confident, and then as we go on, I am not sure. There has to be a dividing line detaching the truth from the deceit. 

 

V.14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

How can I love the enemy I hate? Let us start to deal with hatred. Hatred is something impossible to get rid of and is deeply embedded in us that we cannot remove. Jesus can release this for us. In other words, Jesus did the difficult and impossible. Love, the easy part is ours. If love is difficult for us, perhaps there is no way, but to turn to Jesus Christ, the Son of God once again, for God is love. 

V.15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Some blame and hate the Chinese because of the pandemic. Black lives matter, Asian lives matter, what’s next? In some parts of the world, leaders and their people are clashing, thinking other is either right or wrong. We have not fully comprehended the spiritual side of our actions in these situations. What the devil wants us to do is to blame and hate each other. What we see is a chaotic world we live in, evidence of what we have done and are doing. Lacking spiritual essence from God, not His will be done, but ours.

V.16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

The Holy Spirit will cause our lives, both worldly and spiritual, to work harmoniously. Divine Enlightenment is a lifelong affair. Every Christian should make this a priority. If something comes first before God, the end will be a disaster. If we do not value the conditions God consistently gives us, we can’t live and follow the right direction. The choice is ours. Whether we allow the Holy Spirit to run our lives, or we run our lives. Our spiritual lives matter.

V.17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

The Holy Spirit will work within us administering God’s will, and if that happens, we are in no way under from anything. From the time He directs us, He will expose what is good and evil we do. God will reveal to us the picture between His will and our will. God will make us realize the truth from the lie. Make no mistake about this. What happens next is that we are going to know ourselves deeper and better, and God’s instructions become very clear.

All the things that we are unaware of, God will show us. Hatred, for instance, all of us have, and we can never hide. Along with an attitude of blaming, a situation can stir the evils of hatred in us, a thing that is the exact opposite of what God does not want us to do. 

V.18  But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

When we were born again, we started with a new life, a holy life to work on our mortal lives. Of the many things Jesus wants us to do is to love our enemy. Under the power of the Spirit of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are not under an obligation of anything but directly doing God’s will. Pointing and directing us exactly what His will is. Read Philippians 2:13 New Living translation.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

King James Version

V.11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

V.12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

V.13 And ye shall seek me, and find [me] when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

New Living Translation

V.11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

V.12  In those days when you pray, I will listen.

V.13  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

We will only get tired of looking for the right direction, and for those who find it, they may fall back if they continue to neglect these divine aspects. Disappointment is next to hardship in our long list. God’s divine essences must be the groundwork of all the course of our actions. The basis is not what we see and feel in the future but the willingness to follow His will. What we should foresee is that God is doing His part. When Jesus said, He will not leave us nor forsake us, He has something for us, to bring about the best for us and God’s glorification. This is the divine time that we can see the power of prayers working for us.

Romans 8:5-10

King James Version

V.5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

V.6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.

V.7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

V.8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

V.9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

V.10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.

New Living Translation

V.5  Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

V.6  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 

V.7  For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 

V.8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

V.9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

V.10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.

We have many things to do. For one, sanctification, a partnership between us Christians and Jesus Christ. The part in our lives where God destroys things in us to produce what He requires, equipping us what we need in our spiritual battles in life. There is no other way to get rid of our guilty nature but to accept what Jesus did on Calvary. Jesus nailed our sinful nature on the cross. The Bible called it the old man. When Jesus died, He liberated us from the domination of sinful nature and gave us a new life and spirit, and God is now controlling our lives leading us in the right direction.