Following God’s Spirit…Guardrails and Seeds

Hey church, you all know that if you miss a Sunday message you can listen to the podcast or read this email and possibly get a recap of the message. Right?
 
Last Sunday I wanted to simply present this message from Romans 8:3-4; God’s laws are like guardrails or boundaries that help us stay on track, on a path for following Jesus Christ. His laws don’t save us, as we all know that not one of us has the ability to keep His laws. We are imperfect. Only by the amazing grace of God are we able to find salvation. Being saved, we are now able to follow, to walk, to daily live in a way that honors God. Paul said we no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the Spirit.
 
Church, we are not bound to a losing battle against sin. We find freedom from sin, thanks to our new relationship with God! Now, we walk on a path of holy living thanks to the leading and empowerment of God’s Holy Spirit.
 
Today I want to remind you of a few things as you strive to live a holy and pleasing life for God. First, call upon God for His Spirit to actively work in your life.
 
Now apply the law of displacement. If you want to break a bad habit, you have to build a good one. It’s the law of displacement. To break a sin habit, you establish a prayer habit.
 
Next, remember the law of sowing and reaping. Farmers don’t plant beans in a field and return surprised that corn didn’t come up through the soil. The farmer knows what is planted, and what he plants is what he reaps. So ask yourself, are you planting love or hate? Joy or ingratitude. Respect or disrespect towards authority? Self-control or self-indulgence? You cannot break the law of sowing and reaping. In can only break you, if you are planting the wrong seeds.
 
After sowing what is right and holy into your life, water it! This spring I planted some grass seed in an area that I would love to have more yard. What I know to be true is that for it to grow, I must water it every day. In the same way, sin is a seed. If I plant it, and water it, it will grow. If I don’t water it, it will die. Just as this works with sin, we know the same is true of holiness. The more you water, the greater it grows. The less you water, the sooner it dies.
 
Finally, don’t give up. Living for Jesus is now part of your spiritual DNA and we must strive to live in a manner that pleases our Holy God today, tomorrow, and every day after that. Galatians 6:9So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
 
We must realize that God can’t do something new in us, if we keep doing the same old thing. As a child of God, saved by grace, we walk differently! We follow, we walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit!
 
This is obviously a brief outline to what was preached and what you can read in the Bible, but hopefully it is an encouragement and reminder to live a holy life for our Lord!
 
This Sunday, as we continue through Romans 8, I’m pumped to share with you how Paul walks a focused life!
 
See you Sunday….

Pastor Rex