Church on the Move Podcast Church on the Move

Have you ever made a vow to yourself that you’d never do something only to do that very thing? In Mark 14, we see this happen to Peter. When you live life on autopilot you do things you never thought you would. We need spiritual disciplines to keep us combat complacency and the desires of the flesh. Spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting help us focus our attention so that we can be alert to and aware of God.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus invited the disciples to, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). It’s all too easy to live life on autopilot, but what if you’re missing something important because you’re not fully awake?
Whether it’s busyness, distraction, discouragement, or selfishness, there’s always something vying for your attention and priority. Jesus invites you to wake up and pay attention. Through obedience, repentance, and communion with God in prayer, let’s enter into a season of awareness. 

 
When you’re a Christ-follower, you’re not just a follower of teachings; you have become a new person. With every miracle, there’s a process. You being reborn in Christ was a miralce, but the renewing of your mind is a process that you have the responsibility to see through. Luckily, you have the power to do this living inside you through the Holy Spirit. Focusing and meditating on Scripture is essential to this process. The Word of God, spoken by the believer, connects the spirit of the believer to the power of God. It was when you have renewed your mind that you can truly start walking in the Spirit.

There are two kingdoms: the Church and the world. The tension of being in Christ and also a citizen of the world is a tension God’s people have always had to wrestle with. If you’re going to win the war against the world, you’re going to have to set some “unreasonable” boundaries. Saying “no” to the world means saying “yes” to the church. When God calls you out of the kingdom of darkens, He plants you into a kingdom of believers - His Church.

There’s a cost to following Jesus. You have to deny your flesh. But you’ll never succeed in your own strength. Living by the Spirit is the only way to win the war against fleshly desires. The Spirit of God gives us power for new life, and if you’re a child of God, you have everything you need to be led by the Holy Spirit. Be still, create space, and invite Him in. 

In Ephesian 2, Paul reveals our three enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil. This week, Pastor Whit details how you can combat Satan: the father of lies. Before you can defeat the devil, you have to understand that he is real, his goal is destruction, and his weapons are lies.  How do you fight lies? You fight them with the truth: the truth that God speaks in His word.