“To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6
Author and pastor D. Stuart Briscoe wrote in his commentary on Romans that “when it comes to spiritual life, everything is important and nothing is to be taken casually.” When you get so comfortable with your relationship with God that other things take precedence in your thoughts and actions, it may be time for you to step back and examine what has happened. In this fast-paced world, some people have trouble in silence…the absence of noise means you have to listen to your own thoughts. Have you set your mind on things of the Spirit or on things of the flesh?
“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” and are hostile to God and cannot please Him (Romans 8:5-8). But Jesus came to this Earth in human form to make the ultimate sacrifice for you – a sin offering of the perfect Lamb. He also explained that when He left this world, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would come and take residence within the believer so that Christ’s grace and power would be available to the one whose trust is in the Lord. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead can empower you, the believer, in this present life.
Don’t get comfortable. Make the effort to cultivate the attitude of the Spirit. Spend quiet time with Him each day in Scripture, and He will give you a sense of rest and assurance in your decision-making. Be the Spirit-filled example to those around you. Pray for America that its focus will be less on selfish desires and more focused on the life and peace only the Spirit can provide.
Today’s Verse: Roman 8:6
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: John 16:1-15
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
