Objectives

Objectives! We all have them, but the key is to attain, to conquer, to win. To overcome is the ultimate goal, wouldn’t you agree? Take the simplest of examples in our everyday lives, pick an experience that belongs to you, a memory we call upon to find motivation, hope, joy and the will to push on. There could be numerous recollections to draw from…

On occasion I am taken to my military training and the lessons I learnt there, not about becoming a soldier per say but the heights I reach on a mental and physical level that I once believed to be impossible, I was wrong. Although we are fallen creatures and tainted by sin God has designed the human body with phenomenal ability. We are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine, it's only when we are put to the test that we really understand this valuable lesson. When the pressure is on we always look for the easy way out. Our default is to tap out far too soon. The Lord Jesus stayed the course, he drank a full cup of every permutation possible to man and even though the anguish at times was so severe that his sweat glands bled blood, he never tapped out. His objective to overcome sin in a human body, he was victorious. His aim, to please his heavenly Father, which he achieved in spades. As Christians surely this then needs to become our overarching objective in life, to please our heavenly Father and the only way to actually achieve this is too, as Paul puts it; “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.” But why the emphasis on “my spirit”? This is the nitty-gritty of it all, we have to learn the difference between walking in the flesh (our natural ability) as opposed to the spirit. Faith is needed to accomplish this. This is my observation, if we serve in the spirit, if we truly have consciously “put on the mind of Christ” we are in a different zone and we begin to process information differently. The cares of this world are not so monstrous and we find a strength (grace) to endure, come what may. We believe that we are exactly where God wants us to be. We must fly this flag with confidence; our God is in control of all things. However when the flesh dominates our mind-set is one of panic when the pressure us on.

I do not professed to have mastered it, far from it, but I am able to call on memories when I was happiest and a peace surpassed all rational understanding. Why?  My conclusion, I was walking in the spirit. The man Jesus always walked in the spirit although he was a man with a blood and bone body who accomplished so much. Why? He saw way beyond the grave. It would be almost impossible for a man to forgive someone killing them when it is actually happening. Stephen did it! A man filled with the Spirit of God and dressed with the whole armour of God. I am convinced this is the lesson. Our flesh will suffer when we are walking in the spirit, it has to give way for a better approach and it’s the only way we will ever truly please our heavenly Father. 

If you are still not convince, the Lord is our ultimate example. Peter understood this well and this is his instruction;  “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2) – All three points tied up in the same verse, arming our mind with Christ’s mind, the flesh suffering to stop its wicked behaviour and finally to be about the will of God.

The clear water behind this instruction can become muddy if stirred incorrectly. There are two sets of rules, or at least that is what I wish to explore when it comes to application from the instinct of an individual prior to salvation and after the switch is flip. I do not wish to spend time debating the actualities of this truth, salvation, when does it happen? But the realisation of our own understanding when our lives are turned on their heads for the first time, when people look at you as if you are mad, etc. That beautiful day when tears of joy flooded your soul and you cried out I can see, I can see. And then we begin to grow, as time ticks by we begin to become weary, there are many questions that need answering, not that salvation and the truth behind it is every question, NEVER! But in hindsight, muddling the flesh and the spirit into one pot becomes a world of pain. I know and yet I really knew very little, if I was wiser, folly would not have encapsulated so much of my life. However He who is in us is greater that he who runs the world and thankfully we are transported to our senses. God continue to have mercy on the struggling pilgrim’s souls, not because we deserve it but because you have it in your power to be merciful.

What is the conclusion? Our objective; we must learn to walk in the spirit, put on the mind of Christ, dress for battle, putting on the whole armour of God (see Ephesians 6). When these application are in place, we will be walking in the spirit and therefore never be tripped up by the lusts of our flesh. So it’s easy to gauge; lustful behaviour of any sort and acting upon it proves but one thing that we have the flesh dominating, we are walking in the natural, our behaviour is that of the individual prior to salvation. The old man/woman dictating. When we walk in the spirit, with God’s Spirit directing our paths we radiate a Shekinah glory and through the trial of life the light of Christ shines in us, which will obviously affect the onlookers for the sake of the gospel. Either way people will be affected. I suppose the actual proof for me would be a tranquillity, the peace of God. It’s when baffled onlookers see the apparent hardships that accompany that peace. This is where God is glorified, the peace of God in a believer’s life is impossible to fabricate, because it comes from the Spirit and not the natural.

Understanding the theory is one thing, but application to it is the actual test. God give us the strength to put off childish things and to dress for battle. How can we be of any use to others if we cannot master our own lives?

Signing off

Tyrone