Patience – Page 2 – Praying Pint

27.m. “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Romans 12:1   I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Acts 9:31   So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Colossians 1:10  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 Thessalonians 2:12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

2 Timothy 1:9    who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

What does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called? Our salvation is in Jesus Christ alone. Nothing we could do or did do would add or take away from His complete work on the cross. There is not a single “Good” person who has done good enough to merit what Christ did on the cross. There is not a single “Bad” person who has done such vile bad things that the work of Christ on the cross will not save them completely. The good and bad people are both sinners, lost, apart from God, walking in flesh and doing fleshly things, and in need of redemption, forgiveness, and salvation. Once they have come to the saving grace knowledge of Jesus Christ, repent of their sin, and trust in, cling to, and rely on Jesus Christ they are saved, born again, a new creation. The Holy Spirit is given to each one of them, to lead, comfort, and die them unlimited power to live in this world in a manner worthy of the price Jesus Christ paid for their sin. So I ask again what does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called?

This is an ever-changing goal in the life of a Christian. As we grow, here a little there a little, precept by precept, line upon line. As we grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and His grace, mercy, and love, our understanding of what walking in a manner worthy will also grow. That is why it is an ever-changing upward goal. We do well to grow in our knowledge and understanding, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Too often our attainment of growth is limited because of our lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. Too often we neglect it. Too often we are complacent. Too often we get caught up in the busyness of life and worry about walking worthy of what our neighbors and family will think rather than the one who freely gave His life to redeem you.

26.v. “Let no one deceive himself.”

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Job 15:31     Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.

Obadiah 1:3    The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”

Luke 21:8    And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.

Ephesians 5:6    Let no one deceive you with empty words,

2 Thessalonians 2:3    Let no one deceive you in any way.

1 Corinthians 15:33    Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Corinthians 3:18    Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

James 1:22    But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Job 13:8-9    Will you show partiality toward him? Will you plead the case for God?  Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

Jude 1:18    They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”

Proverbs 1:31    therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Romans 2:6-10    He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,  but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

A farmer reaps the same as he has sown. If he plants wheat, wheat comes up. In the same way, if we sow to the flesh, the flesh will increase in size and strength. The farmer also reaps more if he has sown more, and the relationship between what he sows and what he reaps is exponential. What we get out of life is often what we put in. We may fool ourselves by expecting much when we sow little, but we cannot fool God, and our poor sowing results will be evident.

There are many things we seem to naturally have the ability to sow. Hatred, confusion, anxiousness, fear, division, worthlessness, and as well false joy, love, peace, and security. These seem to find root in self-satisfaction, self-worth, and self-reliance.

When we sow to self-satisfaction we may reap temporal satisfaction to our mind, but it soon fades and leaves us wanting something more. It never lasts. Our false thoughts of its ability to satisfy us only drive us toward something more, something bigger, something bigger, something shinier, yet it never seems to satisfy. We are blind to the futility of our thought process that drives it. Self-satisfaction also lies to our soul when it says I am satisfied with what I have done to make myself right before God.

When we sow self-reliance we jump headlong into pride. Self-reliance is very dangerous for the soul. It has eternal consequences. When self-reliance enters our hearts and is played out we are blind and deaf to things of God. Self-reliance says to the heart, mind, and soul, “I can do this on my own”, “I am smart enough”, “I don’t need help”, “I am better, stronger, smarter, wiser, richer, and through my sheer will can overcome and defeat any problem that comes my way. Self-reliance gives false trust in self. Self-reliance is a liar to the soul.

When we sow self-worth we fall into thinking a host of unhealthy and ungodly thoughts. Primarily, I am worthy of God’s grace, mercy, and love. I am more than good enough to receive eternal life in heaven. I am deserving of God’s blessings. These lies are rooted in our sinful nature. We see our worthiness as holiness before God. We falsely claim ourselves justified by our works. We keep a mental ledger book in our heads of all the good we have done to outweigh the bad. Set up our own balance scale and determine our good outweighs the bad.

There is none who does good, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory and holiness of God. The wages of sin is death. What is a person to do to save their soul from eternal hell? Trust not in self or schemes of man but trust fully in Jesus Christ. The beauty of God’s grace, mercy, and love is that it is freely given to all who will trust, believe, rely on, and cling to the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” To trust in Jesus Christ alone is eternal life. To add anything to the work of Jesus Christ is false and will end in eternal hell.

26.q. “But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit”

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 2:3   among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

1 Peter 1:14    As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

Romans 8:5   For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

1 Peter 4:2   so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

1 John 2:15-16   Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

To walk in the Spirit means that the Holy Spirit lives in you, to be open and sensitive to the influence of the Holy Spirit, and to live your life desiring the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is no way anyone can fulfill the lust of the flesh as they walk in the Spirit. The two simply don’t go together. The Holy Spirit doesn’t move in us to gratify our fallen desires and passions, but to teach us about Jesus and to guide us in ways that will always honor and glorify Jesus. How can we think some of the things we think and do some of the things we do that surely do not honor and glorify Jesus Christ? It is when worldly desires, temptations, and self-gratification take a front and center place in our minds. If we would take every thought, action, and words we are about to speak captive and simply ask ourselves is this in line with God’s Word or what the world thinks is right. Does it honor and glorify Jesus Christ? Does it demonstrate the love of Him?

Walking in the Spirit is the key, but it doesn’t always come easily. Often, it is a battle. There is a battle going on inside the Christian, and the battle is between the flesh and the Spirit. As Paul writes, these are contrary to one another – they don’t get along at all. When the flesh is winning the inside battle, you do not do the things that you wish. You don’t live the way you want to; you live under the flesh instead of under the Spirit. Our inner being (sinful nature) is fully trained in rebellion and fleshly and worldly desires. We intentionally choose to be influenced and led by either our old nature or the Spirit of God. This battle between that which honors and glorifies and that which does not and which one will win comes down to what we choose to allow into our hearts, minds, and souls. Out of the abundance of the heart, all actions and words take root. Fill your heart with God’s Word. Desire it. Seek it. Cherish it. Obey it. Believe it. Trust it. Cling to it. Rely on it. Desire the Holy Spirit to lead you. If God’s Word is set aside or placed out of sight (not set in high regard) you are helpless against the fleshly and worldly.

26. “Even though I am nothing”

2 Corinthians 12:11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

Luke 17:10    So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Ephesians 3:8   To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

Romans 15:18-19   For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,  by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

What would our lives be like if we would look at all we do, all we are able to do, and all we have done and know in our heart that we are nothing and it is by the grace of God that we exist and are able to do anything at all. Would we act differently? Would we be more thankful? Would we be more humble? Would we be more helpful to others? Would we see others in a different light? It is not a though we should be walking around with our head hung low and seemingly pouting or self-deprecating. Rather, we should walk with our head on straight with the knowledge that we are nothing in the flesh but in the spirit, we are a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the flesh we are but a tool of our Lord, that is if we keep the influences of fleshly desires and worldly temptations out of our mind. This is not easy when there is so much technology that feeds anti-christian worldly ideas at lightning speed continuously. There is but one way to keep from being drawn away. Staying in His Word. I am not saying this lightly but that it should be a desire of your soul. Why is this important? Because without feeding and digesting His Word the world has a way of dragging you into its lifestyle and way of thinking. Feeding and digesting His Word will manifest humbleness, trust, obedience, faith, hope, praise, honor, worship, and reliance in Him alone in your life.

25.k. “But as servants of God”

2 Corinthians 6:4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left

Romans 14:18    Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

1 Thessalonians 2:3-11   For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,  but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Romans 5:3-4    Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Colossians 1:11    being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy

Hebrews 12:1   Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

James 5:7-10    Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Revelation 3:10    Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

We often think of patience as a passive thing – the ability to sit around and wait for something to happen. That is not the idea of the word Paul used here. It is an active endurance instead of a passive waiting. The ancient Greek word hupomone “does not describe the frame of mind which can sit down with folded hands and bowed head and let a torrent of troubles sweep over it in passive resignation. It describes the ability to bear things in such a triumphant way that it transfigures them.” (Barclay)

“Nowadays it is not the violence but the mockery or the amused contempt of the crowd against which the Christian must stand fast.” (Barclay)

Paul knew he needed endurance, and he knew many things in his life drew him to seek that endurance. Some of them were the general trials of life, some were sufferings directly brought by others, and some were self-inflicted. Not every trial was the same, but they all made him need endurance.

The idea of on the right hand and on the left is of holding both offensive and defensive weapons. It probably has in mind “both advancing and being attacked.” “Particularly, the shield and the sword; the former on the left arm, the latter on the right hand. We have the doctrine of truth, and the power of God, as an armour to protect us on all sides, every where, and on all occasions.” (Clarke)

25.j. “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,”

2 Corinthians 6:3 Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

Ezekiel 16:8    “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.

Luke 19:42-44    saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side  and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Hebrews 3:7     Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,

Hebrews 3:13   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 4:7    again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

God has an acceptable time for us to work with His grace. God has a day of salvation that will not last forever. This is no time for Christian lives consumed with ease and comfort and self-focus. It is time to get busy for the Lord and to be workers together with Him. What is it that keeps us from seeing, knowing, and doing the Work of God? Is it trials? Is it ease and comfort? Are we deceived or influenced into believing He can’t or won’t use us? Do we find excuse after excuse, time and time again? I am not knowledgeable in the bible enough to be used by God. I am too busy. I am not good enough. I am not brave enough. I am not worthy enough. The list is as long as the number of excuses we make that keeps us from making a commitment to listen and then obey. Is the world influencing your ability to listen? Does it steal time away from working for God? Does it deafen your ears to hear His leading and calls for action in your life?

When we understand that our purpose in this life is to honor and glorify God in all we say, think, and do, it is then we will begin to understand His leading and calling and purpose and plans for our lives. Today is the day. Now is the moment. Right now. Make an intentional choice to make God-honoring and God-glorifying the reason for all you say, think, and do.

22.l. “I urge you, then, be imitators of me”

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Philippians 3:17     Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

2 Thessalonians 3:9   but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.

Hebrews 6:12    so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

1 Corinthians 4:16    I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Paul knew he followed Jesus, so he did not hesitate to tell the Corinthian Christians to imitate his walk with the Lord. He knew the Corinthian Christians needed examples, and he was willing to be such an example. Paul simply told Timothy what to do: Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.. How few today are willing to say what Paul said! Instead, because of compromise and ungodliness, we are quick to say, “Don’t look at me, look at Jesus.” While it is true we must all ultimately look to Jesus, every one of us should be an example of those who look to Jesus. How many times do we actually want people to follow our example? We might be quick to say “follow me when I am following Christ but, don’t follow my example when I am not.” We choose to follow Jesus Christ. We choose to think, do, and act so that He will be honored and glorified. Yet, the question we all should ask is “Am I?” If we commit to being an example of what it means to live so that Jesus Christ is honored and glorified, it is highly possible that people would see the light of Jesus Christ in our example.

21.k. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,”

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:11    Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,

2 Timothy 3:16-17    All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20-21    knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 6:11-12   And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Word of God teaches us that there will be trials, troubles, uncertainties, testings, and things that hurt us physically as well as emotionally. Why else would scripture tell us that God is our Rock, ever-present in times of trouble, He is our refuge, In Him we find strength, Come to me all who are heavy laden with burdens and I will give you peace, all things work together for good for those called according to His purpose, Stand fast, be strong, etc…..?

For those who trust in, cling to, and rely on Jesus Christ – faith and hope mature. When we face trials, troubles, and uncertainties, is when scripture seems to have more meaning and where God’s power, might, strength, control, grace, mercy, and love is more relied upon, and where we find hope, peace, and rest for our souls. Things do not happen by chance. God is in control. And, though we do not know why something has happened or how it will end, we find a peace that passes all understanding. Faith and hope are what sustain us (those who believe in, rely on, trust in, and cling to Jesus Christ), and give us the courage and endurance.

We do not have to look very far into our present world to understand the hearts, minds, and souls of those who do not have faith or hope. In the absence of faith and hope they fall into despair, hopelessness, worry, fear, confusion, anxiousness, hate, etc….. There is no place for God in their lives and in the absence of God in their lives, there is no refuge, hope, peace, joy, assurance, strength, and confidence. They are left alone and without hope to face the trials and troubles that are experienced by all of mankind.

There is one God and in Him alone will we find true peace and rest for our hearts, minds, and souls, through faith and hope, in Him alone.

19.n. “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Ephesians 4:17   Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Ephesians 4:22-24  to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

1 John 2:6   whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Colossians 1:10-12    so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Philippians 3:17-18    Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.  For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Romans 13:13-14     Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

“That we too might walk in newness of life.” “Behold the new has come.” “He is a New Creation.” Renewed in the spirit of your minds.” “Put on the new self.” “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” “Let us walk properly as in the daytime.” What does it mean to walk properly and in a manner worthy of the Lord? The easiest way to think about answering this is to know what sin is and to know what is pleasing to God. How do we know what sin is? Do we know it by instinct? Do we instinctively know what is good and bad – right and wrong – true and false? Unfortunately, we do not instinctively know, but through our upbringing and our culture, we determine what is socially acceptable. If something is socially or culturally acceptable is it good, right, and true? – (Maybe) If it is socially and culturally acceptable can it still be sin? – (absolutely) Someone said wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it, and right is right if there is only one doing it.

If we base our rights, wrongs, and truths on what is culturally acceptable then we can easily fall prey to doing what is sin in God’s eyes. There is only one place we gain insight into what is good, right, and true. That is in God’s word. He is steadfast. His Word is true. His promises are true. He is truth. There is no falsehood in Him. If we want to know what is true, right, good, and honorable then we need to not only spend time in His Word but also spend time with Him in prayer. Jesus said that out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks. If we are only feeding our heart with a token stab at daily devotions then His Word will not abide in us but rather pass through us as if we were empty vessels. There must be a heart-deep desire connected to our seeking of what is true, good, and right. There must be a hunger and thirst. If there is stagnate “life” flowing through your veins and if there is a neglect of God’s Word in your day, and if there is a foggy haze to your understanding of what is good, right, and true in God’s eyes, then repent and turn away from this right now. You are a new creation that has been born with the newness of life through Jesus Christ. Jesus did not die for you so that you could keep on sinning but rather so that you would choose to intentionally live to honor and glorify Him alone. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

17.v. “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

Johne 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Isaiah 2:5    O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 42:6-7   “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,  to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Romans 13:12-14     The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

2 Corintians 6:2 I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

We must believe on Jesus while the light is there, because it won’t last forever. God’s Spirit will not always strive with man and we must answer His call while it rings to us. If we believe it is because God has revealed Himself and His truth to us through His Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and His Word. John emphasized that unbelief was because God acted in judgment upon those who refused to see His truth and turn to Him. God would strengthen them in their decision, either for Jesus or against Him. “The blinding takes place without the will or against the will of these people. So with the hardening of their heart. These men chose evil. It was their own deliberate choice, their own fault”.

“To walk in the Spirit (LIGHT) first means that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Second, it means to be open and sensitive to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Third, it means to pattern your life after the influence of the Holy Spirit. When someone walks in the Spirit, they listen to what the Holy Spirit says as He guides us in the path and nature of Jesus. The Holy Spirit doesn’t move in us to gratify our fallen desires and passions, but to teach us about Jesus and to guide us in the path of Jesus. This is the key to righteous living – walking in the Spirit, not living under the domination of the flesh. (Guzik) “When the flesh begins to temp and influence the only remedy is to take the sword of the Spirit, the word of salvation, and fight against the flesh. If you set the Word out of sight, you are helpless against the flesh. I know this to be a fact. I have been assailed by many violent passions, but as soon as I took hold of some Scripture passage, my temptations left me. Without the Word I could not have helped myself against the flesh.” (Luther)

Do not become complacent or neglect the Word of God each day in your heart, mind, and life.