Series: Saints
Message: No Condemnation
Preacher: Kory P. Douglas
Reflection: Kory P. Douglas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Vanessa Rivera
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Romans 8:1-11 in the New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: All over the world, the Christian church, at least according to research, appears to be dying. Despite the percentage of Americans claiming to be believers, the faith talk so common in politics, and the number of super and mega churches increasing, Christianity is losing its appeal and relevance in our world. I believe this is happening for one main reason: we lack evidence to support that what we say we believe is worth believing.
Everyday Christians struggle with life; they are unhappy, they divorce at the same rate as non-Christians, their homes are broken, and many do not experience the growth and development that they would like to. The truth is that when people come into contact with the average Christian, they do not see much about their lives that says, “You need what I have.” As a result, many are turning to other sources like motivational speakers. In fact, I have friends who have become full-time motivational speakers, capitalizing on this new craze to have someone daily motivate us to be better. All it takes is subscribing to a few channels on YouTube, following all the gurus on Twitter, and, if you’re lucky, finding someone who is open to mentoring you.
The thing that gets me is that if you play close attention to all the motivational speeches, most seem to have their grounding in Scripture. In fact, I listened to an interview with Jim Kwik (speaker, author, memory guru) done by Tom Bilyeu (speaker, entrepreneur, founder of Impact Theory), and I heard something that was extremely familiar. While speaking about the habits of successful people, Kwik shared two things. One, if you win the first hour of the day, you win the day. That sounds like a plug for daily devotion. Two, he commented, “I set a guard to my brain all the time as to what goes in. I don’t watch a lot of negative news or other negative stuff. I really focus on the positive.”
The same wisdom that Jim Kwik shares was dropped by Paul over two thousand years ago in Romans 8. First, Paul tells us that God is able to offer us a judgement of no condemnation and fulfill the righteous requirement of the law in us as long as we walk in the Spirit. How do we walk in the Spirit? Paul suggests that we start with setting our mind on the things of the Spirit rather than setting our mind on the flesh. The Spirit is life and peace and the flesh is death.
The reason we struggle as Christians on our journey is that we focus on the wrong things. We spend time focused on the mess of this world, which, if we are honest, can be very depressing. Sometimes I have to turn the news off because it seems as if all the media covers is corruption, murder, death, and scandals. We do the same thing in our spiritual lives. Instead of focusing on victory in Jesus, the righteousness of Christ, the mission of Christ, and His soon return, we often focus more on our own shortcomings, failures, and besetting sins. No wonder some of us are so miserable. No wonder the world isn’t hard-pressed to want what we have.
We need a shift in our thinking. Rather than focus on ourselves, let us take heed of Paul’s declaration in Verse 9. We are not in the flesh, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in us! Maybe it is time that we lift up Jesus in our lives, focusing on Him, and making Him the object of our gaze. He did say that if He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.
Recalibrate: Do you find yourself listening to motivational speakers before turning to God’s Word? What motivates you to make it through each day? What motivates you to be a Christian?
Respond: Identify some Bible verses that can serve as daily motivators. Find a way to implement them into your morning routine.
Research: Read “Growing Up in Jesus” (Chapter 8 in Steps to Christ).
Remember: “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2, ESV).
Kory P. Douglas is the youth director for the Central States Conference in Kansas City, Kansas. He is a native of Brooklyn, New York, where he previously served as a Bible teacher. Kory has a beautiful family comprised of his wife Kimberly, daughter Carsyn Rei (2), and son Noah Kai (10 months). He loves God and young people, and wants to see everyone become the best version of themselves they can be.
Blow bubbles and watch them float through the air. We cannot see the wind that blows them, but we can see that the wind is moving them. Love moves us just like the wind moves the bubbles. It is the air inside and outside the bubble that moves it. Love on the inside of our hearts makes us move in a loving way on the outside. That is when we see the Holy Spirit moving in our world.
Take a long piece of paper towel and go outside in the wind. If it is a calm day, stand in front of a fan. Holding on to one end, see how the paper moves in the wind. Can you see the wind? We can see what the wind does. We cannot see the Spirit living in us that Paul talks about, but we can see what the Spirit does. How can we tell that the Spirit is moving us? Romans 8:5 may help.
OK, so maybe you’ve read the text over the week and you’ve decided that you want the Spirit of God to dwell in you. So, how do we really know if He’s living in us? Here’s a quick way I check myself. When I prayed and read my Bible, did I do it out of a sense of obligation or did I take time to really understand and connect with God? Was I loving towards others or were my actions self-centered? What about the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23? Did I exhibit any of them? Reflect on the last 24 hours and do a similar check. How did you do?