Staring at the carnival mirrors of this life we squint through a swirling mist at the constantly shifting mirage of a fallen world.  Things are not as they seem.  Good is so often trampled underfoot while evil triumphs.  The innocent are sacrificed as the guilty ride roughshod over justice.  Walking in the ways of the flesh is stumbling through a maze all alone.  Social Darwinism runs amuck.  Survival of the fittest is the order of the day as the weak, the poor, and the defenseless are shoved out of the way for the next conqueror as they elbow their way to the fleeting throne that will eventually become their funeral pyre.  Allowing our flesh to rule and guide us is walking with our eyes closed in the dark and following the lie that we can be like God creating our own realities through our selfish choices. 

There is a better way.  Walking with God is walking in the light reaching out for His revelation in His Word which is truth.   

As we mature by meditating on the Word of God the things of this world grow strangely dim.  Suddenly a light shines through the darkness and the spiritual world which is invisible to the natural man comes into focus.  Paul put it best in his first letter to the Corinthians, “The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, ‘Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?’ has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.” 

Look at it this way if tomorrow morning when we opened our eyes we saw Jesus standing right there beside our bed physically manifested before us do you think we might have a different kind of morning than normal?  Now imagine if He were to walk next to us all day.  Everywhere we went He went.  Do you think an experience like that might change the way we saw things? 

The Lord is with us every day wherever we are and wherever we go because He prayed that the Father would send us the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God.  And we know the Father always hears and answers the prayers of His Son Jesus.  Here’s what Jesus said about this, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”  He lives within in us.  This is the fact of a born-again life.  But do we really live this way?  Or do we let the mundane sameness of this life gradually gloss over the sparkling joy of our first love?  If we will open our spiritual eyes we’ll see through the filthy fog of this world and see Jesus in all the power of His resurrection with us every step of the way. 

I’m not saying this’ll instantly convert a vale of tears into a bed of roses.  Jesus told us we shouldn’t expect any better treatment than He received at the hands of man, and they crucified Him.  Look at Stephen the first martyr.  He preached the good news that man can be reconciled with God by confessing Jesus as the Lord and leader of our life and by believing that God raised Him from the dead.  This upset the applecart for all the religious leaders who made their living and maintained their power by confining people within the straightjacket of religion filled with rituals and symbols but lacking in a personal relationship with God. 

These wolves in sheep’s clothing couldn’t meet Stephen in open debate.  They couldn’t contend with the power of God that was so obvious in his preaching.  So they manufactured lies and spread false rumors.  They stirred up a crowd and then aimed the violence of the mob directly at this man of God.  But even while they stoned him he had his eyes on Jesus and while the last breaths were crushed from his tortured lungs he cried, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 

We too can live our lives walking, breathing, and speaking in the presence of the Son of Man, Jesus the Christ and there’s nothing the world can do about it.  No one can snatch us out of God’s hand.  To paraphrase one old song Jesus gave it to us and the world can’t take it away.   So abandon the snipe hunt of seeking peace or fulfillment through walking in the flesh and embrace the reality of walking in the Spirit.  Heed the words of the Master, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

Here’s a prayer I’d like to share, “Father let me see with Your eyes, hear with Your ears, speak with Your words, love with Your heart, and touch with Your hands.  Reach through me to those in need.  Let the fire of Your love burn so bright in me that when others look in my direction You are all they see.” 

Can anyone say, “Amen?” 

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  © 2019 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com   Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens 

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The Lord is with us every day. 

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Walking in the Spirit, Dr. Robert Owens, Walking in the flesh, baptized in the Spirit, spirit filled, persecution of Christians, victory in Jesus