"YOU WILL LIVE!"

Romans 8:12-17                               (ESV)
"12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, "YOU WILL LIVE".
14 For all who are led BY THE SPIRIT of GOD are sons of GOD.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the SPIRIT of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
16 The SPIRIT HIMSELF bears witness with our spirit that we are children of GOD,
17 and if children, then heirs-heirs of GOD and fellow heirs with CHRIST, provided we suffer with HIM in order that we may also be glorified with HIM."



In studying scripture this morning I ran across something that I am captivated by.  It began with reading the obituaries in the local newspaper, and proceeded to several parts of the New Testament.  Many believers, myself included at times, live like they are relegated to living in a graveyard, living among dead people if you will.  JESUS said "I came that they might have LIFE and have it abundantly"!

One Bible commentary I was reading offered these words that shook me as I studied:

Years ago when the billionaire Howard Hughes died, his company’s public relations director asked the casinos in Las Vegas, where Hughes owned multiple casinos, to show him respect by giving him a minute of silence. For an uncomfortable sixty seconds, the casinos fell eerily silent. Then a pit boss looked at his watch, leaned forward, and whispered, “Okay, roll the dice. He’s had his minute.” (From the book, Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years, cited in “Our Daily Bread,” 11/77.)

I wonder if sometimes we treat GOD as those gamblers in Las Vegas treated Howard Hughes. We interrupt our busy schedules once a week, rush into church, give GOD “HIS hour,” and then forget about HIM and get back to what we’d rather be doing.

When I read these words I immediately had to slow my reading down and repeat what I had read.  Sometimes I get the mentality that I am running a race against some unknown entity (probably from the devil) to try to get through with my Bible Study and on with my work for the day.  The original text of John 4:24 says JESUS says "GOD IS SPIRIT".   Several other versions insert one simple letter, an "a", in trying to make the sentence read more fluently which could imply the SPIRIT OF GOD is just another spirit!  When we diminish GOD to being just another spirit, could we be saying HE isn't GOD?

The SPIRIT OF GOD is LIFE, the same life that JESUS promised in John 10:10.  When we live BY THE SPIRIT we are living LIFE to the fullest.  Unless our spirit surrenders to HIS SPIRIT and allows HIM to control our lives, we can never experience the joy of LIVING.  If, however, we put to death the deeds of the body, "YOU WILL LIVE"!  You cannot have it both ways (Matthew 6:24).  Choose LIFE!!!