Every true believer is led by the Spirit and not the desires of their own heart. We are resurrected into new life in Christ Jesus. As Paul said, 1“ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” If you believe in Jesus for salvation, then there is something different about you. For you are changed and likened unto Christ in your daily walk and what you say. We are able to do this because the Spirit of God is with us. We no longer think of ourselves highly but in God our Savior. 1“Our sufficiency is of God”. The things that we can accomplish without the Lord is no longer important, or are the things the world can do for us without the Lord. It is all so meaningless without God in the mix. We can all say things that seem good and write a good message, but if the Spirit is not with us, then it is good for nothing. Everything we say and do must also be of God for it to be used effectively in people’s lives. As Paul said, God 1“hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” It is truly what the Spirit can do for us, is what really matters in life.
It is in God’s hand that we are made to be His ministers. And with the Holy Spirit in us, we can speak about condemnation and death, while leading people out from the path of destruction and unto God. The same can be said for our teaching on righteousness, for it also leads a person to repent and live a life for God. God is glorified in these things. Even 1“seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech.” Our words do not have to be overbearing, for the Spirit of God does the convicting and not us. Now the people we meet may have a vail over their eyes and heart that they cannot see the truth of God. The same can be said with those people that rely on teachings of the Old Testament, when the Lord has ushered in the good news of Jesus and the cross, in the New Testament. Paul said, ” However, that this 1“vail is done away in Christ.” We now look to the Lord and to be led by the Spirit, for 1“where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Now 1“we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This is how we are different. It is nothing we have done but what the Lord God has done through us by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord, I pray that we can all come to an understanding of Your desires for our lives. May our heart and soul rest upon You all our days, that we may know what is your will and what is of this world. Your ways are higher and by the Holy Spirit we can live apart from the flesh and live for You. You make us able ministers of the gospel, through our faith and devotion to You. As we put our trust in You, Lord, for salvation, our lives are changed. Even in an instant, our wicked hearts are put to death and we are resurrected into new life. Just as You rose from the dead, we rise into a new life that glorifies You and not the flesh. Our new God given instincts are what leads us to do things that are righteous and holy and not to blaspheme the temple of the Holy Spirit, that is inside of us. Therefore, we pray each day that we may be led away from temptation and into Your love. May Your words always be in our hearts, that we may know how to follow You and do Your will. Now, in all things Lord, we desire the Holy Spirit to be with us always. Lead us and protect us in this life now and ahead of us. I know that You have us in Your hands and will never let us down. I trust in You, Jesus. You are my Lord and my God. I love You. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
12 Corinthians 3 (KJV)
1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
