Life In The Spirit

INTRO.- ILL.- The captain’s voice came over the PA system of the airplane. He said, "There’s no cause for alarm but we felt you passengers should know that for the last three hours we’ve been flying without the benefit of radio, compass, radar, or navigational beam due to the breakdown of some components. This means that we are, in the broad sense of the word, lost and are not sure the direction we are heading. But you’ll be glad to know, however, on the brighter side of the picture THAT WE’RE MAKING EXCELLENT TIME!"

Brethren, I happen to believe that this is exactly how many people are living their lives. They don’t know the direction they are heading in life, BUT THEY’RE MAKING EXCELLENT TIME!

Life has never been so busy for us all!

ILL.- One man in Southern Illinois told me that when he came home at night, after work, he didn’t ask his wife, "What’s going on tonight?" but rather "Where are we going?" They were so busy that they were going somewhere every night!

Most of us are extremely busy in life. In some ways, that’s good and in other ways, it may not be so good.

It’s good in one way: Idle hands are a devil’s workshop. And so are idle minds and idle lives. Idle people seem to always get into trouble. If we don’t use our time for doing good things, the devil will make sure our time is used for evil purposes!

Now on the other side of the coin, too much business or busyness is not good for a person.

I believe that we can be too busy for our own spiritual good!

ILL.- Harry Poll wrote these thought provoking words about time. "Within the memory of some of our older members men worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, and still had time to neighborly, go to church and actually live. Few people went beyond the borders of their own country, some not outside their own township. No radio, no TV, and usually only the county paper once a week. Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck catalogs furnished most of the reading material. People traveled in horse-drawn vehicles, on horseback, or on foot. They were not too hurried, always had time to visit. The small schoolhouse and the church were the focal points of community interest. People had time to think, to pray, to read the Bible and go to church.

"Now we have a 40 hour work week, travel in cars, have our telephones, radios, TV sets, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. We have gadgets and gimmicks for easy living and have less time than ever before. We go, go, go and having gone, find ourselves worn out and restless. The leisure time provided by a 40 hour work week is squandered in endless going and overindulgent living."

Harry Poll further said, "It doesn’t make sense. The church is caught in the middle of this whirling, feverish, restlessness. A 60-minute service is too long; two services on the Lord’s Day are too much. The midweek service is almost an impossibility. We rush madly from one meeting to the next, and haven’t time to read the Book or to talk to God."

Brethren, I believe Harry Poll is right. We can become too busy for our own spiritual good!

Ps. 37:7 "Be still before the Lord...."

Ps. 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

If we never learn to "be still" or take time to "be still" before God, HOW CAN WE COME TO KNOW GOD AND KNOW HIM MORE INTIMATELY? And how can He be exalted in the earth...and in our lives? If we never take time to bow before Him in reverence through prayer and Bible study, HOW CAN HE BE GIVEN FIRST PLACE IN OUR LIVES?

Brethren, our lives are more than just flesh and blood activity, physical activity. Our lives are more than just eating, drinking, sleeping, going to school, going to work, watching TV, and having fun. We are spiritual beings.

I Thess. 5:23 says we are body, soul and spirit. But the Christian has a 4th part, if you please. What’s that? YOU ARE MORE THAN JUST BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT. You are also Holy Spirit, in the sense, that He has come to live in you!

Acts 2:38, 5:32

When people respond to the Lord in faith and obedience or with an obedient faith then they receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS LIVING IN YOU! You have a divine guest living within you whether you realize He is there or not!

Is there a difference in the person who has the Holy Spirit and the person who does not? YES. AT LEAST, THERE SHOULD BE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES!