Living Water

“5 People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. 7 Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.” Romans 8:5-7 CEV

I like how the Contemporary English Version translates Romans 8. Paul describes two kinds of lives; the Christ- Centered Life followed by the Me-Centered Life. Paul describes the Christ- Centered Life as a life that is ruled by the Holy Spirit. One of the great benefits of having a relationship with Jesus is having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The idea behind Romans chapter 8 is that the reason we do good things is because we are in submission to the will of God. God’s Holy Spirit gives us the desire and strength to do good things. The Me-Centered Life works just the opposite. The King James Version uses the word “flesh”, the NIV the word “sinful nature”, and the CEV uses the word “desire”. Flesh does not necessarily mean body; it in this context describes a lifestyle that is not God centered. Everything I do, think, or say is influenced by either the flesh or by the Holy Spirit. The flesh encourages us to live a me-centered life while the Holy Spirit influences us to live a God-centered life. A “me centered” life is not only powered by me, but it is also limited by me. A me-centered life thinks that I earn my salvation through good works. A me-centered life is not so much a selfish life, it is more of a disconnected life, because we believe all the power and resources we have comes from us and not from God. In 2 Peter 2, Peter describes false prophets and teachers who may at one time belonged to God, but eventually they were rebelling against Him. Peter describes them in v.17 as “springs without water”. Those false teachers looked like christians, they talked like christians, but because they were disconnected from God they were like a spring without water. They became useless and destructive. Throughout scripture God offers people living water, in which the apostle John described as the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are strengthened to live a “Christ-centered” life. The church needs Christians who are connected to the water. Our country needs churches that are connected to the water that transforms selfish and sinful hearts into ones that are willing to love and serve as Jesus did. Every day is a battle between being “Me-centered” or “God-centered”. The only way I know how to win that battle is to actually surrender each moment by worshiping the presence of God and being led His Spirit.