Redirecting To Be Like Jesus || Now What? || Part 1

How many of you have experienced the transformative power of accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? How many of you have committed to living a life of repentance, knowing that it leads to a new, purposeful life? How many of you believe that the only path to heaven is through Jesus? If you have, it’s a testament to the hope and inspiration that Jesus brings. If you haven’t, no worries. The Bible says you need to say that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and turn away from your sinful lifestyle into the one God has created for you. If you’re interested in doing so, this series will help you.

Once you make the decision, you may feel like nothing has changed. Your next question may be “What’s next?” or “What now?” That’s what I intend to answer in this series. Over the following 4 parts of this series, we’ll look at the new things you will do with the Holy Spirit inside your heart. Be aware that there will be a 5-part miniseries inside Part 3 because there’s SO much to cover. I hope you enjoy this series. I’m simply calling it “Now What?”

Part 1 of this series will be about how we will start to act as Jesus directs us.

Romans 8:5-6

5             Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

6             So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

The focus for us today will be on verse 5. Paul divides people into two categories: those dominated by their sinful nature and those controlled by the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus, all of us are in the first category. What does it mean to sin? This is an excellent question before we get into the meat of everything. We sin when we fail to live and act like God. We’re missing the mark of what it means to be like God.

Once we’ve said yes to Jesus, we want to continue following him because his way of living brings life and peace. This peace isn’t the absence of chaos that we long for but a deep, comforting assurance that Jesus is with us in the chaos. It’s knowing that Jesus will guide us through to the other side of the chaos and trusting whatever path. We must consciously choose to follow that path that God sets before us every day. It’s easy for us to stray away from the path with all the enticements and temptations from the world, but God is our source of strength, wisdom, and courage to stick with it. We have God’s Word, the Bible, at our fingertips to understand and apply his teachings. Even when we’re spiraling and are stuck, we can ask: “What does Jesus want me to do?” Hearing the answer can be tricky because of all the things trying to get our attention. God’s voice is often called a “still, small voice.” When trying to hear from him, pay attention to what the quietest voice is saying. God will give you the power of discernment to hear his voice over the others, and you will know when it’s God speaking. The Holy Spirit will bring it to your attention and help you do whatever is said. When you hear it, do it eagerly.

Many things are produced when we become Christians. It’s easy to want to get a simple “do” and “do not” about how to live like a Christian.

Galatians 5:19-23

19           When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,

20           idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

21           envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22           But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23           gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

We all have sinful desires that shouldn’t be ignored (I’m talking about sexual immorality and lustful thinking in my next two series, so stay tuned.) The desires include the obvious ones, like the ones I just mentioned, and the not-so-obvious ones, like hostility, jealousy, and selfishness. In a past devotional (don’t ask me which), I went through and defined what each of these represents based on the original Greek Paul wrote this in. It could be an exciting series idea to go through verses 19 through 21. Let me know in the comments below.

We can take four steps to wrestle with our sinful desires.

Step 1 is to admit that you have it. Admit that you have a sinful and selfish nature. I struggle with impurity, jealousy, anger, and envy based on this list.

Step 2 is to surrender them to Jesus (who will take them to the cross for you) and Ask God to do whatever is needed to set you free. It’s saying, “Jesus, I struggle with purity. I struggle with controlling my anger. I struggle with feeling jealous and envious. God teach me the ways and help me put them into action to set me free from these struggles.”

Step 3 is to commit! Commit your actions, thoughts, passions, and capabilities to Jesus. Ask the Spirit to help you restrain your evil desires and reactions. Learn his ways of fighting back and know they are light and not a burden. We can do this by studying the Bible, talking to him through prayer, and listening to that small voice I mentioned earlier.

Step 4 is to serve. Make serving others a top priority, which will help you become more like Jesus. It’s the main reason why I do these blogs. I’ve learned and worked through so many of my struggles, and my transparency with you all has allowed me to work through the tough inner conversations I needed to have. It’s why I’m actually excited to do the series on sexual immorality and lustful thinking because these are terms that continuously come up in my struggles. Still, the world has twisted it around to fit culture’s agenda. I want to study how these topics are taught throughout the Bible to better understand what God was teaching them and is teaching me.

To sum up, here are the steps to deal with your sinful desires:

• Step 1: SAY IT
• Step 2: SURRENDER IT
• Step 3: STEP UP
• Step 4: SERVE

When we do this, we produce something special in our lives. Paul calls it the Fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit spontaneously and creatively produces this fruit within us. When Christ controls us, this fruit grows and flows from us naturally. We can’t grow this fruit without him. If we want this fruit to grow in us, we must be close in our relationship with Jesus. I encourage you to read John 15:1-8 to understand what this fruit-bearing part of the relationship can look like. Overall, it means we submit to him (do what he tells us to regarding what we think), know him (study the Bible), love him (be in a close relationship with him), remember him (keep him in our minds with whatever we say or do), and imitate him (love our neighbor as he loved us.) When we do all this, we fulfill the intended purpose of God’s moral law, which is Jesus’ favorite two commands: love God and our neighbors.

Because the God who sent the law also sent the Spirit, the blessings of a Spirit-filled life are in perfect harmony with the law’s intent. A person who shows the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the laws far better than someone who follows the routines but has no love in their heart. At the end of the day, we are to love God with all of who we are and love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. The question is: Did we do that? What fruit did we produce to do that? Did I genuinely represent Jesus for who he is?

Questions for you to ponder at the close of this blog. If you have made it this far, leave a like and comment below. I’ll be back soon with Part 2, where we’ll discuss finding help in our problem-solving and prayers. Until then, stay blessed!