Normal Christian Life!

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People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things.  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. 

Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.
                                                                                                 If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.  You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him. 

But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins.  Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.  My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires.                                                                                                                                                 

If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires.  Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. 

Romans 8:5-14

Being led by the Holy Spirit is not just a wonderful thing, it is essential for a man or woman who is desiring to live as a child of God.  Many years ago a man named Watchman Nee wrote a book called “The Normal Christian Life.”  What he described is not normal at all for many who call themselves Christians today.  The “normal” Christian life according to the Bible is a man or woman who is totally focused on Jesus and is listening to the Holy Spirit for direction every day and of course is then obedient to every Word of God!

Many today would call a “normal” Christian a “radical” follower of Jesus!   If the world around you sees you as someone who fits in with them in almost every way except that you say that you are a follower of Jesus when pressed to confess it, but apart from that they see little or no difference, then it would be good to discuss the matter with the Lord!  Jesus sees your heart and mine for what it is, not for what you would like to pretend it to be.  Jesus is the only doctor who can replace your wounded, weary and deceptive heart with one that is totally sold out to Him.  Let Jesus operate on your heart so that you will surely become one who lives a “Normal Christian Life.”

“Lord Jesus, thank You for showing me the sinfulness of my own heart and for changing my heart into one that is radically dedicated to following You.  May You, Jesus be praised forever.  Amen.”