In life you have to decide who you are living for. Are you going to live for Jesus or the flesh? Here’s the reality, from the day you were born your flesh dominated your life. Until the day when you realized, you don’t want to live like this anymore. Then you had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and your life changed. The flesh was no longer dominating your thinking, and you started praying asking the Lord for guidance. The things you used to focus on were not important, what has become important is doing the will of the Lord. Prior to accepting Jesus Christ into your life, you were focused on material things. And, your mind was set on getting everything for yourself, others were not a priority. Now that you are living for Jesus, the enemy is doing his best to cause you to revert back to the flesh. You have a lot of history with the flesh, and the enemy tries to cause your mind to drift back to the flesh. This is when the battle begins, and you have to make the decision to keep your mind stayed on Jesus.  

In Romans 8:5-8, in these verses Paul is sharing with the Romans the difference between living in the flesh verses in the Spirit. Paul is dealing with an issue many then and now try to side step. The first thing he addresses is who are you living for? If you are living for the flesh then you’re focused on things of the flesh. In essence you are giving your attention to things that are temporary. You are building upon a foundation that cannot withstand the storms of life. When things get hard this foundation will crumble under the weight of the storm. If you are living according to the Spirit you’re focused on things of God. Then you are giving your attention to things that are eternal. Therefore, when you build your foundation on the things of God and the storms of life come, you will make it through. Why, because all of the materials used for this foundation are eternal. If you focus on the things of the flesh they will lead to your death. However, if you focus on things of the Spirit they will lead to life and peace. 

Paul concludes, when your mind is set on the flesh you cannot please God. The only way to please God is through living through the Spirit, and that is only possible when you walk by faith.  Why do you go to Church? Are you there to fill a seat, or are you there to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The answer to this question is who are you living for? By coming to fill a seat does not allow your life to be impacted by the Lord, and you will remain empty. Living by the Spirit has eternal rewards, and gives you a foundation that will withstand the storms of life. Also, when you leave service the Lord has made an impact on your life, and you will be filled by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you have to decide, why are you here? Continue to walk in your blessings!