The philosophy that pervades our society today is the falsehood that we are all mere products of our culture, and therefore we have no control over what shapes us or what determines our future. While it is true that we are all indeed influenced and even conditioned by our culture, it is not true to say that we must be bound or controlled by that system. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we step into His plan for our life and His plans are always good, they are always for our benefit, and they always lead to growth and life. That destiny however, is not one that is forced upon us but is one that we choose. God did not make us robots that react automatically to the push of a button, he created us with a free will with the power of choice. As disciples of Jesus we make a choice to submit our will to His.

Paul says in Romans 8: we are to walk in newness of life, that is to live in the reality that we are now new creations in Christ Jesus. Our spirit’s have been reborn, we have been cleansed of our sin, made righteous, given a hope and a future, redeemed for eternity. We have been given the Holy Spirit who now lives within us, wanting to guide, teach and empower us to live a new life. We are to walk in the spirit. “Walking in the spirit” is a letting go of the control of our life to the will of God. It’s developing a listening spiritual ear to the Holy Spirit’s voice within and responding to that voice. It’s living with eternity in mind. It’s living with the Bible as our handbook. It is living with the same attitude as Jesus. It’s living with the glorious presence of God surrounding us every day. It’s living a life that glorifies and honours God. A life that is set apart for Him, not squeezed and conformed to the values of this world, but living with Kingdom values of purity and love.

The problem with religion is that it tries to get us to do these things by dogged self effort, religious programs and sadly, by guilt manipulation. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 “we walk by faith, not by sight” We live this amazing Christian life not as some religious program, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in the promises of God, faith in His Word, faith in the finished work of the Cross, faith in the faithfulness of a loving caring Father who wants to presence himself with us. Hebrews 10:19 tells us we should have confidence to enter God’s presence, confidence to live in His realms of glory, that confidence requires a step of faith, it requires us to walk, not according to how we may feel, but according to what God has declared over us. We have been qualified and empowered to live this life through Jesus, lets live it!

Bless you, Tony.