Are You Living in the Spiritual?

How many times have we quoted the scripture at Ephesians 6:12, to ourselves or someone else?  "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."

And how many times did we follow it up by saying, "Satan stays busy. Hmph!" Well it's true, Satan has a superb work ethic. He shows up early, puts in overtime and takes on extra projects whenever we make them available, but what this scripture aims to make us aware of is much, much deeper than that.

As we go about our daily lives as Christians in this "wicked world" (Galatians 1:4), we are fighting for our very lives against mighty powers, evil spirits and authorities of an unseen, dark world. Yes! There is a spiritual warfare of darkness going on every day so we need to be less cavalier about this particular statement and really hone in and understand what is at stake--our very lives.

How do we combat the spirit of darkness? We can only overcome darkness with light (John 1:5). We know that it is not natural light but a spiritual light, right? How do escape from the darkness and live in the light?

If we examine Galatians 5:19-21, a clear picture is painted as to what the dark, unseen world has to offer.

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. (Galatians 5:19-21 MSG)

Sounds all too familiar, doesn't it. We come across these things every day and we can do little more than shake our heads or tell ourselves to pray for those living this sad existence, do we not? Well, we honestly need to be doing much more than praying. We We need to BE an example of light--a sharp contrast to what is going on around us. We need to BE distinctly different. We need to BE spiritual.

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. (Galatians 5:22, 23 MSG)

Notice that all the fruits of the spirit in this version of the text are communicated as actionable attributes--stated as things we should be doing or being not just as adjectives. God's spirit should move us to want to shut out the darkness of this world and be a light in our own lives and the lives of others. Let's no longer think of the fruits of God's spirit as things but rather as things we need to be; exhibit; live.

Enter into Worship!