What Is Inside of You?
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What is Inside of You?
What is inside of you?
A well-known motivational speaker has a metaphor on this topic.
His metaphor begins with a simple question.
When you squeeze an orange, what comes out? Orange juice, right? No matter how hard you squeeze you will never, ever get grapefruit juice or apple juice out of an orange. Right?!
The reason that orange juice comes out is because orange juice is what’s inside. This might seem obvious in the world of juice, but it’s probably less obvious in your own life.
So, let’s go there.
When you are angry, anger is inside of you. When you are filled with anxiety, stress, frustration or fear, that’s exactly what comes out of you. Just like it’s impossible for apple juice to come out of an orange, it’s impossible for peace and joy to come out of you when you’re filled with anger and frustration.
This is why we need to fill ourselves with God’s Word … the scriptures. We need to be filled with God’s Word daily so that is what comes out.
What does it mean to have the "Spirit of Christ" in one's heart?
- It means you are at peace with God and all mankind. It means you love and serve God and man with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
As it says in Luke 10:27 NIV
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
It means the fruits of the Spirit are in your heart and your nature.
Listen to Galatians 5:22-26 NIV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
What does it mean to have the "Spirit of Christ" in one's heart?
It means you have perfect faith that God is your Father and that he will make you a joint Heir with Jesus Christ for eternity if you will keep that spirit alive in your heart. It means that you will keep seeking guidance from God through his Word, and through inspiration and revelations from him.
- Immediately, when you accepted Jesus as Lord, and Savior, the Holy Spirit, comes to “live" in you.
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:23 NIV
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
- The bible says that when we repent of our sins and begin to follow Jesus the Holy Spirit comes inside us to guide us in our Christian walk.
1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- Being filled with the Spirit means allowing ourselves to be controlled by the Spirit- so much so that we learn, adapt and exhibit His characteristics out of gratitude to Jesus- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is a lifelong process and our privilege.
However, we have to battle the flesh each and every day.
A Definition of the “Flesh”
The Greek word for “flesh” in the New Testament is sarx, a term that can often in Scripture refer to the physical body. However, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature describes the word “flesh” this way:
“the physical body as functioning entity; in Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likewise present, and no good thing can live.”
What is flesh?
Martin Luther’s comments point out that “flesh” equates to affections and desires that run contrary to God, not only in the area of sexual activity, but in every area of life.
What do you have inside you? Do you have the Holy Spirit living in your heart? Or do you live a life of “flesh”.
God has been warning us about following our flesh since the beginning.
Deuteronomy 11:16-22; 26-28 NIV
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.
Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,
so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Deuteronomy 30:1-10 NIV
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Matthew 12:33 NIV
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
The Scribes and Pharisee’s were called out by Jesus …
Matthew 12:34-37 NIV
Jesus talking … You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 23:25-28 NIV
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
This is what was mentioned in the Opening Scripture in 1 Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Mark 7:20-23 NIV
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Luke 6:43-45 NIV
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Our Daily Bread - May 30
Words Reflect Our Heart
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. Luke 6:45 NLT
How do you eliminate foul language? A high school chose to institute a “no foul language” promise. The students took an oath, saying: "I do solemnly promise not to use profanities of any kind within the walls and properties of [our school].” This was a noble effort, but, according to Jesus, no external rule or pledge can ever cover the odor of foul speech.
Removing the stench of the words that come from our mouths begins with renewing our hearts. Just as people recognize the kind of tree by the fruit it bears (Luke 6:43-44), Jesus said that our speech is a convincing indicator of whether our hearts are in tune with Him and His ways or not. Fruit stands for a person’s speech, “for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (v. 45). Christ was pointing out that if we really want to change what’s coming out of our mouths, we first have to focus on changing our hearts as He helps us.
External promises are useless to curb the foul language that comes forth from an untransformed heart. We can only eliminate foul speech by first believing in Jesus
1 Corinthians 12:3 NIV
3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
and then inviting the Holy Spirit to fill us
Ephesians 5:18 NIV
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit
He works within us to inspire and help us to continually offer thanks to God and to speak encouraging and edifying words to others.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
By Marvin Williams
So what does Paul write to the churches …?
Romans 7:14-25 NIV
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[b] a slave to the law of sin.
So yes, you can have the seal of the Holy Spirit living inside you but still have a sinful nature inside as well. As Paul just describes.
Galatians 5:13-15 NIV
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Galatians 5:16-18 NIV
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Peter also talked about outward appearance and inner beauty.
1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT
Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
John warns us to test the spirits:
1 John 4:1-3 NIV
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Lord, fill our hearts with your Spirit and your love. May your Spirit guide us in the direction away from our flesh desires. Please take all temptations and wickedness from us. Lord, let your Spirit take control inside of us and change our hearts. We aim to please you God. We are a New Creation in Christ. We trust in the Name of the Lord. Jesus you are King of all Kings Lord of all Lords. We bow down to your Name.
Once my heart was full of sin, Once I had no peace within; Now the Comforter abides with me. He abides with me! I’m rejoicing night and day As I walk the narrow way, For the Comforter abides with me.