The Narrow Gate.

I taught this past Wednesday (01/05) on the Holy Spirit. I was asked to teach at 10:30 the night before, so I just shared some things on my heart.

Here are a few scriptures that I've been thinking about lately:

Matthew 7:13-14

“¹³Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

1 Corinthians 2:12-13

^“12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

¹⁴The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.¹⁶‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

I also recently read Francis Chan’s book “Forgotten God”, which covers the need for the American church and all Christians to return to having an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, as well as living a life guided by Him. It led me to realize not just how much I need the influence of the Spirit of God in my life, but also how much I want to live a life that is radically transformed by the Holy Spirit on a day-to-day basis. I want to enter by the “narrow gate”! I want take up my cross and follow Christ. I feel that we need to be walk in the way the Spirit leads us on a daily basis. I know this sounds very basic and simple, but I challenge you to truly measure yourself in this area of your life. There is always room for improvement with this, I believe.

1 Corinthians 2:13-14 says “¹³And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. ¹⁴The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ” As Christians, we no longer live by the same logic or reason as the world does (also see Romans 12:2). Rather, we are “taught by the Spirit” and “have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2). The world will never make sense of what we do, and it shouldn’t. It didn’t make sense for the Son of God (who is God; John 14) to come down to earth in the form of a humble servant in flesh to die for the very sinners whom He created. This is best example of the “narrow gate” I can give you. I want to live radically for Christ. I want to be led by the Holy Spirit everyday. I want to go the way of the narrow gate.