ICS Daily Devotions
Growing Spiritually

Ezekiel 36:26 (NKJV) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

John 3:5-7 (NKJV) Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

2 Cor 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The problem with the Jewish people in the Old Testament was having a heart of stone that caused them to be stiff necked. Many times they lived in rebellion. Therefore, God prophesied that there would come a time when we would be given a new heart and a new spirit. We need to be born again. We are born again when we repent from our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. When we believe that Christ has died for us and He was resurrected from the dead, it is the new creation that the Apostle Paul talked about where the newness is found in the spirit man or heart. A heart or the spirit man is able to yield to God. The resurrection life is within the inner man and there is the ability to choose God’s way rather than the work of the flesh.

Rom 8:2-4 (NKJV) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The flesh was not able to obey God because of the sin nature that was in the spirit man. Neither was it able to fulfill the requirement of the law because of the weakness of the flesh. It brought about spiritual death to the people. However, the good news is the dominant flesh can be subdued when we walk by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers the new creation which is the spirit man that has the nature of God to overcome temptation and sin. We were once a slave to sin because of the sin nature but when we choose to yield to Him and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will have victory over temptation and habitual sin.

Our mind has to be renewed that we are no longer under the dictation of the flesh but the influence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The lifestyle of sanctification is a lifelong process and we get better by the day when we consistently and intentionally yield to the Holy Spirit rather than the flesh. There will be time when we are dictated by our feelings, emotions and flesh that cause us to stumble and fall. Nobody is perfect but our spiritual muscle or the spirit man will get stronger when we intentionally let it reign instead of allowing the flesh to dominate. When we walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desire of the flesh, we will grow spiritually.

Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign Session 5 – The Passover