Reflection:

A key battleground — I would say the key battleground — in the Christian life, is the life of the mind. The mind — our thought life — is the control centre of our world. It follows that if our mind is controlled by the Holy Spirit, then our physical actions and our emotional life will more likely fall in step with God’s desires. Way too many Christians splash around in the shallows of faith for lack of engaging their minds in discipleship. Too many of us are spiritual babies, not for lack of nourishing food (the Bible is enough to provide us with a spiritual feast for a lifetime), or because the Holy Spirit has abandoned us, but because we have lazily chosen to not cooperate with the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit available to us. We cooperate with the Spirit’s power through proven spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, study, fasting, solitude etc. I cannot change my life. I cannot transform my thought life. I cannot flee from sin. I cannot do any of these things, except as I surrender my life to Jesus Christ as Lord and as I learn to cooperate with the transforming, sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit in me.

How are you cooperating with the work of the Holy Spirit in you to ‘make captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ?’

Prayer:

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.