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LIFE Bite is a short-format Christian video podcast where Chet Lowe and guests dive into real-life issues with biblical truth—one bite at a time.
Each episode delivers practical wisdom, spiritual insight, and honest conversations to help you grow in faith and live with purpose.
Are you spiritually constipated? You gotta think about that for just a minute. Cause I know that bothers some of you, but I wanted to get your attention because sometimes we've got to check out our connection to heaven. If you remember this past Sunday, we talked about and used the illustration of a hose and how we need to connect to heaven and let the Spirit flow. It's John Chapter 7, verse 38. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
There is a truth about our spiritual life that if we are putting effort to the point of exhaustion into our spiritual life, like I gotta be kind all the time. I've gotta be good all the time. I've gotta be faithful all the time. I've gotta work, work, work, work, work. To get this, there's an issue of your relationship with the Spirit of the living God. If we live in the Spirit, so we've got a relationship with the Spirit. We're gonna walk in the Spirit. It's just the fruit. When we let him flow, when we know to let him flow, we'll know where to go. That was the theme of this past week.
But I also mentioned with that hose sometimes we get some kinks and I'm gonna describe why we get some kinks in the hose where sometimes we're not letting the Spirit flow. And that's important because that is what leads us to exhaustion. Where we're trying our hardest to be as Christian as we can and go the second mile. And every day we're just exhausted because we're not living in the Spirit. We're trying to replicate in the Spirit. And Paul says in Galatians chapter three, are you trying to perfect in the flesh what God started in the Spirit?
Well, let me tell you the fruit of trying to perfect in your flesh goodness and kindness and second mile and doing all of let your yes be yes, your no be no, all the things that Christ asked us to do, it will lead you to exhaustion, it will lead you to compromise because you can't keep up. Because this is the flow of the Spirit coming out of you. It's not natural, it's supernatural.
So I'm gonna take you to Galatians chapter five for just a minute. He says, walk in the Spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Listen, you've got to purpose. God's given his 100%. You've got to give your 100% to purpose, to walk in the Spirit. And that means that you're walking in obedience to Christ, that you are communing, connecting, communicating to the Lord. There's a relationship that's going on and you're walking in the spirit. You are pursuing the things of God.
If you remember, I used the example in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, where Paul lists all of these things that are happening. And he says, but you man of God, you gotta pursue godliness and love. And he says, listen, if you don't wanna be a part of these things, then you've gotta pursue. Paul says in Ephesians chapter four, put off the old man, put on the new. And the pronoun before Ephesians 4 is you put off and you put on. In other words, this is your responsibility in regards to walking in the spirit.
So there's a walk in the spirit. You gotta understand though something, sometimes you may fail because the spirit, excuse me, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, they're contrary. So there is a walk in the spirit and there's a war in the spirit. You gotta keep this in mind. You are constantly fighting your flesh. Listen, just like you take a shower every single day because your flesh stinks, by the end of the day, your flesh is in a constant rotting process. So what do you do? You shower it, you wash it. You're trying to keep it as clean. You're giving it your best effort to keep this flesh going until you die.
In the opposite sense, we've got to remember, this flesh is constantly getting rotten. So we've gotta wash it in the spirit and we've gotta pursue the things of God. And so there's a war that's going on now. Sometimes you might fall. Well, God gives us a way in that war when we get wounded to get back up on our feet. Because the Bible says, though a righteous man falls down seven times, he gets back up again. The evidence of the Spirit working in you is conviction. The world isn't convicted when they sin. They just sin by heart because that's what's in their heart. But when the Christian sins, there's conviction because the Spirit of God is within us. We've got a relationship with him and there's a war that's going on as long as we exist in our flesh.
Now we've gone from the walk to the war. Let's talk about the works of the flesh because there are some things that kink our flow. Now, this is not an exhaustive list that he gives here. This actually is part of other lists that we see elsewhere in Scripture. So don't think that. Well, if that's not here, then I'm doing good. Look at 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. You can see all of these listed in various. The works of the flesh listed in three other references in scripture.
But take a look what he says here. The works of the flesh are evident. Adultery. Listen, you may not have committed adultery. You may be married and you've never committed adultery before. But are you a person that takes a second look? Is adultery in your heart? And so you've got to evaluate. Is there a second? Do I have a second look about me? He says, fornication. We know this to be premarital sex. We understand this is some form of sexual immorality along with uncleanness. What do you look at on your phone? This is once again another act of sexual immorality. Lewdness, he says, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries. And then he goes and the like. In other words, this is not an exhaustive list of the works of the flesh.
Now here's what I find. Most of us will read this list and we'll go, ah, man, I'm struggling with that one. I'm struggling with that one. But we've convinced ourselves that's just who we are. It might be just who you are, but just who you are needs to change. You've gotta move from the work of the flesh to the way of the spirit. We're gonna talk about that in a minute.
But I wanna land this plane for just for a second. You see, you can't live in the fact. Well, this is how God made me. If it's sin, sin has made you like that, not God. God wants to remake you. He wants to transform you. He wants to change you. In fact, change is the definition of a Christian. We're in the constant process of change. And so when you recognize a work in the flesh, don't give yourself an excuse.
Remember in John chapter 5, when Jesus was at the pool of Bethesda and he looks at the guy after he's given excuse after excuse of why he's not well, Jesus looks at him and goes, do you wanna be made well? You see, some of us will answer the question, well, I don't know if I can. I've always been like this. I don't know if I can get out of and go ahead into the water and it's everyone else's fault and I'm a victim. I'm gonna ask you the same question. If one of these is a part of who you are, do you wanna be made well or do you wanna live an excuse? And so if you see that one of these things are a part of who you are, it's a kink in your connection to heaven. It's not letting the living water flow. You've got to undo the kink. And it begins with confession and forsaking that sin. That way you can go the way of the spirit.
Take a look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit. Here's something that I need you to understand. If you're working in your flesh to perfect what God starts in his spirit, you've got to see this word. The fruit of the spirit is not the fruit of Chet, not the fruit of you. The fruit of the spirit. These things are supernatural. The kind of love, the kind of joy, the kind of peace, the kind of long suffering, the kind of kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. It's not. It's superhuman, it's not natural, it's supernatural. It's not mortal, it's immortal. It's living kingdom life on this earth. And that only comes from being connected. And the flow, the living water of the spirit flowing out of you. You've got to purpose to stay connected, to let the spirit flow.
I didn't tell this story, but I've said it before. This past Sunday. I didn't say it, but I've said it before. Corrie ten Boom, famous, famous woman of God. During World War II, she and her family hid Jews and ended up in a Jewish concentration camp. Well, one Sunday, teaching at a church. The German. The German that caused so much pain for them in the concentration camp was there at the church when she was speaking and she tells the story. She had to ask the spirit, would you forgive him through me? Because I can't forgive him right now. And God's spirit heard her prayer in her heart and forgave him. And she reached out her hand and she with her whole heart hugged him through the spirit. That kind of stuff is not natural, it is supernatural. That's why it's so important that you've got to be connected to the flow. You gotta be in relation with the spirit to go the way of the spirit. You've gotta be connected to the spirit.
And that's what Paul says. He makes it clear, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. And this word, if it's the word, since it can be translated either way, since we live in the Spirit, you've got a relationship. Now I need to pull in Philippians chapter two here for just a moment because Paul brings out the point very clearly here. Therefore, if this word since, if, or since there is a consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, and the mind that he tells us to have is the mind of Christ. In verse 5, he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And that mind is humility, humble and obedient. And he was obedient to the cross.
Let me tell you something. If you think that you can daily pick up your cross as a human, no, uh, uh, you need superhuman. That's how Jesus was able to make it up. He was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and he took that cross. And every ministry leads to a cross church. Listen to me, every ministry leads to a cross. You've got to pick it up and you've got to carry it daily. And the only way that you're gonna be able to do that without being exhausted is you're connected through the flow. Because these attributes are supernatural and they come straight from heaven. It's not a worldly love, it's not a worldly kindness, it's not a worldly long suffering. This is a kind that comes straight from heaven that allows you to march up your Calvary hill and be able to accomplish the task that God has given you.
And he goes on to set an example of what it means to live in the Spirit. He says, don't become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. In other words, listen. He's saying the way of the Spirit is not prideful. If you're like super Christian and like this is superhuman kind of way of behaving, he goes, don't be prideful about it. And he goes into an example in chapter six to express what this kind of Christianity looks like.
He says, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, you who've got the flow of the Spirit, restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. One of the things that I don't think the church does well at all is restore people back into ministry. Jesus Christ. If you take a look at Peter's life, within 40 days on the 50th day, Peter was back into ministry and he was preaching. It seems that Jesus has a better restoration process than the church of today. I'm beginning to understand why David said, listen, I'd rather fall under the mercy of God, then depend on man for mercy.
And what we've got to see here is if we're spiritual, and he's just using this as an example, if we're spiritual people, we're connected to the flow. He goes, let me tell you the way of the Spirit. The way of the Spirit is to restore people, to redeem people, to renew people. And so often the flesh gets involved in some people's lives. And the job of a Christian person who has the flow of the Spirit is to be able to restore that one.
And then he says this in verse two, and here's where I close. Here's the way of the Spirit. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work and then he'll have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.
Church. He's getting the point across. If you're a spiritual person, you're not a prideful person. You're a person like Jesus that is seeking the lost, purposing to restore and redeem, searching for the sheep that's gone astray. That's the heart of a spiritual person and it's supernatural. It's not natural. Until next time, God bless you guys.