Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Philippians 2:14-16
The English Standard version uses this translation “a crooked and twisted generation”. The Message uses “this squalid and polluted society”. The Amplified Bible uses “a [morally] crooked and [spiritually] perverted generation”. The 21st Century King James Version uses “a crooked and perverse nation”. So do we have the same human traits happening now as they did then? Has our society, culture, and nation become anymore ‘righteous’ and God fearing?
Do our churches stand out from the world as beacons of ‘light’? Do those who sit in Sunday services really stand out in our culture and are really recognizable for their faith in Christ in their workplaces? Or are we just seen as slightly religious and stiff in our lives amongst others? The real question is …how does Jesus view us? What does it mean to ‘hold fast to the word of life’? A better translation might be ‘holding forth’ like a beacon or torch the word of life which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Are you lifting up your life in Christ as a torch to all those around you? Or are you ashamed of your commitment to Jesus when you are around your ‘worldly’ co-workers and ‘woke’ friends? What is Jesus literally asking you to do? How would we know? By our own interpretation of His words and commands? By our own feelings and emotions that we experience that we allow to guide our direction and path? How do we move and live in this season, time, and culture –and really be a beacon of spiritual light and truth to those around us?
Anyone who has been reading these devotionals for a while already knows my answer to these questions. If we haven’t learned how to hear and have conversations with the Holy Spirit – we are stuck in an ‘intellectual religion’ of rules and formulas. We then are stuck in just guessing what God wants us to do in our regular daily lives. So we fall back into the religious rut of ‘going through the motions’ of being a good “church service attender”. And we will never grow spiritually if we aren’t being taught by the Spirit of God.
Do you want a vibrant and growing spiritual life? Do you want to feel more of God’s heart for others and yourself? Do you want to see physical evidence of the power of God moving in your family and personal life? All of this lies within those who have the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit within their bodies and have developed an intimate relationship with Him.
What is the evidence of the Holy Spirit living within someone? His mature fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). Do you have His fruit of patience growing within you that you are no longer “grumbling or disputing”? Is He correcting you in your fleshly behaviors? Is He asking you to change? How? Is He asking you to be more disciplined? How? If we can’t answer these simple questions – it is a real indicator of our current spiritual condition.
Simply sitting a garage does not make you a car. Just as simply sitting in Sunday services in a church doesn’t make you a ‘Christian’. Attendance does not make one more ‘righteous’. All of our ‘righteousness’ is worthless in the light of Jesus. If it isn’t His righteousness within us THROUGH the Holy Spirit – then we are short of the mark.
How is the Holy Spirit working within you today? Do you think He can only work within those 4 walls? What does your ‘God-box’ look like? Have you limited God by your limited understanding?
Humbly ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to do today?