The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. Psalms 14:1
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God? Psalms 53:2-4
Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Ecclesiastes 7:7
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:17-32
Life with the Holy Spirit is NOT comfortable! In His Presence all of our corrupt nature and deeds are exposed! If you are led by the Spirit of God …you are put far beyond your comfort zone, to a place that is no zone at all. Once you’ve experienced Jesus it far surpasses reading and intellectually ‘knowing’ Him. Once you experience Him you can’t ‘unsee’ it, and you can’t ‘unhear’ it, and you can’t ‘unknow’ it. The Holy Spirit leads us to the Truth that demands a decision point and a reckoning. To truly understand the Truth it takes a surrender and agreement with the Truth. The Truth leads to the ‘narrow path’ that goes where we inherently do not know.
All of this is revealed in Jesus Christ. Christ fulfills ALL of the law and prophets. Religion is now defunct by the obedience of Christ. All that remains … is Jesus. Why then do we run back to our religious ways, idols, and structures? Because they are comfortable and we know them and like them. A true life of obedience in the Holy Spirit is uncomfortable and beyond human ability, for it MUST be lived in HIS power and not our own. Daily surrender? Daily instructions?
I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 1 Corinthians 15:31
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Philippians 1:21-26
To which ‘forces’ is your daily life being led by? Are you determined to gain the discipline to follow Him on the narrow path of Truth? Are your corrupt fleshly desires dictating most of your day? Whose desires do you follow?