Romans 8:5 " Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."
If you live in the flesh your mind will also. If your constantly living concerned with the flesh, your life and your actions will reflect worldly things. As christians we should mimick Christ's actions. In verse 4 it says Christ walked not according to His flesh, but according to the spirit. We are called to live according to the spirit of God, and in order to do this we must set our minds on things of spirit.
Q. What do you dwell on throughout the day?
Is it money? Is it what clothes your going to wear? It is a certain boy or girl?
Q. Can you put those things in a category of spiritual or worldly?
Romans 8:6 "The mind of sinful man* is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;"
As verse 6 says things of the flesh bring death. This of course is not talking about a physical death but rather a spiritual death. I personally don't want to dwell on things throughout the day that will bring death to my spirit. I'm trying to build my spirit up no bring it down. I don't want to dwell on things that will make me backtrack spiritually. I want to strive forward not backwards.
Romans 8:7-8 "the sinful mind* is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
As we see from those scriptures living in the flesh doesn't please God. I want to strive to please God with my thoughts and my actions.
Deuteronomy 10:12 "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,"
From this verse we see that God expected Israel to live in His presence. Follow the road He set out for you, love Him, and serve God with everything you have. When he is saying we should serve Him with everything don't you think that includes your mind and your thoughts.
You see a person who is focusing on himself is the opposite of focusing on God. If your completely absorbed in your self then your ignoring who God is and what He is doing. God isn't pleased at being ignored.
Q. How do we live in the spirit in such a material world?
Romans 8:9-11 "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."
So it says we will experience the limitations of sin here on earth but we will also experience life on God's terms. A good example of this is Daniel. Even though Daniel faced death he still remained strong. Daniel was able to do this because he had God purposed in his heart. He had stored it in his heart like a vault. When we hear God's word we should store in our hearts. For you see whatever we put into our spirits will pour out when times get tough. The example is used like a sponge. Our spirit is like a sponge and whatever we put in our minds and put in our lives is stored inside that sponge. So my question for you is this, when times get hard and your spirit is squeezed is it clean water that pours out? Or is dirty water?
Psalm 119:9-11 "How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
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