Spiritual Obstacles to Spiritual Renewal Eph. 4:23 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

The Christian life is a spiritual life. God is a Spirit; the words that I speak they are spirit and they are life.  So, Paul said that we need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.  But sometimes there are spiritual obstacles that may not be so obvious.  They are like rowing a boat with the anchor rope put or walking with one foot nailed to the floor.

The spiritual obstacles to spiritual renewal are:

Deceitfulness – Eph 4:25 – put away lying – you need to be truthful – see Jn 8:44; 7:19-20, 25 and Acts 5.

Angriness – Eph 4:26 – anger is spiritual – Dr. S. M. Davis said that you cannot have a spiritual life when you are living an angry life – 1 Sam 18:7-9; 1 Sam 20:30-33; Prov 16:32; Ecc 7:9.

Wickedness – Eph 4:27 – Gen 6:5; Eph 6:12 – giving place to the devil is like trying to walk through a mine field – you are going to get it sooner or later.

Laziness – Eph 4:28 – Rom 12:11 – Paul’s ministry was characterized by labour and travail to provide financial support for himself and his “team” – teach children to work when they are young – there are spiritual consequences to being lazy and expecting others to do everything for you.

Perverseness – Eph 4:29 – 1s 19:14 – among other things, modern bibles are perversions of the word of God – they are corrupt [2 Cor 2:17] – and they affect what comes out of your mouth – furthermore, you cannot speak filth and grow spiritually.

Rebelliousness – Eph 4:30 – Ps 78:8; Is 30:1 – when you do not obey the Holy Spirit you grieve the Holy Spirit – when you do not obey the spiritual authorities in your life you grieve the Holy Spirit – these will surely diminish your spiritual life.

Bitterness – Eph 4:31 – Job 7:11 – bitterness roots deep down in your soul and destroys your spiritual life – you have to get this one out by the roots [all of them].

Unforgiveness – Eph 4:32 – 2 Cor 2:11 – others may have hurt you badly or done you wrong – for your spiritual life’s sake and for the sake of God who has forgiven you, you need to forgive them.

Conclusion: Let the laser sharp light of the words of God shine in your spirit today and find which of these are obstacles in your life and get them out of there!!