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December 12, 2024 23 mins

In this episode, Ross O’Hair and Mark Fields unpack the powerful truths of Romans 8:5-14 to show how the Holy Spirit transforms our lives from the inside out. Learn how to walk in the Spirit, resist the pull of the flesh, and cultivate a mindset of life and peace that transcends life’s challenges. With practical insights, personal stories, and uplifting encouragement, this episode will empower you to trust the Spirit’s guidance, experience true inner calm, and live out your faith more fully. If you’ve ever wondered how to align your thoughts and actions with God’s Spirit, this episode is a must-listen!

Key Verses:

 

Romans 8:5-11: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Quotes:

“Once you receive God's provision of salvation, God's Spirit comes to dwell in you in His fullness and completeness.”

“Our outlook on life, our attitude towards circumstances is now one of hope, joy, rest—it's life-giving.”

“The Holy Spirit is actively transforming us into believing, thinking, and acting more like Christ in every moment.”

Key Points:

  1. Believers are permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, defining them as God’s children.
  2. A Spirit-led mindset replaces anxiety and hostility with life and peace.
  3. Trusting the Holy Spirit’s leadership empowers us to resist fleshly impulses and embrace God’s truth.

Outline:

  1. Introduction (00:00)
  2. Scripture Reading (01:02)
  3. Paul’s Focus on the Spirit (2:19)
  4. Defining Flesh vs. Spirit (3:03)
  5. Characteristics of the Spirit: Life and Peace (4:20)
  6. The Holy Spirit’s Indwelling (7:10)
  7. Putting to Death the Deeds of the Body (10:04)
  8. Being Led by the Spirit (14:14)
  9. Personal Applications and Illustrations (18:02)
  10. Final Takeaway and Closing (22:16)

Theme Music:

Here Forever by Adigold Peaceful Documentary by LexMusic (all rights and licensing from Envato elements)

Hosted by: Ross O'Hair Scripture Read by: Corrie O’Hair Participating Staff: Mark Fields Edited by: Ross O’Hair and Ben Brezina

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Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ross O'Hair: Welcome to the Living in Jesus podcast. (00:05):
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Do you struggle with knowing if you're beingled by the Holy Spirit?
Perhaps you find yourself questioningwhether the decisions you make are truly
guided by divine inspiration, or simply yourown thoughts.
Maybe this day-to-day experience is creatingworry and anxiety, all while you long for the
peace that God has promised.

(00:26):
You might be yearning for a deep innertranquility that seems elusive in the midst
of life's challenges.
Well, Paul takes time here in Romans eight 5to 14 to help us understand how we can deepen
our relationship with the spirit, all whileexperiencing a real and lasting peace.
My name is Ross O'Hare, and I'll be yourhost.
And joining me on today's episode is Markfields.

(00:48):
But before we get into today's discussion,let's take a moment and listen to the
Scripture.

Corrie O'Hair: For those who are according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but (01:02):
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those who are according to the spirit, thethings of the spirit.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, butthe mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Because the mind set on the flesh is hostiletoward God, for it does not subject itself to
the law of God, for it is not even able todo so.

(01:22):
And those who are in the flesh cannot pleaseGod.
However, you are not in the flesh, but inthe spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you.
But if anyone does not have the Spirit ofChrist, he does not belong to him.
If Christ is in you, though the body is deadbecause of sin, yet the spirit is alive
because of righteousness.

(01:43):
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesusfrom the dead dwells in you, he who raised
Christ Jesus from the dead will also givelife to your mortal bodies through His spirit
who dwells in you.
So then, brethren, we are under obligationnot to the flesh to live according to the
flesh. For if you are living according tothe flesh, you must die.
But if by the spirit you are putting todeath the deeds of the body, you will live.

(02:08):
For all who are being led by the Spirit ofGod, these are sons of God.

Ross O'Hair: Hey, Mark, good to have you back. (02:19):
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How are you today?

Mark Fields: I'm good today. Ross, how are you? (02:21):
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Ross O'Hair: Good. Awesome. So we're covering ten verses today, so we've got a lot going on here. (02:23):
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And you mentioned last week how the wordspirit is mentioned 18 times in Romans eight.
More than five, six, seven combined.
All of that. And yet in these ten versesit's mentioned 11 times out of those 18.
So a lot. So obviously Paul is trying tocommunicate something in here about the

(02:44):
spirit. What's he doing for us here.

Mark Fields: Mhm. Okay. (02:47):
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Well again how much time do we have.

Ross O'Hair: 15 to 20. (02:51):
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Mark Fields: Our listeners are going to be so frustrated because he didn't talk about this. (02:52):
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They didn't talk about that. There's so muchpacked into this of how the Holy Spirit
transforms us. So let me concentrate on acritical few.

Ross O'Hair: Okay. All right. (03:01):
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Mark Fields: These verses begin by contrasting the flesh and the spirit. (03:03):
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And before we dive too deeply into versesfive through eight, let me establish our
interpretation of Paul's description ofthese two systems of living.

Ross O'Hair: Okay. (03:14):
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Mark Fields: I think that Paul is describing the difference between a non-Christian and a (03:14):
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Christian. Okay.
It's not the difference between a Christianwho happens to choose to walk in the flesh
one moment and then walk in the spirit thenext moment.
It's not the moment by moment.
It's that dedicated point of reference.
Yeah. I mean, we could dig into the Greekand the grammar to prove that.

(03:38):
But I think the convincing argument is inverse nine where Paul says, however, you are
not in the flesh, but in the spirit.
So, in other words, as a Christian, ourpoint of reference, the origin of our outlook
and decisions comes from the spirit, not theflesh.
Yeah, a person who is in the flesh onlylooks to the physical world or the resources
to provide pleasure and avoid pain.

(03:59):
Their entire outlook or worldview isdetermined by their flesh perspective.
Yeah. And so he or she is continuallyselfish, seeks to find fulfillment in the
things of the world.
So with that established, I don't want tospend our time on the results of the flesh.
That's not what we're here for.
And as Christians, we're walking in thespirit.
So let's focus on the positive, thetransformative work of the Holy Spirit.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. One thing I want to say on that, (04:20):
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Mark Fields: Yes, (04:21):
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Ross O'Hair: I know that you said that this is about our location. (04:21):
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Obviously, this is a believer andnonbeliever.
I've heard it said because we're in thespirit, that's a location.
And when we walk by the spirit, that's anaction.
So what Paul is talking about here is beingin the flesh, which is an unbeliever or in
the spirit, which is a believer.

Mark Fields: Yes. (04:39):
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Ross O'Hair: Okay. (04:39):
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Mark Fields: Yes. Good. Okay. (04:40):
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So first let's talk about thattransformative work of the Holy Spirit in us.
And it really it says one main thing becauseit has about 3 or 4 things to say about the
flesh. But let's focus on those who are inthe spirit.
Have the mind of life and peace.
Verse six Mhm.
Um, and I just love those two words.
Um those characteristics.
Life. Life is hope.

(05:01):
It's fulfillment. It's growth, it'sexpansion, it's joy, it's outlook.
Um, life is Jesus.
Of course, we've said that before in hispodcast that eternal life is Christ.
And now I have the mind of Jesus.
I have the mind of life, which means I'malways looking forward.
I'm always looking in hope.
Mhm. Um, the second point is I have the mindof peace as opposed to anxiousness,

(05:22):
restlessness, stress, racing thoughts.
You know, a popular verse for that isPhilippians four six and seven.
Don't be anxious for anything.
But again, by talking to God, the peace ofGod will guard your hearts.
And again, I have found that happened to memany, many times, as I've claimed that verse
and in Colossians 3:13 says, let the peaceof Christ rule in your hearts.

(05:42):
Yeah, so we're at peace with God.
We're at peace with ourselves.
And now we can have a rest and a calmness inour soul, our outlook on life, our attitude
towards circumstances is now one of hope,joy, rest.
It's life giving.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. So because we are in the spirit, that provides for us a mind of life and peace, and (05:55):
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that life now can change our attitudetowards the circumstances.
What you're saying. So if we connect thosedots, that's how that connects right there.
Yes. Okay.

Mark Fields: Yes. After we've gone through the the contrasting characteristics of spirit and (06:10):
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flesh, then verse nine, it says, but that'snot who you are.
You're not in the flesh, but you're in thespirit.
And that verse, verse nine, is a greatdefinition of what a Christian is.
You know, you're asked all the time, sowhat's a Christian, right?
One who drinks or doesn't drink, one whosins a lot, doesn't sin a lot, goes to

(06:30):
church. And you can take them right there toRomans eight verse nine.
Do you have the spirit or don't you?
Yeah, of course. And you're still to thebehaviors.
And do they act like they are?
But that's what defines a Christian.
Yeah. And you either have him or you don't.
And once you receive God's provision ofsalvation at that point of your belief.
And for me, it was October, 1970.

(06:51):
God's spirit comes to dwell in you in hisfullness and completeness.
And he came in to dwell in me on that day inhis fullness and completeness.
Now it took me a while to figure out whatthat means, and I'm still figuring out what
that means. But when we receive the HolySpirit.
Well, when you receive the Holy Spirit,Ross, how much do you receive?
20%? 30%?
50%?

Ross O'Hair: No. Yeah. It says all of it. (07:10):
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Mark Fields: All the spirit! (07:11):
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100%. He comes into us in his fullness andhis completeness, and with him comes his full
character in essence.
So now, now you can be confident in his fullpresence in you.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah, I know, obviously Scripture says we have everything we need for life and (07:22):
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godliness. And so yeah, we have the fullspirit.

Mark Fields: And that's he's not holding himself back as I put one foot in. (07:28):
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Right. And I'm holding the other untilyou're more obedient or more committed.
And then it rededication. Here comes anotherfoot.
Now you got more of me. No, which is.

Ross O'Hair: Crazy, because, I mean, when you think about it, the whole reason we are given the spirit (07:37):
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is obviously newness of life.
And life lived through us, but we couldnever perform well enough to receive the
other half. So it's like that.
Would that would be a dead end propositionanyways?

Mark Fields: Yeah, it's going back to faith and works again in it. (07:51):
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It's what he did. So his very presence, theHoly Spirit lives in us, dwells in us.
It means to occupy a house, to live within,not just with us.
And this differentiates it a little bit fromthe Old Testament descriptions of the Holy
Spirit coming upon people, a king or aprophet, or even a craftsman for certain

(08:11):
tasks. And the Holy Spirit comes upon them,but never does he dwell in and fully
transform a person until acts chapter two.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah in the New Testament says, sealed in in us. (08:18):
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Yeah. That doesn't happen in the OldTestament.

Mark Fields: Yes. And not just lives in us. (08:23):
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But here's a good verse in 1 Corinthians6:17.
If you'll go to that, it says that the HolySpirit and our spirit are one.
Yeah. And continually communicating with us.
Like we're going to see in another episodeof Romans 8:16, always convincing us of truth
and of our sonship and daughter ship.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. (08:43):
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Mark Fields: So having God's presence in me, the Holy Spirit in me, gives me assurance of his (08:43):
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provision for everything. Like you saidbefore, I need to live the life he made me to
live. Second Timothy one seven says hedidn't give me the spirit of fear, but of
power, which is the ability to do what he'scalling me to do by his strength and of love
and of a sound mind.
He'll never leave me. He'll never forsakeme.

(09:04):
He's always right there with me and in me,intimately dwelling with me.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah, this is one that rings true for me, especially the the sound mind part. (09:08):
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And, you know, some could argue that I'venever had a sound mind, but, the reality is,
a lot of times, even as a believer, when Iwould struggle with sin or struggle with
temptation or struggle with anything in mylife, it always creates this double
mindedness in you. It creates thisconfusion, this shrouded thought of like,

(09:28):
what's, I don't know, up and down in life.
I don't know where I'm going.
And as the spirit continued to just work inmy life and reveal truth and show his grace
and his love for me, it was it was almostlike those clouds parted and there was less
confusion, less double mindedness, and therewas much more sound minded in who I am and
what's true.
And it's amazing what the truth does - andliving in the spirit and walking by the

(09:49):
spirit - how much that creates that forsomebody.
And so again, that's really true for me.
It really rings true.

Mark Fields: Oh that's a good definition. (09:54):
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Yeah. That clarity.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. Exactly. So we've talked about how he dwells in us and how now have a mind of life (09:57):
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and peace. Where is he going after that?
Okay I'd love to spend some time on 10 and11, especially 11.
But we're going to jump to verse 13 - thatthose who are in the spirit are putting to
death the deeds of the body.
Now, I think this is a practical applicationbecause what does that even mean?

(10:17):
I guess we could go back to the sermon onthe Mount, and I could pluck out an eye or
cut off a hand that puts you to death,right?
But connected with Romans 6:6, which says,when our old self has been crucified and has
rendered that body of sin to be powerless,it takes away its effect, its influence, its
power over us. So with the death of our sinnature, the power of the influence has been

(10:38):
removed. So how do we apply that truth toour lives?
How do we proclaim that it's powerless?
This verse says by the spirit.
Sometimes, yeah, I am in that fog or thatfunk, and I don't have that sound mind or
whatever. And I just have to say, spirit inme, give me the clarity, give me the
wherewithal - I'm not in the place where Iam, you know, in a positive, definitive way

(11:00):
to just claim your truth.
I'm even asking you to help my sense ofwillingness to walk me through this.
It's almost like the man who said to Jesus,I believe, help my unbelief.
Yeah, it's I'm leaning into you.
I'm receiving your strength and yourwherewithal.
So as we do that, he gives us the ability tochoose to trust God and refuse the
temptations enhanced by our physical bodies.

(11:20):
Now, sometimes the pressure seemsoverwhelming.
Yeah, we may be tired, emotionallydistraught, mentally frazzled.
It doesn't feel like we can resisttemptation.
But the Holy Spirit does give us power.
The wherewithal to stop, take the thoughtcaptive, take it under the light of truth,
and then choose his truth to replace thelies.
Yeah, this feels especially true whenparenting, because it's like a lot of times

(11:43):
you can get really frustrated.
You know, unfortunately, I joke around withmy wife sometimes it's like, I don't
understand why my six year old and eightyear old aren't fully adult yet, why they
can't do everything on their own.
Like it's sometimes it's frustrating, youknow, it's like I've already told you how to
do this five times, you should know how todo it.
And so in that frustration, it's a lot oftimes I can respond that way.
And the emotions are there.
The fatigue is there from being a parent,all those things.

(12:05):
And yet all of a sudden it's like, well,okay, I can choose to act out of that.
Or I can remember, oh yeah, these are sixand eight year olds and I have Christ living
in me. I can encourage and teach again andmove that way, even though my body and my
mind and my emotions are screaming theopposite.

Mark Fields: Yeah, yeah I know, I know, yeah. (12:19):
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Oh, see, I miss that you guys have so manyparenting illustrations.
All I have is old man illustrations.
But anyway,

Ross O'Hair: Hey, those work to. (12:27):
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Mark Fields: Try to keep it relevant to. I know some of our audience is in that area. (12:28):
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Okay, a couple of illustrations to explainthat of how this process works.
But let's say you're striving to compete inthe Olympics, and you want to do the things
that will make you competitive.
And so you start to choose to do things thatwill deter your abilities and your growth.

(12:49):
Again, you don't go to fast food places andyou don't eat anything that's unhealthy.
And you have a regimen of working out andstructuring that workout to improve your
abilities. As you do that, you're startingto put to the side or put aside those things
that would keep you from walking in peace inthe spirit.
But let me caution you that sounds likeyou're doing a self-effort, self-willed thing

(13:11):
to improve yourself for God.
That's not the point I'm trying to make hereat all.
It's just the principle of the consistentact of faith on your part to engage the Holy
Spirit, to work in and through you in this.
That becomes a more probable, repetitivedeclaration in your mind.
And it's almost like Romans 12:2 that says,"be ye transformed by the renewing." Your

(13:34):
strengthening that dependency and thatquickness of that willingness to lean into
him more. You're not trying to make aspiritual muscle stronger that you can use
for God.

Ross O'Hair: Well, for an athlete, it's easy. (13:43):
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It's like, okay, I know I need to cut outthis fast food place, in life, it can be a
lot more difficult. So that's where, likeyou said, it's not a self effort thing
because half the times we don't know what weneed to cut out and we don't know how to do
it. And so that's where it's just dependingon the on the spirit where like God, what do
I need to cut out? What do I need to do?
And then help me do that when you show methat.

Mark Fields: Mhm. Now another illustration we can choose to put in or not is the whole illustration of (14:02):
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atrophy.

Ross O'Hair: Mm. (14:07):
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Mark Fields: If you don't use a part of your body it's going to grow numb or the muscle will just (14:07):
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almost dissolve.
That explains a lot about my brain.
There it is. That's what it is.
There you go. Um, anyways, the less you useit, the less ability it has to overcome or to
be of use. Yeah. Again, that's not apractice that you put into place to reject

(14:28):
that. It's the process of when I amrepetitively and consistently leaning into
him and trusting him and receiving his gracein me, then that desire, that pull does
diminish. It's still there and it may comeback.
Whoever knows, who knows when Satan's goingto choose to employ that again?
Yeah. But it does seem to fade in thebackground more.
Yeah. Okay. Next one is verse 14 that we are"led by the Spirit of God." You might read

(14:54):
this verse and you might want to focus onokay, so how do I hear his voice.
And we do, again - Session 11 - intimacywith God - We talk about how to, and you
might focus on I need to strain and learn torecognize his voice.
And there's some things I need to do to makeme more responsive to his voice.
But I want to focus more on thecharacteristics of the leader.

Ross O'Hair: Mhm. (15:15):
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Mark Fields: And not that you have to. (15:16):
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Well it is our place to lean in and tolisten because we are a sheep and we do hear
his voice, but led by the Spirit of God, notby anything else.
He's our leader.
God's spirit is our leader.
He's a good leader. Yeah.
A leader you can trust.
He's the one who shows us a better way.
A wise way of living and or having ourmindset and shows us his view of any

(15:39):
situation. Yeah.
And then he lovingly leads us out intowhatever it might be.
I love the verse.
Psalm 37:4 "delight yourself in the Lord,and he will give you the desires of your
heart." In other words, fall in love withhim, and you will want what God wants, and
you just lean into that outlook.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah, that's a great way of saying that. Yeah. (15:56):
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Mark Fields: So how do we experience day to day the spirit leading in me? (15:57):
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Yeah. Again, for me.

Ross O'Hair: That's the million dollar question. (16:02):
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Mark Fields: The million dollar. It's not a technique of oh, Satan's voice out of here. (16:03):
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Spirits voice come on in and all that.
It's first I trust God, you're a goodleader.
You have my best interests at heart.
And you want what's best for me.
And so I start.
God, your voice is good.
You will never lead me astray.
So that's the first practical thing.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. (16:24):
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Mark Fields: You're a good leader. (16:24):
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Ross O'Hair: Yep. (16:25):
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Mark Fields: Acknowledge his character and his benevolence and his desire to see you live out his life. (16:26):
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Ross O'Hair: Yeah. You got to trust him before you're going to listen to him. (16:31):
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So that makes sense. Yeah.

Mark Fields: So that has happened again in a very immediate, I guess, response. (16:34):
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If I'm having a conversation with people andwe're maybe let's just say we're wrestling
with a concept or even we're having apodcast meeting or something.
And one of my lies is that your opiniondoesn't matter or you're not understood.
And so if I get interrupted by someonethere, it comes right there.

(16:57):
See, they didn't want to hear what you said.
They want to let you finish the sentence.
And so to myself.

Ross O'Hair: What'd you say? (17:01):
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Mark Fields: Yeah, I know. (17:02):
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And so then, in my mind, I'm starting tothink up an argument or a way to just talk
over them or something. I just say, God,you're a good leader.
You will lead me through this process firstand help me to lean into your voice.
And of course, knowing this script andknowing the process and knowing the lie, I
can now walk in truth and dispel that lie ofwhat it says about me and the need I'm trying

(17:25):
to get met, of being understood and heardbetter.
And I can just relax and flow into it andsay, that's okay, I'll get a chance later or
we'll see how this flows out.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. So that's a great example. (17:33):
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My question when I hear that is, okay, thatprobably took a while to get to that point
where you didn't take it personal and thenretaliate or speak over someone or interrupt
them?

Mark Fields: No. (17:47):
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Ross O'Hair: So even in that process, how did that how did your mind transform there? (17:47):
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Mark Fields: Well, let's talk about the the process. (17:52):
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How old were you when you learned to drive?

Ross O'Hair: Uh, 16. (17:57):
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Mark Fields: Okay. So you didn't grow up on a farm and get a truck when you were 14 or 12 or 8? (17:58):
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Ross O'Hair: Nope. (18:01):
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Mark Fields: Good, good. 16. (18:02):
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First time in the driver's seat.
I don't know if your dad's next to you orwhoever, but you're looking.
You look at the mirror, you adjust it verymechanically.
You do your seat belt very deliberately.
Your mirrors are right. You've got yourshifter or whatever, and you start to put it
in drive all sequentially, all mechanically,

Ross O'Hair: Very slowly. (18:19):
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Yeah.

Mark Fields: Today. Do you remember driving to work? (18:21):
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Ross O'Hair: No, I don't, I don't. (18:22):
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Mark Fields: Or even what you did to engage the motor? (18:24):
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No, I know it's just a natural thing becauseyou've done it so long.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. (18:29):
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Mark Fields: And you flow into it. (18:29):
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That's what this process is like.
You do learn the the messages that are goingon, and you're aware of them, and you learn
the process of taking those thoughts captiveand replacing it.
And it's all in the power of the spirit andan enjoyment of his presence.
And again it begins the realization of God.
You're a good leader, spirit.
You want the best for me, I trust you.

Ross O'Hair: I love that, and I don't think you planned this on the analogy, but with my dad sitting (18:49):
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there in real life, our Heavenly Father issitting with us and is encouraging us and
helping us and teaching us.
And even if we get in a wreck, he's there topay for the repairs and to fix that and to
keep us going and keep teaching us.
So yeah, it's a great I like it.

Mark Fields: Okay, well, I didn't want to bring up another dad thing. (19:07):
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Slow down. You're going too fast. Don't takethat curve too short.
Get back! And he's just over theregrouching at ya.
That's right.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah that's our earthly father. (19:13):
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Yeah okay.

Mark Fields: An illustration about trusting the leader and all. (19:15):
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I remember doing this at sixth or seventhgrade or something like that.
Have you ever been in a group and you'replaying a party game at a birthday party or
something, and they blindfold you in a groupof people?
I don't know if it's pin the tail on thedonkey or whatever, and all of a sudden you
start hearing giggling.
And so your eyes are closed and everybodyaround you, they start giggling.

(19:35):
You think, uh oh, what are they up to?
You don't trust them. You don't trust thesituation.
And so now you're all clenched up and youdon't know where to step or go, and you're in
a protective mode because you don't know whoto trust and what to trust.
And that's what it can be like if we don'ttrust the leader.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah. (19:51):
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Mark Fields: And don't trust our heart to what God wants for us and what the Spirit's doing. (19:52):
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Just relax about that.
Trust the one who's telling you what to do.

Ross O'Hair: Yeah, it's so good. Yeah, I really like that. (20:00):
undefined
So what about for you?
Like, is there any personal application thatyou have seen how this has played out in your
life?

Mark Fields: Well, apart from the time that you just interrupted me, I've got another one here for (20:06):
undefined
you.

Ross O'Hair: You're welcome. (20:11):
undefined

Mark Fields: Yeah, it's. (20:13):
undefined
Sometimes I tend to overthink a situation.
I'm a chronic overthinker.
I'm learning there's more and more peoplelike that.
But I have racing thoughts to the point ofkeeping me awake.
Again, here I am at 3 a.m.
in the morning, or sometimes just goingthrough my day.
And in those moments where my mind mightjust run away with the situation.
And I remember one time, well, just thispast summer, I had like eight things to do on

(20:37):
my plate, and one of them was this podcastscript writing?

Ross O'Hair: Yes, your welcome! (20:40):
undefined

Mark Fields: And other things that trip to Kenya and ADT and other things going on. (20:40):
undefined
So here I have 5 to 8 things, and I havethat tendency to put them all right in front
of me, like I need to do all of them by noonor I'm useless.

Ross O'Hair: Right. Yeah. (20:52):
undefined

Mark Fields: And so that's my overthinking, analytical and perfectionist flesh there. (20:52):
undefined
And so as I just claimed that life, thatmind of life and peace.
Okay. Enjoy.
God says enjoy me in this moment and befully alive in this.
And let my peace guard your heart and yourmind in this whole thing.
And so as I did that, it was again aconversation with God and myself before I've

(21:15):
done anything. But I've taken now therelaxed perspective of God, what are we going
to do today? And even my breathing starts toslow down.
I wish I had a cuff on my blood pressure.
Yeah. Because I bet it went down from 160 to140 on the top side, maybe.
120. Yeah. But yeah, you just start to relaxand unclench and you start to think, okay,
what's the first thing that I need to dotoday?

(21:37):
And so I can go into that.
And if I'm in that process and Danna stepsin the door or whatever, it's not like what?
Or if a person needs a talk, it's not like,you know, get out of here.
I have a task to do. So my whole expressionto others around me is more life giving, more
receptive and not so task focused.
And in that all that I have to do.
So that's one way it helps me.
And again, you're seeing most of myillustrations are in my head.

Ross O'Hair: Sure. Yeah. (21:58):
undefined

Mark Fields: But they turn into an action of how a person sees you and all. (21:59):
undefined

Ross O'Hair: Well, and that's where the battle begins. (22:03):
undefined
I mean, we got I believe you have the truthand believe those.
So. Yeah, the battle is definitely in themind.
That's awesome. I love that illustration.
It makes a lot of sense to me. If we had afinal takeaway for these ten verses, what
would it be? I know it's a lot.

Mark Fields: Well, God has given us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to live in us continually. (22:16):
undefined
The Holy Spirit is actively transforming usinto believing, thinking, and acting more
like Christ in every moment.
God's spirit gives us a mind of life andpeace as we rest in the awareness of God's
presence. In every moment, we can resist thepull of the flesh in the body.

(22:37):
We can trust his leadership and choose tolove others and express Christ's life.

Ross O'Hair: And you know, as you're saying that I kind of made me think we've mentioned the Living in (22:41):
undefined
Jesus study a few times in the differentchapters.
If you guys don't have that study or areinterested in it, and it will help kind of
augment a lot of the stuff we're talkingabout.
It'll give you some context about maybe someof the chapters where we bring up.
So that would be a great resource to have asyou listen.
But other than that, Mark, thank you so muchfor your time.

(23:01):
I really appreciate it today,

Mark Fields: I enjoyed it. (23:02):
undefined

Ross O'Hair: We still got four more to go in Romans 8. (23:03):
undefined
So still we still got a ways.
But again, guys thanks so much for listeningtoday to this episode.
We really appreciate it.
And we'll see you next week on the Living inJesus podcast.
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