The bible says in 1st Thess. Chapter 5:6 therefore lets us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober. Now there is a worldly sobriety and spiritual sobriety. Worldly sobriety as we know it means staying off the booze or any addiction for long periods of time which makes you sober. Worldly sobriety is what we teach and encourage not to do in order for people not to feed their addiction and turn into other personalities. But God says lets us be sober, but did he say that because he knew we would all be lushes or addicts at the end, only referencing worldly thrills and pleasures that can make us addicted. No. Because there is also a spiritual sobriety as well as a physical one too. Sobriety is all about Clear-headedness and temperance it’s a practice we all need to master and can by the power of the holy spirit within us. If a person cannot govern him or herself if they cannot master their own passion of the flesh be it anger, lust, rage, jealousy, hate wickedness as well as smoking, drugs and alcohol, he or she will not have a good relationship with God because these things are emotions and behaviors that are not becoming to our Lord. They do not consist in the will of what God has planned for us in our lives therefore the more you live these things out the more you draw yourself further away from God.
You cannot be sober in spirit if you have lust, or deep-rooted hate lust, you are not even clear minded, therefore you could consider yourself a drunk because you are on ungodly emotions and actions and behaviors that are contrary to the spirit, they serve flesh, they do not make you self-disciplined in the spirit because they appease and accommodate your flesh. The goal is to train the flesh if you choose to walk in the spirit if you are filled with the holy spirit you have to do this. you are not sober in the spirit if you are hateful, vindictive, conceded, jealous, adulterous, a liar, a gossip, unpleasant, malice, unforgiving let alone addicted to pills, booze and drugs. You are drunk off things in the flesh that’s why God says be sober minded which not only means do not get drunk by alcohol but other things that can cloud your judgement your temperance your clear headedness because we have to say on the alert on guard for the bible says in 1st Peter 5:8 be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walk about seeking who, he may devour.
I know there are brothers and sisters in Christ right now getting hit hard we all are but I want you guys to suck it up and expect it more and harder and every time the attacks the rebuke, the persecution, the enemy using someone to get at you, when these things happens to you stay sober minded and rejoice and give God the glory because it’s an honor to be chosen as one of the enemy’s biggest threat for who we are in Christ and you should wear your hardship proud with a badge of honor never giving the devil glory but making sure the Lord gets the victory in your testimony of how you overcame the attack or the rebuke or temptation. because brothers and sisters we have already got the victory everything we go through and take and deal with and endure and suffer it’s our test meant to test us and strengthen us and if you don’t pass you want make it. If you believe the word of God, if you know the word of God you know that test struggle, trials, so daily pray for your full armor on and stay sober-minded and not give into the enemy.
I know we you might be spiritually physically, emotionally, mentally, behaviorally tired and worn down but I’m here to tell you suck it up and pray for the spirit of long suffering, strength, perseverance and endurance and the Lord will sustain you because the bible says we are not to sleep but to stay alert we can sleep and take a break and relax and have a good laugh about all this someday in glory when we get to glory forever I promise you but until then we got to stay in the battle fighting against the enemy and stay sober in all things. We cannot give in, sleep in we must as Paul said stay in the race. And sometimes we can get drunk in our own defeat that discourages depresses and disheartens us and none of that will keep us clear minded feeling rejuvenated in spirit. If we are in Jesus, we will suffer like our Lord did.
So, I encourage you brothers and sisters to stay sober minded right now, stay in the fight. We got to rebuke the devil and his schemes in the name of Jesus, we got stay in spiritual warfare, we got to stay sober minded by living in holiness and obedience and repentance. Don’t even associate with people who are not sober minded who are drunk on gossiping, drunk of drinking, drunk on pettiness, drunk on meanness and the rest because before you know it, they will pull your flesh into that and get you just as drunk as them and don’t do it brothers and sisters stay sober minded at all times. Christianity is about sacrifice as well and if you love the Lord more and above than anything else the care of feelings of what others feel about you think about you say about you want matter because it’s all about the number one critic who thoughts views and opinions matter more than humans and that’s the thoughts and feelings of Jesus Christ.