By Marni Montanez
Galatians 5:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
Walking in the Spirit
16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh.
Walking in the Spirit is not an easy task. There is an internal
struggle within us between our spirit and flesh and it takes discipline and
determination to break through. The Bible has many references on how
to achieve victory over our flesh. It instructs us to wait and to listen.
King David knew this very well and confessed his need to wait upon God.
Some Christians find this difficult because of immaturity.
The flesh is in a constant state of desiring to be noticed. It wants things done quickly and is intolerant to a slow process. This is where God grows us up; in the midst of this struggle.
Many Christians today allow their emotions to dictate their decisions. When they feel good their faith is strong and move ahead in obedience, but when they are feeling down and discouraged, they waver in doubt. It is unwise to make decisions based on emotions. Our decisions must come from a place of faith and obedience. Emotions are not wrong in and of themselves. God created them. But if we base our decisions upon how we feel we are lacking in wisdom and sound judgment.
To listen to God we must be silent. Some of us have this incessant need to talk which hinders us from hearing God’s voice. He has much to say and what He has to say far outweighs anything on our minds. As we listen to Him we have the opportunity to find out what is on God’s heart and know His will for our lives. This helps us not to try and figure things out but instead to rely on God for everything. His wisdom is comforting and His Peace flows from our dependence on Him.
Our ability to keep our minds on things above draws us closer to God. Our thoughts can also move us away from Him. That’s why it’s important to take our thoughts captive to God. We must fill our thought life with God’s word. It is a truth that will shape and mature us. We need to know what God says to and about us and lean on this understanding in order to walk steady and balanced.
Our flesh dies daily and we must let it die instead of nourishing it with fear, doubt and our need to control.
The Lord gives us the tools we need to be successful in our spirit life. The answer is simple. Do what God says to do and you will walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh.
Challenge: Keep focused on what is happening in the spirit realm around
you. Keep open communication with God. Wait and listen and allow God
to reveal Himself to you.
God bless
Marni
The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving,
compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God
tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what
does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk
humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no
more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us
to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human
beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do
otherwise is not Christian.
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