Posted in Faith Builders
JESUS IS COMING SOON! MARANATHA LORD!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi friends, if you need to silence the music just hit the play/pause button on the player in the right sidebar, just below the black horse and the copyright notice.
******************************************************************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi friends, if you need to silence the music just hit the play/pause button on the player in the right sidebar, just below the black horse and the copyright notice.
******************************************************************************************************
Thoughts on Galatians 5:16-25
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
As Christians we must constantly guard against walking in the flesh. It is so easy to fall into, because it is the default setting of our sinful nature to fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh, and all of us find ourselves walking in the flesh every day. We may try to deny that by looking at the “big” sins in Paul’s list of the works of the flesh, we may look at it and say to ourselves that we certainly do not commit adultery, fornication, heresy, or murder, so really we are doing well by comparison. The problem is that God does not grade on a curve. His standard is His standard, and that is all there is to it, and His standard says that all that is not of faith is sin. So you don’t struggle with the sins of adultery or drunkenness, and you would certainly never practice sorcery, but do you ever struggle with jealousy, envy, or selfish ambition? What of some things that Paul has not listed, like pride? The truth is, if anyone is honest with themselves, they will find that they are walking in the flesh far more than they want to admit.
It is walking in the flesh that causes us to leave tasks undone which we know we should do today. It is walking in the flesh that causes us to see a blessing in someone else’s life and ask why we don’t have that blessing too. It is walking in the flesh that causes us to put our own desires above that of our spouse, our neighbor, our friend, or even our enemy. And as Paul states above, this struggle between the flesh and the spirit is why we so often do not do the things we truly wish to do in our heart of hearts, why we are not the spouse we truly want to be, why we are not the parent we desire to be, in short, why we are not the kind of person we most desire to be.
Praise God that we are not under the law, or else there would be condemnation. We are free in Christ, yet we are still responsible to follow the leading of the Spirit, and not walk in the flesh. We cannot experience the fullness of God’s blessing if we continue in the flesh.
So what are we to do? How can we win this struggle against the flesh and the spirit? We cannot, of course, in our own strength do anything. Anything we do in our strength would be walking in the flesh as well. What we can do, is pray for sensitivity to the Spirit. We can ask ourselves and the Lord before we act, whether what we are about to do is of the Spirit or not. When we find ourselves struggling with jealousy, anger, selfishness, or any other fleshly thing, we can acknowledge that to the Lord and ask His help.
We can set our minds on the Spirit, and redirect our minds to the Spirit when our thoughts stray. We can actively walk in the Spirit, because every moment we are not walking in the Spirit, we are by default walking in the flesh, and by the same token, whenever we are not walking in the flesh, the only alternative is the Spirit, and as Paul says in verse 16 of Galatians Chapter 5, “walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
We have a choice; we can choose to walk in the Spirit. By renewing our minds in God’s word each day; by spending time in prayer; by continuing in prayer without ceasing throughout the day, asking for help with each “minor” decision we have to make, thanking Him for each blessing; by deliberately directing our thoughts to Him and what He wants; by doing all of these things, we are choosing to walk in the Spirit. When we do this the fruit of the Spirit will be produced automatically. When we focus our thoughts and hearts on the creator of love, we will show love; when we make a point of being thankful for each blessing we have, we will exhibit joy; when we actively put our trust in Him, we will have peace; when we realize how much God puts up with from us, we will tend to be more longsuffering toward one another; when we are fully aware of the kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness of our savior, and truly understand how much He has exhibited these traits toward us individually, we will begin to show demonstrate these very traits toward others; and when we prayerfully examine each choice we make, and take the time to ask whether it is according to God’s will, the natural result is self-control.
Of course we all fail at this every day. I know I do, but we do not have to allow the flesh to completely take over, we can get up, ask forgiveness, and continue on in our walk in the Spirit. We can begin anew each and every moment, there is no need to wait for the next day, the next week, or the New Year, in Christ we are a new creation RIGHT NOW, and in Him we have the ability to walk in the Spirit.
If we are in Christ, we are already living in the Spirit. It is through the Spirit that we have life, so, as Paul said in Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let also walk in the Spirit.”
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
As Christians we must constantly guard against walking in the flesh. It is so easy to fall into, because it is the default setting of our sinful nature to fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh, and all of us find ourselves walking in the flesh every day. We may try to deny that by looking at the “big” sins in Paul’s list of the works of the flesh, we may look at it and say to ourselves that we certainly do not commit adultery, fornication, heresy, or murder, so really we are doing well by comparison. The problem is that God does not grade on a curve. His standard is His standard, and that is all there is to it, and His standard says that all that is not of faith is sin. So you don’t struggle with the sins of adultery or drunkenness, and you would certainly never practice sorcery, but do you ever struggle with jealousy, envy, or selfish ambition? What of some things that Paul has not listed, like pride? The truth is, if anyone is honest with themselves, they will find that they are walking in the flesh far more than they want to admit.
It is walking in the flesh that causes us to leave tasks undone which we know we should do today. It is walking in the flesh that causes us to see a blessing in someone else’s life and ask why we don’t have that blessing too. It is walking in the flesh that causes us to put our own desires above that of our spouse, our neighbor, our friend, or even our enemy. And as Paul states above, this struggle between the flesh and the spirit is why we so often do not do the things we truly wish to do in our heart of hearts, why we are not the spouse we truly want to be, why we are not the parent we desire to be, in short, why we are not the kind of person we most desire to be.
Praise God that we are not under the law, or else there would be condemnation. We are free in Christ, yet we are still responsible to follow the leading of the Spirit, and not walk in the flesh. We cannot experience the fullness of God’s blessing if we continue in the flesh.
So what are we to do? How can we win this struggle against the flesh and the spirit? We cannot, of course, in our own strength do anything. Anything we do in our strength would be walking in the flesh as well. What we can do, is pray for sensitivity to the Spirit. We can ask ourselves and the Lord before we act, whether what we are about to do is of the Spirit or not. When we find ourselves struggling with jealousy, anger, selfishness, or any other fleshly thing, we can acknowledge that to the Lord and ask His help.
We can set our minds on the Spirit, and redirect our minds to the Spirit when our thoughts stray. We can actively walk in the Spirit, because every moment we are not walking in the Spirit, we are by default walking in the flesh, and by the same token, whenever we are not walking in the flesh, the only alternative is the Spirit, and as Paul says in verse 16 of Galatians Chapter 5, “walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
We have a choice; we can choose to walk in the Spirit. By renewing our minds in God’s word each day; by spending time in prayer; by continuing in prayer without ceasing throughout the day, asking for help with each “minor” decision we have to make, thanking Him for each blessing; by deliberately directing our thoughts to Him and what He wants; by doing all of these things, we are choosing to walk in the Spirit. When we do this the fruit of the Spirit will be produced automatically. When we focus our thoughts and hearts on the creator of love, we will show love; when we make a point of being thankful for each blessing we have, we will exhibit joy; when we actively put our trust in Him, we will have peace; when we realize how much God puts up with from us, we will tend to be more longsuffering toward one another; when we are fully aware of the kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness of our savior, and truly understand how much He has exhibited these traits toward us individually, we will begin to show demonstrate these very traits toward others; and when we prayerfully examine each choice we make, and take the time to ask whether it is according to God’s will, the natural result is self-control.
Of course we all fail at this every day. I know I do, but we do not have to allow the flesh to completely take over, we can get up, ask forgiveness, and continue on in our walk in the Spirit. We can begin anew each and every moment, there is no need to wait for the next day, the next week, or the New Year, in Christ we are a new creation RIGHT NOW, and in Him we have the ability to walk in the Spirit.
If we are in Christ, we are already living in the Spirit. It is through the Spirit that we have life, so, as Paul said in Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let also walk in the Spirit.”
Posted by Anonymous
Posted by 
