We must be prepared to pay a price in order to walk in The Spirit. We pay the price by putting God first, spending much time in prayer and loving His Word above all earthly pleasures, knowledge and entertainment. We have emotions like God, as we are made in His image, but He is not ruled by emotions and feelings. He operates by doing what is right, regardless of how He feels. He can be grieved by our attitude but He never changes in the way He loves us and treats us. He has no self-pity, no anger on His own behalf and no retaliation.
Meaning we must:
1) Desire to hear the Holy Spirit; (Galatians 5:16).
2) Be ready to obey His prompting; (Galatians 5:17-23, Galatians 5:25).
As a result we are:
Governed and guided by the Holy Spirit. We are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, we have a free will and can choose to disobey Him. Remember always that the Holy Spirit will NEVER speak to us in contradiction of scripture.
We have:
1) The words of Jesus in our minds (Romans 8:5-6).
2) The love of Jesus in our hearts.
The proof:
The power of Jesus will be evident in our behaviour, for the power of the life-giving Spirit through Christ Jesus has freed us from the vicious circle of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
Romans 8:5-11 States; 'Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with The Spirit have their minds set on what The Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by The Spirit is life and peace; The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by The Spirit, if The Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have The Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you'.
Amen brother!
ReplyDeleteOur personal Goal in life above all else is to long for righteousness! We must Seek His Kingdom first and His Righteousness (Mat 6:33). Many of us are busy seeking His Kingdom, we read, go to church and pray, and this is great! But we must not forget to seek also His righteousness which is to apply all that God teaches us in His Word! How can we apply His Word and walk in right standing with God? There is only one way we must humble ourselves and beg, plead and keep knocking on God's door until He gives us this bread of life! Until His word becomes flesh in us and only then can we walk in complete righteousness. It's not an easy road but it's the only road we have no choice but to walk in it because the other option is the broad path that will lead to destruction!
God bless,
the Swordbearer!
Although, this may seem like a monumental task, the dying to self to walk in the Spirit, I know that the Lord has led me to take it one day at a time, choosing life over death daily.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my blog and for leaving such a thoughtful, encouraging comment. It is always refreshing to find like hearted sisters in Christ. Sending Blessings!!
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