Monday, August 8, 2016

Walk by faith


In his letter to the Galatians Paul is battling those who have gone to work proving their mettle by trying really hard rather than simply living by faith. His summary at the end of the chapter is; ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit’ (Gal5:25).  I suggest that the reason believers struggle with this is twofold: (1) We don't fully understand what ‘accepting Christ is all about’ and (2) we underestimated the power of the flesh. When we struggle with anger, envy or lust; we double down thinking that if we just try harder we can whip this thing. Maybe we get someone to hold us accountable.  When someone comes to town with the latest self-help seminar we sign up and throw Jesus on top like the cherry on a SundaeIf I just try a little harder. But according to the Bible this is like throwing gasoline on a fire. Trying harder empowers ‘the flesh’.  Where did the; ‘I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me’ part of accepting Christ go?  Whenever my fleshly ego raises its ugly head I stake him back down in the coffin by faith.



So Paul teaches us that if we ‘walk by the Spirit’ three wonderful things will happen:



I.                   We will not empower the flesh. (5:16)

II.                We can truly ‘love our neighbor as ourselves’. ((5:14)

III.             The fruit of the Spirit will grow in our lives. (5:22,23)



But how do we define ‘walk by the Spirit’?  It reminds me of a time, a long time ago, when Adam & Eve walked with God in the garden.  Or perhaps this is what Jesus talked about when he said, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)  George Muller wrote a century ago; ‘I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished…now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer but, the Word of God.’ 



If you want to nail the flesh to the wall and truly love others and see spiritual fruit grow in your life – try this:



1.    Pause to count your blessings.  Gratitude!  Count until you feel gratitude rise in the center of your being.

2.    Don’t just feel it. Send your gratitude flying to God like an arrow.  Thank him for being kind & faithful. Praise!

3.    Become the arrow and when you and your praise arrive in God’s presence, stay awhile. Worship!


Happy to serve,



Dean

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