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 Sundae. If
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
No comments:
Post a Comment