walking in faith

I'm reading along with my church family in the New Testament in 2019, for anyone who doesn't already know that, and right now, we are in the book of Galatians.  This is such perfect timing because I'm also studying the book of Galatians with the women in my church.  I've been studying this book ever since the beginning of summer and I'll continue on through May of 2020.  It's an in depth study on this book, needless to say, going verse by verse.  I love studying that way, because I get so much more out of it. 

Today I read in Galatians chapter five, and verses 16-26 are some of my very favorite verses in all of the bible.  I remember when all these verses hit me right in my heart.  This passage, in my bible, is subtitled as Spirit Vs. Flesh.  We all, if we are believers and followers of Jesus, have a very worldly, fleshly side to us, and we also have a very spiritual side to us.  It's up to us, how we walk in our day to day lives.  We will always struggle with this, too, but the key is praying and asking the Lord to help us.  When we ask that, He does!  The day that this passage went on like a light bulb in my head is also the day I tried to start being aware of how I act in my day to day life. 

Here is what Galatians 5:16 says:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

In verse sixteen, when Paul mentions walking by the Spirit, he is talking about the Holy Spirit.  The S is capitalized, for one thing, but also, as believers, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of us.  That word he uses~"walk"~in the original Greek means that this is a continual motion.  As in, this is a daily thing we are to do, this walking by the Spirit.  If you go down to verse 17, Paul tells the church of Galatia that the desires of the Spirit are against the desires of the flesh.  He writes that these two things are in opposition against one another, and the desires of the flesh keep us from doing what we want to do.  Then, he lists out the desires of the flesh in verses 18-21. 

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." 

I don't know about you, but some of those things above are sometimes things I do...sometimes I am jealous.  I really try to not be this way, but every once in a while, it rears its ugly little head and I have to seek the Lord and ask Him to forgive me of this and to change me.  I want to celebrate my friends and their accomplishments, not be envious of them!  This could play forth in seeing their pictures while they're on some exotic vacation while I'm stuck at home, or if "that girl" got (yet) another solo in choir, and I didn't. 

(I have to say right here that singing a solo FREAKS ME OUT, and I will never ask for one, because of that.  Every once in a while, though, my worship pastor will pick me to sing something in church, a duet part maybe, or a verse in a song...and I'll do it because he asks me to, but it is so against my tendencies of shrinking back that I shake like a leaf.  I know the Lord gives me opportunities to grow me, though, and I'm grateful that He does that.  If He didn't, I would never do anything outside of my comfort zone, and to be that way is to actually repress the growing process.  We should ALL always be doing something in our life to stretch ourselves.)

I use that solo one as an example, and because if I am not careful, that could easily become a real thing in my life.  (My intention in writing that, again, is to just be real with you...please do not think I am looking for a compliment, I'm not!)  I can also have fits of anger in my life.  I'll just continue on to be real with you here and say that a couple of weeks ago, the Lord gave my husband and I another growth opportunity, and we had words.  (We fought, people.  I said it that way to be facetious.)  I was being SUPER critical of a mess that he had left in the kitchen, totally ignoring all the things he had just done for me to repair something.  I am rolling my eyes at my own silliness, because this was not even worth exchanging words.  I had to apologize for my behavior, because he was totally right, even though I didn't first see it that way.  I've been trying ever since then to remember what the Lord showed me that night.  (This is also a great point to interject this truth: the only perfect person to have ever walked on this earth was Jesus.)

Then, in verses 22-23, Paul goes on to list fruits of the Spirit.  I like how he calls the opposite of this the "works of the flesh", as if we are striving to be something we're not, thus carrying out those things I listed above.  I'll write out those verses about the fruits of the Spirit below.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 

I would be telling you a very bold lie if I said that to walk in that way is easy.  It's not.  It is in direct opposition to the nature we were born into.  Because of sin, and when it entered in back in the days of Adam and Eve, we will always have sin and brokenness in this world.  God had compassion upon His creation, though, and sent a way out of that sin and brokenness through His Son Jesus.  When Jesus died (for OUR SIN), was buried, and resurrected and then ascended into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and became our mediator, our intercession.  The writer of Hebrews refers to Him as our High Priest. 

Walking by the Spirit means we are continually having to lay aside our fleshly tendencies.  Meaning, if I am crabby when I wake up for some reason, I need to ask the Lord to help me not give in to that, and to help me walk in the ways of His Spirit.  It's not easy, like I said, and against our nature, but with the Lord's help, we can. 

Paul finishes out this passage by saying this:

"And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."

That phrase "crucified the flesh" means that the ways of the flesh have been put to death.  This doesn't mean that we will never again sin, though.  We are still human.  John MacArthur puts it this way: "...by walking in the Spirit, we can please God in this world."

You might be wondering, "How can I 'keep in step with the Spirit'?" 

That is a really good thing to wonder, it means you're looking to change.  The answer is so simple!  You read His word, and you pray.  Reading the word of God is life changing.  Romans 12:2 says that, that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.  That renewal process takes place by reading His word every single chance we get.  Praying is also very important.  The Creator of the universe knows every little thing we go through.  We might as well talk to Him about it all.  You know how when you're really upset or overwhelmed, and you just need to talk things out with a trusted friend?  God is that, for us, all the time, but especially when our hearts are overwhelmed.  Praise Him for who He is, then thank Him for all that He has done.  Ask Him to show you your sin, so you can confess it to Him and repent of it, then intercede for those you love, and for your own self.  (Don't neglect praying for yourself!  It is crucial and we are the only ones who know all that we walk through, meaning that if we don't pray about those things, who else will?)

Through all of this, the Lord helps us.  He guides us, and He is constantly refining us to look more and more like Him.  We should not look the same in our walk with Him from year to year.  Each year that passes should make us look more like Him.  If you're not close to the Lord than you were this time last year, you might want to take a good, hard look at your inner life.  I love studying the word of God verse by verse, and that is why I also love reading through the scriptures slowly.  If I read too fast, I'm not really absorbing all that it says.  Reading quickly also can tend to look like me just doing it to check it off my daily list of things to do.  I never want that.  I want to read it and understand and apply it to my life.  And I ask God for that, too.  I never just jump in to read without first praying.  It helps tremendously, I promise. 

I pray this encourages someone to pick up their bibles today.  Start in Galatians five!  It's all so good.  One tip in reading: always be looking out for the who, what, when, and where.  Who wrote the book, what was being talked about, when did it take place, and where did it happen?  That just helps you put it all in context. 

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.