Keeping in Step with the Holy Spirit

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.   Galatians 5:16, 22-23  NIV

   Growing in life means that sometimes we have to ask ourselves hard questions.  Galatians 5:16 challenges us to ask ourselves, “Do I really want the life of God that comes through the Holy Spirit? I may say I want life in the Spirit, but do I really want it?

  

   The word “flesh” in the New Testament (see the verse above) simply refers to natural human desire seeking to satisfy itself in the easiest way possible without any regard to the long term consequences or to how it effects others.  The flesh doesn’t care if its choices lead to addiction or if its choices hurt other people.  It doesn’t love, it lusts.  It doesn’t trust, it manipulates.  It doesn’t care about truth, it will lie to get what it wants.

   The Spirit, on the other hand, is focused on love.  When we walk by the Spirit, our desires our fulfilled, but not at the expense of others.  The Spirit makes it possible for us to enjoy all of God’s blessings while at the same time sharing his blessings with others.

   Paul tells us to walk by the Spirit, meaning that life in the Spirit is a humble partnership with the Spirit in every moment of life.  At first, this is extremely difficult.  Our flesh fights against the Spirit’s work in us.  But as we discover the good life the Spirit wants to share with us and learn to simply trust him, a habit of surrendering to the Spirit becomes a more and more consistent part of our lives.

   Do you want the good life of the Spirit?  Set aside some quiet time this week to honestly ask yourself this question and consider your answer.  If your answer is yes, then begin a habit of surrendering yourself to God and inviting the Holy Spirit to fill you with his life.  Start every day by letting the Holy Spirit know that you want to be completely filled with the kingdom life of God so that God's will can be done in your life just as it is done in heaven!  Continue to give yourself to Spirit throughout the day whenever it comes to your mind or when you are feeling tempted by your flesh to go against God's will.

The Language of Worship and Trust

 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.            Psalm 145:1-2  NIV

   Sometimes the simple help we need to make progress in our walk with God comes from understanding the words God uses to teach us.  There are two words in the verses above that are relatively uncommon in our everyday language, but which offer very practical help to living life with God.

   To “exalt” means to “lift up”.  We tend to let God slip below other people and things in our thinking.  Though it is impossible in reality, we tend to demote God to less than King in our thinking.  To exalt God is to promote him to the very top position of my life.  It is choosing to honor Him as King and to surrender myself to His leadership.

   To “extol” means to “praise” or “boast”.  If I don’t intentionally remind myself of God’s greatness, love, wisdom and power, He will become smaller in my mind and heart.  When He becomes smaller in my mind and heart, the challenges of life become will become bigger and command my attention.   When this happens, I will trust Him less and live with less awareness of His constant presence and care.  The result of this will be having less of God's life in my life.  That's not what I want.  I want more of God's life in my life and if you are reading this, I know that is what you want, too.

   This week, start each day by taking a few minutes to extol and exalt the Lord.

1.  EXTOL:  Start by intentionally reminding yourself of the greatness of God.  In other words, boast about God to yourself.  Praise Him for his love and care for you. Praise Him for his power and wisdom and ability to provide everything you need.  The Psalms offer great reminders of his power, love and care.  Psalm 145 is a great place to start.

2. EXALT:  After you have spent time “boasting” about God, take a few moments to “lift” Him up as King of your life.  Declare that you want to live each moment remembering that He is King and that you want to do His will in your life just as it is done in Heaven.  Offer your body and every part of your life to him to do his will.

You’ll be amazed at how much practical help exalting and extolling will provide.

The Peace of Fully Trusting God

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”     John 16:33  NIV

    What kind of “things” was Jesus telling his disciples?  He was referring to everything he just shared with them around the table of their last supper and on their walk to the Garden of Gethsemane.  He told them about his love for them.  He told them about the Holy Spirit coming to them to be their comforter and guide.  He taught them how to live life connected to him.  He told them that they would be persecuted for believing in him. He told them about his death and the lasting joy they would find in his resurrection. 

    Jesus wrapped things up for his disciples by telling them that the key to having peace in this world is NOT getting rid of trouble.  That is simply NOT possible.  Peaces comes from placing our lives in the hands of Jesus, our loving Lord.  It come through putting our full trust in him. 

   This week, set aside some time in prayer to place all the different parts of your life in Jesus’ hands.  Try this method of prayer to help you give your life completely to Christ.

1.  Start with five minutes of praising Christ, as well as the Father and the Spirit for their love, faithfulness, wisdom, power  and whatever else makes them worthy of your trust.

2.  Spend the rest of your time in prayer by giving (a.k.a., surrendering) all parts of your life to God.  You can do this with this simple prayer:  “Father, I give you…”  (my  health, my marriage, my kids, my job, my finances, my future, etc.). Don’t just say these words as if they are a lucky charm.  Slowly and honestly identify every part of your life that comes to mind and give it completely to God.  Include specific details as they come to mind.   Affirm that you want your Heavenly Father’s will to be done in every area of your life just as his will is done in Heaven.

For even greater joy and peace, do this with your spouse or a friend.  In the process of giving all your concerns to God, you will discover God’s peace that passes understanding.