Walk In The Spirit! Part 3

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

Walk In The Spirit! Part 3

 

In this chapter, Paul is talking about “The Life of Freedom;” he begins in verse 1 by saying, “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you” – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible. Paul is showing us here we cannot live free (being led by the Holy Spirit) and walk in the flesh (being led by our compulsions of selfishness) – these two are incompatible just as two people trying to walk together and are not going to the same place – therefore, they cannot be in agreement – our spirit is not in agreement with our flesh and cannot never be!! God works through our spirit man and the enemy works through the flesh or the natural man – we need to know without a shadow of doubt who we are serving! Sometimes people say, “God told me this” or “God told me to do that” but in reality, God did not tell them to do anything; either the enemy coached them or their own mind told them to do it. That is why you must know which voice you are following – especially if that person is speaking into your life, you must know is it the voice of God or the voice of the enemy or the voice of their own self.

That is why every person must know God for him or herself and have a one on one personal relationship with Him; do not depend on anyone, I do not care who it is, to speak to God on your behalf – YOU pray to God yourself!! In order to know the voice of God, we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is what Paul said in Romans 12:1-2:

^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Paul in Colossians 3:1-2 says – I also suggest you read the complete chapter of Colossians:

^1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Paul is saying here that Jesus is our life and we are to prove it by seeking after the things of Him. Again, walk in the Spirit (then we will be able to see things from His perspective) and we will not satisfy the selfish compulsions of the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit, we are acknowledging God in all our ways so He can lead us in the right way; we will allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us instead of us doing our own thing.

Proverbs 3:5-7 says: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!” – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Therefore, when we acknowledge God in ALL our ways we are inviting Him into our lives to give us direction for life; then the Holy Spirit can tell us the will of God for our lives and we can abandon our will and embrace God’s own. Let us stop living our lives on our own terms and live them God’s way! Paul lets us know in Galatians 2:20 we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us and the life we now live in the body, we live by faith in Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us!!

Let us stop living for man and start living for God!! Stop putting our trust in man, wasting time being connected to people God did not put in our lives; people who God did not tell us to connect with – incompatible folk who is trying to suck the life out of us!! We spend too much time, energy and money on people and things that God has not ordained to be in our lives!!

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Peace!!

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks