Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
“Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day.”
Do you understand that your flesh is in cahoots with sin desiring to imprison you and depress you and keep you from the blessing of life Jesus has planned for you?
Often, when it comes to the flesh, we fail to realize that the flesh is as Paul identifies it, a “body of death.” The flesh is fueled first with thoughts of sin, then we sow those thoughts and those thoughts become actions, the actions lead to habits, the habits lead to characters and those characters end up being fueled to influence the direction of our destinies. What about you? Are you learning to walk in the Spirit? What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
Our life in Christ and walk with the Holy Spirit can be compared to an aqueduct, the stone waterways that brought water from nearby mountains into parched cities in Italy and Spain, and that are still used in some countries today. The objective foundation of our spiritual lives, the Word of God, is like the huge stone aqueduct itself. The subjective elements, are our daily experiences with Christ and with the Holy Spirit.They are like the fresh water flowing through it.
Some Christians neglect the Word and seek only the subjective experiences. But without the solid Word of God to contain and channel that experience, the experience itself drains away into error and is lost.
Other Christians boast well-engineered aqueducts based on extensive knowledge of the Bible, but they are bone dry. They bring no refreshment. Strong spiritual lives require both a strong knowledge of the Word of God and an intimate daily relationship with Christ.
May you be blessed this week with a walk in the Spirit that makes no provision for the flesh.
By His Spirit,
Pastor Bill