Walking in the Spirit

How can we find ourselves walking in the Spirit within our present culture?  The stresses to conform the pressure from every side, it would seem that there are conflicting pressures that tug at our very being increase daily

Surrounded as we are by the pressures to conform, how carefully we need to weigh each decision we make.  Each one must be a godly decision, one that will steer us toward holiness and not away from it; toward God and not away from him or from the godly principles by which he wants us to live.

What Kind Of Persons Should We Be

We Should Be Pure In Heart.

The Greek word for ‘pure’, katharos means ‘unmixed’; ‘unadulterated’ This word is used in reference to corn (sifted), metal (pure), clothing (one type, such as cotton), and also to the Greek army.  A Greek army that was katharos was one purged of all discontented, cowardly, unwilling or inefficient, soldiers.  A katharos army is an army of first-class fighting men, all of them contented, courageous, willing and efficient.  We as Christians are privileged to belong to the katharos army of Christ, not only content in Christ but also strong.

We can be pure because sin no longer has dominion over us.  We are set free from sin as we trust in the blood of Jesus, set free by his death and resurrection.  He has promised that he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn1:8-9).

We are translated into his Kingdom and new laws prevail here, sin is blotted out and righteousness takes its place, you lose your life to save it, hate is changed to love; un-forgiveness to forgiveness.  Purity can be yours, as you look to Jesus who has promised to present you to the Father blameless in that wonderful day when you stand in his presence.

Paul prays for this in 1 Th 5:23-24 and makes a faith statement that it will indeed happen!

We cannot overcome sin by striving, but by resting in Christ, turning away from sin, putting off the old man and putting on the new man (Col 3:5-17).

We Should Be Patient In Faith

Perseverance or endurance is that extra inner strength, with the ability to continue on even when everything seems to be against us.  We must be patient in faith, not giving up too soon, enduring until we see the answer to our believing prayer.

As we walk in the Spirit we can witness for the Lord and bear fruit in souls saved and brought into the Kingdom of God, and in our daily life, we can bear the fruit of the Spirit for the glory of God.

We Should Be Persistent In Service.

The Greek word for ‘easy’ (chrestos) means easy, well-fitting.  So, in essence, Jesus is saying,

Wear my yoke for it fits perfectly, the life I give you to live is not a burden, but is made to measure to fit you

If we acknowledge Jesus as Lord he will send us to work to do which fits our needs and abilities exactly.  A task made to measure for us.

When we give our lives to God in service this is also part of our worship.  Our service becomes worship when we engage in it as unto him

We Should Be Powerful In Prayer.

James is referring here to Elijah who was an ordinary person, possibly a farmer or shepherd, but he was a man filled with the Holy Spirit and he knew how to pray.  He looked around him at the apostasy of his countrymen who had forgotten their God and were worshipping other gods.  He knew from the Hebrew Scriptures that if the Israelites fell away from their worship of God that they would suffer drought.  They had been warned!

He saw the sin rampant around him and remembered the word of the Lord.  He began to pray that God would send drought, otherwise, he knew the people would look upon God as weak! When he had prayed and knew that he had a word from the Lord he was as bold as a lion.

He went, just as he was, bold and unafraid, into the court of King Ahab.

If you have prayed through in the will of God you will also be able to do the task God has given you boldly and courageous

This book is now also available as an  ebook from Smashwords  Walking in Spirit - Ebook version