Sunday Morning Podcast August 6, 2017. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT: GALATIANS. 5:16-25
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit should be our greatest desire. This scripture was part of a “letter” or epistle to the church of God at Galatians. Paul was dealing with a congregation in it’s infancy, which had much they needed to understand about walking in the Spirit. These people were forming what essentially was to be a “cloud of witnesses.” As such they needed to learn the ways of God’s Spirit, and be deterred away from living after the flesh (verses 19-21). Do you believe your common purpose is for men and women to be saved? Our purpose then should be to accomplish God’s will, to look out for others instead of focusing on our own needs and desires. Walking in the Spirit is about loving others more than our self. Yet … we need to also care about our life to honor God by our behavior in order to let Him shine through us so we can reach others. Loving the life God has given us is realizing that He didn’t make a mistake when He made us …or anyone else.
Walking in the Spirit is how God would have a congregation to start. It entails, A) Forming, B) Storming, C) “Norming”, and D) Performing. Walking in the Spirit; will bring the forming (formation) of believers as a church; storming together each of the group’s conflicts that needs a holy conclusion to a fleshly problem; this leads to a “norming” or accepting one another’s differences to get along; and then to have a church performing the living word of God. The solution in the “norming” is to walk in the Spirit, commune with God, …and to be humble.
When the storming or chaos of life and thoughts come, do you go to prayer, in order to have the norm, to walk in the Spirit?”
Are you performing to “Walk in the Spirit?”