Whitney Houston sings “I Love the Lord” accompanied by Georgia Mass Choir
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill 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. Gal 5:16-17 (KJV)
Works of the Flesh: Part 1
The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Image via Wikipedia
These verses cover the daily struggle of life in Christ. The Holy Spirit inside us tells us plainly what we should do, but too often we choose to muffle His voice with our wants, desires, presumptions, fears, attitudes, hurts and perceived distresses. Like a man in a straight jacket with his arms bound down we wriggle and writhe to get free. We struggle in our own strength and fail. We forget that in our flesh “dwells no good thing.” (Romans 7:18) We can take heart that we are not the solution. The solution to the struggles with our flesh and what it wants to do is to “walk in the spirit.” This instruction may sound mysterious, but our part is very basic and practical. Walk. This means that we have to live in accordance to the will of God. Use our will to choose to read and meditate on God’s word. Use our will to choose to pray. Use our will to choose to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in all the choices in our daily lives. We must stop and critique according to the word of God before we reach for goals, relationships, words to say and even purchases. All thoughts and all things must be held captive to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) When we bathe our minds in the word of God, we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, and given fresh strength and perspective to “walk in the Spirit” and “not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the many thoughts and actions that I have not made captive to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the many times I have ignored the Holy Spirit and abandoned my study of your word. Lord, please, grant me the power to overcome the world, even as Jesus overcame the world, and to walk in the spirit, that I may not fulfill the lust of the flesh. These things I ask and give thanks for, in Jesus’ precious name, Amen. And Amen. Next Week’s Discussion: What are the works of the flesh?
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Video “I Love the Lord” by Richard Smallwoood, and sung by Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir, was Uploaded to Youtube.com by familyforgod on Apr 7, 2008. The song is from the 1996 movie “The Preacher’s Wife.” Verneda Lights and E-graphX Omnimedia have no ownership of this video. It is used for instructional purposes only.
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