Influencers Weekly Devotional

Go With ME

Embracing Our Sacred Responsibility

Live by the Spirit

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.” Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV)

I know the sinful nature quite well. I was born with it and have lived with it all of my life. It is a very natural expression for me, as it is with all mankind. It is within our DNA to have a sinful nature, and I know nothing good can come from it. I am convinced of this. Therefore, it gives great hope to me to be told that the “beast” within me can have a Master Who will re-train the natural instincts of my sinful nature into the better and greater nature of my Master. The sinful nature has brought me grief most of my life. But the real mystery to me is the Holy Spirit, and how living by the Spirit will guide me away from those things that cause me this grief. Several years ago, I discovered two essential requirements of me in order to live by the Spirit. “Personal Abandonment and Absolute Trust” was the answer I received when I asked God to reveal to me what was needed. It was the start of learning to walk by the Spirit. It is still no less a mystery to me now as it was when He first spoke these words to my heart. I have not lived by the Spirit long enough to be an expert. I have a lot more to learn. But I do have some experience in this process, and I will share what I have observed to be several key attitudes that are needed for me to live by the Spirit. Perhaps it will stimulate you to seek your own answers from Him. · Attitude of Surrender: As represented in “personal abandonment and absolute trust,” it is essential that I surrender control of my life, as well as all other rights to myself, to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. There can be only one Master if I want to live by the Spirit. · Attitude of Priority: If I hope to live by the Spirit, I must make it a priority to run all important decisions before Him and seek His wisdom. Therefore, I must learn to seek Him and listen to Him. · Attitude about God’s Holy Word: I have discovered that I must immerse my mind in God’s word, so that I can know both the heart and wisdom of the Spirit when He speaks to me. God’s Word is the Spirit’s clearest voice to me. · Attitude of Obedience: If I seek the Spirit’s counsel for any decision I will make, I must be willing to be obedient to His leadership. I have discovered it is best for me to say “yes” to the Holy Spirit before He even asks me a question, or tells me to do something. · Attitude about the nature of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is a Gentleman. It is not His nature to intrude into any area of my life where He is not invited. I must seek to have every aspect of my life under His influence, in order to live by the Spirit. · Attitude about my relationship with the Holy Spirit: I cannot live by the Spirit if I think of Him as a traffic cop watching everything I do so He can give me a ticket. This would be legalism, and I would miss how He wants me to view our relationship. He wants to be my Friend, my Companion, my Guide and my Teacher. He wants me to enjoy a relationship with Him based on His loving grace He has granted to me. · Attitude about the Holy Spirit’s deity: Although He grants me friendship with Him, and He invites me to a deeper, informal relationship with Him, I must never be casual with it. He is Friend, but He is God. I must always remember this, and always worship Who He is. The Holy Spirit has a demeanor about Him that is distinct from the nature of man. We read about it in Galatians 5:22 and see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness to be His Method of Operating. These characteristics are in His DNA. It is Who He is, and these characteristics are natural for Him. On the other hand, we read in Galatians 5:19 what the nature of mankind is: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions1and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. We might not be involved with all these things, but it is guaranteed all of us will see something in this group that reminds us of our inner nature, especially when we get under pressure. With these contrasting natures in mind, we can understand there is a clear indication if we are living by the Spirit, if we observe His characteristics consistently showing up in our life. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of a Spirit-controlled life. The “deeds of the flesh” are evidence of our flesh nature being in control. We are either under His influence because we live by the Spirit, or we are still under the influence of our flesh nature. It will reveal itself sooner or later. As we learn to live by the Spirit, we will also grow in our desire to leave our old nature behind. It is within this nurturing environment that the Spirit is able to have His way with our life, and form us into men after His own heart. Therefore, if we want to play our part in this transformation process, we must make it our most serious effort to stay plugged into the Vine, as we abide in Christ. Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE