Did you know that God wants you to live & move in the Spirit?
Galatians 5:16, says, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” This is a powerful reality to which God is calling every believer to, including you!
What does it mean to “walk in the Spirit"? The word walk is a very interesting term in the greek New Testament, it's the word pĕripatĕō, and it means to tread all around, or to live, deport oneself, to follow as a companion, to be occupied with, or to walkabout. In essence, to walk in the Spirit is to walk about, to follow the spirit as a companion or friend, or to be completely occupied with the Spirit.
Have you ever fallen in love with someone so much that your thoughts were completely mesmerized and captivated by that person? Where your mind is so occupied with that one individual? Or have you ever journeyed on a hike with a friend or companion and you had to follow them closely along the path staying in the same pace with that friend or companion? The idea behind this word is very much the combination of the above examples!
God wants you to be His companion. He wants to take you on His journey for your life, but you have to stay close! He wants us so in love with Him that our mind, will, and emotions are completely invested and preoccupied with Him! How do we know if we are walking in the Spirit? If we are minding Him!
Romans 8:5, in the AMPC version, so beautifully illustrates this for us, 'For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.' This is truly the way we know! Do you set your mind on the things of God's Spirit? Do you allow Him to control your desires in accordance with His will?
How do we follow after the spirit? How do we enter into this precious walk in the Spirit? We simply must decide to fellowship with the Spirit. There are three primary ways in which to fellowship with God's Spirit: 1. By the ministry of the scriptures 2. By the ministry of prayer 3. And by simply yielding to the Spirit.
Allowing the Spirit to minister to you through the scriptures is the main way in which we can follow God's Spirit, due to the fact that the scriptures & the Spirit always agree. The Spirit is the divine author of the scriptures. If you want to know what the Spirit sounds like, what His mind is like, then you must get into the scriptures. The scriptures are meant to be read prayerfully with the Spirit, as the Bible is the only book in the world where the author is present with us and eager to reveal to us the truths written in the pages of the Bible. As we prayerfully engage in God's written word, He begins to reveal His spoken revealed word to us through the very scriptures we read. He begins to search and light our hearts so that we can please Him. Have you ever read the scriptures and a particular verse popped out at you as you meditated on it? This is where He begins to light the path on which you walk on. To walk in the Spirit your path must be lit, Psalms 119:05 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The journey along the path of the Spirit is found first by His word.
The ministry of prayer is the second way in which we walk by His Spirit. Prayer is certainly the highest ministry and calling in your life. Without the ministry of prayer, how will the Spirit draw near to you and reveal what He wants to speak to convey? The scriptures declare that we must draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. As we draw near to Him, He begins to draw close to us creating an intimate communion through His Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in his benediction to the corinthians, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." What Paul understood was that communion with the Holy Spirit was essential to the believer. The scriptures are like food and prayer is like drink. Both are essential to spiritual nourishment. Notice, I used the term, "the ministry of prayer" It truly is our highest ministry as it relates to our relationship with Him. Prayer in its foundation is to minister to the Holy Spirit. Many have prayer all backwards! Prayer is not just primarily to minister to you, it is primarily to minister to Him! It is to engage with his heart on His time, with His mind and for Him. He wants us to pray out what's on His heart and release His will on the earth to His children. Prayer has a beautiful side-effect, sensitivity. Prayer sensitizes you to the things above and allows you to be in sync, in harmony, in cadence with the rhythm of His heart. Once this beautiful communion and oneness is received, sensitivity to what offends him, grieves him, and what he desires is made real to us. It is God working in your heart. Philippians 2:13 echos this truth, "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." He does this by the ministry of prayer. As you begin to minister to Him, he begins to minister to us and now our desires and affections align with Him, through our union in Christ.
Lastly, we must yield to Him. To yield is to give way or to surrender and let happen what God purposes for our lives. Sin and temptation very much work the same way. We often yield the same way, a thought comes, then there is a setting of mind on that particular temptation then the yielding to that desire is then executed by our actions, this is the way the flesh dominates us. In the same way, we must learn to yield to His promptings and leadings. When we are tempted, we must choose to set our minds on His word and yield to Him in every situation and as we habitually yield to His spirit in our lives, the works of our flesh slowly start to dwindle by the burning/kindling of God's Spirit in us. Our desires are now His. The fruit of the Spirit (His Presence within) begins to grow. To bear His fruit is to simply yield to His continual work in you.
He so desires us to live and move in His Spirit. You can live and move in the Spirit because He desires you to. He loves you and desires that you walk with Him!
THE VIDEO BELOW ELABORATES ON SOME OF THE MAIN POINTS MADE IN THIS BLOG POST: