Spirit is Willing & Body is Weak!
Obey the Word of God and you will be walking in the Spirit of God for the Word is Spirit and Truth.
Matthew 26:41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
*You have to believe in the “Power of the Word” and resist the power of the flesh.
*Wash your mind with the power of the word. Renew Your Mind. (Romans 12:2).
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere……”
* This verse really Defines our Purpose- “Telling people about JESUS”.
*God has poured out the Holy Spirit on us when we asked Him into our hearts and through the Holy Spirit God is calling us to witness/disciple to others.
The way you walk in the Spirit is through living by, conducting your Actions according to, and following the leading of the Word of God as given to you by the Holy Spirit.
*The Holy Spirit and the Word of God agree “Perfectly” because the Holy Spirit IS the one who inspired the written Word of God.
*Denying the flesh will not result in walking in the Spirit.
*Walking in the Spirit will result in denying the flesh.
** As a whole, false religions teach that as we overcome our flesh, there is a noticeable increase in the presence and power of God in our lives. That was what the Pharisees of Jesus’ day and the legalistic Jews of Paul’s day taught.
BUT– Just the opposite is true.
As we experience more of the presence and power of the Spirit of God, then the Influence of the flesh is diminished.
**Victory must come in this order. We don’t walk in the Spirit as a result of overcoming the flesh, rather overcoming the flesh is the result of walking in the Spirit.
It’s similar to how you fill a dark room with light. You don’t shovel out the darkness and then light appears. No! You simply turn on the light and the darkness flees.
Much of religion preaches to stop sinning (get rid of the darkness) and then the Holy Spirit will come and empower you (the light will come). That’s not the way it works according to the word.
* MAN or SELF can no more get rid of the power of the flesh on his own than he can get rid of the power of darkness without light.
” This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth”. 1John 1:5-6.
*God hates sin and is holy. The reason there are bad things allowed is because He gave US choice. The possibility of sin is created by OUR free choice. God gets the most glory when you choose to glorify and follow God. God is sovereign.
*** We have to Receive the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives by Grace and then the union with the Holy Spirit breaks the power of the flesh.
***** The key to breaking the dominion of the flesh is to appropriate the power of the Spirit through faith, while the flesh is still causing us problems.
Recognize that your experiences will be marked by great expectations and great resistance. The great expectations come from your faith to receive the promises the Lord has made to you in His word.
The great resistance is a result of more pressure from the enemy. The choices you make at this time to both believe and to fight will determine the nature of your spiritual environment. Be diligent to walk in the Spirit.(We fight from Victory not for Victory. 1JN 4:4).
Galatians 5:16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
*Do you struggle with an independent spirit? When you refuse to depend on God, in essence, you’re saying, “Okay, God, I appreciate that You’re around, but watch me do this.”
Depending on God for everything may be difficult, but it’s the key to the Victory we need every single day of our lives.
*Choose to stop living independently, (pride) and rely on the Holy Spirit.
Acts 5:32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”
*We can not live in sin and also live for God.
We can not receive power from the Holy Spirit while we are living in sin, because we can not receive the Spirit unless we are obedient to Him.
*”A person can not serve two masters, he will either hate the one and love the other, or love the one and hate the other.”
**We must choose God as our Master, receive His Holy Spirit, and live in obedience to Him. This is the path of righteousness.
*Do you make decisions based on the potential outcome or by the direction of the Holy Spirit in your life?
* Do you overly evaluate the pros and cons without consideration to what the Holy Spirit might be saying deep inside? *We are all prone to make decisions based on reasoning alone.
* Ask God to give you a willingness and ability to hear the Holy Spirit and to obey His promptings.
Hebrews 5:8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
***Obey the Word of God and you will walking in the Spirit of God for the Word is Spirit and Truth.
Lord, I am struggling to obey You as I should. At Times I am frustrated and afraid- due to lack of finances, lack of results and at times tired and want to quit. Please continue to fill me hourly with Your Spirit and enable me to do what I cannot do on my own. Lord help me keep working toward Your will and purpose for my life of telling people about Jesus and His Love. Father, forgive me for not constantly being on watch for temptations. Forgive me for not praying to you regularly. But- Lord I thank you for the guidance and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. God I realize that I can’t do this alone. I need your help so that I can recognize Satan’s temptation and need Your help to avoid sins-Because victory is Mine Because of your great Love for me on that Cross. Help me to pray without Ceasing and give me the willingness and ability to hear the Holy Spirit through your word and to obey ALL Your promptings to lift the Body up and give encouragement to all for Your Glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.