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Walking in the Spirit
One passage in scripture lays the groundwork for the benefits of walking in the Spirit. Look at Galatians 5:16
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
The average Christian takes an approach to faith that is counter to God’s ways. We attempt to overcome our weaknesses by strengthening our flesh. Many times I’ve said to myself, “If I can just try harder,” or “resist more,” or “put forth more effort, then I can overcome and be more spiritual.”
There are disciplines in the Christian life as we saw earlier, but harder work and more effort is not what makes us better Christians. It also is not how we overcome sin in our lives. When the Galatian church attempted to make themselves more spiritual by human efforts, they were rebuked. In their case, they thought they had to keep a certain portion of the law in order to complete their salvation.
Paul’s answer to them equally applies to us. “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”[1]
The same question echoes through time to our day. Are we foolish enough to think that we can perfect ourselves through the efforts of the flesh? Whether that perfection be an attempt to make ourselves more righteous, or an attempt to overcome our weaknesses, the same principle applies. The Bible says that the weakness of the law is the flesh. Our human nature is the weak link. It’s foolish to use the weakness of the flesh to attempt to strengthen the spirit.
Before Jesus was arrested, He withdrew with three of His disciples to pray. When the disciples didn’t realize the seriousness of what they would soon face, Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” Human effort is weak and incapable of accomplishing spiritual victory. Resisting in the flesh doesn’t overcome our flesh. Let me give an illustration.
When I was young and athletic, I’d hit the weight room with my friends to get in better shape. One of our more painful exercises was also the most effective. To build endurance, we’d lie on a bench and put a small amount of weight on a barbell, then hold it halfway up. When beginning the exercise, holding the weight was easy, but it wasn’t long before fatigue set in.
Regardless of our strength, not one of us could hold that weight in this position for more than a few minutes. Eventually, the weight that seemed easy to lift became so heavy our arms were unable to hold it up. Regardless of our willingness and determination, once the flesh hit its limit, it was powerless to overcome even the lightest of tasks.
This is what the flesh does when we attempt to overcome in the flesh. Why do great men fall to temptation? Why do people we know that are Christians sometimes do things that shock us? I’ve known godly men who fell into terrible sin. When a high profile Christian falls, we hear about it on the news, but the truth is that we are all vulnerable. Unless we understand the war between the flesh and the Spirit, we are ill-equipped in the battle. We equip ourselves by understanding the challenge of the flesh and what it means to walk in the Spirit.
Each believer must learn how to walk in the victory as the Bible promises, and we do this through the Spirit, and not through human effort. Otherwise we’re in a losing battle. Since the flesh is the weakness that prevents us from fulfilling the law, it stands to reason that when we stand in the flesh, we are weak in all spiritual matters. The law is spiritual. So is the new life God has given us. What we could not do through the law, Christ accomplished for us, and then gave us the spiritual life that was once hidden behind the law. This passage explains it well. Look at Romans 8:3-9
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
The flesh cannot be subject to the law of God. Our flesh is at war with God and cannot accomplish anything but to produce death. Christ has given us life, but we can still submit ourselves under the curse of the flesh by being carnally minded. The word ‘carnal’ means, sensual nature, animal cravings, or of the flesh.
Take special note of the warning, those who set their minds on the flesh live in the flesh. And vice versa. Life is to those who set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Through your flesh – human efforts – you cannot please God. Jesus expressed this same thought when He warned the religious people of His day, “The flesh profits you nothing. The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life.”[2]
A Christian is defeated in the flesh. This is true whether they are pursuing sinful desires, or attempting to live out their faith by human effort. We come to Christ by faith and are born into the Spirit. And that is exactly how we live out our faith. We begin in the Spirit and therefore, must walk in the Spirit. We don’t begin by faith and then walk by human effort.
We are told to flee temptation. Whether that temptation is sensuality, or the desire to become our own source of righteousness, we are called to flee, or remove ourselves from the things that draw us into the flesh. To stand and resist is like holding a weight out with our arms. Eventually we all get tired and if we remain under the burden, it will overcome us.
Proverbs tells us that a proud spirit comes before a fall. Pride is why people attempt to make themselves righteous by human effort. We want to accomplish something, look back, and say, “Look what I did for the Lord.” But the Bible says that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. God also makes it clear that no flesh will glory in His presence.
Anything that brings glory to the flesh is rejected by God. The Apostle Peter found this out the hard way. Throughout his time with Jesus, Peter showed himself to be strong by his own personality. He was always the first to speak out and he was the first to get into trouble.
The night Jesus was arrested, Jesus foretold of the events and said, “You will all be offended because of me this night, and you’ll leave me alone.”
Peter said that even if everyone forsook Jesus, he would never forsake Him. He claimed that he would willingly go to prison or even to death. After Jesus said, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times,” Peter continued to insist that he would never fall.
He did fall. And hard.
In that culture, women had little influence. Even their testimonies held little weight. After fleeing with the rest of the disciples, Peter followed the arresting party from a distance and slipped unnoticed into the palace area where Jesus was being tried. A servant girl, probably the lowest class of citizen in that culture, began the accusation. She pointed to Peter and said, “Aren’t you one of His disciples?” Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was. He cowered under the accusation of a girl whose testimony wouldn’t have even been allowed in that ancient culture.
As the girl incited others, Peter’s problems mounted. He denied even to the point to where he called down curses upon himself to prove he didn’t know Jesus.
Standing upon his own strength, Peter was powerless to overcome temptation. It rolled over him like an avalanche. After the resurrection, Jesus came to get Peter and restore him. His life was never the same. No longer did Peter depend on his own strength. He discovered what God also revealed to the Apostle Paul: God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness[3].
In other words, when we stand in the flesh, the flesh is all we have. It’s weakness is our weakness. However, when we recognize our inability to stand strong in the flesh, we learn to be strong in the Lord and then we have the power of His might[4].
Peter, who cowered before a servant girl and denied Christ, later stood before those who condemned Jesus and boldly proclaimed their guilt, and then explained God’s forgiveness offered to them.
This is what walking in the Spirit is all about. It is removing our dependence on the flesh so the Spirit of God can reign unhindered in our lives. Standing firm in the flesh is an eventual defeat, but walking in the Spirit is certain victory. If you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
The flesh verses the Spirit.
You may be like me. For years I had no idea what it meant to walk in the Spirit. In fact, I wasn’t sure what it meant to be in the flesh or the Spirit. Let’s take a moment to clarify what these things mean, and then will look at how the Bible teaches us to walk in the Spirit.
The flesh is our bodies and the sinful nature that corrupts it. The Bible uses a few terms to describe this, such as the natural man, carnal man, old man, and the flesh. Before coming to Christ, the Bible describes us as being the natural (or carnal) man. Unless gender is specifically addressed, when the Bible uses ‘man’, it refers to mankind. So whether you’re a man or a woman, these things apply.
As we looked at earlier, we are born into a sinful nature. The Bible teaches that we are freed from the power of the flesh when our old man was crucified with Christ. Look at Romans 6:6-7
6 Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
The Bible says that we should not walk in our former conduct since we have put off the old man with his deeds[5]. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation and have a new man – that inner being that was born through the Spirit, and is not corrupted by sin or the fall.
Even though we have a new nature, we still have the influences of our old selves because sin remains in our physical bodies. We’ve already discussed this, but it bears repeating. We know that sin in our flesh wars against our minds and seeks to bring us back into captivity to sin. That is the flesh. It’s what we have to deal with every day of our lives. Given the chance, sin in our flesh, will again dominate our lives.
Walking in the Spirit is to walk in fellowship with the Lord through the word, renewing our minds, and putting the focus of our minds on things that are of the Spirit. It is to walk by faith, focusing on Christ. It is to receive all things as a gift of God, by faith. This applies to our spiritual life, and our interactions with the world around us. The Bible says we have been given ALL things that pertain to life and godliness, and these are given freely to us through God’s divine nature.[6] The flesh lives for the world, the Spirit strives for eternity. In order for the Spirit to reign in our lives, the flesh has to be crucified and taken out of the way.
Crucify the flesh.
Crucifying the flesh is a message that isn’t well received in today’s church culture. It seems too sacrificial until you put it into practice. Most are taught that we add Jesus to our lives in order to gain fulfillment. But the Bible teaches that we lay down our lives in this world in order to find eternal life. When someone wants Jesus and their own ways, a conflict is inevitable. Christianity then becomes a quest to justify our choices instead of walking in the Spirit. Consider the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23-24
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
The ways of Jesus were not the ways of the culture around Him. When people followed for the wrong reasons, He offended them with hard choices. Christ was more concerned about making disciples than gaining followers. If someone follows for the wrong reason, God will make them choose in order to show what kind of faith they really have.
When Jesus uttered the words above, the masses were following Him. To make it clear that this wasn’t a motivational seminar, Jesus identified what a true follower looked like. Unless we fulfill this instruction, we aren’t truly following Jesus. This draws the line between a pretentious faith and the real thing.
Discipleship requires that we deny ourselves. I want temptation. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t be tempting. Sometimes denial is setting aside a good thing because it hinders our walk. Hobbies, sports, television, recreation, careers, and other activities are not necessarily wrong, but they can choke the word in our lives and hinder our walk. Several apostles compared this to being entangled. We are not to allow ourselves to be entangled in the cares of this life, or the temptations that once ensnared us. Otherwise, we are casting off the eternal for something that is temporary and will be passing away. The things we naturally value in this life are worthless after our physical deaths.
Things we consider as good can be an entanglement if they prevent us from fulfilling our calling. That is why it’s called denying ourselves. Something I may like, that isn’t necessarily wrong, if it hinders my spiritual life, should be set aside. It might be television. Even wholesome programming can crowd out our time with the Lord. It boils down to what we value. Do I value what is eternal over the things that are passing away? If so, I’ll be willing to deny these things an undo place of prominence in my life.
Jesus also said to take up our cross. I’ve heard many explanations of what this means, but the Biblical meaning is clear. Taking up our cross does not mean to suffer – though we might be put into a position to suffer. Some teach that we have to have something in our lives that cause suffering. Personal suffering does not serve as a penal substitute. Nor does it make us more Christ-like, though it can turn our hearts to seek Him deeper. Many with infirmities suffer and are bitter. Atheists suffer, but it doesn’t make them Christ-like.
Taking up the cross means the death of the flesh. It means to be crucified with Christ. This is spoken in context to what Jesus was to accomplish on the cross. He is our example. He did not love His own life, but laid down his life to accomplish the will of the Father and to put sin to death.
In every context where the cross or crucifying the flesh is mentioned, it is always to put off our selfish will, so we can take up the new life God has given. The Bible says that Jesus was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit[7]. Paul stated that he died that he might live in Christ[8]. You can’t follow Christ while carrying the burden of the life centered around the flesh. Walking in the Spirit takes our hearts and minds where the flesh cannot go.
The cross is the death of the flesh and the death of the will that seeks to follow our own ways. When people were exploring Jesus’ call to repentance, He warned them to count the cost before beginning. There is a cost. We are being called to give up our lives in this life so we can gain the life to come. We’re being asked to give up a temporary life in the flesh to gain an eternal life in the Spirit. ‘Just try Jesus’ doesn’t work. Unless someone lays down their life, they cannot experience life in the Spirit. Nibbling on spirituality doesn’t reveal the true things of God. Read this passage from Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Take note of what is being taught in this passage. We first present our bodies as a living sacrifice. It’s a reasonable request because Christ first gave Himself for us. Only then do we have the power to fulfill the second verse – not to conform to this world. We have first yielded ourselves to God, and then we turn from the world and its lusts by renewing our minds. In doing so, we discover the perfect will of God.
This idea takes us back to the illustration of the weight. To say, don’t conform to the world, isn’t enough. Looking at temptation and resisting it is a losing battle. Resisting what our minds are focusing on is like asking someone to hold up a weight forever.
We must resist the lust of the flesh by turning from the flesh, and toward the Spirit. We cease from conforming to the world because our renewed minds become focused on the word and godliness. We renew our minds by the word, prayer, meditating on the Lord, and all the things God gives for us to grow in our faith.
Misunderstanding this basic principle is why people struggle needlessly with their weaknesses. Some misquote scripture and say, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Not so. People try to believe this, but then wonder why temptation continues to hammer at them. There is much more than mere resistance, so let’s look at the passage where this quote originates in its context. James 4:7-8
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
What comes before resistance? Submission to God. We turn from temptation by turning to the Lord and submitting to His will. When we draw near to God, He draws near to us. But we first must answer His call for submission. Then He overcomes our weaknesses by drawing us out of the flesh and close to Himself. While submitted to the flesh, it is impossible to draw near to God. There must first be a yielding to His will.
This is made evident through our example of Jesus Christ. He learned obedience by surrendering His will. Look at Hebrews 5:8
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
To understand what this passage is saying, let’s look at the event where Jesus learned obedience. Look now at Luke 22:41-43
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
Jesus is our High Priest and is able to identify with our weaknesses because He had to endure all things like us[9]. Yet He did so without sin. Jesus learned obedience without rebellion. In the garden where He prayed, Jesus agonized over the coming crucifixion. He pled that if there were any other way that this cup of suffering would pass from Him. But there wasn’t another way. By His own testimony, this was the reason He came into the world.
In His suffering, Jesus shifted His focus from the suffering, to the will of God. You can see His progression toward obedience through each prayer. Three times He asked to escape the cross, but each time the focus becomes more on ‘your will be done’ and less on, ‘let this cup pass away.’
This is a lesson for us. Jesus didn’t force His will to align with the Fathers. He said, “Not my will, but yours.” Obedience was dying to His own will and submitting to the will of the Father.
In the same way, your goal is not to make your will align with God’s will. Often times they will be opposed – especially when your will draws from the flesh. According to scripture, the flesh and the Spirit are at war with each other and will never agree. Many times your will and God’s will won’t be in agreement, but you overcome by saying, “Not my will, but Yours.”
Like Jesus, who longed for a way of escape, we also will long to fulfill our desires over the Lord’s call. Having a will that opposes God’s will is not a sin. Choosing our will over God’s will is where sin is found. Rather than trying to force our will to conform, we must do as Christ did – pray and surrender our will while following the Father’s will.
When Jesus surrendered His will, an angel from heaven renewed His strength. We also have this promise. According to the Bible, angels are ministering spirits sent to minister to those who will inherit salvation[10]. You may not see God ministering with human eyes, but when you are surrendered to His will and walking in obedience, heaven is sent to strengthen you.
It’s okay to acknowledge that God’s ways are not what we desire. It’s okay to pray for God to make another way. Wrestling with ourselves as we press toward obedience is not a lack of faith. It is only a lack of faith when we believe our will is greater than the Lord’s.
When we have to put down our cross and follow our own ways, we have turned away from the Spirit. And there will be times when we don’t understand God’s will or what choice is right. We resolve this by prayer, seeking the Lord, renewing our minds, and at times, fasting.
It’s okay that you will have times of struggling. Don’t think you are spiritually immature or that you have failed in some way. Sometimes we have to wrestle free of the grip of the flesh.
When I put off my will and take up the will of God, I am crucifying the flesh and walking in the Spirit. Putting off my will may be the process of changing my conversations, putting off certain behaviors, or simply refusing to live for my own desires. It must be an active choice. Just as Paul said, “I die daily,” we must daily take an active role in putting off our flesh and taking up the cross. Look at Ephesians 4:22-24
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
The call of God is to put off our flesh (crucify it and take up the cross) and put on the new man (our incorruptible spirit given to us). Remember that Jesus said to take up the cross and follow Him daily. It’s not a one-time act. Each day we wrestle against our flesh as we put off our former conduct and put on the new ways of God. Putting off the conduct is taking up the cross. Putting on the new man is to follow Christ.
False religion is trying to do something to earn God’s favor, but true obedience is putting off what hinders our faith. Our call of God is to crucify the flesh so the light of truth can shine. According to Romans 8:13, it is through the Spirit we crucify our flesh. By submitting to God, we find the power to bring our flesh under subjection and find righteousness. Righteous works comes from God, but our work is to put off the hindrances so He will work through us. The Bible gives a great illustration of this in the life of Gideon.
Gideon was a young teen, hiding in a wine vat and threshing wheat[11]. He was hiding because the enemies of Israel, the Midianites, oppressed the nation to the point of complete poverty. If they saw an Israelite with wheat or another crop, they came in with raiders and stole it. God came to this ill equipped young man and declared he would be the leader of Israel’s armies and proclaimed that God would deliver Israel from the Midianites through Gideon.
Gideon raised up an army and prepared for war. To keep the people from trusting in their own abilities, God sent every soldier away except three hundred men. The Midianite army responded by joining with other nations to bring together an army in excess of a hundred-thousand warriors. Gideon was afraid, but God strengthened him as the young man obeyed.
God then gave the instruction to take torches, insert them into clay pots, and then gather around the massive army by night. When the signal was given, each of the men shattered the clay pot and shouted. Without human effort, the army was defeated because God sent the soldiers into confusion, and they began killing each other.
The deeper truth of this account is usually missed by most Christians. Gideon’s victory is a picture of the Christian walk of faith. It is a visual image of walking in the Spirit. The torch is symbolic of the light of Christ placed in our hearts when we are born again. The clay pot is the flesh of our bodies. This is affirmed when the Bible says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the power may be of God and not us.”[12]
Victory isn’t found by great feats of strength or human effort. We simply break the flesh so the work of God can shine through. Like Gideon, we proclaim the victory and see the work God is doing. The battle is not in accomplishing the work of God, but in breaking the flesh. We remove the flesh (the earthen vessel) so the treasure of God’s power can work in our lives.
God could do this by force, but He does not. He calls us to remove the flesh and gives the promise that He will do His work. While the flesh stands in the way, God remains silent. I’m sure Gideon and his men thought the attack plan was absurd. How can breaking a clay pot give three hundred men victory over such a strong obstacle as this mass of seasoned warriors? It can’t. Breaking the pitchers didn’t do anything to the army. But God honored their obedience and He defeated the enemy before their eyes.
This might help you see why the Christian life appears so foolish from the outside. What we do can’t accomplish anything. Our acts of faith simply release our strongholds and the strongholds of the flesh so we can see the promise of God stepping into our lives to do as He has promised.
You too must obey the call of the Lord. Crucifying the flesh doesn’t accomplish the will of God. But it does put you in obedience, removes the barrier, and lets the light of God’s spirit shine. It simply removes what hinders so God’s promise can shine through. The victory is His. The work is His. Success is His. But obedience is yours, and so is the reward.
We remove the flesh by renewing our minds while crucifying the flesh. Without renewal, our minds become influenced by the world around us. The more we are in the world, the more desensitized to sin we become and the less we care about the eternal things of God. Renewing changes this. It must be a daily choice. You can’t thrive on yesterday’s spiritual renewal.
Renewing in the Spirit.
In the Old Testament, God used manna as a picture of spiritual food. In the New Testament, Jesus called Himself the manna from heaven and then called His words (teachings) the source of life.
The Old Testament is valuable in understanding the New Testament. Israel was led out of bondage and toward the Promised Land. This is a picture of the Christian’s journey. Just as the Children of Israel were enslaved to Pharaoh, we were enslaved to sin. God defeated Pharaoh and delivered His people from bondage. We were in bondage to sin, but Christ defeated Satan on the cross and led us out of sin. God led the Israelites across the desert and toward the Promise. We also are wandering in the desert of this world as we journey toward our promise.
In the desert, there was no food to sustain God’s people, so He sent manna from heaven. Each day, the people had to go out and gather the manna for that day’s nutrition. They were forbidden to gather more than a day’s worth at a time. Manna would not keep until the next day.
There is no nutrition for our souls in this world, so we also are called to gather the day’s nutrients from the manna from heaven. According to Jesus, that is Him, who is the Word of Life. Those who make a practice of daily digging into the word grow and have stronger spiritual health. Those who neglect are starving their spiritual lives. Famished Christians faint along the way, and often abandon the journey.
This was given to us in scripture as an example of how we ought to live. Daily we grow in the word as we study to renew our minds by the word and by the cleansing of the Spirit.
The Israelites who lost focus on the destination began to desire what they left behind. They became unsatisfied with the manna, unsatisfied with the ways of God, and even tried to establish their own leadership. For this, God judged them. Those who rebelled never found the promise.
In our church culture, we see this same scenario played out. People forget where they are going and begin to look back. This is why Jesus said, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.[13]”
This doesn’t mean we can’t repent and start going forward, for God’s hand is always drawing His children back to fellowship. This person has his hands on the kingdom but he is looking back to the world. His (or her) heart is still upon what they are leaving behind. Every one of us will look back if we forget to look ahead to where we are going. The solution is found in Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Jesus is not only the Author of our faith, but also the Finisher. He’s the finish line we are racing toward. The sin that ensnares us can be anything that draws our eyes off of where we are going. Considering His sacrifice for us and love toward us becomes an encouragement when we’re discouraged.
Jesus endured the cross while despising its shame. Think about the weight of that statement for a moment. The cross was the highest form of shame. The crucified prisoner would be stripped of clothing, nailed by their hands and feet, and then raised up on a hill near the city for everyone to see. It was not only intended for maximum pain, but also to be a shameful public spectacle.
Crowds gathered while insults were hurled toward Jesus. While the masses gawked and taunted, Jesus was forced to push down on His pierced feet in order to release enough tension on His chest to grab a breath of air. It was a slow and excruciating death.
Yet Jesus found the joy to endure. The joy wasn’t in the cross. He despised the cross. He begged for another way, knowing what He was about to endure. Endurance came in the form of joy. The joy set before Him provided the endurance. For Christ, the joy before Him was your reconciliation. He looked beyond the cross to the joy – our redemption and eternal life.
For us, we endure our troubles the same way. We look ahead to the joy set before us. That joy is ultimately the finish line. In daily life, it is His promises. Our eyes remain on the kingdom of God, and the Lord who redeemed us. He is our strength and we stand upon the promise that He is with us, and the promise of inheriting the kingdom with our Lord.
When we lose sight of this, we are distracted by other things and where our eyes are looking, our lives will soon follow. When we realize we are looking elsewhere, repentance is in order. Repentance isn’t groveling in misery, but correcting our way. Because we belong to God, His Spirit is always working in our life to guide us into His perfect will. Repentance is a God-empowered choice to turn from the wrong way toward the right way. For some, it is a 180 degree turn around. For others, it is a course correction. Everyone drifts, and when we realize it, we return our focus to Christ, and begin heading in the right way again.
When you fail, stop acting as though God is ready to lash out at you in anger. Rather than cowering from God, recognize that the Lord acknowledges our weakness of the flesh, and turn to Him for the power to break free from the bondage of the flesh. Don’t substitute the bondage of the flesh with the bondage of religion and legalistic thinking. We don’t have to miss anything God has in store. Nor is it necessary for us to flounder without direction. God shows us how to avoid the things that entangle us and distract us. And He shows us how to focus on the joy set before us.
The Lord loves to show Himself strong on our behalf. The Bible says that the eyes of the Lord search throughout the earth to show Himself strong in those whose hearts are completely His[14]. Our hearts are either wandering into the prideful flesh, or it’s completely His. To be completely God’s, we must first lay down our lives. We must lay aside our human strength before we can stand upon His. Peter found this out when he fell. Paul discovered this when he felt vulnerable because of what he called, a thorn in his flesh. A messenger of Satan pounded him constantly and he begged God three times for deliverance.
God’s answer was, ‘no’. Because Paul was the source of many revelations of scripture, God blessed him with weakness. To keep the apostle from being lifted up with pride, a physical ailment was given, and a messenger of Satan buffeted him. To buffet is to strike with violent force. This was a source of pain and grief to Paul, but God’s answer was, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul’s flesh and human efforts were reduced to a state of weakness so God could show Himself strong on Paul’s behalf. Once he realized the benefit, Paul said, “I glory in my weakness, for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
This is not only echoed throughout the New Testament, but it’s beautifully explained in Isaiah 40:29-31
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Notice, it isn’t the strength of the individual. The strength of men fail and the vibrant youth will faint in their weakness of human effort. The strength is only to those whose renewal is in the Lord – those who depend on God’s strength.
Are you struggling? The answer is not to find strength within yourself. It’s not to become a better you. Embrace the truth that the flesh is weak and surrender it to God, and depend wholly on His strength. The strength of God is to the weak. Only the weak learn what it means to walk in the Spirit, for they have crucified the flesh, laid it aside so they no longer depend upon it, and they place their trust completely in the Lord.
Are there things you don’t like about yourself? Almost everyone has things they don’t like. It could be something we think is ugly, weak, inabilities, speech problems, or any number of challenges that hinder man. In the world’s eyes, beauty and strength gain the highest praise, but in the Christian’s life, shortcomings are a blessing. They turn our hearts to depend on God.
Like with other hardships, some allow it to cultivate bitterness, but to those who glory in weakness so they can experience God, these find true confidence and strength. True strength comes from the Lord. Nothing gives more confidence than knowing God is our designer, sustainer, and the one who gives us the strength and the ability to do His will.
When your heart is completely His, God will show Himself strong through you. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit. If you belong to Christ, you have the Spirit of God within you and have the power to walk in the Spirit. That power is God’s hand in your life. Victory is found through submission, not commitment. It’s not through commitment, but surrender.
Your strength will fail, but to those who are strong in the Lord, they have the promise of the power of God’s might.[15]
[1] Galatians 3:3
[2] John 6:63
[3] 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
[4] Ephesians 6:10
[5] Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9
[6] 2 Peter 2:3
[7] 1 Peter 3:18
[8] Galatians 2:19-20
[9] Hebrews 4:15
[10] Hebrews 1:14
[11] Judges 6:11
[12] 2 Corinthians 4:7
[13] Luke 9:62
[14] 2 Chronicles 16:9
[15] Ephesians 6:10