Walk By The Spirit And You Will Not Gratify The Desires Of The Flesh
The Battle Is Within
GALATIANS 5 16-26
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
”Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/gal.5.16-26.nkj
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If your desire is to have qualities listed in Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then you know that you are most likely being led by the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, be careful not to confuse your subjective feelings with the Spirit’s leading.
Being led by the Spirit involves the desire to hear and obey God with sensitivity to discern between your thoughts and feelings, and His promptings.
Live each day by the leading and guidance of the Spirit, then the Words of Christ will be in you, the love of Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you control your sinful desires.
Paul describes two forces fighting within us, the Holy Spirit and our sinful nature, our evil desires or inclinations that stem from our fleshy desires.
Furthermore, the devil is never far away, ready to temp or deceive your flesh. God allows this to test us and reveal our weaknesses.
Paul is not saying these forces are equal, the Holy Spirit is infinitely stronger, there’s no comparison, but if we rely on our own power and wisdom, we will make the wrong choices.
Trying to be right with God by our own human effort will not work, we will fall.
The only way we can be free from our evil desires is through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (see ROMANS 8:9; EPHESIANS 4:23-24; COLOSSIANS 3:3-8).
When one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit (JOHN 14:15-18), He joins with our spirit (1 CORINTHIANS 6:17) and ”The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.“
Romans 8:16-17 NKJV
Our spirit is located in our belly, for “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, Searching all the inward parts of the belly.“
Proverbs 20:27 KJV
and ”He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.“
John 7:38 KJV
We hear the Holy Spirit as a gut feeling, like intuition, it is a gut feeling from within our spirit that’s made perfect by the Holy Spirit, and what comes from the Holy Spirit is living water that is perfect and true.
As we serve God His Spirit manifests through our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions, to do good works through our flesh, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure lepers, and cast out demons (Mathew 10:8).
But should we be deceived or slip back into sin, God’s Spirit retreats from the flesh and resides quietly joined to our spirit, and brings conviction to change.
It can feel like He has condemned or abandoned us, but He will never do that; He will not break His covenant with you (JOHN 14:18).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1 NKJV
God knew about your faults and failures, your past and future sin before He gifted you with His holy Spirit. Therefore, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV
Therefore, through our spirit that is one with His Spirit (1 CORINTHIANS 6:17), He quietly convicts repentance, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13 NLT
The word of God tells us to test the spirit, the source of a prophecy or any sermon we listen to,rather than the words spoken even if it appears to align with God’s word.
So many reject Gods words, particularly prophecy because it doesn’t sound right or make sense, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Others receive false words and doctrines because it sounds right or fits in with their previous beliefs or plans and projects.
But God is always right regardless of what man says or thinks, or how crazy the message sounds, therefore, test the spirit, the source of the teachings and messages.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
I John 4:1-6 NKJV
When one receives the gift of Spirit, a battle starts within, for the flesh is not happy to give up its lusts and dominion to the Spirit.
Therefore, make your spirit king, your soul, servant to the king, who is joined with the King of kings, and having put it’s lust to death, make your flesh slave to the king and bring it into total submission.
But do not be deceived by the flesh, for the heart being part of the flesh, works to justify and please the flesh, for ”“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?“
Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV
Therefore, nothing good comes from the flesh.
Furthermore, the devil whispers into one’s soul, bringing confusion to cause one to believe his lies and activate emotions such as sadness, sorrow, anger, rage, fear; anything that will interfere with true discernment and open doors to him and his demons.
The demonic wants to make one’s flesh their home and steal one’s peace, joy, and bring torment; their purpose is to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (JOHN 10:10); they try to manipulate and take captive the individual members of the church and deceive them into false beliefs and bring division with false prophecies and teachings (MATHEW 7:15).
If one assembles regularly with a church operating from the flesh, he gives direct access to the devil to infiltrate his mind, will, and emotions and infect them with his lies and false doctrines that shall take them further and further away from the truth, making the congregation his homes.
If allowed, sin and lies shall grow like a cancer that shall spread through the whole congregation and bring about death.
Only by the leading of the Holy Spirit can the church operate in the apostolic five fold ministry of God (EPHESIANS 4:11).
My beloved, If it’s not Christ ministry, it is not of God, it is false religion (MATHEW 7:15).
Sin is a doorway for the demonic to enter the flesh.
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.“
James 4:7-10 NKJV
Submit to God is to repent and turn from sin. To resist or rebuke the devil is to stand firm against his whispers, lies and temptations, and verbally command him and his demons to leave, and he will flee from you.
They may try to hide or be stubborn; they are like squatters that don’t give up their home easily, but by bringing therm before the Judge , Jesus Christ in the courts of heaven, and being persistent, they are forced out.
Having successfully evicted them, it’s important to keep them out, for Jesus said, ”“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”“
Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
Many believers today are demonised and need of deliverance, including church leaders; some operate partly by the leading of the Spirit and part flesh, they are double minded and unstable in all their ways (JAMES 1:8) and can be a danger to the whole congregation.
If one operates by the leading of the flesh his goal will be to satisfy the lust of the flesh, such as financial gain, power and status, and nothing good nor lasting will be achieved. We see the red flags as they preach prosperity and man pleasing words of the world. They speak to the emotions of the congregation to manipulate and control.
But those who put the flesh to death and walk in the Spirit shall produce the fruits of the Spirit; ”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.“
Galatians 5:22-26 NKJV
But to walk in the Spirit, we must first receive the Spirit.
Therefore, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (ACTS 2:37-38).
My beloved, “What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord." (ACTS 22:16).
All glory to God forever and ever. Amen.
