“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”’” (John 7:37-38 NLT)
There is no power, authority, success, or victory in human living apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Too often, even as believers in Jesus who are truly desiring to be useful in the carrying out of His eternal purposes, we want to fly by the seat of our pants, seeking to do in the flesh what can only be accomplished in the energy of the Spirit of God.
Many seem to have the mistaken notion that the Lord winds us up and sets us loose to do His work and by so doing, we’re going to gain status in His eyes and favor in our efforts to earn our way to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s the enemy’s scheme to deceive and distract us from the true plans of God that involve our submitting to the Lord’s authority and yielding to His Spirit’s control.
Nothing of eternal value is ever accomplished without the Spirit’s empowering and enabling presence at work in and through us. Mark Driscoll had it right when he wrote: “The key to a victorious Christian life? Don’t just live for Christ, let Christ live through you!” And some will respond: “Yeh, that sounds great, but how do I do that?”
To explain that I want to introduce you to the ministry of Dr. Neil Anderson. Dr. Anderson writes: “’Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.’ (Galatians 5:16). When we first became Christians, we were like one-third horsepower lawn mower engines. We could accomplish something, but not very much because we weren’t very mature. Our ambition as Christians is to become engines that can power earth-moving machinery – real powerhouses for the Lord. But neither a lawn mower nor a bulldozer can accomplish anything without gas. And neither can we accomplish anything apart from Christ (John 15:5). No matter how mature you are, you can never be productive unless you are walking in the Spirit.
When it comes to the choice between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the Spirit, our will is like a toggle switch. The new Christian’s will seems to be spring-loaded toward fleshly behavior. He is still the unwitting victim of a thoroughly trained flesh that only knows how to operate independently of God. The mature Christian’s will is spring-loaded toward the Spirit. He makes occasional poor choices, but he is learning to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit on a daily basis.
If you’re hoping for a magic formula or a list of foolproof steps for walking in the Spirit, you will be disappointed. The moment you reduce the Spirit-filled walk to a formula or an intellectual exercise, you probably won’t be Spirit-filled anymore.
The Holy Spirit is a “He” not an “it’. Our walk with God is a personal experience, not a mechanical or legalistic formula. We see the immorality of fleshly indulgence everywhere, but simply preaching against it and telling people to shape up is not God’s answer. The law is powerless to give life (Galatians 3:21). Reintroducing the law to believers won’t work. But if we learn to walk by the Spirit, we won’t carry out the desires of the flesh. Let’s encourage others to do the same.
Lord, I desire to be patient with others in their walk of faith as You are patient with me. Help me have a gracious response and a gentle answer to others today.”
Hope that’s helpful in giving you the key to a better understanding of how to walk in the Spirit.
Dr. Anderson has given us much food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 