THE LIFE OF FAITH AND THE GLORIOUS CHURCH - 2009
                                                           MARCH 2nd


                                               WALK BY THE SPIRIT AND YOU WILL NOT CARRY OUT THE DESIRE OF THE FLESH

 
          ...."Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him"....
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Romans 8:8-9 NASB

 
          We are born-again children of God and we have the Holy Spirit, but each one of us needs to have the infilling of the Holy Spirit [Baptism of the Holy Spirit] so that we come under His control and, thus, operate in His power - in ALL things. The Word of God states in Galatians 5:16 "walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh", it does not say do not carry out the lusts of the flesh then you shall walk by the Spirit. To one who has the desire within them to strive in their own strength in the carrying out of their service to God, they will always take the approach "I will stop doing the things of the flesh and, THEN, I will be able to walk by the Holy Spirit". But those who truly love God [and, thus, they seek to be empowered by Him in ALL things], will walk in obedience to those first "simple" instructions given by the Holy Spirit and, THEN, they shall see clearly that they are "empowered" by Him to walk above the lusts of the flesh. The secret to walking above the lusts of the flesh is to draw near to the Word of God, and be found abiding in that Word at all times - thereby enabling us to walk by the Spirit in perfect obedience, and NOT fulfil the lusts of the flesh. It is as we act and speak in perfect obedience [bring every thought captive], moment to moment, that we will rise above the temptation of the reciprocal action of the flesh in that moment - that Satan is attempting to pressure us to act on. We need to get our priorities straight, for if we attempt to discern anything through the mind of the flesh rather than by the Spirit of God [the mind of Christ], then we shall always get it "backwards". In this last hour, as the "absoluteness" of God is revealed to the hearts of His children through holy fire [divine light], EVERYTHING that is not of God shall be seen to be exactly the opposite and, thus, contrary, to His will. The words that Jesus spoke shall ring true in the hearts of those who rebel against Him in these days. Jesus said, "He who is not for Me is against Me",  and it is in this way [holy fire - divine judgement] that we shall once again be able to distinguish between the righteous and the unrighteous, between those who serve God and those who do not serve Him
[Malachi 3:18]. From this great refining process the "spotless and unblemished" Bride of Christ shall arise in the earth, and take the fullness of the authority that has been given her in Christ.

Related Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 10:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 5:27;


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