Galatians 5:6-7 – “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Christian, there is always a way among us who have been called as adopted sons and daughters of God.  We have the Spirit of God, Christ in us, to remind us of who God is, what He has done for us, and who we are in Him.  We also have flesh, stained by sin, that desires to draw us away from our hope in God, to pursue hope in the world (which always disappoints).

Walking by the Spirit is walking in the same humble, repentant heart of faith that united us to Christ in the beginning of our faith.  As our faith to believe was given by grace, a gift of God, so too must we ask for grace daily from God to sustain us.  As Christians, when we tell God “I’ve got this” or when we stop coming to Him for grace and mercy to believe and follow Him, we will ultimately turn from Him towards the desires of our flesh.  I could give countless personal examples, but my guess is I don’t have you – each of you no doubt can point to times in your life when you stopped coming to God daily, and you were led away by your own desires away from God, and if you are now following Him – God likely intervened in a powerful (probably painful) way to restore you in love.

My question for us all today is this – is your heart humble before God?  How often are you coming before God, just to acknowledge that you “can’t do it”?  How often are you asking for God’s grace and mercy on your life to trust Him and follow Him?  If this isn’t a daily practice, what is keeping you from acknowledging your need for God’s grace and mercy?

Be encouraged brothers and sisters, where there is hopelessness (in ourselves), there is great hope (in God).  Pray without ceasing – Your Heavenly Father loves you infinitely.  As you walk by the Spirit to please God, you will not gratify the desires of your flesh.  Light casts out darkness, and our God has already won the victory over sin.

Grace and Peace,

Adam