If we live by the Spirit!

(Galatians 5:25) “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Good things never come easy! Is this statement a figment of my imagination or is it true. Life is a beautiful thing, ask any parent, ask a mother if child-birth is easy, she will without exception say it is very painful and do everything in her power to find a way of escape; there are many ways medical practitioners help short circuit the pain barrier, epidurals and the like, which must help, but look into her eyes after the ordeal and it is obvious the pain is soon forgotten as she cradles her newborn baby in her arms. Love and joy now rich within her heart, and as onlookers we witness her happiness, it was worth it all!

However how many mothers actually know why childbirth is painful? I am not convinced I would get a positive result. When a mother is in the process of giving birth and she cries out from the pain, and screams “why?” have you ever heard someone retort back, “it’s because of Eve’s sin”. It would never ever happen! But this would be a truthful response, it is a sentence from God past down onto woman, and only because of Eve’s sin, it’s as simple as that! Nothing complicated about it at all! Why the point, what’s its purpose you may ask? There is no random coincidence in God’s economy and the sooner we settle our hearts on this truth the freer we will be to walk in the spirit instead of always summoning to the demands of the flesh with is lusts. We are short circuit kings and love the easy out. I know I have already made this point but our great God loves to reward his children. If this is true which it is, what must we do to be beneficiaries of His reward? WE MUST WALK IN THE SPIRIT! Yes we must now begin to reason with a totally new set of rules which is not a set of rules but it is the liberty of grace.

We must forget the conditioning that our lives have taught us, all those rules through education and achievements that take priority. We now must leave all that behind as we now find our dependency on God our Father through Jesus Christ his Son, our Redeeming Saviour. We must learn to appropriate our Christian walk one day at a time and no more. We need to rid ourselves of all the rot and the garbage people have conditioned us to believe. It is no more than a daily walk, one day at a time is all that God requires from us. Will we trust him for today? Tomorrow will take care of itself!  We must settle on that mindset, as we are incapable of any more than this, in these earthen vessels (human bodies) of ours.

If we adopt this mindset then food, clothing and even shelter will be taken care of, it is a promise from God. With that worry out of the equation what then will be our reward? Obedience is better than sacrifice; we must let this truth sink deep. We must simply believe the Word of God, regardless of all its opposition. So if we believe what it teaches then we simply will obey its instruction, this is what “obedience is better than sacrifice” means. God the Father said to God the Son go to the cross and die and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus did, He obeyed! His obedience has now set us free; we are now sons of God because He obeyed. All we need do is look at our Redeemers great example and we will see a resolute calmness about the way he went about His business; and I say it is all because of His obedience. Once His heart had been settle there was no more wrestling. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane, there was a time when He looked to His father for the cup to pass, but once He resigned Himself to what was set before Him He overcame triumphantly, praise His name! Its design is no different for all of us who name the name of Jesus as Lord and King. But where we lose our way is when we shirk our duty to obey. We stop believing God’s Word and then walk in unbelief. We do it our way! May God help us to see!   

Now then apart from the obvious, salvation, the hope of heaven and the like, what is the reward from our God for all who obey His Word? It is not worldly possessions but the fruits of the Spirit. If money is our driving force we will be sorrowful, in fact any wants that supersedes laying down our lives for Christ will cause much pain for the believer. Why? Because God will not reward that! “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3) - But when we take up our cross and follow Him, we will be rewarded. How so? This will be our reward; “…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. “If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

This tangible truth fuels us to press on and we then can honestly echo the Words of our Saviour; “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew11:30) 

Signing off

Tyrone