And He Walks With Me
By Pamela Blattner
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”
Galatians 5:16-17
By Pamela Blattner
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”
Galatians 5:16-17
Recently, God allowed me to go through a season of loss in my life. It was difficult. My father unexpectedly died of heart failure, and within a few months, my cousin Sandy died of anorexia. I had just shared my hope and faith in Jesus with another cousin, and then he died suddenly. My mom’s health failed shortly after. One of my children and her family came to live with us for two years, as did my mother. My kids lost the house they were remodeling in Oconomowoc; and mom had several hospitalizations and is now in a nursing home.
In Philippians 3:10, the apostle Paul said that his goal in life was to know the Lord and the fellowship of His sufferings. Honestly, I don’t know if I like that. I pray that I may enjoy His sweet fellowship, but when it comes right down to it and He lets me fellowship with Him in a few of His sufferings, I whine and carry on.
But God is in the transforming and reorganizing business. He convicts us and nudges us in our spirit until we make a decision, through an act of our will, and then He transforms us to His likeness. Paul tells us, the only way to keep from feeding our ego and making sure that it’s not all about us is to “walk by the Spirit.” When we live in the Spirit we find that it’s incompatible with living in our flesh. We’re never free from sinning until we get to heaven, but for now, we have a life in which the evil one’s power is stripped and the Holy Spirit Himself urges us to walk with Him and helps us to follow Him.
Beth Moore, in her book Breaking Free, Day By Day, states, “Life involves change, change involves loss. Loss involves death of one kind or another. But every time we suffer loss, we encounter an opportunity for the loss to bring gain for Jesus’ sake by allowing His life to be revealed in us.” (1)
Are you waiting to break free from bondage and walk in loveliness and submission to the Lord? He’ll be there for you. He is faithful and, most of all, He loves you. Keep your eyes directed toward Him. Be centered in Jesus.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What difficult life circumstance do you find yourself in today? How can you “walk in the Spirit” and allow this trial to grow and mature you?
FURTHER READING:
Deuteronomy 23:14; Isaiah 44:1–5; John 6:63; 1 John 1:5–7
(1) © 2007. Beth Moore, B & H Publishing Group, page 146.
Pam and her husband Richard have two adult children and two grandchildren. She serves Oakwood through its Family Care Ministries.
