Galatians 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.”

Crucify the Flesh: We do this through prayer, fasting, praise and worship, and a firm dedication to laying down our own personal desires, especially the ones that are contrary to the Word of God. It is a daily conscience choice to lay ourselves down and pick up our cross and follow Him.

Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests] and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].

Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Prayer. We must be people of prayer if we want to be people of kingdom purpose. We cannot operate in kingdom purposes if we are not people of prayer first. Prayer is so much more than brining a list of wants/needs to the Lord. He does want us to bring those things to Him, but that is not the only things we should be talking to Him about. Prayer is a two-way conversation. We talk and then we also sit quietly to hear what He wants to say. The only way to learn to hear and recognize His voice is by spending time with Him. I could be in a room of 100 people, but I could pick out my husband’s voice out of all of them because I spend so much time talking to him. I do not have to try to recognize his voice, it is second nature and it flows naturally from our relationship based on the amount of time I spend talking to him. Our relationship with the Lord should be the same way.

John 10:27 The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.

We should also be spending time with Him in prayer to get to know Him better. It is where we build our intimate relationship with Him. We cannot create an intimate one-on-one relationship with Him if we do not spend time with Him. Intimacy flows from the amount of time we spend with Him in open and honest conversations. Prayer is our time to draw closer Him, learn from Him and for us to pour our hearts out to the One who loves us more than anyone else ever could. He wants to hear about our feelings, joys, struggles, sadness, victories, times we messed up, anything that is on our heart He wants us to bring it to Him. This is the time we can set at His feet and soak in His presence.

We cannot let the cares of life, or even doing work for Him, distract us from taking the time to sit at His feet. That time is vital to our walk with Him. We must learn to be silent/still in His presence and wait on Him. I love to journal everything He is speaking to me so I can meditate on it and really apply His Words to my life. Sometimes it takes a while just sitting quietly in His presence before He begins to speak. We cannot get in a hurry and we must still our minds to focus on Him. We must shut out the noise and cares of life and make Him our top priority.

Luke 10:39-42 39 She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching. 40 But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.” 41 But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.”

Holy Spirit. We must learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and ask for His leading, teaching, correction, and guidance. We should verbally welcome Him into our daily lives. We can and should also ask Him to warn us when we are near deception and or sin. He wants to lead us in all truth and we should be eager to follow.

John 14:25-26 25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.

John 16:13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].

We must also be careful to avoid quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench [subdue or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.

Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He changed into their enemy, And He fought against them.

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.

Surrender/Obedience: We must seek His will, purpose, and plans-not ours. Jesus was our example in all things, and He exemplified surrender to the Father. The Son of God was fully surrendered to God and that shows us we must fully submit to Him in all our ways. When we accept Jesus as our Savior our lives are no longer ours. We have been bought with a price (Jesus dying on the cross) and now our lives belong to Him. The disciples understood this. When He called them, they laid down everything and followed Him (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).

Mark 14:35-36 35 After going a little farther, He fell to the ground [distressed by the weight of His spiritual burden] and began to pray that if it were possible [in the Father’s will], the hour [of suffering and death for the sins of mankind] might pass from Him. 36 He was saying, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You; take this cup [of judgment] away from Me; but not what I will, but what You will.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

Reading His Word. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading His Word. We must search out the truths of His Word for ourselves. There is nothing wrong with getting teaching from ministers, but nothing can replace getting into the Word for ourselves. We must line up everything we are taught with the Word of God. The only way we will know if we are being taught correctly, from ministers, is if we know the Word for ourselves. The Word of God is alive and active. It can offer help for every single situation we face. It is also where we learn who God is, who we are in Him, and how He feels about us. It is our lifeline, and it should be treated with that amount of importance.

Hebrews 4:1212 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Matthew 4:4 4 But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

Be imitators of Him. We must seek to look and act more like Him. We must learn to be selfless, love like He loves, see others as He sees them, and have compassion like He has compassion. We should be praying daily to be more like Him. Our prayer should always be to have less of us and more of Him. We must also point to Him in all we do and accomplish.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];

1 Peter 2:21 For [as a believer] you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps.

John 3:30 He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.

Selfless and Not Selfish. We must point to Him in all things and understand any good in us comes from Him. We cannot be consumed with self. This is contrary to everything we are taught, but we must learn to shift the focus from ourselves and put it on Him and others. It is not about how many likes or follows we can get on social media, how much money we can make, our status, how smart we are, or how good we look. It is about how many people we can reach for the Lord and what we can do for Jesus and others.

Philippians 2:3-4 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves. 4 Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 3 But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. 2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.

The opposite of this scripture is operating in humility and with a servant’s heart.

Put Him first. In all things He must be first. He will not accept second place in our lives. If we really want to walk in His fullness, He must be first in all things. We must spend time doing self-evaluations to make sure we are not putting anything or anyone above God. Do our lives really reflect Him being first? Our time, our devotion, our thoughts, our relationships, etc.

Matthew 22:37 And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Matthew 10:37-39 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. 39 Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

Repentance: We must be quick to repent and keep our hearts soft. Letting a little sin in here and there will lead to a hard heart and we must always avoid letting that happen. We can get so desensitized to sin that we no longer even call it for what it is.

Ezekiel 36:26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ephesians 4:18 18 for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.

Hebrews 3:7-11 7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as [your fathers did] in the rebellion [of Israel at Meribah], On the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tried Me by testing [My forbearance and tolerance],
And saw My works for forty years [And found I stood their test]. 10 “Therefore I was angered with this generation, And I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways [nor become progressively better and more intimately acquainted with them]’; 11 So I swore [an oath] in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest [the promised land].’”

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises] and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, Fullness of Joy Ministry

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