And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

(Galatians 5:24 NKJV)

A busy day seems overwhelming. I grab my laptop and snuggle under the covers, but by the time one short task is complete, sleepiness sets in. Just a little nap. Just an hour. I place the computer next to the bed and turn over. That is my daily struggle between the Spirit and the flesh. Now I spend all day playing catch up.

Perhaps sleep isn’t your weakness. Maybe it’s more serious, but if we want to win the daily battles over negative emotions, overeating, or sleep, we must be Spirit-filled. Many things we seek to conquer are rooted in our flesh: fear, worry, doubt, and stress.

So, how do we overcome them. We try harder. We promise to avoid certain triggers, but that usually doesn’t work.

Our flesh cannot conquer itself. Trying to conquer fleshly problems with the flesh is short-lived, if it even gets off the ground. We must stop walking in the flesh, and allow the Spirit to rule.

Paul listed the works of the flesh as fornication, idolatry, envy, drunkenness and so forth (Gal. 5:19—21). Then He listed the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, and gentleness… (Gal. 5:22-23). Not all lusts of the flesh are necessarily sinful like my fondness of sleep or the desire to indulge in food. Still, they can act as a roadblock just like any sin.

How can we win this internal war? Look at our focal verse above. We must crucify our flesh. As Christians, we have the power of the Holy Spirit living within us, but God doesn’t force us to live a Spirit-filled life. We get to make that choice, and friend, sometimes we make poor choices.

Imagine a glass filled with water. After you drink half of it, you are left with a glass half filled with water and the other half is air. That’s us, half Spirit and half flesh. When we pray and submit to the Spirit, our glass fills up with the Holy Spirit power. That’s when the Spirit is reigning and self has been removed from the throne.

Is a Spirit-filled life worth some extra time spent in prayer? Absolutely! Is it worth the pain of shouting “no!” to the flesh? We have some hard work ahead of us, but nothing good comes easy.

Will you commit to walk in the power of the Spirit while we crucify our flesh? Let’s pray for one another as we make these life-altering changes

Lord God, Put to death the deeds of my flesh. The sinful ones and the ones that hold me back. Fill me to the brim with Your Holy Spirit so I can walk in Your power and not my flesh. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

DIG DEEPER

Read Galatians 5:16-25.

HIKING THE TRAIL

We are accustomed to training our flesh to cooperate. Remember that’s not the way we accomplish this. We pray and we submit to the Spirit, and we will live a Spirit-filled life in His power and His alone. Otherwise, It’s legalism.

RELATED RESOURCE

Now’s the time to enhance our prayer lives with a devotional on prayer. Consider Incense Rising: 60 Days to Powerful Prayer. Paperback here. Kindle $1.99 here.

Originally posted on April 9, 2021 @ 3:00 am