Walk in the Spirit

Gal 5:16-25  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Rom 8:1-14  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The Apostle Peter wrote in 2Pe 3:15 , And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Peter warned us right here that people will twist the writings of the apostle Paul to their own destruction, and also to the destruction of those who embrace their false teachings. There are two major twistings that are being promoted and published in a big way in our time, that will bring destruction to many that are embracing them. So much of this goes straight back to John 3 where Jesus said that He did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world (Jesus/the truth) and men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil and they will not come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved. This is why many are happy to receive false teachings, because of the condition of thier hearts. One of these twistings is right here in Rom 8:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
This scripture is talking about the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father. If you don't have the Spirit of Christ you are none of His.You are not born again. You haven't received Him. If you are born again:
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father; The Spirit of Christ is in your heart. You are His. And you have been baptized into his death. You are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. You have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. The Spirit is life because of righteousness; you are called to walk in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father every day. That is why the Father sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. You cannot walk in the Spirit unless you have been filled with the Spirit. However many twist these scriptures in Romans and elsewhere to say that you received the Holy Spirit when you received the Spirit of Christ into your heart. No, you received Christ, and He dwells in your heart by faith, you have been born of the Spirit, but you must be baptized in the Holy Spirit to receive power, Acts 1:8, and to be His witness, to walk in the Spirit. If any man says that he abides in Christ, let Him walk as He walked. How did Jesus walk? He said of Himself: I only do what I see the Father doing, and I only say what I hear the Father saying. How did He do that? He was filled with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan river when John the Baptist baptized Him, then He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to overcome the Devil and the world, and he came out in the power of the Spirit. We must have the power of the Spirit with us to put to death the deeds of the flesh that we may live in the Spirit and do the Father's will, denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus every day. He is going to lead us by the Holy Spirit.

Another major twisting of Paul's writings is turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,  Jude 4. Sin is no longer a problem. We are not under the law but under grace, Jesus took care of all sin once forever, I'm in faith so I'm not in sin, I'm being led by the Spirit so it's not sin, etc, etc, etc. The only problem is, if you are going to follow Paul's writings, you need to read them all and follow the whole counsel of God's Word, and right here in Gal 5 Paul gave a very clear list of the works of the flesh and he said if you do those things you will not inherit the Kingdom of God, but he said if you walk in the Spirit you won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In Romans: If you live after the flesh you shall die, but if you through the Spirit do mortify, put to death, the deeds of the body, you shall live. The Lord has promised that He will give to every one of us according to our works:
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.
We are without excuse. He has given us His Son, He has given us His Word, and He has given us His Holy Spirit. We only need receive and walk in all that He has so kindly given us, and we will overcome and enter into His kingdom. So ask yourself honestly, Am I really walking in the Spirit or am I walking in the flesh? If you are walking in the flesh you can repent and ask the Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit and lead you and help you to walk in the Spirit every day. Then you will have the fruit of the Spirit manifesting in your life: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance, against such there is no law.

The Steps of a Righteous Man

We are hearing much today of the trouble that is coming and all the different things we need to do to prepare and be ready. No doubt trouble is coming; no doubt we need to prepare and be ready. We need to ask God to perfect our hearts toward Him, for the eyes of the Lord go to and fro in the Earth looking for someone to show Himself strong on their behalf whose heart is perfect toward Him. We need not fear what is coming if our trust is completely in God Almighty and not in any man.
Psalm 28:7: The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise Him. Psalm27:5: For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in His pavilion; and in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. That Rock is Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, doing His Words, obeying His voice. Rejoice!  for the steps of a righteous man are ordered of God:

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The Gospel

The Gospel means "The Good News". What good news? God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Who is He? His name is Jesus. He is the Son of God. He willingly came to Earth from Heaven. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He became a man like us. He had a body like us, but He was the Son of God. He was born holy! The scripture says He was tempted in every way like us, yet He never sinned. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil. Yet the religious leaders and many of the people hated Him and condemned Him to death by crucifixion. However, it was the will of the Father for Him to willingly give Himself on the cross a living sacrifice for our sins. Because He knew no sin, when his blood was shed it completely satisfied the Father in heaven for all our sins.The scripture says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. He was buried in a tomb, and on the third day the Father raised Him from the dead by His mighty power. Jesus is the first begotten from the dead.
We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We must repent of our sins and believe the Gospel, calling on the Lord, and be baptized,
baptized into His death, our old sin nature is buried with Him, and we are raised with him, justified from all things. We become the righteousness of God in Him! We must receive the Holy Spirit and be led by Him to do the will of God from the heart. Jesus said in John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever- the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Jesus said take up your cross daily and follow Him. You must receive the Holy Spirit so you can be led by Him. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to sin. So as you continue to believe the Gospel, believing that you are dead to sin in Him, as you were baptized into His death, and you are alive unto God in Him through His resurrection, you will be led by the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus and do the will of the Father from your heart, you will be walking in righteousness by faith, pleasing God! If you sin, you can confess your sin to Him, and His blood that he shed on the cross, faith in His blood, justifies you before the Father, just as though you had never sinned. You will be saved from the wrath of God to come, if you continue in Him. You will be delivered from everything that hinders you. He overcame death and sin and all the powers of darkness when he rose from that grave! He appeared to His disciples several times afterwards for a period of 40 days before He ascended to heaven to the right hand of God, where He is right now, making intersession for us. He is alive! He will save you completely if you will come to Him and give yourself completely to Him. Jesus said "Repent and believe the Gospel, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand".

There is the truth and there is a lie. That's all there is to it. You cannot have another truth besides the truth, ie: "your truth and my truth". If it is besides the truth it is a lie. Jesus Christ said He is the truth; He said the Word of God is the truth in John 17; the scriptures also say that the Holy Spirit is the truth. The Word of God spoken by the Holy Spirit is life. , John 6:63: It is the Spirit that quickens (gives life); the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life. Lies are ministered by the Devil, also perversions of the truth, and, if we believe them, they bring us into bondage and ultimately death. Jesus said, John 8:31&32, If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciple indeed; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Free! From the bondage of the lies we have received because of the condition of our hearts.  Heb 3:12&13: Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you and evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is deceitful. As you are continuing in it and enjoying it's pleasures, all the while your heart is being hardened and your love is growing cold (Matt 24:12), and when it is finished,(James 1:15) will bring forth death. So beloved, turn completely from your sins unto the one who loved you and washed you from them in His own blood, and love Him with all your heart and live!

Watch and Pray

Matt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
If we don't pray we will enter into temptation because our flesh is weak. Jude said, Build yourselves up praying in the Holy Spirit. When you pray in tongues, and with the understanding for an hour, watching in faith, you build yourself up, you strengthen your inner man and you enter into warfare with the powers of darkness that are hindering you and working to destroy you and your loved ones. We have the victory in Jesus but we must fight the good fight of faith and overcome them. Also if we sow to the flesh we will reap corruption; Gal 6:8, but if we sow to the Spirit we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Our flesh wars against the Spirit. That's why we must put it to death every day through the Spirit. Deny your fleshly desires to entertain yourself, take up your cross, the will of the Father for you in the Gospel, and follow Jesus. He leads us by the Holy Spirit to do the will of the Father, to do His Word. You cannot possibly do this without being fully baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, Act 1:5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The Problem

The problem in my life is not somebody else. The problem in my life is me. It is what is in my heart that comes out of my mouth that causes my problems.
The answer is not to try to change or remove the other person. The answer is to change me, for my heart to be changed by the power of God in Christ.
As I walk with another person my heart is exposed through conflict. If I will humble myself and continue to repent and forgive and love God and that person,
I will be changed and so will they.
Isaiah 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
We can be changed because our iniquities were laid on Jesus, on the cross, where he loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. As we continue to repent and believe what He did for us we will be delivered from the evil that is in us and we will overcome the evil around us. 1John 1:7-10, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Not only will the sins we have committed be forgiven, but we will be cleansed from the iniquity in our heart that brought them about. As we continue doing his Word, being taught by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, we will truly be Jesus' disciples, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.
We must be patient and not be ashamed as the Lord continues to work in us and others. Be of good cheer for he is with us. Nothing is too hard for him.

Our Great King

We are so blind, so deaf, so hard hearted because of all the iniquity filling the earth, all the rebellion, pride of life, deceitfulness of riches and lust for other things; we have lost sight of our God, how great and mighty He is. He said of Himself that He is a great King. We do not fear Him nor reverence Him as we should. Majesty; when was the last time some one even used the word. Majesty, worship His majesty. We would all do well to fall on our faces and cry out to Him for mercy and repent of our pride and hardness of heart and rebellion.
Ps 48, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the City of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King.
Mal 1:14  But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great KIng, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Job 40:7-14  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
Luk 12:4 & 5  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.