Tag: Prayer
Are You In The Flesh Or In The Spirit?
JUNE 9, 2020
Hey Friends,
Do you want to know whether you are in the flesh or in the Spirit?
Do you want to know if you are pleasing God or at war with Him?
You CAN know!
Years ago I came home from work and Nancy said, “You need to go into (one of our daughter)’s bedroom. She’s throwing a fit.” Before I walked in, I said, “Lord I don’t have anything. But I’m trusting you.” So, I walked in and said, “How ya doin’?”
She said “Terrible.”
Everything was wrong. To her this was a major crisis. It was some great injustice and her temper was totally justifiable in her eyes.
So I asked her a question:
“On a scale from one to ten, how are you doing in walking in love right now?”
She said zero.
I said, “Okay, how about Joy? One to ten, how are you doing?”
“Zero.”
“How about Peace?”
“Zero.”
I want through all nine fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22,23 and she rated herself a zero on every one of them.
I said, “Did you realize that, if you have a zero for each of those, then you’re walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit?”
I don’t remember what she said next, but I do remember the complete change in her attitude. The storm was passed by. She was no longer in emotional turmoil.
Through her finding out she was in the flesh, she was able to locate where she was emotionally and spiritually, where she wanted to be, and that it was her will that would get her there. She chose to walk in the Spirit and instantly received the reward of choosing to walk that way. She had peace, joy, love and all the rest.
So, friends, how are YOU doing?
Are you walking in the Spirit or the flesh?
On a scale of 1 to 10 rate yourself
How are you doing when it comes to walking in:
Love?
Joy?
Peace?
Patience?
Kindness?
Goodness?
Faithfulness?
Gentleness?
Self-control?
Romans 8:5-9 “For they that are according to the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are according to 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 the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”
You get to choose.
Love ya
Receiving God’s Best
Son, receive my best. I am an abundant God and I have abundance for you. I can grant what you request.
Make way for me by making requests of what you’d like me to do. I delight in answering your prayers.
Faith words come from faith, no other source.
Listen to what faith is saying and say that. No manipulation. No appeals for mercy. No shows. Just speak what faith is saying.
Son, my plan is unfolding. Walk it out as I give it to you. There are great things coming. Know this. Know me. I am your very great reward.
Let me draw you deeper into Sonship. Position yourself as my son. Occupy that position. Expect provision, blessing, direction, and wisdom.
Temptation
Matthew 26 (KJV):
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
A friend of mine writes books about family matters, one of his quotes is ‘peer pressure is only as strong as family identity is weak.’ (Gary Ezzo)
Peer pressure is an external emotional pressure that works to get you to conform to a certain line of thinking or behavior. It’s pack mentality; go with the crowd. The bigger the crowd, the stronger the influence. Gravely, negative behavior has come about in kids from great families because peer pressure won.
A family must create or discern its own identity and develops its own ‘family pressure’. If there is buy-in by most or all of the members then a sufficient offset to peer pressure exists. It’s really a battle between two different mindsets- the family vs. the peer crowd. It’s two different crowds. It’s two different directions. It’s two different sets of values.
If a child spends more time with their friends than with their family the influence of their friends will be strengthened. If they spend more time with their family, then they will find family values and ideas to be more acceptable.
You have to believe in the set of values you follow. It helps if you are around others who also believe in those same values so you can successfully live out those values in your life.
Jesus said to watch and pray so that you won’t fall into temptation. Can you see how you will be stronger against temptation if you spend time with God in prayer? You will be influenced with His values, His desires, His ways. As you get to know Him better the influence and ways of the world become more and more distasteful. Temptation loses its strength. The more time you spend with God in prayer the stronger you will be against temptation. As a matter of fact, temptation becomes a non-issue.
Resisting temptation is easy if you are strongly identified with Jesus. If you identify with being part of God’s family then you know who you are.
Do you know how much I’m tempted to do drugs right now? Zero! Not at all. I’m not around drugs. I don’t hang out with people who are doing drugs, I have no desire for the high that drugs produce. I’m quite happy without them. So there is the freedom from temptation because of the proximity to the temptation.
But when I was in high school, I used to take my guitar and go out behind the school on the other side of a hill and play my guitar for all the kids who were getting high. I never saw them doing the drugs I could just always see that glassy look in their eyes and I noticed their altered state of mind. I was around them a lot. Apparently my guitar playing was quite impressive when they were high. But I can tell you quite honestly that in all that time I was never once tempted to partake in their drugs. I knew who I was, I was regularly reading my Bible, I was constantly praying. I was aware of God’s presence. I also knew who my family was and what they stood for. Actually in my family we used to make fun of people who had to use alcohol or drugs to have a good time. To be quite honest in my young mind, an image had formed through family conversations to the effect that joy was for higher life forms and lower life forms had to use drugs and alcohol to partake of joy. Because of this mindset, right or wrong, I never envied the people who were getting high. I just enjoyed playing guitar for them, because they seemed to enjoy it as well.
So, I want to encourage you that temptation may be quite helpful to you in that it exposes where you may have a weak philosophy about something. Maybe you don’t believe something as deeply as you should. The Devil looks for open doors not solid walls. So go revisit what you believe in the area you are being tempted in. Go find out why you believe what you believe. You might need to fortify something. You might need to strengthen your beliefs so that you’ll be stronger.
Joseph Barlow 