Devotion #27

Hi, Everyone.
Today's devotion, from my personal journal dated May 5, 2007, is about living by the Spirit (being led by and walking with the Spirit) and how it is the key to not gratifying the flesh (not overeating).
As always, I do love hearing from each of you.

     This morning the Lord and I were talking, and I asked Him to help me understand what I felt yesterday, why it was such a struggle, especially in the afternoon. I "heard" two words in my spirit:  "flesh" and "Spirit."
     I looked for a verse with both words in it, with my Concordance, and found Galatians 5:16, "...walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh."
     I know I need to walk in a way that honors the Lord. That is my desire. I recognize that involves a continual drinking of the Living Water, continuous fellowship with Christ, and a refusal to gratify the desires of the flesh. There is a conflict, though, between flesh and Spirit. I read Galatians 5:17, which says that "the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things you please."
     I asked the Lord, "So, am I bound to live the rest of my life with this inner struggle going on all the time? Will I experience victory one day and defeat the next? That's not abundant life!" He led me back to the words, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." I may still have the desires, but I am enabled through the Holy Spirit to not gratify them, if I am living by the Spirit, that is.
     I must commit myself to the guidance of the Word and the Holy Spirit. That, coupled with Grace, will show up in my walk, in my daily relationship with God, and even in my eating habits. Step by step. Step by step.
     My "fight" is not so much with overeating, but with maintaining my walk with the Lord. If I live by the Spirit, am led by the Spirit, and walk with the Spirit, it is a promise that I will NOT gratify my flesh, I will not overeat.

Today, lovingly consider how you're doing with living by the Spirit (being led by and walking with the Spirit). Choose to empty yourself of "self" and yield to the Holy Spirit, today.

I hope you have about 4 minutes to watch and listen to Jeremy Camp singing My Desire, a song of what it is like to desire to be emptied, yielded, filled, and used by the Holy Spirit. 
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=b65f4c0ccd295c c484e5

Blessings,
Mary