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Galatians 5:16 - Living by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 (NIV) So I say, live by the 
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the 
sinful nature.  

Galatians 5:16 (AMP) But I say, walk and 
live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit 
[responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; 
then you will certainly not gratify the cravings 
and desires of the flesh (of human nature 
without God). 

COMMENTARY PEARL

How to Open the Flow of Gods Blessings
   Most people from up north probably 
wouldnt consider Texas winters to be harsh. But when 
we moved from Florida to Texas, it was a shock 
for us. I remember one night that first year 
after we moved that it got down to 17 degrees. For 
us, it was unbearably cold! 
   Well, we didnt know how to prepare for 
a hard freeze like that. So we neglected to 
wrap up our water spigots outside and leave our 
indoor faucets dripping overnight. And the next 
morning when I woke up and turned on the water 
nothing. Our pipes had frozen. 
   After things began to warm up, we were 
able to turn the water on. But we couldnt do 
anything until then because the ice was clogging the 
flow of water. 
   Just as that ice was to our pipes, 
restraining and choking out the water, sin and 
disobedience are in our lives, clogging what God wants to 
do and freezing up the flow of His blessings. 
Thats because when youre not walking in the 
Spirit, you cant receive everything God wants to 
give you! 
   Whatever it is in your life today 
thats choking out the abundant life God wants you 
to have, get it out. Walk in obedience and 
youll open up the channel to receiving Gods 
greatest blessings for your life. 
             OPEN THE FLOW OF GODS 
BLESSINGS IN YOUR LIFE  
           BY WALKING IN THE SPIRIT AND 
LIVING IN OBEDIENCE! 
                 [PowerPoint Today by Jack 
Graham;  
   
https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/powerpoint/ re Deu. 28:1-2] 

INTRODUCTION

If your desire is to have the qualities 
listed in 5:22, 23, then you know that the Holy 
Spirit is leading you. At the same time, be careful 
not to confuse your subjective feelings with the 
Spirit's leading. Being led by the Holy Spirit 
involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey 
God's Word, and the sensitivity to discern between 
your feelings and his promptings. Live each day 
controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the 
words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of 
Christ will be behind your actions, and the power 
of Christ will help you control your selfish 
desires.  [Life Application SB] 

There are those who profess to serve God, 
while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His 
law, to form a right character, and secure 
salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense 
of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform 
the duties of the Christian life as that which 
God requires of them in order to gain heaven. 
Such religion is worth nothing. When Christ 
dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled 
with His love, with the joy of communion with 
Him, that it will cleave to Him; and in the 
contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to 
Christ will be the spring of action. SC44,45 

COMMENTARY

   Walking according to the Spirit is more a 
relationship than a regimen. Think about your marriage as 
an illustration. You may have started out 
relying on some rules for effective communication, 
meeting each other's sexual needs, etc. But if after 
several years you can't even talk to each other or 
make love without following an outline or list of 
steps, your marriage is still in infancy. The goal 
of a marriage is to develop a relationship 
which supersedes rules.  
   Or think about prayer. Perhaps you 
learned to pray using the simple acrostic ACTS: 
adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. But 
if you have been a Christian for a few years 
and your prayer life is no deeper than an 
acrostic, you've missed the point of prayer. Prayer is 
not a formula; it's the language of your 
relationship with God. Similarly, walking in the Spirit 
is essentially a relationship with the 
indwelling Spirit which defies quantification.  
   Even though Scripture doesn't give us a 
formula, it does help us see what the Spirit-filled 
walk is and what it is not . Helpful parameters 
are found in Galatians 5:16-18: "Walk by the 
Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the 
flesh. For 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 that you please. But if 
you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the 
Law."  
   So how do you walk by the Spirit? If I 
answered by giving you a rigid formula, I would be 
putting you back under the law. The Spirit is not an 
"it"; the Holy Spirit is a "He" - a person. 
Walking by the Spirit is a relationship issue, not a 
legal issue or ritualistic exercise. It is a walk 
with God.  
   Father, thank You that my life in You is 
a relationship, not a set of rules.  [Daily in 
Christ by Neil Anderson]  

ILLUSTRATION

How Did Enoch Walk With God?
   Enoch walked with God three hundred years 
previous to his translation to heaven, and the state 
of the world was not then more favorable for 
the perfection of Christian character than it is 
today. And how did Enoch walk with God? He educated 
his mind and heart to ever feel that he was in 
the presence of God, and when in perplexity his 
prayers would ascend to God to keep him. He refused 
to take any course that would offend His God. 
He kept the Lord continually before Him. He 
would pray, "Teach me Thy way, that I may not err. 
What is thy pleasure concerning me? What shall I 
do to honor Thee, my God?" Thus he was 
constantly shaping his way and course in accordance 
with God's commandments, and he had perfect 
confidence and trust in his heavenly Father, that He 
would help him. He had no thought or will of his 
own; it was all submerged in the will of his 
Father.  {1SAT 32.2} 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Living by the promptings and power of the 
Spirit is the key to conquering sinful desires (see 
v. 25; Ro 8:2-4). [NIV SB] 

In learning to walk with God, there is 
always the difficulty of getting into His stride, 
but once we have done so...the individual person 
is merged into a personal oneness with God, and 
God's stride and His power alone are exhibited.  
[In His Time; My Utmost For His Highest] 

If you "hear what the Spirit saith...," and 
meditate upon the instruction given to them, your 
ears will be closed to the folly and nonsense 
which surround you. You will neither hear and 
repeat these things, nor will you ever hanker after 
them. When Christ satisfies the soul hunger, these 
trivialities are to you distasteful and disgusting. You 
have no desire to feast upon them, but choose 
instead the bread of heaven (MS 92, 1901 re 
Rev.2:7).  {7BC 957.11} 

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE

Galatians 5:16 - Living by the Spirit.

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2019/20190728-1011.html 

Galatians 5:16 - Live and Walk in the Spirit.

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2018/20180620-1117.html 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs