CHAPTER 24
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
When you want to reach a certain destination, you have to make the decision where you want to go, how you are going to get there, and then you have to start walking. I guess now days, you can take a car, or a train, or a plane, but in the spirit dimension, there is only one way to reach the spiritual Promised Land. You have to Walk in the Spirit!
THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THEM WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO “WALK” NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT.
ROMANS 8:1
WALK - 4043. per-eel-pat-eh’-o; to tread all around, i.e. walk at large (especially as proof of ability); figuratively to live, deport oneself, follow (as a companion or votary): - go, be occupied with, walk (about). (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
Although salvation is easy, as a matter of fact we have nothing to do with our salvation other than hearing the gospel and accepting it; however, growing up into a spiritually mature Christian and Walking in the Spirit takes some work on our part.
The word walk in the Greek means to be occupied with someone or something. It means spending intimate time with them. It means: to spend time with them, to follow them, to talk with them, to be their companion or votary (a devoted and ardent supporter).
How do we show our devotion to somebody? How do we know we love a person? Don’t we want to spend our time with them? Don’t we spend our resources, our minds and our strength, trying to please and know them? Don’t we want to pattern our lives around them? Don’t we talk with them? Don’t we pursue them? Isn’t that how we recognize that we love someone?
FOR THEY THAT ARE AFTER THE FLESH DO MIND (SET THEIR MINDS ON) 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.
ROMANS 8:5-6
Our mind is a great spiritual battle ground. If our mind dwells on desires of the flesh, we will eventually set about to apprehend those fleshy desires. If our mind dwells on desires of the spirit, we will eventually set our minds and our goals to apprehend spiritual things. So what are the things of the Spirit? Jesus makes everything perfectly clear:
IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT QUICKENETH (GIVES LIFE); THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING: THE “WORDS” THAT I “SPEAK” UNTO YOU, THEY ARE “SPIRIT”, AND THEY ARE LIFE.
JOHN 6:63
Therefore, we understand that the Words Jesus spoke, they are spirit and life. We also understand that we need to get Jesus’ Words into our spirit, into our mind and into our mouth. We have to eat and drink the Words that Jesus spoke. We have to write them on the tables of our hearts. We have to meditate on them. We have to memorize them. When we have the Word of God in us, we become the Word in the flesh, we become the Word incarnate just like Jesus Christ. We become the walking, talking, living Word of GOD on earth. We become God’s anointed.
The more of God’s Word we have in us, the more like the Word we will become and the less like the world we will be. Jesus Christ will increase and you and your fleshly desires will decrease. If you want to Walk in the Spirit, you must set your mind on spiritual things. You must begin memorizing God’s Word. You must replace your previous earthly and fleshy desires with heavenly and spiritual desires. You must begin speaking and hearing God’s Word every day.
SO THEN FAITH COMETH BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.
ROMANS 10:17
Hearing God’s Word is the mechanism whereby our faith is built up over time. You have probably heard that somebody is weak in faith because they cannot believe for something. The reason everybody is not commanding mountains to be cast into the sea is because they have not heard God’s Word and believed God’s Word.
If you do not hear the Word, how can you believe it? If you hear the Word, how can you believe it if you forget it? That is why we must continually sow God’s Word to our spirit. Our spirit is an unlimited field. You don’t have to plant a Word of hope one year and wait for another year to plant a Word of love. You can plant all the promises of God immediately and receive a bumper crop continually in every area of life.
The Lord Jesus called a newly saved Christian born again.
JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO THEE, EXCEPT A MAN BE “BORN AGAIN” [ANEW], HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
JOHN 3:3
When we first hear the Word of God and we believe it, we are born again into a new kingdom, into the spirit kingdom of God. In the spirit, we are spiritual babies. We are weak, we are vulnerable, and there is a grave danger we will remain that way. We will remain spiritual babies unless we grow up and mature in the spirit. There is only one way we can strengthen our spirits and that is by nourishing our spirit with Spirit food.
Spirit food is the spoken Word of God. We must take it in, we must meditate upon it, we must speak it, we must hear it, we must believe it, and we must make it a part of us just like we make food a part of our bodies. When you eat, you have to chew the food before it can be swallowed. In order to make the Word of God part of our spirit, we must chew it spiritually. We must meditate upon it. We must speak God’s Word over and over to ourselves until we have it memorized and the Word of God becomes a part of us. A clear sign that a person is born again is their sincere desire to read, hear and speak the Word of God.
BEING BORN AGAIN, NOT OF CORRUPTIBLE SEED, BUT OF INCORRUPTIBLE, BY THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH LIVETH AND ABIDETH FOR EVER.
FOR ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLORY OF MAN AS THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERETH AND THE FLOWER THEREOF FALLETH AWAY;
BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOR EVER. AND THIS IS THE WORD, WHICH BY THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED UNTO YOU.
WHEREFORE LAYING ASIDE ALL MALICE, AND ALL GUILE, AND HYPOCRISIES, AND ENVIES, AND ALL EVIL SPEAKINGS,
AS NEWBORN BABES, DESIRE THE SINCERE “MILK” OF THE WORD, THAT YE MAY “GROW” THEREBY;
I PETER 1:23-2:2
All the unlimited resources of God are available to them who will Walk in the Spirit, to them who will feed on God’s Word. If you read the autobiographies of many rich and famous people, you will find quite a lot of them had a parent or grandparent or someone very close to them who was not only familiar with the Word of God, but spoke the WORD to them. Often times, their parents were ministers or missionaries. These types of rich and famous people in the world are often enjoying the blessings and prosperity associated with somebody else’s spiritual maturity. Just like the child of a rich parent will enjoy the benefits of their parent’s hard work.
Often times priests, pastors, or church leaders do not understand why their congregations have a problem with sin. Often times priests, pastors, or church leaders do not understand why they have a problem with sin! If a person only hears the Word of God once a week, they will never be spiritually mature. It’s like expecting a baby to grow up physically strong and mature on one meal a week. In order for a person to grow up spiritually, they must hear and feed on the Word of God daily, at least three times a day, preferably continually every day. Let us Hear the King and Prophet David:
EVENING, AND MORNING, AND AT NOON, WILL I “PRAY”, AND “CRY ALOUD”; AND HE SHALL “HEAR” MY VOICE.
PSALM 55:17
The Book of Psalms is full of God’s Word as uttered by the Prophet King of Israel, David son of Jesse of the Tribe of Judah. The first psalm is the key to all the psalms and well worth memorizing:
BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT WALKETH NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, NOR STANDETH IN THE WAY OF SINNERS, NOR SITTETH IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL.
BUT HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD; AND IN HIS LAW DOTH HE “MEDITATE” DAY AND NIGHT.
AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER, THAT BRINGETH FORTH HIS FRUIT IN HIS SEASON; HIS LEAF ALSO SHALL NOT WITHER; AND WHATSOEVER HE DOETH SHALL PROSPER.
THE UNGODLY ARE NOT SO: BUT ARE LIKE THE CHAFF WHICH THE WIND DRIVETH AWAY.
THEREFORE THE UNGODLY SHALL NOT STAND IN THE JUDGMENT, NOR SINNERS IN THE CONGREGATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
FOR THE LORD KNOWETH THE WAY OF THE RIGHTEOUS: BUT THE WAY OF THE UNGODLY SHALL PERISH.
PSALM 1:1-6
MEDITATE - 1897. haw-gaw’: a prime root; to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication to ponder: - imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, X sore, speak, study, talk, utter. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
When I talk about chewing on the Word, I mean to meditate on it. You must speak the Word of God over and over to yourself. You will be amazed at the revelation you will receive after meditating/speaking a verse (speaking a verse over and over out loud) for a day, or a week, or a year. Have you ever seen a video on television of orthodox Jews studying the torah? A prayer shawl covers their head, they move their bodies up and down at the waist, they speak the Word of God out loud, over, and over they speak God’s Word to themselves in order to memorize God’s Word.
I can imagine King David with the Torah opened in front of him late at night, a covering over his head, symbolizing God’s authority over him, moving his body up and down at the waist, speaking the Word of God over and over to himself until he knew it backwards and forwards, memorizing the Word of God until it became a part of him.
When most people think of King David, the first thing that may come to mind is the great warrior and king, or perhaps his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his conspiracy to murder Uriah the Hittite. We understand from the Bible that God did not overlook his sin. King David would pay a terrible price for his sin. However, when I think of King David, I think of a shepherd boy guarding his father’s sheep from the lion and the bear. I think of a boy who was not highly esteemed by anyone. I think about what God told Samuel when he was sent to anoint David as King and Samuel was about to an