Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV) So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

If there were ever two things that are diametrically opposed to each other, it's the flesh and the Spirit. They both have an astounding affect on the life of every person that is living. The majority of the people in the world live according to the flesh. That means that they live according to the nature that they were born with. That nature is a sinful nature. The Word of God tells us that everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23). Most people live according to their sinful nature because the only way to live differently is to know and submit to God. Most people are not interested in doing that. They are more interested in doing whatever they feel like doing, which is one of the characteristics of the flesh. The flesh wants what it wants and usually goes after it. While people may enjoy the fact that they can freely do whatever they want, it leads to a lot of trouble. Your flesh is not your friend. It will lead you to heartache and disaster. It has left many destroyed lives in its wake, with many people having been either incarcerated or led to their death for attempting to satisfy that sinful nature (the flesh). Ultimately, it leads to the worse outcome of all: eternal death.

The other way to live life is by the Spirit. The Spirit is, simply put, God's Spirit. The only way to live by the Spirit is to repent of your sins and to surrender your life to Jesus, making Him Lord and Savior of your life. By doing so, your relationship with God is restored and then, the Holy Spirit is given to you as a seal of God's ownership of your life (Ephesians 1:13). Then, you can ask God to do what is necessary to be able to walk by the Spirit. The Word God commands us to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), and whatever God commands us to do, He makes provision for us to be able to do it (See Luke 11:13). We obviously cannot fill ourselves with God's Spirit, but God certainly can. Jesus taught that He means to live in you to empower you to live in obedience to His Word and to be able to live a life that is brand new in every way (John 15:5, Philippians 2:13). It is so amazingly different to live and walk by the Spirit that what you could not do before, which is to not gratify the desires of the flesh, you now will be able to do. You will be able to honor God with the way that you live and you will become a powerful example for others to see and to follow. 

This sounds so good that you have to wonder why you don't see very many people living this way. The reason is that many people that consider themselves Christians have never surrendered their lives fully to the Lord Jesus. They may love Him and even go to church, but they have reserved some things for themselves that they still want to do or be a part of that the Word of God speaks against. When you compromise your life that way, you will live according to the flesh and reap its consequences. It's a world in limbo that you will be living because you know the truth but are not living according to the truth. It's a very miserable way to live. Don't do it. Ask God to help you. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit so that instead of gratifying your flesh you will gratify your Lord and Savior Jesus, who gave His life for you and has the best future possible planned for you once you give your all to Him. Live in the right parallel world of the Spirit. It leads to life forevermore.

Pastor Joey Vazquez