The Classic Amplified Bible defines faith as this:

Faith in Jesus is the leaning of your ENTIRE human personality on Him in ABSOLUTE trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness.

This is profound because if you miss one small portion of this, you could be missing out on some of the greatest blessings. For instance,  if you are only leaning on God with some of your personality or only partially trusting. What if you have a lack of confidence in His power or His wisdom? And there are many that live just like the Israelites, who wandered in the desert for 40 years, taking a journey that should have only been 11 days–they are miserable, bitter, complaining, and unable to find that intimacy with God ……….because they did not believe He was good!

While standing is very hard, there are many things that we can change about ourselves that are actually adding to our misery and pain.

This is worth doing a faith check on yourself because one of the things we tend to do is constantly look at the lost, selfish spouse OR look at how the spouse is affecting OUR life.

God wants us to look at how we are REACTING.

Meditate on that! Yes, there is no doubt that your spouse is doing something to you and your family that has turned your lives inside out and upside down. And while there is a season of grace, which I call wiggle room in the beginning, that we “can” react unchecked, be unhinged, and off the rails in our reaction, that season has a time limit.

In other words, it’s time to grow up. Time to check and see if you are still spending your day letting your free will run freely. Or are you starting to rein it in and learning to crucify the flesh? While you are free to feel, react, and behave however you want, you are NOT  free from the fruit of your choices.

For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Galatians 5:13

If you act freely in self-pity, you will bear the fruit and eat the consequences. If you allow fear to have dominion and do not do something about it, you are simply opening the door and allowing a thief to steal, kill, destroy and prevent you from walking in many things like obedience, faith, and trust. And if you are not walking in those things, then you are missing out on the blessings, the protection, AND the promises God has for you.

Here in Galatians chapter 5 is there is something so profound being taught here. We are being shown a truth that I will confess I didn’t care about. It was not until I was forced, against my will, into a season that my life was turned upside down, that I started to really seek help on how I could make things easier on me and stop causing us to take ten steps back. I had to start looking at ME and my behaviors and reactions. 

This caused me to really study and learn how walking freely in our feelings, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs, IF they are not lined up with the Word and truth of God, can get us into MORE trouble.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.  18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20 idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another. Galatians 5

Verse 21  says that we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Some look at this as a later thing. That the Kingdom of God and what we will inherit is for after we die. But what if inheriting the Kingdom of God starts the day you are born again?

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17

Inside of you, right now, you have what you need to stand firm, strong, and handle the pain. You have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as a fruit of being born again, accessible to you. What stops that fruit is when we live unrestrained, doing as we please, allowing our flesh to do as it wills, and we PRACTICE any of the things in Galatians 5:19

If you are not living a life where the fruit of the spirit, your kingdom inheritance, is evident, you may want to dive deeper into the list of things (verse 19) that the Word of God says could be stopping your inheritance.

Standing with you,
Sheila Hollinger

 

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