Friday, June 10th 2022.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome PhD DSc DD
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
The flesh is basically about your senses and appetites, and the things you desire to do. And the Bible tells us, “…they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). Notice that verse doesn’t say, “They that are Christ’s are trying to or praying to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts.” For the one crying to the Lord to help crucify the flesh, he’s praying the wrong prayer, struggling for nothing!
Don’t find yourself in a struggle. If that’s the case, stop right away and say, “From this day, Jesus Christ is the Lord over my mind, over my appetites and over my desires; I have overcome the flesh and its passions and appetites; I’m Christ-minded.” Fill your thoughts with the words of Christ; that’s what you need.
If the Word of God controls your mind, you’ll be a master. The Lordship of Jesus is the end of all struggles. When Jesus is the Lord of your body, you do what Paul explained in Romans 12:1: you present your body to Him, because your body is His body.
1 Corinthians 6:15 says, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.” Be bold and confident that you’re God’s headquarters. The body in which you live is God’s property; you’re living inside as a tenant and custodian; you’re taking care of it for God.
Romans 8:12-14 says, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” You live in the Spirit; therefore, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
PRAYER
Dear Father, my body and all my members and faculties are a living sacrifice, holy, devoted, consecrated and well-pleasing to you, which is my service and spiritual worship. I have crucified the flesh with its passions and appetites and desires. My mind is yielded to your Word, and my heart is regulated by the Word, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Galatians 5:16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Romans 8:1-5 AMPC THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. 5 For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
1-Year Bible Reading Plan: Acts 2:1-21 & 2 Chronicles 5-7
2-Year Bible Reading Plan: 2 Corinthians 1:12-24 & Ecclesiastes 11-12
