Walk In The Spirit! Part 5

If you try and walk in the Spirit and the flesh at the same time you become confused; double minded as James states in James 1:8. When you are double minded, you might live for God one day and decide the next you want to follow your fleshly desires; you are unsure who you are and who you want to serve – you even question whether you are saved at all at times!! James said a double minded man (and woman) is unstable in ALL their ways which includes, thinking, and behaving – “…a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]” – biblegateway.com – Amplified Bible. 

Make up in your mind today that you will no longer do things your way but God’s way; let Jesus in your heart and let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you in the way God wants you to go!! The Holy Spirit is the One who causes you to have a successful Christian life. In order to be led by the Spirit you must be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and to be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit – again, not do what you want to do!

Today, put off the old man (corruptible self – decide not to walk as you did before you accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior – if you don’t know Him, accept Him and get to know Him – Ephesians 4:17-22) and put on the new man (incorruptible self because of Jesus – He gave us His righteousness when He died for us and we accepted Him – when Jesus died we died with Him and when He was raised from the dead were also were raised with Jesus – we can live new lives because He lives in us – Ephesians 4:23-29; Romans 6:4; 7:6; 12:2).

Remember, this world is not our permanent home (Hebrews 13:14) so don’t build up treasures here on earth but build your treasures up in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). John tells us in 1John 2:15-17:

^15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

The world is not our friend – Jesus has called us out of the world; it loves it own!!! (John 15:19)

James 4:4-6 says: ^4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover. And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble – Proverbs 3:34” – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

I pray as you read this message, you will listen to the voice of God and allow Him to do whatever needs to be done in you so you will be able to walk in the Spirit (allow the Holy Spirit to teach you, lead you and guide you in the things of God – reveal God’s will for your life) then and only then will you not fulfill the lusts of your flesh!

Here are the verses of Scripture from Romans 8:5-14 that I promised to add at the end of the message for you:

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.

⁶ Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

⁷ [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.

⁸ So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

⁹ But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].

¹⁰ But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].

¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.

¹³ For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.

¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Click here for PDF version of Part 5 only

This is the last part of "Walk In The Spirit!" Click here for the complete PDF version of parts.

God bless,

 Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

Walk In The Spirit! Part 4

It is time to wake up and be led by God in everything we do and stop doing our own thing and listening to ungodly people and following after things which satisfies our flesh – the old man!! Let’s walk in the newness of life Jesus has made available to us!! Let’s change our focus off the world and all its trinkets and useless things and put our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Giver of ALL life!! If we do not wake up and come to ourselves, we will be lost; nothing is going to stand but the Word of God and ONLY what we do for God is going to last. Let’s stop marking time and getting nowhere!!!

Yes, God is a patient God; in His loving kindness and tender mercies towards us, He come and dig us out again, and again from under our pile of junk; He then puts us on the right track and we keep doing the same thing over and over again!! Aren’t you tired of keep going around the same old mountain? Let’s not be like the children of Israel who died in the desert because they refused to focus on who their Deliverer was; let us recognize who OUR Deliverer is before it is too late!!! I have made up in my mind I am changing my focus and looking unto Jesus for EVERYTHING I need; I do not want to live in the world’s system but by God’s Kingdom principles!! And I am going to allow God to bring into my life the people He wants to be there and remove the ones who are not supposed to be in my life!!! I will not be getting into any relationships without God’s approval – I have been fooled by too many people – looking on the outside of them!! But God looks at the heart and He knows the motives of every person’s heart – God knows the heart of every person who comes in our lives – He is fully aware as I said previously, of their intents and also God is aware of our intents – why do we think we need that person in our life so badly that we will not consult God before we allow him or her access to our lives!!

With me, God will let me know who is who – when I meet someone most of the time, I know immediately if our spirits agree – otherwise, it is very soon afterwards – that is why discernment should be a vital part of a born again believer’s life!! People wear mask, especially when we first meet them, but the gift of discernment which is from the Holy Spirit, will cause us to look past the mask or the fake and see the real; discernment takes us from the natural realm into the spiritual realm. God lets us know in Jeremiah 17:9-10 – biblegateway.com – Amplified Bible:

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

¹⁰ I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

Therefore, let God lead you through the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and you will never go wrong; just walk in your new life which Jesus already has prepared for you! If you love God, love people, love what God loves and hate what God hates (sin – not the sinner), you are walking in your new life; you cannot do this on your own – you must allow the Holy Spirit to teach you, lead you, and guide you in the way you should go! And the only way to do that is by first accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior for real!!! No more compromising, no more straddling the fence, no more sugar coating the Word of God (dressing it up to fit your purpose), no more taking the Scriptures out of context (to suit your needs), no more …… (You fill in the blank).

Jesus is coming soon and there is no time to be playing around trying to live like the world!! If you are a Bride of Christ, live like one!! Be who God called you to be and the only way to do that is you must be born again so you can be led by the Holy Spirit – in order for you to walk in the Spirit you must be led by the Spirit; your life will become drama free, stress free, chaos free, worry free, heartbroken free, heart ache free, and you will thrive in the things of God!! Christ died so you could live a life of freedom so make up in YOUR mind you will embrace the new life in Christ and discard the old one; you cannot hold onto the old and embrace the new – old got to go!! Otherwise, you will live a defeated life – you CANNOT walk in the Spirit and walk in the flesh at the same time (Galatians 5:16-18) – you cannot move forward in God and walk in the flesh!! Let It Go!!! It is not worth it!!

Click here for PDF Version

God bless,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

Walk In The Spirit! Part 3

In Galatians Chapter 5, Paul is talking about “The Life of Freedom;” he begins in verse 1 by saying, “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you” – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible. Paul is showing us here we cannot live free (being led by the Holy Spirit) and walk in the flesh (being led by our compulsions of selfishness) – these two are incompatible just as two people trying to walk together and are not going to the same place – therefore, they cannot be in agreement – our spirit is not in agreement with our flesh and cannot never be!! God works through our spirit man and the enemy works through the flesh or the natural man – we need to know without a shadow of doubt who we are serving! Sometimes people say, “God told me this” or “God told me to do that” but in reality, God did not tell them to do anything; either the enemy coached them or their own mind told them to do it. That is why you must know which voice you are following – especially if that person is speaking into your life, you must know is it the voice of God or the voice of the enemy or the voice of their own self.

That is why every person must know God for him or herself and have a one on one personal relationship with Him; do not depend on anyone, I do not care who it is, to speak to God on your behalf – YOU pray to God yourself!! In order to know the voice of God, we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is what Paul said in Romans 12:1-2:

^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Paul in Colossians 3:1-2 says – I also suggest you read the complete Chapter of Colossians:

^1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Paul is saying here that Jesus is our life and we are to prove it by seeking after the things of Him. Again, walk in the Spirit (then we will be able to see things from His perspective) and we will not satisfy the selfish compulsions of the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit, we are acknowledging God in all our ways so He can lead us in the right way; we will allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us instead of us doing our own thing.

Proverbs 3:5-7 says: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!” – biblegateway.com – The Message Bible.

Therefore, when we acknowledge God in ALL our ways we are inviting Him into our lives to give us direction for life; then the Holy Spirit can tell us the will of God for our lives and we can abandon our will and embrace God’s own. Let us stop living our lives on our own terms and live them God’s way! Paul lets us know in Galatians 2:20 we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us and the life we now live in the body, we live by faith in Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us!!

Let us stop living for man and start living for God!! Stop putting our trust in man, wasting time being connected to people God did not put in our lives; people who God did not tell us to connect with – incompatible folk who is trying to suck the life out of us!! We spend too much time, energy and money on people and things that God has not ordained to be in our lives!!

Click here for PDF version

God bless,

 Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks