I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
-Galatians 5:16
Lord, I want to walk with you in all times and circumstances. I want to be with you and know you are with me. Your presence is so very sweet, and I want to remain in you forever.
God Is With Us
God is not simply everywhere, but for those who receive Him, He is always near at hand. As old as the hymn may seem, “He walks with me, and He talks with me.” He walks with us in all our stuff. Knowing Him intimately affords us the strength to walk in all circumstances. My wife and I can sometimes be in the same room together and lose awareness of this fact because we get caught up in what we are doing, but when we work together, our awareness is very present. While it’s easy to forget the Lord is with us throughout the day, all we must do is redirect our awareness and allow Him to work in what we are doing. (Philippians 2:13)
Do Not Walk in the Flesh
How easy it is to satisfy our fleshly desires. We often dismiss the morals of the Old Testament because we believe that somehow because Jesus took the penalty on the Cross that the morals (not simply the civil laws) of the Old Testament no longer matter. We are so afraid of “shame,” “being a pharisee,” “avoiding a religious spirit,” and “being legalistic” that we justify our lifestyles, our words, our actions, and our outward appearances, but the Lord is clear that He didn’t come to abolish the Law, only to fulfill it. We claim that morals are a thing of the Old Testament, but the New Testament is packed full of evidence to the contrary. We are called not to walk by the flesh. We must be careful not to dismiss our pet sins of lewdness, selfish ambition, magic, idols, dissension, envy, drunkenness, and the like simply because we don't murder, and we have love, peace, joy, and kindness. Inwardly, we must not actually desire attention given to our flesh and draw our self-worth from the attention of others to our outward appearance and the things that satisfy. (Matthew 5; Galatians 5:16-21)
Walk in the Spirit
As we set our sights on the Lord, our desires shift from appealing to man into a place of appealing to God. Our worth is found from how He sees our inward beauty. We no longer desire to draw the eyes of others to ourselves. Rather, we desire for the eyes of the Lord to be upon us. Our definition of beauty aligns with God rather than worldly and fleshly standards. Our heart moves toward a place of rich beauty and righteousness.We learn to control ourselves, walking in kindness and good things and so much more. We guard our thoughts and our hearts beyond simply our actions, and our actions are a reflection of our inward person. Our outward appearance is a reflection of our humility, and our words are a testament to things we treasure. We spend our money on things that honor the Lord and our time in places that refuse to displease Him because we walk in Him. (Matthew 5; Galatians 5:22-26; and every other moral standard set forth)
Lord, you are with me. Help me to stay aware of how near you are. Help me to remain in your presence and to find my livelihood in you. Fill me with your presence that I might not get drunk on the things of this world.