If you are looking to feed and challenge your faith, visit
Crosswalk.com's Spiritual Life Channel at:
http://spiritual.crosswalk.com
-----------
N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

January 11

SPRING-LOADED TOWARD THE SPIRIT

Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the
flesh (Galatians 5:16).

When we first became Christians, we were like one-third
horsepower lawn mower engines. We could accomplish something, but
not very much because we weren't very mature. Our ambition as
Christians is to become engines that can power earth-moving
machinery--real powerhouses for the Lord. But neither a lawn
mower nor a bulldozer can accomplish anything without gas. And
neither can we accomplish anything apart from Christ (John 15:5).
No matter how mature you are, you can never be productive unless
you are walking in the Spirit.

When it comes to the choice between walking according to the
flesh and walking according to the Spirit, our will is like a
toggle switch. The new Christian's will seems to be spring-loaded
toward fleshly behavior. He is still the unwitting victim of a
thoroughly trained flesh which only knows how to operate
independently of God. The mature Christian's will is
spring-loaded toward the Spirit. He makes occasional poor
choices, but he is learning to crucify the flesh and walk in the
Spirit on a daily basis.

If you re hoping for a magic formula or a list of foolproof steps
for walking in the Spirit, you will be disappointed. The moment
you reduce the Spirit-filled walk to a formula or an intellectual
exercise, you probably won't be Spirit-filled anymore.

The Holy Spirit is a "He," not an "it." Our walk with God is a
personal experience, not a mechanical or legalistic formula. We
see the immorality of fleshly indulgence everywhere, but simply
preaching against it and telling people to shape up is not God's
answer. The law is powerless to give life (Galatians 3:21).
Reintroducing the law to believers won't work. But if we learn to
walk by the Spirit, we won't carry out the desires of the flesh.
Let's encourage others to do the same.

Lord, I desire to be patient with others in their walk of faith
as You are patient with me. Help me have a gracious response and
a gentle answer to others today.


-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com.  It is written by Neil Anderson at
< http://www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil Anderson at
christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors - CBD).
< http://shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< http://devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
-----------
To read the Current Feature Story from ReligionToday,
go to http://religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

For today's complete News Summary from ReligionToday,
go to http://religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/



-----------
For Copyright Terms go to http://www.crosswalk.com/info/copyright


____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________

* You subscribed to Neil Anderson as:
         < jeff.king@enron.com >
* To unsubscribe from this newsletter immediately, click here:
         < http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/U.ASP?A3.14.261895 >
  If that link is not clickable, simply copy and paste it into
  your browser window.
* To change your address:  unsubscribe your old address
  and then subscribe your new address.
* To subscribe, send an email to:
  < SUBSCRIBE-neilanderson@lists.crosswalk.com > or go to
  < http://www.crosswalk.com/lists > for a complete list of
  our newsletters.
* Copyright ? 2001 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content
  Providers. All rights reserved.

____________________________________________________________