“…in [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. … Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col 2:2,6 NASB)

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Journal

Our salvation begins the moment we truly believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. It is in this moment that the Holy Spirit enters our heart with God’s eternal seal of redemption. Every true believer is sealed for eternity.

From this moment on the Spirit of the Lord is in our lives to help process life according to the will and purpose of God. Listen carefully to the apostle:

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Php 2:12-13 NASB)

Far too often the afore statement is cut off in mid stream with the words, ‘work our your salvation with fear and trembling.’ This is a grave mistake. The focus is not on ‘fear and trembling.’ Rather the emphasis is on ‘God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.’

Keep in mind that the Greek word for salvation carries into English in the sense of preservation and deliverance. Thus the Holy Spirit is always at work in our life with deliverances and preservations. (Sometimes we need to be preserved from ourselves.)

It can be said that the Lord saved us, is saving us, and will save us. (Positionally our salvation has already been secured eternally in Christ.)

So then, what is our need? Our need is to learn to trust the Lord in all the affairs of life. Walking according to the spirit is a trust issue. We must learn to trust the Lord in all circumstances of life and not simply lean on our own understanding. (This is one of those ‘relax and let go’ things.)

The apostle said,

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Th5:18)

Trusting  in the Lord requires that we humble our own hearts and recognize our special need for spiritual guidance. This is where the idea of ‘fear and trembling’ come in. These two words have to do with deep respect and awe for the Lord and for His Word. Jesus told the apostles, “Without Me, you can do nothing.”

Listen to what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

“Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,’ declares the LORD.

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“‘But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.’“ (Isa 66:1-2 NASB)

If you wish to know how to pray a prayer that deals with this aspect of walking with the Lord, pray what David prayed:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23,23 – It would do you well to meditate on the whole of Psalm 139.

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A walk in reality

Another issue of living from the Spirit is to understand that ‘walking in the Spirit’ means to walk in the very reality of the living God.

Jesus explains it this way:

“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and disclose it to you.” (John 16:13,14)

True believers know the reality of God in their lives. The word ‘truth’ (aletheia) addresses what is true in itself, in opposition to either an error or a falsehood, or even a misguided perception about a thing.

Jesus shared with the disciples how a walk of truth and of salvation would play itself out in the lives of believers. Follow this incident:

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’

Let me touch briefly on a belief held by the Jews. The Jews believed in what is called ‘the transmigration of the soul.’ They believed that the soul of a person could transmigrate forward in time and become the soul in a person in the future. Similar in many respects to reincarnation. This is why the people identified Jesus with one of the prophets.

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’

Here it begins to get very interesting. Something was going to happen that would show how the Holy Spirit would work in the new covenant.

Notice what Peter says:

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’

Why did Peter say this and not speak to the transmigration idea? The answer is given. Listen carefully and you will see it:

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’

Did you catch it? The reality of who Jesus really is came as a revelation from the heavenly Father. Peter did not come to this conclusion on his own. Thus you have how the Spirit of revelation works in the life of every true believer. It all has to do with the opening of the eyes.

Jesus continues,

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.’

So many get confused over this statement. Jesus was not calling Peter ‘the rock’ upon which He would build His church. The rock was Jesus and the church would be built upon the revelation of who Jesus really is.

“’I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.’” (Mat 16:13-19 NASB)

The short side of this is that the keys would be the revealing of Jesus through the preaching of the gospel. The door to heaven is Jesus Himself. (There is more to be said about apostolic authority but you get the idea.)

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Learn to live by the instructions…

This is also where the Bible itself plays an important role in our learning to walk in the Spirit. There is no book on this planet like our Bible. It carries in it the very presence of the Lord. It carries between its covers the very voice of God.

Look at your Bible as a garden of delights. Don’t read it like a newspaper. Read it like you are looking into the eyes of God. Read it for the pure joy of discovering the things of the Lord. Read it for the joy of hearing.

David gave some insight into this when he said,

“Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.” (Psa 119:18 NASB)

When David spoke of God’s law, he is not limiting this to the letter of the law of Moses. The term translated Law in Hebrew, Torah, simply means ‘instruction.’ When David said ‘Wonderful things’, you can be sure He included God’s Messiah. But he was also asking for spiritual instructions from God.

David was a man after God’s heart, and the heart of God is His Son. The faith we live by originates in and is written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. A true new covenant spiritual faith walk wraps itself around the Lord speaking into our hearts.

Thus we hear the Lord say,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”(John 10:27)

Here is where we need to see the very heart of the new covenant. The prophet Jeremiah had this to say about God’s new covenant in Christ:

“‘This is the covenant I will make with them after those days,’ says, the Lord; ‘I will put My laws [instructions] upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them.’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'” (Heb 10:16-17 NASB)

Isn’t the new covenant wonderful! God writes both His love and his life instructions in our own hearts and minds.

While you think on these things, here is a song. Perhaps the Lord would like to speak something into your heart.

Revelation Song by ‘Phillips, Craig, and Dean.’

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Always in love with Jesus,

Buddy

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