All our lives, we’re conditioned to long for more. More wealth, more fame, more pleasure. It doesn’t matter. Because none of these lead us to the peace we’re truly seeking. And they never will.
The secret to living a bountiful life already exists within us.
In the world, we are focused on the external. On the desires of the flesh. Everything we do to satisfy the flesh is fleeting. It always will be. True wealth doesn’t come from gaining more. That’s a worldly construct. Every one of us is born of the Spirit. When we enter the physical world, the spirit comes with us. It resides in each of us. It strengthens and weakens according to our choices and behaviors. But it never leaves us.
We innately know when we are feeding the flesh and ignoring the Spirit. We know this because God gave each of us free will. We choose our paths. Whether we acknowledge that or not, everything we think, say, and do is a choice.
We choose to dwell in the Spirit just as we choose to dwell in the world.
Scripture reminds us time and again that though we dwell in the world, we are not of the world.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 1 John | 2:15.
As Christians, we are born again into the Spirit the moment we accept Christ into our hearts. We are saved by His sacrifice and drawn closer to the kingdom of Heaven.
However, that doesn’t mean we’re immune to the pitfalls of the world.
Our worldly beings are influenced by the sins of the flesh. Namely, desire, greed, envy, anger, selfishness, and self-righteousness. These can become so ingrained in us that we drown out the voice of the spirit that lives within us.
We must constantly be on guard against the forces of evil that dominate the earthly realm. Our focus must always be on the spiritual realm. Only then do we reap the harvest of the bountiful life God wants for us.
Scripture instructs us that we’ll walk fully in the Spirit only when we surrender our lives to God.
He is our shield, standing between us and the world. Between the flesh and the spirit.
God promises to fight for us. He vows to strengthen and guide us. His love, mercy, and truth are the only armor we need.
Surrender safeguards the promise and increases the abundant peace in living a bountiful life rooted in Christ.
I have grown to understand the vital importance of surrender.
As a recovering alcoholic and anorexic, I know, without any doubt, that I sit here today because of God’s grace and mercy.
All the years I suffered by my own hand, through my own choices, pale in comparison to the life God has called me to.
Walking in the Spirit means surrendering daily, moment-by-moment, to God’s will. It means continually letting go of my fleshly desires and relying on His strength so that I can overcome them.
Sometimes, I fail. But I never stop trying.
I have not had a drop of alcohol, starved myself, or binged and purged for years now. The desire to do so has been completely removed. That is God’s doing, not mine. It’s the power of surrender living within me that keeps me on this path.
However, I still fall short in other ways. I’m human too, though that’s no excuse. I still get angry, struggle with doubt and fear, and focus too single-mindedly on the world. I forget to pray first, run ahead of God, and try to wrest back control.
Temptation is real and none of us is immune to it. We’ll struggle with it our whole lives. We can only ever hope to overcome it by trusting fully in God.
Scripture reminds us that we are imbued with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. Thus, we are empowered with everything we need to walk assuredly in a bountiful life of godliness, no matter how difficult or dangerous this world may become.
What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
First, it means surrendering our will, our desires, our lives to God.
We have to trust God in every aspect of our lives. We have to love Him with all our hearts and minds, placing nothing else above Him.
God created us in love and longs for our return to His side when our earthly lives are done. Therefore, we are to rely on our faith rather than on our own judgments and limited understanding. Only then will we live the bountiful life He created us to live.
Second, it means obedience.
God instilled His Spirit within us to guide and strengthen us. To ensure that in moments of doubt, temptation, and fear, we turn to Him. That we not only obey His commandments, but that we serve as living examples of His word.
God sent His Son to satisfy His covenant with us.
Throughout His life, Jesus showed us the way to the Father. The gospels are the living word of God made manifest in Christ. Everything we need to conduct ourselves in the way of the spirit exists in the gospel. Jesus is our living example of exactly how to live the bountiful life God calls us to.
After all, the sole purpose of this life is so our Spirits return to and dwell forever with our Maker. The only way to the Father is through Christ.
Third, it means dying to self.
We are selfish by nature. Therefore, we are also sinful.
This world is designed to stimulate our fleshly desires. When we give in to self, we behave in ways that are wholly contrary to the will of God. In doing so, we sabotage our spirit walk and pull farther and farther away from our only source of everlasting peace.
What we gain instead is an unwholesome, selfish, and addictive appetite for more.
Dying to self means fully relinquishing our flesh, our worldly selves. Dying, so that we may live the bountiful life Christ purchased for us on the cross.
Finally, walking in the Spirit means choosing godliness over worldliness.
As I said before, God gave each of us free will. That is to say, when faced with the desires and temptations of this world, we either choose to act upon them or turn away from them.
It’s our choice. God doesn’t stand over us and berate us into compliance. Instead, He stands beside us. He offers encouragement and guidance. God will lead us down the path we should go. But we have to open our hearts to His presence so that we hear His voice.
Communing daily with God through prayer and immersing our minds in His word are two ways we become spirit-centered rather than world-focused. The answers are there. God’s commandments and the teachings of Jesus are not ambiguous. They clearly show us the way. But again, we have to choose it.
The secret to living a bountiful life isn’t a secret.
But it does take conscious effort and adherence to the word of God.
We all need strength in our lives. However, we’ll never know true strength by relying on our finite capabilities. True strength only comes through reliance on Christ, 2 Corinthians | 12:9.
We all need sound judgment and discipline in our lives. But again, we’ll never achieve those on our own. We’ll only know them through the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us, Philippians | 4:7.
Finally, we all need love in our lives. Yet, the truly unconditional love of God is not something we’ll ever produce on our own. Godly love is born of the Spirit. The only way to know it, to experience it, and to share it is through the Spirit, Romans | 5:8.
Living a bountiful life where true contentment and peace exist can only be found in the Spirit.
My Prayer
Guide me, Lord, in the way of the Spirit. Protect me from temptation and the desires of this world. Strengthen Your presence and Your will within me. Grant me the humility to follow You. Remove from me all that stands between the bountiful life You want for me and the selfish life my earthly flesh clings to. Help me to grow in wisdom and righteousness in Your holy name. Plant within me a longing to seek You above all else and to always choose Your will above my own. I pray these things in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
JN Fenwick (© 2024)
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