Daily Devotion - Galatians 5:16-25

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. -Galatians 5:16-25

Let's face it, it will take our whole lives to learn to live out the fruit of the Spirit.  So, I don't mind rehashing this a lot.  One of the good promises here is that if you are saved and walking by the Spirit, you aren't under the law.  I really don't know how someone could even attempt to live under the law.  Be honest, how many commandments have you broken in your life?  How about just in the last hour?  I know, you're saying, I've never committed adultery and I've never killed anyone.  Oh, really?  Now remember, Jesus said that even if you hate someone, you've killed them or if you've lusted after someone, than you've committed adultery in your heart.  Praise God that we're not bound by the law.  Jesus' only two requests of us:  love God and love each other.  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." - John 13:34
Bear with me, because I'm just thinking as I type, so I may seem like I'm rambling.  God gave us the law to show us how easy salvation can be.  Have you ever read Leviticus or Numbers or any of the books that spell out the law and the sacrifices required in extreme detail?   Are you kidding me?  How could anyone ever live that way 24/7?  So, we don't have to live by the law.  What now?  Another promise in these verses is that if we walk in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will just come out of us.  Okay, so we're supposed to walk in the Spirit.  I've been really delving into what walking in the Spirit looks like in real life.  Have you ever tried fasting when you still have to prepare meals for everyone and have to plow through Mount Laundry and have 20 miles worth of errands to run?  It's tough to stay focused on God and being in His presence.  But that's just a microcosm of walking daily in the Spirit.  Fasting is like boot camp for walking in the Spirit.  In our daily life, we have so much minutia to wade through, it's easy to lose sight of God.  It's easy to take things on ourselves and not rely on God.  So, I started looking up verses that talk about walking in the Spirit and I kept finding things in Psalms.  I suppose if anyone could talk about walking in the Spirit, or at least walking with a heart for God, it could be David.  Psalm 1 says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. And Psalm 25:5 says, Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Walking in the Spirit shouldn't be hard.  It's about relying on God to lead your life.  I'll tell you why I wrote this devotion.  The last two weeks have been tough.  First, I'm going through that, 'oh, no, school and homeschool group starts in two weeks' panic and then my computer, with all of my stuff for school, crashes.  We've had a very rainy time and there hasn't been any business at Larry's shop and we have all these things breaking in our house that need to be fixed and bills that need to be paid and blah, blah, blah.  I'm not saying all of this to get a sympathy vote.  I'm just saying that sometimes it's just hard to walk in the Spirit.  Sometimes it's hard to walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit at the same time - peace, long suffering, kindness, love....  That's when you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep walking.  It's kind of like when a baby learns to walk.  When they're watching their feet, they fall down, but when they look up, they walk.  Keep looking up and remember all of those times that God has taken care of you.  Keep looking up and remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you.  Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.