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Building up believers and the New Testament church

The Foundation - Living His Life

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Gal. 5:24)

"They that are Christ's..." those that belong to Him, those that have His life--"have crucified the flesh with the affections [or passions], and lust." I am no longer living for myself, no longer looking for recognition. The life of God is the life that's continually poured out; it doesn't look for its own desires to be fulfilled.

Galatians 6:8: "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." What does this say to us? Along with being led by the Spirit, we are to sow to the Spirit. If we sow to the Spirit it leads to what? We shall "of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

See verse 14 of the same chapter: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." It is by Christ that I have entered into life; it is by Him that the world is crucified to me and I to the world. We are trusting in Christ, trusting in His death! And in Him we have been crucified. This must be a reality if we are to go on to enjoy Him, to grow up and have meaning in our lives, to be what God wants us to be and experience what we've been made for.

Since we've been made for God, we will not find lasting fulfillment in anything else. Nothing else will satisfy your soul. That doesn't mean that you won't be active. But it is not the activity that will satisfy you. It is knowing Him. I won't say there are not times when He allows your efforts to bring results, and you may be getting satisfaction from these accomplishments. But He'll dry up your satisfaction; He'll dry up those "do's and don'ts" that you adhere to; He'll dry up those little "do good things" that you've been doing for your own satisfaction.

He'll bring you back to one place: you're going to be what He wants you to be. And when He gets you to not depend on yourself at all, and to find your joy only in Him, then He can trust you to do what He wants done for His purpose. Simple, isn't it? Maybe it doesn't sound so simple to you, but with the power and the understanding of the Spirit, it's a walk of utter simplicity. Beloved, you can't live for yourself. We need to try our hearts with that statement.