Ok. So there has been a theme to all my blog posts lately…Scripture.
I’ve been buried under,
meditating on,
soaking in,
breathing deep,
memorizing crazy,
Scripture.
And it has been non-stop. I’m not so sure what started this fiendish thirst, but I’m not complaining!
As I was working out this morning, I was working on memorizing Romans 8 (I am using ALL of the tips y’all gave me! If you weren’t a part of that blog post, you’ve GOT to look at the comments! I am setup!!). Problem: I kept getting lost in the “flesh versus Spirit” circles of the passage. My Dad was in town and we had breakfast right after my workout…talking over memorizing he made this little comment: “Annetta, it’s kind of hard to memorize a passage without understanding it well.” Ha. Ya think?? And that is what spun me into this place I am today: tryng to understand Romans 8.
So in order to understand this process, I’ve got a confession to make: I struggle with gluttony. I LOVE food. It is something that drives a lot of decisions I make, makes me feel better when I have a bad day and something I look forward to. Food is good. God created it for our enjoyment as well as our health. But I’ve allowed food to take a place in my life that God never intended for it to take. When I go to eat a meal, I struggle with walking in the flesh rather than walking in the Spirit. I don’t eat for the reasons God gave it to me. SO…how do I change this?
As I’ve been reading in Romans, it has become clear: living in the flesh is feeding the flesh. Jerry has a joke in the office. He says, “I am really 2 men. I am the man you see here today, loving God, serving Him as best as I know how…and I’m the hoodlum I COULD be. Which man I FEED makes all the difference between which one you see each day.” Thinking about that in context of Romans 8, I think I get what Paul is saying, “Whatever part of me that I feed, grows stronger.” In context of Romans 8, I know that my thought patterns are what allow me to get sucked back into the cycle of gluttony.
I struggle with trusting God fully. I can’t control my circumstances. It’s hard to give up that control to God. And it doesn’t FEEL good. But eating a tasty meal DOES feel good and it’s something that I am quasi-in control of. My lack of trust in God and desire to control lead me to look for other ways to meet this need, outside of God. My lack of trust in God is when my flesh is raring its ugly, faithless head. Feeding the flesh, I walk in the flesh, and eat…and eat and eat and eat. Does this sound like a godly, Spirit-infused life? NO! And it is NOT!
But I love how Romans 8 kicks in here…”For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
If I but CHOOSE to consistently trust God, setting my mind on things of the Spirit, I will have life and peace. Moreso, I do what my heart longs to do…I please GOd. I walk the best way possible for my life, in my created purpose, pleasing God! MORESO, verse 14 & 16 says “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Beautiful! I get so jazzed about this…I get to be HIS kid. My identity is made clear again. And all those insecurities that creep up when I struggle in the flesh, they disappear when I walk according to the spirit…simply because the Holy Spirit tells us WHO we are and WHOSE we are in the spirit.
I love Him y’all. I want to please Him. In my flesh, I tend to not trust Him. But today, with y’all as my witnesses, I get to walk a little better in His Spirit…as His kid…and I might even bust out my princess tiara one of these days. Any other thoughts to add? How do you practically choose to walk in the spirit?
WE are loved,
annetta
