Do you experience the victorious Christian life? Or would you compare your life to that of a prisoner of war? Can your life be described by this graphic testimony?
I lost my freedom while fighting in this spiritual war. Years ago, the enemy surrounded me and forced me to surrender unconditionally. And now, I stare through the fence of bondage and long for the freedom that was once mine. Every day I listen to propaganda from the enemy. Its message is pounded into my mind that there is no hope for escape.
Often we forget how to escape from the clutches of the flesh and its lusts. But God is always faithful to remind us how to escape as well as how to stay free—by walking in the Spirit of God!
Galatians 5:16-21 (TEV) 16 What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. 17 For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do. 18 If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law. 19 What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; 20 in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; 21 they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.
Practical Illustrations – Volume 9: Galatians-Colossians, (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2001), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 13.
