Spiritual Growth -- How well are you satisfied?

Hello,

What does it take to be satisfied with your walk with God? How about right now? Sometimes I don't feel as close to God as I would like or lack satisfaction in my relationship with him. When this happens it is an indication that I probably need to take a few minutes to stop and talk with God about some of the anxieties on my mind. 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Sometimes in our busyness and efforts to do good things like leading a ministry or sharing our faith, we can trust in our own efforts and strength to live the Christian life. When we take this approach, it usually results in frustration and discouragement. I want you to be encouraged and equiped as children of God to stay in fellowship with our Heavenly Father, to walk in the power of the Spirit.

This can often involve a moment by moment struggle for us. For example, I know that all too frequently I say yes to my flesh and no to the Spirit when I don't get my way. Often it can be as simple as me getting anxious or irritable because I'm behind schedule with what I want to accomplish, or the person driving in front of me is driving slower than I like or someone behind me is too impatient for my liking. Then if Melissa (my wife) asks me to help her with a small task or asks a question, instead of responding in love, sometimes I say yes to the flesh and get impatient and irritable ("the fruit of the Spirit is .... 'patience'"). Can anyone identify with this type of struggle? I am sure that at times you can, Paul illustrated this well when he wrote Galatians 5:16-26. Verse 17b says: "They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want"

The following are some principles taken from Campus Crusade's "Satisfied?" booklet:

It is only through faith in God and in His promises that we as believers can live the Spirit-directed life. As we continue to trust Christ moment by moment our lives will demonstrate more and more of the fruit of the Spirit and we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

Moment by moment we are making decisions to either gratify our sinful nature or say yes to the Holy Spirit.

We will also have a more meaningful prayer life and more fruitful times in the word. We will experience God's power in witnessing. We will be prepared for spiritual conflict and receive power to resist temptation and sin!

If you are ready to yield control of your life to Christ, confess any sin that you are aware of and desire to be filled with the Spirit; You can be filled with the Spirit right now by faith through prayer. This is based on God's command found in Ephesians 5:18 "...be filled with the Spirit" and His promise in 1 John 5:14-15 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him."

As we yield to the filling of the Holy Spirit, He will produce great fruit in our lives (see Galatians 5:22-23). Please take some time this week with the Lord to read and meditate on Galatians 5:16-26 and Ephesians 5:15-21. As we apply the principles of the Spirit-filled life, He will transform us from feeling frustrated and discouraged. We will experience true joy and the excitement of seeing God at work!

How wonderful is God's provision for us!