To paraphrase Galatians 5:16--'Walk by means of the Spirit'. In Romans 8:14 Paul writes, 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.' To walk in the Spirit is challenging and inspiring exercise, for it combines activity with relaxation. To walk means to place one foot in front of the other. If you stop doing this, you are no longer walking--you are standing still. Walking always implies movement, progress and direction.

    Living for Christ is a day-to-day going on with Him. It is a continuous dependence upon the spirit of God. It is believing in His faithfulness. You cannot live the Christian life by yourself. The Holy Spirit must live in you and express Himself through you.

    Sin will no longer rule or dominate you if you are allowing the Holy Spirit to live Christ's life through you. It is living by faith, living by trust, living in dependence upon God.

    If we look to our own resources, our own strength, or our own ability as Peter did when he walked on the water, we will fail.

    The first key for usefulness and power for Christians today is humility. The second is the realization that sanctification is only in Christ. The third is reliance on the Holy Spirit.

    Realize that God is in control. Habakkuk the prophet cried out to God and said, 'O God, why are these terrible evils coming upon the world?' God said, 'Habakkuk, don't be discouraged. I am working a work in your day; if I told you what it is, you would not believe it.' (See Habakkuk 1:5)

    God is at work in the midst of crisis. In the midst of the problems, pessimism, and frustrations of our day, God is doing His own work. Let us realize that there are certain things we cannot do. Let us be faithful in the things He has called us to do.

          Our Father and our God, I want to walk with You from here throughout eternity. Hold my hand and keep me by Your side. Remind me often that You are in control of life and that I have nothing to fear when I am with You. Keep me moving forward in my spiritual growth. And please bless me with the wisdom to always be faithful through Jesus Christ, my Lord. In his name. Amen.

    Pray without ceasing...and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly                                                                               1 Thessalonians 5:17,23

    Remember that you can pray anytime, anywhere. Washing dishes, digging ditches, working in the office, in the shop on the athletic field, even in prison--you can pray and know God hears! We have a friend on Death Row who prays for us every morning between 4am and 6am. How often this fact has encouraged and cheered us on.

    Try to have a systematic method of prayer. Prayer combined with Bible study makes for a healthy Christian life. The Bible says, 'Pray without ceasing.' If you have special prayer periods that you set aside during the day, your unconscious life will be saturated with prayer between the prayer periods. It is not enough for you to get out of bed in the morning and just bow you knee and repeat a few sentences. There should be stated periods in which you slip apart with God. For the overworked mother or one living under extremely busy circumstances, this may be impossible. But here is where 'pray without ceasing' comes in. We pray as we work. As we have said, we pray everywhere, any time.

      And He [the Lord] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

        Conversion is that voluntary change in the mind of a sinner in which he turns on the one hand form sin and on the other hand to Christ. Conversion is the human side of the tremendous transformation that takes place in the divinely wrought 'new birth', or 'regeneration.' It is simply man's turning from sin to Christ.

        The Scripture teaches that God turns men to Himself, but men are also exhorted to turn themselves to God. God is represented as the author of the new heart and the new spirit, yet men are commanded to make for themselves a new heart and a new spirit. It is the old paradox of grace and free will.

        No one can be converted except by the grace of God, for we are too weak to turn ourselves, unaided; and we turn only in response to some stimulus provided outside ourselves.

        But no one can be converted except with the consent of his own free will, because God does not override human choice. We may not be free to choose, because sin weakens our power of moral choice; but we are free to refuse. We can refuse to be chosen.

        Simon Peter could not become a disciple until Jesus called him and said, 'Follow me.'  But others heard the same call and refused it or put it off. One said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' Another one said, 'Let me first say farewell to those at my home." These men refused Christ's call.

        This combination of divine calling and the human responsibility of accepting or refusing God's grace runs throughout the Bible and characterizes all God's dealing with men.

        The Bible confronts us with man's moral independence within himself and his spiritual dependence upon God.

        In the picturesque words of Psalm 18:29, David says, 'By my God I can leap over a wall.' A man can jump over some barriers by his own will and effort, but some walls are so high that they need more than this.