What Does it Mean to Truly Walk with God

 TRANSCRIPT

But I want to ask you this morning as I kick off, if you have ever done anything that you knew was wrong, but you did it anyway, anyone? Okay, I have done that. And not just anywhere, it's confession time. It was on a missions trip, you know, those times in your life when you were meant to be so connected with God and so, you know, committed to following His obedient, you know, to being obedient and following His prompts and stepping out, just being obedient.

I was 18 and I had headed over to Kenya, to Nairobi, and I was teaching English and teaching the kids over there. Uh, in a, in a church school about the love of Jesus. And it was in the Kibera slum, which is the largest slum in Africa. And it was an eye opener, let me assure you. And so the church had this compound right in the centre of the slum.

And it was surrounded by a massive gate. And it had an armed guard at the front. So that gives you some kind of indication as to, Uh, perhaps the crime rate or the things that were going on in the slum. Anyway, um, I was told Don't leave the compound alone. And it, I mean, I wasn't explicitly told, like, about the crime rates, or, like, I felt maybe, like, it was a suggestion, maybe, for safety, kind of, okay, it was a rule.

They gave me one rule, and that was whatever you do, do not leave the compound alone. And so, um, what did I do? One afternoon, camera in hand in search of, you know, the perfect picture and quite clearly hearing the Holy Spirit's voice in my ear saying, don't do it.

Minutes, literally minutes later, I found myself surrounded by a gang of young men who were high, um, because they would sniff glue. And I had a realisation in that moment that perhaps this wasn't the world's greatest idea and that this adventure, um, May not end the way that I had hoped with the perfect picture, you know, just capturing my time in Kibera slum.

Thankfully, someone in the compound at the time had seen me leave, this young man, and he arrived not long later and just in time, just as these guys were really getting in close to my personal space. And. It could have ended very differently. And that's the thing about self governance that Kev was helping us to understand just now.

Sometimes it feels like freedom in the moment, but the ripple effects can be destructive. And I don't know about you. I'm sure that there have been times in your life where you have been there, maybe not, in Kibera, surrounded by a gang of men that were high on glue. But you've made choices perhaps in the flesh and afterwards thought, why did I do that?

This is not the kind of person that I want to be. Maybe you have lost your temper or you have gossiped about someone or you've made a selfish decision. Maybe you've let pride in and you've allowed that to guide your interactions. Maybe insecurity. Maybe, like many of us deal with, you've allowed control to, uh, figure out, you know, what your next steps are.

Or maybe you've done the opposite. Maybe there are times where forgiveness was the last thing you felt like doing, but you extended it anyway, and you offered grace, and maybe you resisted temptation, and afterwards, in that moment, you felt peace. Knowing that you were just in step with who God wanted you to be.

That tension and that struggle is what we've been exploring over these last few weeks. And Paul, the Apostle Paul, talks about it in the book of Galatians, which is where I want to kind of land this morning and speak from. And he describes these two forces that Kev helped us understand again this morning.

And they are living by the Spirit. which quite simply is faithfulness to God or living by the flesh. We might call that faithfulness to self and really that is unfaithfulness to God. And the question that we've been asking over these last two weeks is simply Which are you choosing to live by? Which are you choosing to live by?

See, from the very beginning, God designed us to be connected to him, to draw life from his spirit. But Adam and Eve made that choice, as we have heard, and a destructive ripple began, and it continues to this very day. But the good news is that Jesus came to restore what was lost. He didn't just come to forgive us.

But he came to restore the broken connection and through his death and through his resurrection, he has made, he sent the Holy Spirit and we now get to have the Holy Spirit dwell within us and we are restored and we become a people who once again. So let's head to the book of Galatians and just for a little bit of context, Paul has written a letter, um, to the Christians there.

So we're in Galatia, which is now, um, we call it modern day Turkey. And the Gentiles who were living there have embraced the gospel. They understand that it is salvation. by grace and faith in Jesus Christ. Pure and simple. Jesus, pure and simple. And so they are walking by the Spirit, they are free, they're full of life, but then some religious leaders show up and they tell them, no, faith in Jesus is not enough.

It's got to be faith in Jesus plus all of these rules, all of this old, uh, Jewish law that you have to follow as well as Jesus. And so confused in that moment, they start not relying on the Spirit, but relying on the law. And so that gives you some context as to why Paul has written this letter, um, which is called Galatians.

And he's saying to them, like, Go back to the freedom that you knew and that you had in Christ. Christ set you free. So stand firm in that freedom, but then he clarifies to them, but freedom, it's not about doing what you want. It's about freedom to choose to live by the Spirit. And so that's why he writes in Galatians chapter 5 verse 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

Remember that? Free in Jesus. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh. Rather, serve one another humbly in love. True freedom is not about self indulgence. It is not about self governance. It's about living by the spirit, completely surrendered, and using that freedom to love and to serve others.

It's about surrender. Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear the word surrender, I think of defeat. I think of waving the white flag, you know, giving up. But what if surrender is not about losing, but actually gaining freedom? Flip it on its head. We say that we surrender to Jesus, but how often do we still try and control our lives?

We bargain. We negotiate for the outcome. We hold on to control. Control is an illusion. It only leads to frustration and disappointment. But true freedom comes when you are willing to let go and to surrender to the one who created us and loved us. and gave his life for us. Surrender is all or nothing. Not just the easy parts.

Not just when it's convenient. The choice to walk by the spirit or to rely on ourselves is never more real than in the waiting room. And I know that there would be people here who can sympathise and understand that feeling. You know, there are many of us who are waiting for a breakthrough. There are many of you who are waiting for a promise.

There are many of you who are waiting for God to move when it feels like His timing doesn't match ours. Maybe you're waiting for a healing. Maybe you're waiting for a relationship. Maybe you're waiting for your marriage to be restored. Maybe you are waiting for your son or your daughter to come back to Jesus.

Maybe you're waiting for a job. Whatever dream it is that you are waiting for, here's the struggle. We often pray. And we say, God, take control. And then we outline for him exactly what kind of steps that we think he should take in order to, you know, achieve the outcome that we are hoping for. But faith is surrender.

Faith says, God, I trust you, even when I don't see it. Faith says, your way, Lord, is better than my plans and my purposes, even when it doesn't match my expectations. Faith says, not my will, but your will be done. Because when you truly surrender, that's when you find freedom. We find life. And that's how life was meant to be.

Walking with the Spirit, abiding in God, just like Adam and Eve before they chose self governance. So Paul lays out two different paths, these paths that we've been talking about in Galatians. So I want to just recap those quickly this morning. He says in verse 16, Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. Did I say that right? Yes. And the spirit, what is contrary to the flesh. So it's this constant struggle and battle. They are conflict with each other. And then he goes and he lays them out, just in case we were still wondering. And Taylor outlined for these last week, but super quickly I'm going to recap.

Um, This is not a good list, just in case you're wondering. Let's start with the works of the flesh. Uh, verse 19. The acts of the flesh are obvious. He says sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery. In other words, making self indulgence our priority. That's what those mean. What about idolatry and witchcraft?

Trusting anything other than God? Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage. Choosing division over unity. Selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy. Putting me before we. Drunkenness, orgies, and the like. And what that is, living recklessly and without restraint. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

These are not just bad behaviours. These are the result of living disconnected from God and outside of His design and pursuing life on our own. Thank goodness, though, He doesn't stop there. And He goes on to a much more beautiful list. And let's read that. In verse 22, He says, That what? The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and kindness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control.

Those are the kind of people that I want to hang around. Those are the kind of people that I want to be. These are the qualities of a life of a person who is living surrendered to the Spirit. And they are the evidence. somebody who is living that way. You know what I find fascinating about this verse is it's not the fruits, it's the fruit.

Singular. And that tells me that these are not things that I should try and pursue individually, but that as I abide with Him and I allow the Holy Spirit to transform me, that I'm going to begin to display all of them. They are one complete picture of a life that has been transformed by God. So, here's the key that I want you to know this morning.

The fruit, these fruit, we don't produce them. We bear them. And there is a massive difference. These are not the fruit of effort. These are not the fruit of striving. They are the fruit of the Spirit. They are the fruit of abiding. If we strive, we are stuck in self effort. And that honestly is just the broken ripple of human performance.

But when we bear fruit, that's Him. That's Him producing something in us. And because we're connected to the vine, we simply bear it. We just have to stay connected to Jesus and Paul reminds us as we continue reading his letter to the Galatians He says that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires and since we live by the spirit What should we do?

We should keep in step with the spirit. It's an invitation It's an invitation to simply Walk with the spirit. If we have been rescued from that old ripple, why would we continue to choose to walk in it? Trying harder does not transform us. You can force yourself to act more patient for a little while.

You can force yourself to be more kind, but that's just self discipline. That's just you trying to change you. And at the end of the day, willpower can overcome some sinful behaviours, can't it? But, all it does is replace one work of the flesh with another, slightly better, work of the flesh. Like, at the end of the day, you're the one that gets the pat on the back, because you're the one that did it.

Sin isn't just about behaviour, it's about that sin nature, and the sinful nature has to be

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. True transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit. And that's why I love the symbolism of water baptism. I love that you shared that this morning and that's why I'm excited this afternoon to see people, um, make that public declaration of the fact that I have been crucified in Christ and it's no longer I that live, but it's Christ who lives in me.

So the key to victory is not willpower. It's actually just simply walking in the spirit. Walking in the spirit is not a one time occasion, um, occasional spiritual high. It's daily and it's moment by moment and it's an ongoing and joyful journey of surrender and dependence on God. And that's what it means to abide.

Isn't it to live completely connected to him so that the fruit of the spirit start to simply flow through us. And I was thinking about that this morning. Well, not this morning, but this week as I was preparing, we talk about this word abide all the time. We sing about it. Um, But how? How do we live it out?

What does it actually mean to abide? So I went and I consulted the dictionary 'cause that's where you start, right? The dictionary says that to abide means to remain stable or fixed in a state. So when I think about abiding in Jesus, what I picture is that I'm putting my roots down deep. I'm making my home in him.

I'm abiding. I'm not just visiting Him from time to time, spending a little bit of time in prayer and putting on my favourite worship music and spending time with Him when it's convenient. I'm making my home in Him. His is the most important relationship in my life. The joy and the peace and the love and the forgiveness that I have found Him and the life.

Why would I want to abide anywhere else but in Him? I'm the branch and he's the vine and abiding is a daily and an intentional decision to stay connected to Jesus. And when we abide. We bear what he produces. If the fruit of your life is not love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control.

And instead what you're growing looks like anxiety and anger and, you know, being short with people and selfishness. Then my question to you this morning, Would be where are you abiding? Where are you abiding? Are you abiding in social media? Are you abiding in your own self sufficiency? Are you abiding in fear and stress and striving?

You cannot abide in the world and produce kingdom fruit. You need to abide in Him. And it will happen. Because we're all human. And when we make a decision or an action that we realize is flesh led and is works based, you just don't camp there. You just come home, home and abide in Jesus. So the Holy Spirit is the one who produces fruit in us, but we do have a role to play.

Um, I was thinking about a garden, and I went and visited, uh, Lincoln and Veronique a few weeks ago. They have the most amazing farm down in the northern part of New South Wales, and there's like everything growing there, isn't there? There's like fruit and veggies, like it is a flourishing garden. And I was thinking about the role of the gardener.

At the end of the day, The gardener doesn't make the fruit grow, but they do have a massive role to play because they can hinder the growth of that fruit. Can't they? They have to work at ensuring that the pests stay out and that the soil remains, um, cultivated. and ready to grow. And the same is true for us.

So even though we don't strive to produce these fruit, we have to cultivate an environment where the Holy Spirit can do his work. And so as you go about your week this week, I want to challenge you to ask yourself, are my daily habits producing an environment? for the Holy Spirit to shape me. What does that look like?

Because abiding in Christ, as I said, is not about a one time inspirational or occasional moment. It's about intentionally cultivating a life where His presence isn't just visited, but that we dwell in. Because he dwells in us. So what does that actually look like? So I thought I would just show you a little bit of what abiding looks like in my life.

It starts with surrender. As I said, you have to acknowledge your need for God. You have to realize that I can never be good enough. On my own, I need to surrender. And then you've got to cultivate your relationship with Jesus. Stay connected to the vine. Your relationship with Jesus is not just one more item on your to do list.

It's so much more than that. It is the source of life. It's the source of life itself. And so I want to make time to be with him, to just sit in his presence and to experience the joy and the peace. And the love that he brings. And then I listened for his voice. You know, prayer is not just about me telling God everything that I need, everything that my friends need, all of the things that I think that he should do to shape my world.

It's about me learning to listen for his still voice. To listen for His wisdom, to listen for His next step of direction so that I can obey. You can discover what it means to pray without ceasing. I used to think as a kid, what does that look like? What does it look like to pray without ceasing? Like, how would I get anything done?

But I've learnt that I can keep a prayerful posture with God throughout the day. Constantly thanking Him. I'm so grateful God for this. Thank you. God, I've got to make this decision. Which way should I go? What does it look like to leave one ear attuned to his spirit and one ear listening to what's going on around you?

I think that's what it means to pray without ceasing. Ask him for his wisdom moment by moment and thank him and express your gratitude to him throughout the day. And then immerse yourself in the teachings of Jesus. Allow them to shape you. Don't just read for the sake of intellect. And that's why I love, and you will hear us talk all the time about your daily devotions, because it's about allowing the Word and the teachings of Jesus to go from here to here, to transform you.

So we read and then we apply. And we ask the Holy Spirit, reveal to me a word that's fresh, revelation for today. And then help me to live differently because of what I just read. Um, and then walk in community. We were not meant to walk alone. That's why this is such a beautiful expression of our faith in God.

Surround yourself with people that will encourage you, but also Poke the bear a bit and challenge you when they need to and remind you of what's true. Join a village or start a village for that matter. Community is beautiful. And none of those things are about striving. They are not items to tick off a list.

They are not works. They are simply things to help us cultivate our soil and to abide with Jesus. Because as we learn His voice. And as we listen to his promptings, we truly become people of. People of His way. Faithfulness naturally leads to fruitfulness. So let's be faithful with the greatest relationship that we have.

And that is with Jesus. Remember what Paul said in Galatians 5. 25 with the spirit. It's like walking with a friend. Has anyone got a friend with really long legs? Oh, any of your friends probably have longer legs. Sorry, that was harsh. More loving, more kind. Sorry, Lord. Um. When, to speak the truth, when we go walking with a friend, particularly with friends with long legs, you have to like, adjust your pace to keep up with them.

I think I'm just out for this gentle walk around the lake at sunset, and I end up like, breaking a sweat because I've got to try and match their pace. And I think that, um, walking in step with the spirit looks like us adjusting our pace to keep in step. So what does it look like practically? For me, daily surrender.

Literally, daily surrender. I submit my day, I submit my decisions, I submit my desires to God, and I ask him to lead me. And then I have to recognise the flesh when I see it, and guys, it's there, as you just saw. Um, when impatience And anger, and fear, and control, when they rise up and I recognise them, straight away, if I can, or others in that community we talk about, remind me, and I say, Holy Spirit, I'm sorry, would you redirect me?

Would you help me to surrender that to you again? So recognise it, and then step out in faith. When the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something, what are you going to do? Say yes. Obey. When he asks you, what does love require of me in this situation? Live in that. Act it out, extend the grace, show the love, even when it's inconvenient.

And we talk about this all the time, and even this week, um, I had to learn that again, like that when people come and people are in front of you, do not walk around them. Don't step over them. Lean in. They're not an inconvenience. It's an opportunity. An opportunity to say yes and be obedient and share the love of God with the people in your world.

So, abide and walk in step with the Spirit. Stay close. Follow His lead. Adjust your pace to match His. And when you start to drift, He'll call you back. And when you're weak, He's the one that will give you the strength and when you are unsure It's his wisdom that you can rely on moment by moment by moment.

We choose the ripple of the kingdom. And the thing is guys, it's not just about us. It's not just for us because ripples by their very nature. extend outwards. And so abiding in Jesus actually transforms the way that we love other people. When we abide, we extend grace. When we abide, we show love. When we abide, we begin to look more like Jesus, especially in our interactions with others.

We become people who carry his presence. Living by the Spirit is not about trying harder. It's about drawing deeper from the well. Living water. Letting our roots grow down deep into Him as His Spirit shapes our hearts and our choices daily. That's the invitation not perfection, but direction walking in step with the spirit Can you imagine a church a community a city?

Where people aren't just trying to be good, but are actually living Love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and goodness, and kindness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self control. And they are flowing from deep within them. Naturally flowing, because of a transformed life. That is what Jesus came to restore.

And the early church that we read about in the book of Acts, and it's been so cool to be in devotions for the last month or so in Acts. They weren't striving. They were abiding and it changed literally the world. And today we have the same choice. The exact same choice. Will we root ourselves deeply into the tree of life?

Will we allow his living water to flow through us? And will we step into the original kingdom ripple? Spirit led, not self driven. Life is a journey. We all know that. We're all walking. Who are you walking with? Are you going to match your pace? to his and truly live the spirit led life. That's my challenge to you this morning, that we would be a people of the way walking with him.

As we close this morning, I've asked the team to come and to sing a song over us. Um, a beautiful song that. I hope will help us just to reflect on the last few weeks and also to prepare our hearts because this morning I would love for us in the room and also online to take communion together and communion is something that believers do and often this happens in the context of our villages and our small groups and in our homes, but I would love to share it with you this morning, but I don't want to assume that everyone in the room Or everyone that is, uh, watching online this morning has made that choice to surrender your lives to Jesus.

And here's what I want you to know if that's you. You do not have to clean yourself up first. You just come. And maybe you have thought, thank you Jackie. Maybe you have thought, that God wouldn't want me. And maybe even, and I, I don't know but I have the sense that there was someone as you were listening this morning when I was talking about abiding, that your thought went somewhere down the line of but God wouldn't want to abide with me.

Nothing could be further from the truth. He doesn't just like you. He loves you. That's why he sent his son Jesus so that that relationship could be restored.

There's a beautiful parable that Jesus records, and it's called the prodigal son, and it's about a son that has walked away and made terrible, selfish, self governed decisions. But he makes a decision that he needs to return to the father. And before he even gets there, his dad is out there waiting for him.

He's watching for him. And that's so, such a beautiful reflection of the love of our God for us. So maybe today you're ready to stop living in self governance. To stop striving and to simply start abiding. To surrender your life to Jesus and to walk in step with his Spirit. And so before we take communion, I would just invite you, if that's you, to just pray this simple prayer of surrender.

with me. Is that okay? Would you pray with me this morning? Heavenly Father, today I surrender, I give you my life, my plans, my control. Forgive me for living for myself. Jesus, I believe you died for me and you rose again to give me new life. I receive your grace. And I choose to follow you. Fill me with your spirit so that I can abide in you and walk in step with you every day in Jesus name.

Amen.