If you're like me, you grew up in church, but even though you knew all the Sunday School answers, the God that you heard about all your life was more distant than personal.
I definitely believe this has to do with our perception of and how we view God. God is Someone that desires to be known, but too often our upbringing and life experiences skew our view of Him. The last few weeks have been such a beautiful time getting to know Jesus better. I've felt like I've been on a mission trip as it's like I've had a mountain top experience. Christ has blown me away with how much He loves me and has been reminding me of my purpose of bringing Him glory no matter what season or circumstance I encounter.
How? You may ask. It's definitely been God's Word that has transformed my heart and mind. I'm not the same carnal Christian that I've always been. I gotta tell you, there's so much freedom in this!
1For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
.16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy,d drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another {Galatians 5:1; 16-26}.
There are a number of things that can keep us from experiencing the freedom that Christ has bought on the cross for us. Sin can definitely weigh us down and keep us from experiencing that sweet fellowship between ourselves and the Lord. Another thing that can keep us in bondage and not free is living according to our flesh rather than living by the Holy Spirit. Living by the Spirit simply means obeying God and His Word. The only way that we can obey God's Word is if we're meditating and thinking on His Word. If our minds are filled with things contrary to the Bible and not like Philippians 4:8 says then we won't be living by the Spirit. Being Holy Spirit-controlled is listening to and doing what God says. As a result, a believer's life produces the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5:22-24).
My skewed view of God over the past few years has really been detrimental to my relationship with God. I didn't really realize this until recently. I've struggled a lot with trusting God, which of course has strained my walk with the Lord. I'm beginning to learn throughout Scripture the truth of God's character as I've read and studied the Bible. I think a lie that I've believed is that I already knew what the Scriptures say about worry, anxiety, fear and doubt. However, even though I knew what it said, I wasn't applying it to those areas I struggled in. But with God's grace, help, love and patience, I'm slowly becoming a doer of the Word, not a hearer only (James 1:22).
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