Walk in the Spirit
In my most recent post, I discussed what it means to be born again. We are born of God to new life. We are a new creation, made holy and righteous in Christ. We are saints. As saints, we have specific promises and capabilities that the world does not have and cannot understand. One of the most significant is that we walk with the Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit of God with us and in us (John 14:16). We are sanctified or separate from the world, but sometimes we act as if our everyday life and spiritual life are separate. One pastor at Willow Creek Community Church made this statement:
We want to be a church that doesn't just focus on your spiritual life, but helps you in your day-to-day life as well. We believe Jesus’ desire is for us to be transformed daily into His likeness. (Steve Gillen, A Note From Steve, November 12, 2019)
This may have been an innocent comment to convey how the church wants to help people, but I believe the wording is telling. The idea of separation of the spiritual and day-to-day seems like a subtle or subconscious message in the Evangelical Church. Certain activities are presented as spiritual and others are deemed secular, or at least separate. However, this is not the case. We may perform daily activities like the rest of humanity but these are done in a new light. We act in a way that is consistent with our new nature and don’t do it alone.
Christians talk about the personal aspect of our relationship with God. He is our Father, and we are His children. We can even call Him “Daddy” (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). Jesus is our Lord, but He is also described as our brother (Romans 8:29, Hebrews 2:11). However, I hear few Christians talk about walking with Jesus moment by moment. We speak about quiet times to read our Bible, setting aside time to pray, and other spiritual practices. These are excellent things, but we have the presence of the Holy Spirit of Christ all the time, and we don’t often talk about how we walk with Him.
As saints, I think we sometimes overcomplicate our lives and faith. We believe there are practices or disciplines we must perform to be good Christians. We need to be in a small group, attend church services, serve in a ministry. In addition, we need to read our Bible, pray, fast, and have times of solitude. So, we complicate our lives by heaping the spiritual responsibilities on top of the regular duties of life. Ultimately, we feel we have to make time for the Lord in our busy schedules. But our life in Christ is simpler than that, it is not necessarily easy, but it is simple.
Like other relationships, ours with the Lord requires work, and the main work is to believe in Him (John 6:29). He wants us to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28) and to walk with the Spirit (Romans 8:4, Galatians 5:16). In our relationship with God, there is no such thing as the secular. Everything we do and experience is an opportunity for worship and communion with Christ. What are the practicalities of this aspect of our new life and walk with the Spirit? How do we do it? Perhaps we can look at two saints known for experiencing the presence of Jesus, Brother Lawrence, and Frank Laubach.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection was a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris in the seventeenth century. His conversations and letters of encouragement to friends are chronicled in the book The Practice of the Presence of God. As the title of the book implies, the focus is on constant communion with God. His attention on God was not just at distinct times of worship, but was through every moment, even during the mundane chores of his work in the kitchen. He felt it was a mistake to think of specific times of prayer as different from any other part of our day and that we must experience God at all times.
Frank Laubach was a missionary in the twentieth century, focusing much of his efforts on improving literacy overseas and in America. His focus on God is recorded in the book Letters by a Modern Mystic and a pamphlet titled The Game with Minutes. Laubach’s premise is that we focus much more time on worldly endeavors than on Christ. He developed a “game” to help people focus on Jesus. The game is to select an hour and try to think of Jesus for one second out of every minute for all sixty minutes. It is important to keep score and evaluate the results. It may sound a little ridiculous, but the outcome of the game is to develop a perspective that Jesus is with us always. The idea is to use the game to establish a regular focus on Christ throughout the waking hours of our life.
I don’t agree with everything Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach have written, but I appreciate their focus on Jesus. They inspired me to develop my experience of God’s presence and commune with Him regularly during my day. I recommend reading the books mentioned above, but do so prayerfully and referring to Scripture. Until you have the opportunity, here’s a couple questions I suggest you ask yourself: How often do I think about Jesus? How often do I talk with Him during my day?
Our awareness of Jesus is paramount to walking in the Spirit. The Bible is clear that we are joined to God (1 Corinthians 6:17), but we aren’t always clearly taught the practical aspects of His presence. That is why Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach can be helpful. However, instead of trying to recite what they say in their books, perhaps it would be beneficial for me to share some of the ways I try to apply what I learned.
Often, I hear Christian teaching that tells me I need to be devoted to following Jesus. This perspective makes me think He is out in front of me, and I need to keep up. However, part of the miracle of my new birth is that I am a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:2-4). This does not mean I become God, but that I am connected to Him, and He wants me to enjoy intimacy with Him. I try to think about Jesus frequently throughout my day. As I set my mind on things above, where He is (Colossians 3:1-4), I think about the scriptures that explain what happens in heaven. I can see the saints and creatures worship God (Revelation 4:5-11); there are no more pain, tears or death (Revelation 21:4); and there are even requests for Jesus to bring justice to the world (Revelation 6:9-11). I also talk to God. When I am alone, I often speak audibly to Him; I just try to be conversational. I also believe I need specific times set aside for prayer. Still, I can also worship, praise, and bring requests to Him as they come to mind during the day, no matter where I am or what I am doing (Ephesians 6:18). Of course, some activities require my concentrated effort, but I find I have room in my mind to acknowledge God even during these times.
God prepared good works for me (Ephesians 2:10). These are not just particular types of activities, but everything I do. God provides everything, my vocation, recreation, relationships, chores, etc., and I do them with Him. I can do them lovingly, morally, and ethically in the way He desires me to conduct myself. I am frequently faced with decisions for which I am reliant on the help of the Holy Spirit. At times, I may be tempted to do wrong, but I desire to do right in concert with my new nature, and the Holy Spirit guides me as I work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). Like prayer and work, times with the Bible that we term “devotions” or “chair time” are valuable and help me connect with God.
Preferably, my Bible reading is more about knowing God better than just gaining theological knowledge. When I read, I ask God to show Himself to me through His words. I try not to read because I am supposed to, or because it is good for me, but to develop my relationship with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Scripture is a story of the relationship between God and creation, but particularly with mankind. It helps me understand my place in God’s order and the value He places on knowing me. The Bible is how God regularly communicates with me, but it is not the only way.
As I walk with Jesus and talk with Him, I am aware of how He speaks to me through thoughts, people, or circumstances. I can recount when God communicated with me through some event or person, often without their awareness. I also was blessed to hear God’s voice audibly when I needed Him most (see Our Identity in Christ Part 2 My Identity Crisis). How can I tell it is God’s voice? Primarily, it is in concert with the Bible, never in conflict with it. Sometimes, when I drift into my own little world, God clearly reminds me of His presence.
One day I was shopping at Costco, stocking up on a few items ahead of a big snowstorm. As I pushed my cart through the crowded aisles, I was looking at something on an end cap when my cart struck something on the ground and came jarringly to a stop. I don't know about you, but that kind of unexpected shock really affects me. I get an immediate adrenaline response. Maybe it is embarrassment at being blind-sided, but it usually elicits a strong reaction in my mind. As I looked down to see what caused the problem, I immediately thought what jerk would leave a fifty-pound bag of water softener salt lying in the aisle. I bent over, picked it up, and took it to its place. It was then I saw it was next to bags of driveway salt. I had forgotten that salt was one of the items I needed before the storm. I was immediately embarrassed again because I felt God tell me He put that bag in the aisle. He was telling me that He cared enough to get my attention and that my immediate reaction shouldn't be anger, but looking to Him. I needed to slow down and respond differently to shocking interruptions in my life. I know this seems like a silly story, but it had a profound impact on me. I could have looked at the salt bag merely as a coincidence, but I genuinely believe it was my heavenly Father blessing me and allowing me to learn a lesson simultaneously. I now try to react differently to unexpected events in my life.
Recently, I heard a pastor encourage the congregation to "find worth in God's presence." Unfortunately, the teacher didn't say how to do it. I hope this article has been helpful in explaining ways to walk with the Spirit. As discussed above, it seems we are told to invite God’s presence or perform certain spiritual practices to experience God. However, if we have been born again we don't need to do anything to get into God's presence, we are already there. As saints, God is always with us, not just when we are in a church service, serving in some ministry or performing some spiritual practice. When we understand this, we can experience Him and worship Him in everything we do. We can always walk in the Spirit.