If we claim to live by the Holy Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:25 AMP) Conduct may not always be the first thing we think about each morning, but if we were smart, we'd ask the Holy Spirit to actually take control of our conduct before we even set feet to the floor. Why? When our day begins under his control, our actions are more likely to reflect the image of Christ. Live by the Spirit and you will not be controlled by the lusts of the flesh or this world - isn't that what scripture teaches? We might not realize just how 'differently' we may act until we act him to 'act through us'. Walk by the Spirit with personal integrity. Whenever we ask the Holy Spirit to take control of our actions, we are relinquishing our 'right' to be our ultimate authority in life. This may not seem all that significant at first, but the more we relinqui...
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:9-11 NLT) The blood of Christ was shed, not just because he angered the Jewish leaders, but because our restoration into right relationship with our heavenly Father required a holy and pure sacrifice. What could never be accomplished by any other means was provided, once for all in his Son, Jesus Christ. Now, through faith, and not our own works, we are restored into right relationship with God. We might want to describe it as a 'friendship' with God, but we must never take this relationship for granted. The very thing that stood in the way of us enjoying a relationsh...