Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Lord was telling us that the Holy Spirit is our strength, not we ourselves.
In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we walk by faith and not by sight. We walk by faith if we have learned to depend totally on God’s Spirit through sincere faith in Christ Jesus.
When believers are challenged or in need, we seek help from God, as we should. But too often we, in reality, depend more on ourselves than on God. Let us remember that without Christ we can do nothing of importance in this world. It takes surrender to God’s will and total dependence on Him.
Charles Stanley said, “The Spirit-filled life begins once we are absolutely and thoroughly convinced that we can do nothing apart from the indwelling strength of the Holy Spirit.” What we want and very much need is a Spirit-filled life, and that entails a relationship with the Holy Spirit. This kind of relationship requires voluntarily putting oneself under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He is always in the heart of every believer, but too often we ignore Him and take matters into our own hands. That is why we often make messes of situations.
Until we give up, we are not in a position for God to help us. As long as we depend on ourselves, we are not depending on God. However, God does want us to do what we can. We have to realize that He is the One on Whom we must depend. We do what we can as He directs, but we must depend on Him.
To walk by faith is to have a Spirit-filled life. And that requires a constant relationship that is characterized by dependence on the Holy Spirit. Surrender to Him builds and maintains that relationship with the Spirit. Let us keep in mind that total surrender and dependence on God makes it possible for the Holy Spirit to maximize His work in our lives. Meanwhile, we look forward to the day “when our faith shall be sight.”
So, let us “work for the night is coming.” Let us cultivate a close relationship with the Lord Jesus. This will give us joy and peace on earth and the hope of heaven. It will allow us to please the Lord God as we thus walk in His Spirit by our faith in Christ.
Hebrews 11:1-3 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Stanley also said, “To walk in the Spirit, we must set our minds on the things of the Spirit.” And that, dear reader, is the thing required to walk by faith.
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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.