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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1538270
B V O V : 2 9 the flesh, thinking if they can just quit acting ugly...if they can just stop smoking...if they can just get over their depression, they'll be able to walk in the spirit. But it just doesn't work like that. I saw one of the best illustrations of that truth in Ken's life years ago when he tried to quit smoking. Although he wasn't in the ministry yet, he was born again, loved God with all his heart, and wanted to live pleasing before Him. The problem was, he had been a serious smoker for years and the habit had a strong hold on him. He struggled for months to overcome it. Sometimes, he'd be driving down the highway and have such a desire to stop smoking that he'd throw his cigarettes out the window. Within a few miles, however, his flesh would rise up and demand a cigarette and he'd turn the car around so he could go back and find the pack he'd thrown away! I'm telling you, his flesh and spirit were in a battle, and his flesh always seemed to get the upper hand. But all that changed when he went to a meeting in Houston, where he heard the Word preached twice a day, every day, for three weeks. After that meeting was over and he was driving home, he suddenly realized he hadn't smoked in days! He'd been so involved in the things of God, so busy walking in the spirit, that the habit that had once seemed so impossible to break had simply dropped away. The Word of God had separated him from it. Maintain the Fellowship Sometimes when I tell people that walking in the spirit is the secret to having the fruit in your life, people think I'm telling them to do something mysterious and difficult. But actually, walking in the spirit is quite simple. You do it by putting God first place in your life. You do it by maintaining fellowship with Him through His Word and through prayer. Reading, studying and listening to the Word of God is vital to walking in the spirit. Fellowship with God through His Word opens the door to your heart so the fruit of the spirit can flow out of it. When you think about it, you can easily understand why. The Word is like spiritual food. The more of it you put in your heart, the stronger your spirit becomes. If you'll continue to feed on the Word, eventually it will be so powerful that it can overcome the flesh every time (Hebrews 5:14). The opposite is also true. If you spend your time feeding on soap operas, romance novels and the 6 o'clock news, your flesh will grow stronger and your spirit will weaken. And though you'll still have the inner desire to be loving and kind, the flesh will bully you into acting like the devil! If you're specifically wanting to strengthen your spirit in the area of one particular fruit of the spirit, one of the wisest things you can do is feed on what the Word has to say about that fruit. If you've been running short of joy lately, for example, make a point each day to read and meditate on what the Bible has to say about joy and rejoicing. Build up your spirit in that particular area. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). Continuing "The Word is like spiritual food. The more of it you put in your heart, the stronger your spirit becomes."