Walking In The Spirit | Ps Joshua Long

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Newman Church podcast. Wherever you are in the world, we are so glad that you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our heavenly Father is as we grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus. Enjoy the message. [00:00:14] Speaker B: Yes, that's truly my heart's desire, Father, to surrender all to you. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that nothing that is seen, heard or felt today comes from me. But it comes from you, Father. Less of me, more of you. That is our desire. And so, Father, as I bring the word that I feel that you have placed on my heart to bring, let it be a word that will break chains, that will destroy yokes, that those that have come burdened down, those that have come with things that they've been carrying, that it will be broken off today, not because of anything that I have done, but because of everything that you have done, everything that you are and every word that was spoken in your word, which is the Bible, shall come to pass. That you are the healer, you are the Redeemer, you are the one that we magnify and that we praise. There is none above you, Jesus. So we submit this moment and we submit our lives to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Is everyone excited to be alive? You know, that's the key. A lot of times we say, are we happy to be in the house of the Lord? And, you know, we get a few aha's and we forget a few years. But I'm telling you, if you are excited to be alive, then the limits are endless because you are living a life that you have the ability to say. And there are so many that don't get that opportunity. So before we even go beyond anything else, it's the fact that we give him thanks and praise for being able to do so. If you don't know who I am, my name is Joshua Long. And yes, as Australians love to shorten everything, I tend to lean to the trend of that as well, now that we are dual citizens of Australia. So you can call me Jay long. I'm not really caught up in the whole title of pastor, Reverend, Deacon, apostle and all that good stuff, but I do love to call other people that because it's church and ease, you know. So don't worry, you can be a bishop and a reverend too. Just introduce yourself to me and that'll probably become your nickname from here on out. One of the things that we want to talk about today is just simply starting off with who I am. I am one of eight. I am the baby boy of eight kids. There's four boys, four girls. And I grew up with a natural bend to, lean to, watching my three older brothers wanting to be like them, wanting to do what they do. We are a sports family, so all of my siblings played some type of sports. So it didn't matter if you were a boy or girl. We played a sport. And so with my brothers, I grew up watching them playing gridiron football. I grew up watching them playing baseball, grew up watching them run track, and none of us could really play basketball. That was more of the girls side of the family. But the boys, it was like gridiron, baby, spoiled track. That was what we did. I even watched my father, didn't watch him play in gridiron, but I watched him fixing on cars. I watched them doing construction, handyman type things. And it was one of these things where growing up as a child, it was like, oh, I want to do that. Oh, I want to be like you, dad. Oh, I want to be like you, Juan. Oh, I want to do that like you, Jason. Oh, I want to do that like you, mar. And the thing about it is, I had to, like, watch what they were doing to actually know what they were doing. Now, what does that have to do with what I'm preaching about today? Well, I'm glad you asked, because today I want to talk about walking in the spirit. And the first scripture that I want to bring up when we talk about walking in the spirit is first corinthians eleven, and one. Very famous. Be imitators of me as I am Christ. Second scripture, John 1226. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be. Also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. Now, when I hear that, I'm thinking to myself, oh, man, you know, like, the fact that I call myself a Christian, the fact that I have accepted Christ as my lord and savior, there is a demand, not a natural being, but it's actually a demand for me to be more like Christ. There is a demand for me to walk in the spirit. And it's not a choice of today I want to be a good Christian. Today I want to be a bad Christian, or today I'm mediocre. It's no, today you were supposed to walk in the spirit. And so let's just give a few examples and break down what it looks like to walk in the spirit. And if you've never heard me speak before, I'm one of those type of people. I'm like, God, give me your spiritual download. Give me. I mean, I'm talking about the whole humna hamana, hama nahamna from heaven type download. But then I go, okay, God, now you've downloaded it to me. How can I speak that to the people to where it can be a practical outworking in their daily life? So living your life in a continual presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that's an example of walking in the spirit, abiding in Jesus, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in you. See, the first thing that we must do is abide in Jesus. We actually have to take time to say, Jesus, what is it that you want me to do? And before I do anything else, I'm just going to abide in you so that you can direct my next choice. Another one is practicing spiritual disciplines, like reading the Bible, prayer, fellowship to stay connected with God. So does anyone understand what that last one is? Fellowship to stay connected with God. It's like, that's what we're doing now. We're coming to church, coming together with, like, believers to continue to build community, to encourage each other about the goodness of God. Now, if I can just step out of the preacher mode and step into the reality teacher mode, church is not for you to come and say, oh, you know, Pastor Glenn, man, this week has been the worst week of my life. I had my dog bark. I had my cat scratch me across the face while I was asleep. My boss said something that I didn't like. I'm Pastor Glenn. It's my boss. So just letting y'all know and. And, you know, this, this, this and that. And I just. The devil is just working. No, what it's supposed to look like is. Pastor Glenn, man, I tell you what, my week has been very challenging. The dog was barking. The cat scratched me across my face while I was asleep. My boss said something that I didn't like and just. Just what could have gone wrong, went wrong. But God covered me and he protected me, which is why I'm here today to give you my testimony of how he's brought me through this crazy week. But a lot of times we stop at the wine, wine, complain. Woe is me. And I'm sorry if I'm hurting some feelings, but feelings sometimes get hurt. But there is a person that can fix those feelings. His name is Jesus. So just take your feelings to the cross. But I'm here to challenge you to go to the cross. So when we come together to fellowship, it's always in a matter of, hey, I'm going through something. Yes, that's true. Pray for me. I will. Let's pray right now. But it's not a pity party type thing. The devil has defeated me. Cause I'm sorry. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. We are victorious because of what Jesus did. And the moment that you accept him as lord and savior, you are now a victor. Can I get an amen? All right. That's the church I'm talking about. Following the spirit's lead and direction for your life rather than just doing what you want to do. Allowing the spirit to control in guide your thoughts, words and actions. I've been challenged in that area a few times. If I must admit, submitting to the will of God instead of the desires of the flesh, we have to submit to the will of God. It's no coincidence. Like I that song, I surrender all when I am in heaven, I will still be singing that song. Because I never want to be a person who holds on to the things of this world or the things that God gives to me to steward and manage and make that my God. Make that my lord. Make that my idol. I actually want to say, okay, God, you're giving this to me so I can give it to who? You're giving this to me so that I can steward it so I can increase your kingdom. In what way? And so when we submit the will of. When we're submitting to the will of God, we're letting go of our will. We're letting go of our desires. The next one says, producing the fruit of the spirit in your life rather than the works of the flesh, exhibiting qualities of the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It's funny because I grew up in a, in a church and ease type environment, right where whether the speaker or the teacher or the person that was preaching or talking about the fruit of the spirit, they used to always say fruits of the spirit as if there was a fruit of love and a fruit of joy and a fruit of peace and a fruit of patience and so forth and so forth. And you got to choose which fruit that you wanted to grab from the tree and bite from and say, okay, I'm going to have the fruit of love today, but I'm not going to have the fruit of patience. Patience. But it's one fruit with those ingredients. And when we walk in the spirit, every ingredient must be present or it's not the fruit of the spirit. So if I am exhibiting faithfulness, goodness, kindness, patience, love, joy, peace, but not self control. I'm not operating in the spirit in its fullness. And I have to say, God, oh, search me and show me where I'm falling short of walking in your step. Bring me back, whether if it's two degrees or 15 degrees, bring me back to the path that you have for me because I want to be an example of Christ, not an example of J. Long. Another quality, an example of walking in the spirit, is exhibiting, resisting. Sorry. Resisting sinful desires and temptations through the power of the spirit. The Bible tells us that he will always give us a way of escape. Let me repeat that. If you haven't read it, it's in the Bible. It's his promise. He will always give us a way of escape. There is no temptation that he will not give us an exit strategy from. So what does that mean? Oh, J. Long, don't tell him this, but I'm going to. That means there is no excuse for you living a life of sin and saying that you are a Christian. I'm not saying you got to be perfect, but we do serve a perfect father who gave us a perfect example in Jesus, who then gave us a perfect comforter to keep us in step and in line so that we can, in all of our flaws, follow after the perfect being by walking in the spirit. But it's when we do the opposite and go, I'm not perfect. Ah, I fall short. Yeah, I'm doing this. Oh, that's my shortcoming. So we start making excuses, which does what? Gives a foothold for the enemy to come in and camp. I know it may be challenging, but I challenge you the same way the Holy Spirit has challenged me that there is a way of living that has been mandated as a believer in Christ. And that means that we must resist sinful desires, relying on the Holy Spirit's power and grace rather than trying to live the christian life in your own strength, acknowledging your need for the spirit's help and guidance daily. Cause I'm not the smartest man in the world. I'm not a theologian like Pastor Glenn, but I'm gonna get there. I gotta study to show myself approved and all that good stuff, right? Allowing the spirit to transform you from the inside out. So when you step out of the house, it's not a matter, oh, I'm gonna put on my married people boots. They oughta color yellow. Cause I got some yellow in my shirt color coordination. I actually had on some brown shoes, but it started raining, so I put these on. But the outer appearance, we look at in the mirror, and we go, oh, my hair is done. I brush my teeth. I put on my deodorant. I got my clothes set. But then you have the most rotten heart on the inside. And guess what? You can look in the mirror all you want, but if you have not allowed the holy spirit to change your heart, once you start speaking, your heart will be revealed. Once you start doing your actions, your heart will be revealed. And then that fine pair of shoes, shirt, hairstyle, and all of that will be exposed. I'm sorry, but not sorry, because we have to go to another level. It's no more playing church, but it's being the church. Letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly as the spirit applies it to your life. And lastly, walking in obedience to God's word as the spirit uses scripture to teach, rebuke, correct, and train you. Show of hands. How many love to be rebuked? Oh, no hands. Just me. Just me. How many love to be taught? Oh, okay, we got a few. How many love to be corrected? Sometimes. And how many love to be trained? See, here's the thing. We had some hands going up, some hands staying down, some hands like, uh, sometimes. But if you think about it, the scripture is to teach. So, how do you know that you're being taught via the scripture? You yourself need to read the scripture. Okay. The scripture rebukes. Well, how do you know you need rebuking? You have to read the scripture, and then the Holy Spirit will say, j long, j strong, you're doing it wrong. It's true. If I'm not reading a scripture, I won't know that the way that I'm living is wrong unless God puts someone in my path that knows the scripture and teaching the scripture incorrectly. Context. And then I have to do what? Lower my pride. Oh, that thing called pride will always say, who are you to rebuke me? Who are you to correct me? Who are you to teach me? And your answer should be a follow of Christmas. I've lived, I've seen, and I've read, and I believe that God has brought me in your path to say to you that the way that you are living, the choices that you're making right here need to change so that you can step more into the fulfillment of what God has for you, not for my glory, but for his glory. So when we are being taught, it's great. I receive teaching. When we're being rebuked, it's great. I receive rebuking because that means there's something that I'm doing that needs to change so I can step more into it. When I'm being corrected, it must mean that I'm doing it wrong in some way, shape, form or fashion. So let me receive that correction. And when I'm being trained or discipled, let me receive that. But here's the key. I'm receiving it because it's from the spirit of God, which is revealed in scripture. So even if I'm getting that correction, that rebuke, that training, that discipleship, all of the above, once I receive it, I take it, I write it down, I put it on the shelf, and then what do I do? I go read the word of God that's accessible to me to make sure that what was said to me, to me is actually correct. And now that starts my journey into becoming a better version of what God has for me. Now, I have this statement here, this question, and it says, are you willing to give up full control because you can't walk in the spirit unless you give up full control? When we sang I surrender all, all to thee, my blessed all, all to you all. Not some, all to you, my blessed savior, I surrender it all to you. So you sang the words. Now, unless it was a karaoke moment or actually a heart desire, you're still saying the words. So there has to be a conviction that says, God, I am willing to surrender all to you to give you full control. And in the areas that I'm still holding on to father, reveal it to me and just smack my hand, do whatever it takes for me to take my hand off of it so that I can walk in the fullness of what you have for me. Is this helping anybody? Now, I have a few scriptures that I just want to shotgun to you because I'm telling you like the word is there, and that's what it's about. Galatians 516 says, but I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians five continues to say in verse 22, 20 through 24, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. You see, walking in the spirit demonstrates that one is a child of God, while walking in the flesh shows one is still controlled by the sinful nature. I'm a fan of Michael Jackson. His music influenced me as a kid. I was that kid that had socks on and underwear, tighty whities and all that type of stuff with no shirt and no pants. And I was doing all the dancing and moonwalking because if you had socks on with the hardwood floor, that was the best way to learn how to moonwalk. But Michael got it wrong when he said, why? Why? Why? Tell him that is human nature? Because we should not live from a place of human nature. The moment we accept Jesus Christ as lord and savior, he changes our nature. But he can only change it when we allow him to change it by giving up our will and accepting his. Romans eight one. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Romans 813 says, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if you live according to the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body and you will live. I want to live. Walking in the spirit requires daily crucifying of the flesh and its sinful desires while relying on the spirit's power. We can do nothing in our own power. Nothing. Nothing that we do in our own power and our own will will have ending success. Because all things work together for the good of those who love who and are called for his purpose. So you have to know that God has a purpose for you. But if you don't want to accept his purpose, failure is what you will meet. I know it's tough. It's tough. But we measure success by what accolades we do, what we've done in this life, this, this and that. And God is going to, well, where was I in that? Where was my spirit in that? I'm bringing it to an end. I'm bringing it to. We're going to land the plane. Galatians 220 says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, the thing is, some of us are saying, how can we obtain this ability to walk in the spirit and do the things that you're talking about? Jay Long well, I'm glad you asked that question too, because I want to show you with a quick demonstration and I'm going to surprise this person because they don't even know that they're about to be a part of this demonstration. But Reverend Deacon apostle Kai, if you could, please. I know, right? Trust me, you don't have to say anything, but do it quickly. Everything that you do, do it quickly. It's like Mary when she did when they told him to follow. All right, so Kai has the privilege and honor today of representing the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now we talk about how can we approve this? How can we achieve this thing? And it's simply this position and posture. Now, if I am to walk in the spirit and I am positioned here beside Kai, but my positioning is here. And now, Kai, this is on you. You can move, do whatever movement you want, whether fish, just raise a hand, whatever it may be, right? So just entertain me for a little bit. But if I'm here, how can I walk in this spirit when my posture and position is not on the Father, son, and the Holy Spirit? If I position myself here and my posture is here, how can I walk in the spirit? But when I position myself here, I still have to posture myself to imitate what I see. So therefore, if I'm now postured and positioned to where I am watching the spirit. Okay, now, thank you, Kai. I appreciate that. Now, I know that's a simple, simple, like act of demonstration, but think about how powerful it is. Your position and posture is everything. When I position myself to see what the Holy Spirit is doing, I also have to posture myself to wait until the Holy Spirit moves. I also have to posture myself to wait to hear what the Holy Spirit wants me to say. Because if I'm trying to do it at the same time that the Holy Spirit is doing it, I'm still playing a guessing game. But when I take the position and say, father, you move first because I want to be in step with you. Father, you speak first because I want my words to be your words. And I love when the scripture says, truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing for whatever the father does that the Son does likewise. So I want to encourage everyone today that walking in the spirit is not this challenging equation that's so difficult that you have to break down e equals mc squared times whatever PI. And all this, it's simply saying, holy spirit, I give up my will. I give you full control, and I seek after Jesus so that I can get in your presence so that I can then watch position and wait for your instructions. It's letting go of every flesh pool desire tug that the enemy has placed in our human nature and saying, father, I want your spirit, I want your kingdom, and I want to be an example of your hands and feet. And the only way that we can do that is by walking in the spirit. Now, when we say, I'm pretty sure some of you have heard the phrase being in step with someone, right? Being in step. And a lot of times that can be defined and described a lot of different ways. It's like at the same time, you know, a person doing this, and when I was growing up in school, they used to do this example in PE class and they would tie or put a rubber band around my ankle and my friend's ankle. And then we do a three legged race and it was like, oh, you gotta be in step, you gotta be in step, you gotta be in step. But I'm here to tell you a different definition of what being in step. When it comes to walking in the spirit. If anyone has ever walked on the beach, there is a footprint that is left in the sand. And if you can imagine that the footprint of God and the footprint of the Holy Spirit is so large that every foot in the entire world could step in it, we're actually in step with the Holy Spirit. As in my footstep is in his footstep. And if my footstep is in his footstep, the wavering limits. And the more that I'm in step with the Holy Spirit, the more I'm closer to the life that he has created me to be. So, Father, I thank you that we are here to walk in your spirit. We are here to walk in your footsteps. And Father, today we desire to have more of you. We give up full control, full control. Full control. Full control belongs to you. And so, Father, we take the fruit of the spirit and every characteristic of that fruit. And Father, we ask that you would give it to us, Lord God, and that we don't pick and choose what ingredient of the fruit that it is that we want to operate in on that day. But Father, let us have it all. Father, we pray in the name of Jesus that when people see us, when they encounter us, they are encountering your spirit, because we start our day with asking you what it is that you want us to do. [00:34:56] Speaker C: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast and we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or us simply missing the mark, entered the world and separated us from God. Romans chapter six, verse 23 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he, Jesus, demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 316 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus, that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus. The son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore with him. Today you can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord and we do that through a simple prayer. Follow along with me dear Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at Numa Church thanks for listening.