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Walk in the Spirit
Jun 14, 2017
An Israeli priest named Ezekiel was thirty when one day in June he said, “The heavens were suddenly opened to me and I saw visions from God.” (Ezekiel 1:1-3 TLB)
Merriam Webster defines the word revelation as being “a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way, and the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.” When God shows up, all our meanings of the word apply.
It was Ezekiel’s first vision in the land of Babylon, and it was an awesome sight. A whirlwind swept toward him from the north, the color of amber, filled with fire and supernatural light. In the middle of this swirling cloud were angelic beings that he described as best as he could.
In reading this account I had a revelation of my own. Ezekiel 1:12 as it describes the angelic beings states, “Wherever their spirit went they went, going straight forward without turning.” It is a picture of perfect union and focused intent.
This verse points out two truths (at least) revealed from the Kingdom of God.
First, the spirit of a man leads him. Whether this spirit is the Holy Spirit or the spirit influenced by the world, it draws him forward. Psychology has long tried to answer the question, who owns the mind? Modern psychology and scientific studies are discovering that the mind follows the heart. Dr. Caroline Leaf has written much on this topic, and I recommend her books.
Second, it is God’s will that we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and that we not deviate from this path. The angelic beings were moving as one with the Spirit, not procrastinating, not distracted and not changing their focus. The word spirit is rȗach which implies wind, breath or exhalation. It is the same word used in referring to the Holy Spirit. The word went is halak from a root word meaning to walk. Wherever the Spirit walked, they walked.
All of our life is one in this type of walking relationship. We do not turn aside from our path in God when we are with unbelievers or the uncommitted. We do not compartmentalize our life into work, home, school, leisure and church. In the Kingdom all of life, all our walk, is sacred and it is to be led by the Spirit.
Pluralism separates the sacred from the common. But this was not the theology of the Hebrew culture because it was not the theology of God. Many indigenous cultures share this theology, a common root to their Creator, the idea that all levels of life, all actions are sacred. God’s perfect will involves a life lived in the light of obedience to the exhaled truth and leading of the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean for you and me in our daily lives? It means waking to the prayer, “God fill me your Holy Spirit,” every morning. It means reading the exhaled word of God, aka the Bible, and asking God to make us sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. It also requires doing— moving in obedience. If you’d like to know more about walking in the Spirit, click here and scroll down for our free download, How to Walk in the Spirit.
Image by Sebastien Gabriel courtesy of StockSnap.i.o
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