As we journeyed through the gifts of the Holy Spirit together, I have also been on a journey across the USA. It has been a very tough journey in some ways; yet, every step of the way I have seen God’s hands of blessing upon my journey. His timing has been perfect. When I moved to Orlando in 2003, I swore that I would never move again. However, since then I was led by the Holy Spirit to move to Missouri in 2013 and now back to Florida in 2018. Neither time has it been easy to move across the country. It is hard to leave all that is familiar and those whom you love. However, when you see God’s Hand leading you, you surrender to the Holy Spirit’s will.
I wish I could tell you that means I have faced the conflicts without any signs of frustration or anger. But then, that would be a lie. When the surrender requires great sacrifice, our own hearts tend to see the selfish, self-serving nature of some around us. So, how do we overcome that? Are we like Jesus hate their abusiveness as He ran the money changers from the temple? Or, rather, are we to reach out with love, regardless of their response? How do we surrender to the Holy Spirit that our fruits might be love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (Galatians 5:22)? Yet at the same time we must stand firm on the truth of the gospel. Over the series, each fruit has been dissected as to how to do just that.
When Surrender Means Confession
Each step of this journey has brought me moments in which I had to examine my heart. All too often, I did not like what I saw there. Elements of selfishness, anger to those who caused me or my son harm, parts that needed to surrender to the Holy Spirit. However, each time I found myself there at the foot of the cross. Never did the Spirit leave me. God held fast, transforming my heart. Oh, there were moments when others could not have recognized Him clearly; but He never left me and through it all He continued His work in transforming my heart. Conflict and conflicting personalities I have never dealt well with. Perhaps it is due to having spent my lifetime with bipolar personalities, first my mother and then my husband. My tendency is to waffle between anger and guilt for my anger.
Soon I will be publishing a book regarding those struggles within me that only God’s Spirit can have the victory over. Particularly, when facing bipolar people in your lives.
So, How to Surrender when Facing Conflict and Chaos
- Remember this is a Spiritual Battle and Only in Christ is the Victory Found. This I say then, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ Galatians 5:16-18. We who know Christ as our Savior are no longer under the law. Freedom from the punishment of the law; because, Christ paid our penalty. Furthermore, we are clothed with His Righteousness before our Heavenly Father. However, the Holy Spirit will complete that transformation in us, one blemish at a time until our own hearts reflect Christ, not merely our outer garments.
- Each Morning lay your own self upon that cross, trusting God to lead the way. they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:24-25)
- Sow to the Holy Spirit by daily reading God’s word and being instant in prayer throughout the day. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8)
- Don’t give up; because you failed. Know and trust in this: God will finish the work He began in you. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9
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It is not about me, my victory, or my glory.
Rather it is about His Glory. Only God take all my failures, my sins, and my blunders, weaving them into a tapestry that brings Him glory. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14
God has a lot of work yet to complete in me; but, this I know. He loves me, indwells me, and I can trust Him through the hardest storms. Because amid those storms He is ever about transforming me into His image. My part? Keep my focus on Him through reading His word, seeking His will, confessing my sin (then forgetting it), praying about everything, and trusting Him to do the rest. I surrender to the Holy Spirit when I place Christ on the throne of my heart and kick myself off that throne.
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DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR?
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because, He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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Previous Posts In this series:
What of Gabriel, Mary, and the Promise of Hope
What is the Fruit of the Spirit Known as Temperance?
One Fruit of the Spirit: Faith to Overcome Fear
How to be Meek as a Lamb, Bold as a Lion
What Really is the Goodness of God?
A Gentle Spirit in the Face of Contempt. How?
What is Patience Really in the Face of Conflict?
One Failed Peacemaker and a Gracious God
In a World Divided How Can One Find Peace?
The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy
Displaying the Fruit of the Spirit Love. How?
Perfect in Love Oh How Can it Be?
Is Your Fruit of Love Sweet or Bitter?
How Does God Prepare the Soil for Growth?
What Fruit is the Garden of Your Heart Producing?
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2018
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.Footnote and Credits
Photo courtesy of Aziz Acharki