Walking in Your Priesthood; Overcoming the Flesh Through the Spirit | Open Book | Aug 5, 2025 | CR

Crystal Rivers | Open Book | Aug 5, 2025 As a believer, you have been called to a priesthood - a sacred role where you offer sacrifices pleasing to God. Yet you may find yourself experiencing a frustrating contradiction: inwardly, you desire to serve God and walk in righteousness, but outwardly, you struggle with patterns of the flesh that seem to persist despite your best intentions. This internal conflict is not your permanent reality. You must understand a fundamental truth: you are no longer bound by the old nature. Through Christ, you have died to the law of sin and have been married to Him, raised in newness of life. The Holy Spirit dwells within you, making you one spirit with the Lord. **The Impossibility of Flesh Pleasing God** Recognize that your carnal mind - your natural way of thinking and reasoning - cannot please God. It is literally impossible. No amount of effort in the flesh, no upgrading of your natural abilities, will ever satisfy God's requirements. The carnal mind interprets circumstances through the five senses, leading to worry when bills are due, anxiety about the future, and attachment to temporary things. But this mindset is enmity against God and can never submit to His ways. **The Solution: Walking in the Spirit** You have been empowered by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which has set you free from the law of sin and death. This is not merely positional truth - it's your operational reality. When you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The key is understanding that you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, because God's Spirit dwells in you. **Practical Steps to Spiritual Consistency** Your victory requires intentional spiritual disciplines: **Watch and Pray**: Just as Christ instructed His disciples, you must maintain vigilance. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Consistent prayer and watchfulness provide strength for times of temptation and adversity. **Intimate Fellowship**: There is a direct correlation between your intimacy with God and your ability to walk in the spirit. When your secret place becomes inconsistent, you'll notice increased irritability, impatience, and other expressions of the flesh. Quality time in God's presence is not optional - it's essential for spiritual victory. **Renew Your Mind**: You must be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This happens as you consistently study God's word and allow spiritual wisdom and understanding to govern your thoughts rather than carnal reasoning. **Set Your Affections Above**: Fix your heart and mind on things above where Christ sits, not on earthly things. You cannot serve two masters or look up and down simultaneously. Everything you're attached to that is not eternal will hinder your spiritual progress. **Your Identity as a Priest** You are a priest of the Most High God, called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him. This requires you to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. As you grow in this knowledge, you'll walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him and becoming fruitful in every good work. **Overcoming Through Divine Strength** You have been made into a threshing instrument with sharp teeth, capable of beating down every mountain of flesh - whether pride, lust, anxiety, or any other expression of the old nature. These things that once contended with you can be overcome through the Spirit's power. Remember: you are not struggling against an equal opponent. The enemy has been disarmed, and his only remaining weapon is deception. When you cooperate with the flesh, you're essentially cooperating with his defeated schemes. But you have the power to choose differently. **Living the Reality** Your new creation reality is not something you're trying to attain - it's who you already are. You possess the spirit of life, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and