*Man Must Walk According to the Holy Spirit*
> “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” — Galatians 5:16
Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, lived among people in such a way that from the moment He stepped into this world until He returned to heaven, His life clearly reflected cooperation with and guidance by the Holy Spirit. We can truly call this the successful life of Christ—and indeed it was.
During those three and a half years, there was not a single day when He was defeated, discouraged, or left without a solution. There was never a lack of food, nor a lack when it came time to pay what was required. Whether enemies, challenges, or threats—through all of them, Jesus stood firm. Seeing Him remain steady in every situation strengthened the courage of His disciples. They were also amazed, because in the kinds of circumstances Jesus faced, an ordinary person would have given up. Yet Jesus remained steadfast even unto death, and after His resurrection the disciples’ faith grew even stronger.
All of this was possible because He walked according to the Holy Spirit.
Many people want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but being filled is decided later—first one must decide to walk according to the Spirit. Do you walk according to the Holy Spirit?
The Bible says that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Mark 1:12 says, _“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.”_ Matthew 4:1 says that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. This means that when the Spirit sent Him, Jesus went; when the Spirit led Him, He followed.
Remember that this happened even before the statement that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and His fame spread everywhere (Luke 4:14), and even before Jesus declared, _“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (Luke 4:18)._ Long before these events, it is evident that Jesus listened to the Spirit and did not ignore Him. This is why it pleased God that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:38 says: _“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”_
My beloved, often the reason why people are not filled with the Holy Spirit is that they do not obey the Spirit. What does it mean to obey the Spirit? He gently places small promptings in your heart, testing your faithfulness towards Him. When people fail in these small matters, the Spirit does not entrust them with more, and thus the experience of being filled with the Spirit keeps getting delayed and pushed further away. Time keeps passing, and sometimes that moment never comes.
If this message speaks to you, please show your agreement with a 👍.
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin