Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful thanksgiving and Sam had a blast with his aunts and uncles!

Our family is very blessed and we have a lot to be grateful for!
We are so excited about the Christmas Season!
I am working on a December Daily(from Ali Edwards'website)  project to record our first Christmas Season with Samuel!

To get inspiration for this project I am taking a free class from JessicaSprague.com. You should Join me!

I will be uploading updates soon!

Colossians 4 praying leads to joyful thanksgiving!

Colossians 4:2-6

 "² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."


Prayer-it's a word that is used often but it is an action that eludes most of us. It is a mystery that sometimes seems unreachable. I see in this verse that it is not be unreachable it is to be a way of life! it is a choice that we must make to devote ourselves to prayer! It is essential to being thankful! When we pray we talk to God therefore in order to give thanks to God we must pray! 
Right now I feel like a light bulb just went off in my head-"ding"! It is not a chore it is a choice that leads us to joyful thanksgiving! Making the most of every opportunity will come easily to us when we have prayed. In order for our conversations to be full of grace we must put on "outfit 12" from Colossians 3:12 and the best way to do that is by prayer! 


Prayer is the basis to live a live worthy of Christ! Help me Lord to pray without ceasing through out the day as I work, clean, walk and breath let me be joyfully thankful in prayer before your throne!

Colossians 3 Outfit 12

Colossians 3:12-17

^"12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

I love this chapter! In college I printed out verse 12 and put it up in my closet so that every morning as I was getting dressed I could remember that outfit 12 would make my day! I need to do that again! what a beautiful way of saying you can be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. This a choice that you make everyday! "Clothe yourself" it's an action! you must choose to put on these virtues and overall don't forget love-"which binds them together in perfect peace" Love is the base-if you are lacking love it will be very hard to put on these virtues much less express them. Let's examine ourselves everyday and choose to cloth ourselves the way Jesus did! So that whether we are at work, at church or just out shopping we can do all things as for the Lord.

I love  that he reminds again to be thankful, to sing to God with gratitude in our hearts, giving thanks! 

Colossians 2 overflowing with thankfulness

Colossians 2:6-7

^"6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."


Ok, so I am kind of glad I got behind on my posts because this being thanksgiving week I am so excited to learn about giving thanks. I found beautiful riches in these chapters when I read them last week but this week thankfulness and joy are jumping out at me from the pages! 


are we overflowing with thankfulness always? are the words out of our mouths filled with thanksgiving or are they laced with complaint? I pray that the Lord will help me to be thankful everyday, positive and to not complain-for I have nothing to complain about!! He has given me more than I ever imagined I should alway overflow with joyful thanksgiving! 

Colossians 1 giving joyful thanks

Colossians 1:10-14

¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


I love that as we studied these books the same themes ran through them. The Lord uses repetition to help us completely grasp those principles he wants us to live by. I know I need to repeat things over and over to memorize them. So I am so glad the Lord helps me with that through his word. 


Again we can live a life worthy of the Lord as we grow in his knowledge we will bear fruit! It is not by our strength but by his that we can do this "being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience." Wow! because he completely " has our back" we should give joyful thanks always! He rescued us from darkness into his kingdom of light!


Thank you Lord once more! This Thanksgiving week help us remember all that you have done for us and all that you have given us out of the goodness of your heart!
Check out my other blogs on these subjects:
give thanks
but one thing I d
a life worthy of the gospel

Philippians 4 Rejoice and Give thanks

Philippians 4:4-7

^"4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."


We have so much to be thankful for this should always lead us to Rejoice in the Lord! 


Thank you Lord for being so wonderful to us! We love that you answer our prayers, give us joy and peace! Thank you for all that you give us: for our salvation,  for our family, our homes, our brothers and sisters in the Lord and the joy and peace that surpasses our understanding! 

Philippians 3 But one thing I do

Philippians 3:13-14

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."


One important thing we should do. Forget our past, our possessions, our status and our shortcomings we should strain forward toward our goal to serve the Lord today so that we can be with him tomorrow and forever!


Paul begins this letter with joy and continues to talk about through out it. Joy is one of the things that helps us forget what is behind and helps us to focus on what lies ahead! 
So today choose to take up Joy and strive towards the goal for which God has called you! Your purpose is  to bring honor and glory to the Lord through a life of joy- having been saved by grace through which you will inherit the kingdom God!

Philippians 2 Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2

Imitating Christ’s Humility

 "¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

 ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 ⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself 
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!"

A recurring theme found throughout the books we are studying is humility!   
I strive to have the same mindset of Christ: "he made himself nothing, taking on the nature of servant he humbled himself by becoming obedient. "


Through his humility we were saved by grace! 

Can you imagine if he hadn't... 

although he prayed at the last moment if there could be another way to redeem us he humbled himself and said, "not my will but thine" and became obedient to death on a cross!  Thank you Lord! Help us to have your mindset to be humble and serve others as you did!


Check out my older post on Humility.

Quote

“Nothing is, everything is becoming.”

-Heraclitus of Ephesus (Greek philosopher 540-480BC)

Philippians 1 conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel

Philippians 1
^"27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ..."


In this chapter Paul begins his letter in a very joyful and grateful manner. He is thanking the church for their contribution to his ministry and goes on to give an account of what is happening at the time. 


He speaks as if circumstances don't shake him before he stands on the Solid Rock that is Jesus. He goes on to state that all things work out for good to those who are in Christ. He describes how because he is incarcerated the Gospel is being preached even more! He is excited about that and because he has been conducting himself in a manner worthy of the Gospel those around him-in jail have come to know the Lord!


This is what he is telling the Church and I believe me today: No matter what situation you find yourself in, even if it is not pleasing at the moment conduct yourself in a manner worthy of Gospel of Christ. When you do this your will see God at work. In order to do this he realizes that you must be strengthened by the Lord so he prays this prayer:


^{Philippians 1:9-11
"9} And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."


I pray today Lord that your Love will abound more in me! I want to know you more! I want to discern what is best and be pure and blameless for the day of Christs! Fill me Lord with your righteousness- so that no matter what happens I will stand firm conducting myself in a manner worthy of Your Gospel!

Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6: 1-4

 ¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”^[a]

 ⁴ Fathers,^[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

I remember memorizing these verses at a young age. They resonated in my mind and heart when I would upset my parents. I wanted to follow this commandment perfectly but not succeeding always because I am not perfect. As I grew older I realized it was not just doing what my parents asked but honoring them completely. To me this meant honoring their efforts to raise me in the Lord's way, honoring their hard work so that I would not go hungry, it meant serving them in whichever area I could-like helping with cooking dinner etc. It meant not talking back, it meant listening when I did not want to, it meant sharing with them my future plans even when I was away in college. 

I believe that the Lord honored that and will show me and guide me now that I am a parent so that our little guy will understand what this verse means for himself.

I was at the store I believe the day we were reading this chapter and heard a little boy asking his mother for a toy. What I heard coming out of that Mother's mouth broke my heart. She began cussing at him and telling him to stop asking her for stuff and to put his arm in the cart before she broke it.

I thanked the Lord for my parents and their desire to instruct me in God's way trying not to exasperate us or provoke us to anger.

Parenting now a days seems very different than when I was little. When I found out I was pregnant I prayed for the Lord to show us through his word how to raise our child. I confessed to the Lord that I was fearful in this world where children no longer honor their parents and parents no longer rear their children according to his commandments. He gave me peace and he told me like he did Elijah there are more that still want to raise their children according to the word of God.

We found these resources and we are excited about parenting! 

http://www.parentingbythebook.com/

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/

I'm Back!

I am behind on blogging for my Bible study but I am not behind on my Bile study!- I love that!

I have missed blogging... but we were having the most beautiful Indian Summer so Sam and I spent quite a bit of time outside! We went hiking and took long leisurely walks... it was divine! 

Ephesians 5 Love like Christ Loves extravagantly

Wow this chapter is so rich! I almost just want to copy the whole chapter and let that be the whole post! I don't even know where to start! So, I will start where God started with Love!

Love now a days has so many meanings. We love everything, people think that feeling desire is love, or just thinking that you have feelings for someone is love. (what does having feelings for someone mean anyway?)

But the way God has portrayed Love in the scripture leads us to understand it as a choice that must be made everyday!

Ephesians 5 (The Message)

 "^1-2Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

 ^3-4Don't allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect."

To some people Love is one sided-"if you give me what I want or need then you love me and I can love you too"

But that is not how God Loves!! " He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us!" Wow wow wow! I want to love like that. I want to love no matter what! I want to pour out my heart for others because of Love. Hear the cry of my heart Lord! 

Paul knew that tying together this principle of loving like Christ does to marriage was essential. Marriage requires this type of love. I praise God for my husband because he is so wonderful to me. I see Christ's love in him and it pours out through him unto me!  He embodies the principle of loving me as Christ loves the Church! This in turn helps me to accept and love his authority and guidance-I respect who he is through Christ. The respect that I give him helps him renew his love for me daily. God has blessed us truly to love and be loved is wonderful! 
God knew this and wants us to experience it through Him first and also through our spouses. The beauty of experiencing this love through Christ is that we can love others the same way even if it is not in a marriage. To love the way Christ love knows no boundaries!

John 3:16 (The Message)

 ^16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Ephesians 4 Humility a step into the full measure of Christ

Ephesians 4 (The Message)

verse 1-3

"get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences." (emphasis Mine)


I love to read this chapter in The Message it brings it to life for me! 
Because I love poetry, reading The Message version helps me to imagine Christ writing me a poem about life.


Ephesians 4 is one of my very favorite chapters in the Bible every time I read it I am taken by it all over again! 


Today the Lord made this verse Jump out: Ephesians 4:3 
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." This is in the NIV version though. But what Jumped out the most was the word completely. It implied that sometimes we think we are being humble but  are not completely humble. Sometimes we let our ego creep in and we look out for ourselves before we pour out ourselves for each other in acts of love. I want to be completely humble, Lord help me to be! 
In this society being humble is seen as a sign of weakness sometimes. We are bombarded with propaganda of self esteem-how to increase it and how to look out for number one. I believe the Lord wants us to be confident for he gives us power and through him we can do all things, but he does not want us to be proud he wants us to be humble-completely humble.
James 4:6 from the amplified version
But He gives us more and more grace ( power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). 


Proverbs 16:5 from the amplified version
Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured [I pledge it] they will not go unpunished.


He taught us humility first hand and we are to follow his example. I don't want want to set Himself against me I want him on my side. So Lord, I pray help me to always check my motives and to be completely humble through your strength even when it is tough and my flesh wants to take over-with your power I will have victory!


I see humility as a a stepping stone on the road to obtaining the full measure of Christ. I love to dance, to watch dance, and to see how the music brings the dancer into rhythm. I want to be in rhythm with the Lord. I want to dance with him to the music of eternity that he has written in the scriptures for us. The fruit of the Spirit and the gifts that he has given us are the notes that keep us in rhythm with him so that we can become more like him everyday and not just that but He wants to make us alive in Christ.




Ephesians 4:12-13 from the Message
"He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ."

Ephesians 3

Epesians 3:14-21 
¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

I am absolutely encouraged by this prayer today!

Lord, I want to be filled to the measure of all your fullness. I praise you Lord because you delight in giving us more of you! although there are mysteries we will never understand on earth you desire to reveal more of yourself to us everyday! 

Ephesians 2

 Ephesians 2:3-10
³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.


This chapter made me so grateful because the LORD truly does have a plan for our lives to prosper us and not to hurt us to give us a future and a hope-Jeremiah 29:11
His grace gives me hope! because even when we were dead in our lives of sin He loved us so much that he gave his only son to die for us and then raised us up with Christ! All of this he did by grace we can not save ourselves on our own! Our good works are not enough! God wants to save us and then we can do good to all because he lives in us-on our own we can not do good works. We need the only one who is good to abide in us so that we can do good-which God prepared in advance for us to do!
If you just believe your life can be made new and whole!

Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:4-10

^"4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he^[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."

He chose us! thank you Lord! Not out duty bur for his pleasure! We do not bore him-we bring him pleasure by becoming his children from "adoption to sonship"

He does not only give blessings but he lavishes( pampers, showers, gives blessings like water, generously pours blessings) us with blessing! He is exuberant in how he treats us-the primary example- he sent His only son that we could be redeemed through his blood and be forgiven so that we could have direct access to him. We no longer needed a mediator because Jesus himself is our mediator at the right hand of God.-like I wrote earlier in the week we can now approach his throne with confidence! Not only that but his mercy is new every morning and everyday he takes us from glory to glory! 

So his desire is that we would be experiencing a unity in the Spirit with Him as it occurs in heaven because Christ made this possible!

Ephesians 1:13-14

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

As soon as we believe in him we are sealed with the Holy Spirit! With this seal we can approach the throne with confidence because now we belong to him! I love knowing that he has made me his and likes to show that by sealing me with the Holy Spirit! For when the devil wants to come against us for harm he must first go through the Lord because now I belong to Him the Devil has no authority over me! Praise the Lord! 

Galatians 6 You always Sow what you reap

Galatians 6: 7-10
⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.


This passage really got my attentions on Saturday. It seems like I hear people say it all the time you sow what you reap-or as people call it now karma- although these two terms stand for completely different things. I wonder when they say it do they really understand what it means when you sow hatred you will reap hatred when you sow love you will reap love! that is huge to me because before I do something or say something I want to think about what am I going to sow and what I am going to get out of it when I reap the results. It is not just about people  getting punished because they have mistreated you. It is about all the decisions you make will they reap eternal life?
 Lord, help me to be purposeful about always doing good even when I am tired, stressed, and my patience is tried. Help me to pray always especially in these instances so that I will always sow love, joy, peace, kindness and tenderness so that I can reap eternal life with you!

Hillsong - I Give You My Heart - slovenske titulky

as I wrote this I thought of this song- Lord I give you my heart

Galatians 5 freedom in Christ

Galatians 5

Freedom in Christ

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.


Paul begins by saying that Christ has set us free but continues to describe how our lives should be. He doesn't just say you are free now figure it out on your own;he says the following:

Life by the Spirit- verse 13-17

 ¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

 ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

We must walk by the Spirit -this again happens when we crucify ourselves to the cross and follow the walk the Spirit offers. 

Paul points out that the way to fulfill the law is by keeping this command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Right from the beginning he is instructing put yourself last. Your ego no longer holds center stage. Just as the Lord Jesus gave his life for us by putting us ahead of his suffering and all that he would endure for us-so must we. 

This passage reminds of the time when Jesus was Speaking to the rich man:

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

Matthew 19: 16-22

 ¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”   ¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
 ¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.
   Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”
 ²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
 ²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
 ²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

The rich man could not leave his wealth because he was bound by sin. Although he thought he was following all the commandments that Jesus pointed out-He did not realize that he served another god-his wealth. This is what sin does it clouds our vision and we are not able to see that we are bound by your pride and sinfulness. We think that being good is enough but the Lord requires that we not only keep the commandments but also follow him-take up our cross everyday and follow him. Here is where the Spirit is so essential because it encourages us on our walk for he is our counselor who helps us!

So he gave up his place in heaven for eternity for his wealth that is temporary.

Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

The freedom that we have in Christ enables us to live a life of triumph over sin because the Spirit produces in us his fruit that help us through this walk. 

Galatians 5:22-26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

These fruit help us stay in step with the spirit because if we have the fruit of the spirit the works of the flesh can not take place in our lives.

James 3:11
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

So I pray Lord, give me more of your Holy Spirit and continue to develop your fruit in me so they can come out of me to help others. I want to grow and bear fruit for your glory so I can finish this race. I surrender to you I crucify my flesh so that I will no longer live but you will live through me! 

I hunger and thirst for you my Lord. Have your way in me!