The Christian Walk

It's been a far from slow March, with our trip to visit relatives at Bass Lake CA and all the Little League baseball commitments, but I have also been reading and hearing many great messages on Faith and Belief. I see that the Christian walk is a never-ending journey, led by the Holy Spirit, of learning, growing and maturing in the "truth' that is constantly and continually being revealed from the sure infinite amount of godly knowledge and wisdom available to those who truly seek it with all their heart, for the understanding of their Heaven Father (the Creator of Heaven & Earth), for the improvement of their "Child of God" life and living, and the serving & pleasing of the Lord ... the glorifying of His Holy name, the advancement of the Kingdom of God on Earth, and the blessing of our fellow man ... on the road to eternity in Heaven.
It would be over-whelming, if not regulated by the Holy Spirit, the peace of Christ (our Shepherd) in our sight, and the love of Almighty God on our heart. The largest obstacle to our walk is our flawed selves. We want so much to do everything ourselves ... by our own will, knowledge and power, that many times we get in the way of what God is trying to tell us, teach us and guide us to. We need the means of grace to help keep our hearts inclined to the things of God. The John Owen's book that I'm reading puts it as: The promise of life, and the vigor in our spiritual life depends upon our mortification (putting to death) of sin (the flesh - our sin nature). To gain spiritual strength, we must weaken sin, disentangle our heart from false ambitions, and cleanse our thoughts. We must also mortify our affections so that we become more engaged in the worship of God than the worship of idols. Mortification prunes indwelling sin and allows the graces of God to grow with vigor in our life. (emphasis mine)
This is what is meant in Matthew 16:24: Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Mortification robs sin of its debilitating, inharmonious, and emotionally distracting influences. Without mortification, sin darkens the mind, while lusts of the flesh grow like weeds. Mortification is the soul's vigorous opposition to fruitless self-life. This is confirmed in Galatians 5:16-17 & 24-25: "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
Not only has the Christian been rescued from the wrath of God to come against sin, through the accepting of the free gift of eternal life by the atoning death and resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, but also given an abundant and fruitful life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, as we "crucify the flesh" daily and seek first the kingdom of God in our Christian walk in the Spirit.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Let others see the reality of what Jesus has done and continues to do in you daily.
Your brother in Christ, Brian