The idea of Living Up! is exciting to me. But equally important is the flip side 
of that. What does it look like when I am living Down. Down, down, down, into a spiral of self, emotions, what I want to do when I want to do it….me, me, me…
Anyone know about living down besides me?
Let’s continue looking at Galatians 5, and acknowledge the things that make up what it is to live down, in the flesh…rather than living up, in the Spirit’s life in us.
- idolatry (worship of idols, adoration for things other than God)
You may not have a statue in your house or rub a gold coin…but, you probably have some idol lurking in your path. It could be a person, an image, things. It could be having your way, food, substance, or money. You get the idea. An idol is something that is exalted in our life to the point that if God speaks to us about letting it go…our response is often ” but I don’t want to!” For me that has been the case with food…sugary food that isn’t good for me, but I want it anyway. Is food or any other thing more important than honoring God? And, then there is a little thing with my “rights”. You know having to have my own way. Is that more important than honoring and following God?
Truth be told, sometimes it seems it is. I need to take a look at what I place before God. How about you?
Isa 46 ( The Message)
“So, to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable? Can you picture me without reducing me? People with a lot of money hire craftsmen to make them gods. The artisan delivers the god, and they kneel and worship it. They carry it around in holy parades, then take it home and put it on a shelf. And, there it sits, day in and day out, a dependable god, always right where you put it. Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.
Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious business rebels. Take it to heart.I am GOD, the only God you’ve had or ever will have, incomparable, irreplaceable, from the very beginning telling you what the ending will be, all along letting you in on what is going to happen. Assuring you that I am in it for the long haul, I’ll do exactly what I set out to do.”
- witchcraft ( the use of magical powers, demonic influences)
Most of us don’t think that this applies to us, and perhaps it doesn’t. But witchcraft is any power that is not God’s power. When I was growing up my mother was trained at reading Tarot cards and regularly attended tea leaf readings. We attended our local parish each week, and read horoscopes and got our tea leaf readings. I thought that was normal. Now I realize that calling on any other power, human or supernatural, other than God, is not walking in the Spirit, but depending on the Flesh. Maybe you can relate at that level. You don’t have to be wearing black and flying around on a broom to be living in the flesh with dependence on powers other than the one true God.
Today’s Prayer
Lord make me more aware of the things that send me down to the place that is not best for me. I want to live in the Spirit’s life and power within me.
Oh, do I know about living down in the depths of my personal pit!
“And, there it sits, day in and day out, a dependable god, always right where you put it. Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.”
After reading your post, and the excerpt of the verse in quotations, I know see how that pit has been something I have placed before God. The known and comfortable in place of the best and all knowing.