Wiley Graf
The eleventh in a series of 11 blogs answering anticipated objections to material set forth in A Way of Escape, i.e., the eleventh in a series of 11 blogs answering anticipated FAQs.
OBJECTION #11 (of 11)
The reader cries out, “Galatians 5:16 says that I can escape lusts of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. But how to walk in the Spirit? I have tried, but I cannot find any places of Spirit filling.”
RESPONSE
Building a library of Spirit-anointed, flesh-diffusing apps does take time. For me, on two different occasions, months-long searches were required to find apps with the right mixture of visual/emotional and biblical content to trigger a filling of the Spirit.
THE 5-1/2 MONTH SCREEN FOR APPS
It was while watching A Few Good Men [1] over the 2017 July Fourth Weekend, and experiencing its Spirit-filling effect, that I was first inspired to write A Way of Escape. I would then spend the next 5-1/2 months screening for more candidates to include in my library of Spirit-anointed apps. On my Kickoff Date for the start of data collection (December 15, 2017), I had added only 12 of the 23 apps that would eventually comprise my finished library.
THE 3-4 MONTH SCREEN FOR APPS
Fast forward to early 2021. My library of Spirit-anointed apps has grown to 16. All from the Gaither Homecoming concert series. A friend now suggests that I might lose younger readers if my library consists of only music videos from the late 1990s and early 2000s. A valid point. I would again begin to screen for more candidates to add to my library of Spirit-anointed apps. Apps now with “more modern” video footage and “more modern” music. It would require another 3-4 months just to add the last seven (7) apps to what is now my finished 23-app library.
TAKING SPIRITUAL INVENTORY
Yes, building a library of Spirit-anointed apps does take time. But what if I still cannot find any places of Spirit filling, even after months-long searches?
I can walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) only if I have first been born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8). If I am unable to find any places of Spirit-filling, I would begin to question whether I have ever been truly born of the Spirit. It is my hope and prayer that readers finding themselves in a similar position will do the same. Better to take spiritual inventory now, and discover that I have never been born of the Spirit. Better to make that discovery today, rather than when it is forever too late.
Appendix H is the spiritual inventory chapter of A Way of Escape. It walks the reader through God’s Born-of-the-Spirit Plan of Salvation. Have I been born of the Spirit? Am I truly in the faith (II Corinthians 13:5)? Appendix H walks the reader through the self-examination process.
A GAME-CHANGING BOOK HAS ARRIVED
In A Way of Escape, readers learn how to step up the degree to which they “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). They learn how to build a library of Spirit-anointed, flesh-diffusing apps. Apps that are uniquely fitted to them, and their unique Spirit-filling triggers.
The still-struggling now have another option. The still-struggling now have fresh hope for discovering that long-sought-after way of escape from sin and temptation (I Corinthians 10:13). A way that—because it is wholly Spirit-powered—does not require enlisting the aid of an accountability partner or group. Truly, a game-changer!
A WAY OF ESCAPE
A Spirit-Powered Battle Plan for Purity
(Accountability Partner/Group NOT Required!)
REFERENCES
1. Jennings, S., and B. Jennings (Townsend and Warbucks Music), A Few Good Men, Track #19 on Let Freedom Ring (DVD), Spring House Productions, Inc., Manufactured by Gaither Music Group, Alexandria, IN 2002
