Yesterday I mentioned the fruit of the Spirit which we produce when we are living by the Spirit’s leadership in our lives.  This is something I know factually but I don’t know it nearly as well spiritually.  Living the journey of yesterday I stepped into several realities of living in the flesh.  The biggest one was spending 5 hours at the hospital where my nephew is.  He has been diagnosed with a debilitating disease–Lewy Body disease which is a form of dementia.  Its uniqueness is about hallucinations, voices, tremors similar to Parkinsons as well as all of the other things we already know about dementia.  This is all about the flesh and its ongoing deterioration.  My nephew’s spirit is being lost in this from a human standpoint and he is scared.  I was asked questions I didn’t know how to answer and I was feeling many more questions that I wanted to humanly respond to out of my own sadness.

In my devotions this morning I read that the assurance of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is confirmed–Eph. 1: 13-14.  This is exactly what I meant when I said I know this is true, but yesterday I didn’t know how to respond “in the spirit”.  How do we live 24/7 in the spirit?  This ties back to the step study topic of last Tuesday also where we spent the evening addressing Integrity.  I know that living with integrity is the epitome of living spirit-filled.  Somehow, I want the cliches of “living in the spirit” or “spirit-filled living” to become more real for me–more natural.

I know from my past ventures in my journey that these times of frustration/confusion become clearer as I seek God’s wisdom (light) from His word.  If any of you reading this have wisdom to share I would love to hear it.  Yes, you are experiencing my frustrations this morning.  I hope you will forgive me for this.  However, I would surely appreciate any insights you’d have to offer.  God bless.