Finishing in the Spirit

Gal 3:3 "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (NIV)
I have found one of the most difficult things for myself and for others to do is finish in the Spirit. Paul asks the Galatians why they were trying to finish in their own strength what they had begun in the Spirit. Do we really ever get to a place where we tell the Holy Spirit "OK, thanks, but I can take it from here"? Sounds funny, but we do it everyday and don't even realize it because our eyes are on our own needs and not the Lord's. We will turn to Him in desperation in the midst of overwhelming need or sickness or financial burdens, or when difficult decisions loom before us, and we find that He is there to be our Helper as promised. Then we get back on our feet and quickly forget who it is that holds us up and sustains us and keeps us and delivers us. Thats when we fall again.
Most people live in a cycle of being helped up and then falling again. Who wants to live like that? I want to be strong in the Lord and see His mighty deeds displayed in my life. When we continue in the Spirit we get up, walk, and begin to run all in the power of the Spirit. He is pleased with that kind of life, and it requires a continual sacrifice of our will for His.
I would challenge many of you...do not faint or grow weary. Do not give up on the Lord or think that He has left you. Do not be afraid of your God who only has good things in store for your life. Do not listen to the selfishness of your own mind or the common sense of man. Do not live in fear, bondage, and doubt, but begin to rise up in the Lord. Rise up into a place of freedom and dependence on the Spirit of God. Rise up and remain. Press on and finish well so that Christ will be glorified in all you do.

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