' Open though the road is to deliverance, it nevertheless is not without its difficulties. Believers must persevere in prayer that they may see clearly their own pitiful state and understand the indwelling, working, and demands of the Holy Spirit. ' Excerpt from- The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee.
Do we clearly see our pitiful state?
Do we understand the indwelling work and demands of the Holy Spirit?
A lot of us have sung the song- 'Jesus Loves Me.' We've sung that song and the verse- 'We are weak but He is strong.' We know we are weak, we know we cannot save ourselves. We don't have a problem with this comprehension do we? Maybe we do without even realizing it fully because we love to be able to stand on our own, to do for ourselves, to pull our own weight, to be independent. We are elated when we do a good job with something, when we are promoted, when we are recognized for our merits. We become pleased with ourselves so easily. We do something we believe is worth recognition and we have little trouble pointing that out to others, right? The truth is we don't like to realize our pitiful state, we don't want to see it because we've been raised in a world that gives good things to those who succeed. We see the successful people all around us on the television, in the movies, in the magazines, news, everywhere and we are pushed to be like those people or as close to them as we can be. Barring being extremely successful, we are taught that if we do good enough, and have a good job, a nice, decent house, etc then we are moderately successful. Being successful is drilled into our heads and in that drilling we are being told that WE need to be something in and our ourselves, that we are far from pitiful beings. So many Christians strive for success of a material sort, even of a personal sort, thinking that is what they are supposed to do. Is it? Maybe, it is for them. We all have own personal walk with God and I can’t dare to presume to know what another person's walk is all about. I do know that I am a very pitiful person. I can cry out with Paul all about how wretched I am, how I do so much that I don't want to do, that my flesh is so very weak and yet with my mind I LONG to serve God!
To have a spiritual walk with God we can't presume that it will automatically happen. We can literally spend our entire lives waiting for it to happen and it never happens. How can we read the word of God and not realize that we have a work to perform as well? Do the words just wash over us, are we blind to the truth in them?
How many people do you know who are seeking a deep spiritual walk with Christ?
We stall out so easily. We stick to what we know and like. We are afraid of the true meat of the Word of God because we are so comfortable with the milk.
There are demands placed upon us and they aren't just figurative. There are real demands we are called to meet. We HAVE A PART TO PERFORM! God's Word tells us all about those demands. We need to keep studying it, over and over and over until it is REAL to us through the blessing of our God, the mercy of our Savior, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We've been talking about our part and we are going to keep talking about it.
Remember this from a previous study--
'7 Musts-
1- Understand why we have to have the soul and spirit divided.
2-Ask to have our soul and spirit divided.
3-Accept whatever it takes to have our soul and spirit divided.
4-We must be dead to sin, and alive to Christ. We must not let sin reign in us.
5-We have to pray to God and study the Bible.
6-We must bear DAILY crosses.
7-We must distinguish between the soul and spirit in our life- once distinguished we must follow the spirit.
Truly the Holy Spirit does require our cooperation.
Truly the Lord cannot do His part if we don't do ours.
The High Priest- Jesus Christ our Lord- will divide our spirit and soul.' Taken from - The Spiritual Man.
We need to UNDERSTAND.
The self-soul and the spirit in us must be divided. The flesh and the spirit must be divided. This division is necessary because --- THIS IS TRUTH --
Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
All through the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Do we clearly see our pitiful state?
Do we understand the indwelling work and demands of the Holy Spirit?
A lot of us have sung the song- 'Jesus Loves Me.' We've sung that song and the verse- 'We are weak but He is strong.' We know we are weak, we know we cannot save ourselves. We don't have a problem with this comprehension do we? Maybe we do without even realizing it fully because we love to be able to stand on our own, to do for ourselves, to pull our own weight, to be independent. We are elated when we do a good job with something, when we are promoted, when we are recognized for our merits. We become pleased with ourselves so easily. We do something we believe is worth recognition and we have little trouble pointing that out to others, right? The truth is we don't like to realize our pitiful state, we don't want to see it because we've been raised in a world that gives good things to those who succeed. We see the successful people all around us on the television, in the movies, in the magazines, news, everywhere and we are pushed to be like those people or as close to them as we can be. Barring being extremely successful, we are taught that if we do good enough, and have a good job, a nice, decent house, etc then we are moderately successful. Being successful is drilled into our heads and in that drilling we are being told that WE need to be something in and our ourselves, that we are far from pitiful beings. So many Christians strive for success of a material sort, even of a personal sort, thinking that is what they are supposed to do. Is it? Maybe, it is for them. We all have own personal walk with God and I can’t dare to presume to know what another person's walk is all about. I do know that I am a very pitiful person. I can cry out with Paul all about how wretched I am, how I do so much that I don't want to do, that my flesh is so very weak and yet with my mind I LONG to serve God!
To have a spiritual walk with God we can't presume that it will automatically happen. We can literally spend our entire lives waiting for it to happen and it never happens. How can we read the word of God and not realize that we have a work to perform as well? Do the words just wash over us, are we blind to the truth in them?
How many people do you know who are seeking a deep spiritual walk with Christ?
We stall out so easily. We stick to what we know and like. We are afraid of the true meat of the Word of God because we are so comfortable with the milk.
There are demands placed upon us and they aren't just figurative. There are real demands we are called to meet. We HAVE A PART TO PERFORM! God's Word tells us all about those demands. We need to keep studying it, over and over and over until it is REAL to us through the blessing of our God, the mercy of our Savior, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We've been talking about our part and we are going to keep talking about it.
Remember this from a previous study--
'7 Musts-
1- Understand why we have to have the soul and spirit divided.
2-Ask to have our soul and spirit divided.
3-Accept whatever it takes to have our soul and spirit divided.
4-We must be dead to sin, and alive to Christ. We must not let sin reign in us.
5-We have to pray to God and study the Bible.
6-We must bear DAILY crosses.
7-We must distinguish between the soul and spirit in our life- once distinguished we must follow the spirit.
Truly the Holy Spirit does require our cooperation.
Truly the Lord cannot do His part if we don't do ours.
The High Priest- Jesus Christ our Lord- will divide our spirit and soul.' Taken from - The Spiritual Man.
We need to UNDERSTAND.
The self-soul and the spirit in us must be divided. The flesh and the spirit must be divided. This division is necessary because --- THIS IS TRUTH --
Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
All through the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
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