Our Part.

Can the Lord work in us if we really don't want Him too? If part of us refuses to yield to Him? If we see our cross before us and do not pick it up will He force it into our hands? Living in the spirit, not in the soul-self, not in the flesh- are we made to do this if we really don't want to? If the flesh lusts, and the soul-self power is more of what we want, are we forced to give either of them up? 

How often have we wished we were forced into doing something- in retrospect? While the situation was unfolding we fought against it and prevailed, but later on with deep regret we wish we'd never fought, but allowed ourselves to be compelled even grudgingly, to do what we didn't want to do.  I know it's happened in my life.  Part of us wishes we could be forced into salvation, forced into submitting, to yielding to the Holy Spirit. Part of wants desperately to be made to give up the flesh lusts that would consume us. We want to be transformed into sinlessness, even as we find ourselves prone to corruption. 

We do what we DON'T want to do. Yet, we want to do what we shouldn't do and at the same time we don't want what we want. What a miserable life it can be when we look to ourselves for salvation, we will never find it there.  Yes, we must yield, we must choose, and we must pick up our cross. We must do our part in submitting, in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us. We must make the choices when we are called to do so. We must seek forgiveness when we err.   All by HIS grace and mercy, HIS love always- In Jesus Christ our Lord!

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The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee - 'These are the conditions which we on our side must fulfill. The Holy Spirit requires our cooperation. The Lord will not be able to do His part should we fail to do ours. But were we to discharge our responsibility, our High Priest would tear apart our spirit and soul with the sharp Sword of His Spirit in the power of His cross.

Everything which belongs to emotion, sensation, mind and natural energy would be separated one after another from the spirit so as to leave no trace of fusion.

To lie on the altar is what we must do, but to divide the soul from the spirit with the well-honed knife is what our High Priest undertakes. If we truly commit ourselves to the cross our High Priest shall not fail to execute His ministry in separating our spirit and soul. We need not worry about His part. Upon seeing we have fulfilled the requirements for His working He shall part our spirit and soul at the appropriate time thereafter. Those who have apprehended the danger of a mixture of these two organs cannot but seek deliverance. 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. They need to know the mystery and reality of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. May they honor such holy presence; may they be careful not to grieve Him; may they know that, aside from sin, what grieves Him the most as well as what harms themselves the deepest is to walk and labor according to their own life. The first and original sin of man was to seek what is good, wise and intellectual according to his own idea. God’s children today often make the same mistake. They should realize that since they have believed in the Lord and have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, they ought to give the Spirit complete authority over their souls. Do we think because we have prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to reveal His mind and to work in us, that all shall accordingly be done? That assumption is not the truth; for unless we deliver to death specifically and daily our natural life, together with its power, wisdom, self, and sensation and unless we equally desire honestly in our mind and will to obey and rely upon the Holy Spirit, we shall not see Him actually performing the work. The Lord’s people should understand that it is the Word of God which parts their soul and spirit. The Lord Jesus is Himself the living Word of God, so He Himself effects the division. Are we disposed to let His life and accomplished work stand between our soul and spirit? Are we ready to have His life so fill our spirit that the soul life is immobilized? The Bible is God’s written Word. The Lord Jesus uses the teaching of the Bible to separate our soul and spirit. Are we willing to follow the truth? Are we ready to do what the Scriptures teach? Can we obey the Lord in accordance with the teaching of Scripture without putting in our opinion as well? Do we consider the authority of the Bible as sufficient without seeking human help in our obedience? We must obey the Lord and everything He teaches us in His Word if we would desire to enter upon a true spiritual path. This is the Sword which is operative to the cleaving of our soul and spirit. '