Gal_5:16 This
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:25 If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Rom 8:1 There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:4 That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For
they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that
are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Jud 1:21 Keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life.
The Spiritual Man by
Watchman Nee- Excerpt.
(6) Ebbing of the
Spirit
God’s life and power
in our spirit can recede like a tide. We recognize that anyone soulish usually
deems his spiritual life to be at high tide when he feels the presence of God;
but if he feels low and dry, he is at ebb tide. These are of course but feelings;
they do not represent the reality of spiritual life.
Nevertheless,
spiritual life does encounter a time of decline, though it is quite unlike any
feeling of the soul. After one is filled with the Holy Spirit he can proceed
quite well for a period, and then gradually, not suddenly, his spiritual life
subsides. The difference between a sensuous decline and a spiritual decline
lies here: the former is usually abrupt, whereas the latter is gradual. A
believer may become conscious that the life and power of God which he once
received is gradually ebbing. This may cause him to lose the joy, peace and
power which his spirit ought to sustain. Day by day he grows weaker. At this
time he seems to lose his taste for communion with God: his Bible reading
becomes meaningless: rarely, if at all, is his heart touched by any message or
special verse. Moreover, his prayer turns dry and dreary as if there is neither
sense nor word; and his witnessing appears to be forced and reluctant, not
overflowing as before. In other words, life is no longer as vibrant, strong,
buoyant or joyous as before. Everything seems to have receded. A tide has its
ebb and flow. Can God’s life and power in our spirit likewise be characterized
by such phenomena? By no means! God’s life knows no such ebb, because it is
forever flowing. It does not rise and fall as the ocean tide, but is like a
river ever flowing with living water (John 7.38).
Joh 7:38 He
that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water.
God’s life in us is
not at all like the tide which must ebb at a certain hour, because the source
of our inner life is in God with Whom there is “no variation or shadow due to
change’ (James 1.17).
Jas 1:17 Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Hence the life in
our spirit should flow like a river— incessantly and unto overflowing.
Wherefore if anyone becomes aware that his life is receding, he should
understand that life does not subside, it simply ceases to flow. He should know
as well that such ebbing is totally unnecessary. Never be so deceived by Satan
as to consider it impossible for one who is still in the body to be filled
permanently with the life of God. His life in us is like a river of living
water. If it is not hindered it shall flow uninterruptedly.
A Christian can
experience a life forever flowing; an ebb tide is not only unnecessary but
abnormal as well. The question in hand is accordingly not how we may induce
spiritual life to rise up after it has fallen; rather, it is how we may get it
to flow.
The fountain of life
remains within the believer, though it is now blocked. Nothing is wrong with
the inlet; it is the outlet which is obstructed.
The water of life
does not spring forth because the flow has no way through. Were the outlet
cleared, the water of life would flow unceasingly. What a child of God
therefore needs is not more life but more flow of life.
Immediately upon
sensing a waning in his spiritual life, a child of God automatically should
realize an obstruction must exist somewhere. Satan will accuse you of having
retrogressed spiritually; other people will judge you as having lost power; and
you yourself will imagine you must have committed some grave sin. These may be
true, but they do not form the whole truth. Actually, such a situation is
mostly, though not entirely, created because of our not knowing how to
cooperate with God in fulfilling His conditions for the certainty of a
ceaseless flow.
Foolishness is a
prime factor. Hence a person should immediately pray and meditate over, and
test and search out the cause for, such an ebbing. He should wait upon God,
asking His Spirit to reveal the reason. In the meantime, he should try to
unearth where he has failed to fulfill the condition for the steady flow of
life.
Not only should you
confess that you have drawn back (such confession is important) but also you
should actively ferret out the explanation for the falling back. While the
opinions of Satan, others and yourself are undependable, they are still worth
considering, since sometimes they are real. Upon discovering the cause, you
must deal with it without delay. Life will not flow until the cause of
obstruction is duly treated. Consequently, at each ebb tide in spiritual life
one must instantly begin to isolate its cause through prayer, meditation and
searching. Know the law of the flow of God’s life; repulse every attack of the
enemy. Then life once again shall flow, stronger than before, breaking through
every stronghold of the enemy. '
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