Who is more important than you?

Yesterday we study on the following-

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.

We went to our Bibles and we could find a few of the many, many truths in these 7 musts. I need to study them more. Maybe this is just a personal need of mine, I don't know, but if anyone else is reading this maybe you need this too. 

I spent the day today off and on asking myself if various things going on around me were soulical or spiritual. A few times I reminded myself that it was the spiritual that matters, not the soulical. Is this the beginning of understanding? Is this how we continue the spiritual journey we are on?  I do remember asking myself why we choose the soulical so much, why do I choose it so much and how can I stop choosing the soulical. I didn’t have answer for myself just the realization that it is a DAILY battle and it is a LEARNING experience. 

Do I want my soul and spirit divided so that my spirit rules over my soul through the Holy Spirit, by Jesus Christ's grace?  I do, I DO, I'm just so incredibly weak! 

It's not until we begin to recognize the soulical that we realize just how full we are of ourselves, our selfishness, our soul, our carnal flesh nature that we are.  It's all around us in so many, many forms.

Another thing happened over the last few days I'm going to share. When I know I'm being selfish and not wanting to do something, when I'm called from my own work to go help another and that selfishness rises, the thought comes- THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU.  

And you know, when someone is told another is more important than they are, isn't there supposed to be a resentment rising in us because we aren't as important? We are taught this by so many things in society. We are all equal and whatnot, but in truth, isn't EVERYONE more important than we should be to ourselves?  Seriously, JESUS died for us, that's how important He deemed us over Himself! Loving others- NOT loving self, this is what is needed!  Yet we constantly deem ourselves more important. Our needs no matter how noble they are- are NOT more important than others needing us for even something someone might consider petty.  Is this truth?

Where soulical begins selfishness abounds, right? SELF.

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.

We need the soul and spirit divided!

PLEASE LORD divide our soul and spirit!

Please LORD help us to accept whatever it takes to have our soul and spirit divided!

Help us be DEAD to sin and ALIVE to CHRIST! Let not SIN reign in us!

Keep us in constant prayer with you, in constant study of Your word to us!

Help us to bear the crosses as they DAILY come to us!

Please help us to see all that is soulish in our life, please help us to see all that is spirit in us and HELP us follow the SPIRIT!

Our Part

From yesterday…

'The Practice

We have just seen how the High Priest operates if we accept the cross. We shall consider next the practical side; that is, how we may arrive at the experience of having the Lord Jesus divide our soul and spirit.

(1) Know the necessity of having the spirit and soul divided. Without this knowledge no such request will be made. Christians ought to petition the Lord to show them the abhorrence of a mixed spirit-and-soul life and also the reality of that deeper walk in God which is wholly spirit and uninterrupted by the soul. They should understand that a mixed life is a frustrated life.

(2) Ask for the separation of soul and spirit. After knowing, there must be a genuinely earnest desire in the heart, a requesting that this mingled soul and spirit be cut apart. Just here the question rests with the human will. Should believers prefer to enjoy what they themselves consider the best life and not desire to have their soul and spirit divided, God will respect their personal rights and not force them into such experience.

(3) Yield specifically. If believers definitely desire the experience of having their soul and spirit separated, they must consign themselves to the altar of the cross in a specific manner. They must be willing to accept totally every consequence of the operation of the cross and be conformed to the death of the Lord. Before they encounter the cleaving of soul and spirit believers need to bend their will continuously and incessantly towards God and actively choose to have this cleavage. And as the High Priest accomplishes this division in them their heart attitude should be that He should not stay His hand.

(4) Stand on Romans 6.11. God’s children need to watch lest in seeking to experience the separation of soul and spirit they fall back into sin. Remember that this separating is built upon their having died to sin. Hence they should maintain daily the attitude of Romans 6.11, considering themselves verily dead to sin. Additionally, they should stand on Romans 6.12 and not permit sin to reign in their mortal bodies. This attitude will deprive their natural life any opportunity to sin through the body.

 (5) Pray and study the Bible. Christians ought to search the Bible with prayer and meditation. They should let God’s Word penetrate thoroughly into their souls so as to enable their natural life to be purified. If they actually do what God says, their soul life shall not be able to continue its free activity. This is the meaning of 1 Peter 1.22: “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.”

(6) Daily bear the cross. Because the Lord desires to sever our spirit and soul He arranges crosses in our everyday affairs for us to bear. To take up the cross daily, to deny self at all times, to make no provision for the flesh—not even for a moment, and to be shown constantly by the Holy Spirit what are the activities of the soul in our lives: this is spiritual life. Through faithful obedience we shall be led to encounter the dividing of soul and spirit so that we may experience a pure spiritual walk.

 (7) Live according to the spirit. This is a condition not only for our preservation but also for a distinct cleavage between spirit and soul. We must seek to walk by our spirit in all respects, distinguishing what is of the spirit and what is of the soul and resolving as well to follow the former while rejecting the latter. Learn to recognize the working of the spirit and follow it.

 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.'  --  The Spiritual Man  by Watchman Nee

*******

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.

The Bible explains WHY we have to have our soul and spirit divided-  the natural man and the spiritual cannot both rule.

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.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

We must ask-

Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

We must accept whatever we are called to do-

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

We must be-  dead to sin.

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

We must pray and study-

Eph_6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

2Ti_2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

We must bear our own cross - connected to the cross of our Savior-

Luk_9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We must constantly choose spirit over soul-

Luk 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

*

Satan would have us believe there is so little we can do when in truth we can engage in the battle, we MUST engage in the spiritual battle before us as those who would belong to our Savior.

Jesus did not leave us comfortless- our comfort can be found in the Spirit.  When we seek comfort anywhere else we are seeking comfort from the flesh, from the soul not the spirit.

Is it any wonder we are led to despair so often, we are seeking hope in fleshy things, in soulical things, not spiritual. Our hope must be in Christ, not in this world or things of this world.  All things that give us happiness that are of the flesh, that are of the soul, even things we deem wonderful are things that will keep us from the spirit.  We are told this--

Luk 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Mat 10:36  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Is it any wonder that we must live in the SPIRIT first and foremost or all our soulical love we have for others is only harmful to them, and not true love at all. We truly believe that we love from a good place, but that good place could be a trap set by Satan for us.  We must LOVE with CHRIST'S love, not our own soulical love!  There will never be a time we shouldn't love others, never! But that love if a love coming from Christ, from the Spirit, may be revealed in ways others would deem heartless. Does this seem contradictory when we are told to 'hate' others?  The hate we are to have is the sin in others, the sin in ourselves- the Godlessness that prevails, the soulical that exists.  We are to recognize that CHRIST in us must be first and it is with HIS love we can TRULY LOVE.

By God's grace may we grow in HIM and HIS TRUTH, allowing the soul and spirit to be divided in us, seeking only HIM and HIS truth, His LOVE!

In Jesus Christ our Savior always!!!!

We have a part to play in our Walk with Christ.

Do we have a part to play in this Christian walk?  It wouldn't be much of a walk if we didn't.  We need to YIELD and in YIELDING we recognize our inability to save ourselves. In yielding we trust in God's word, His word calling us into action. We aren't to remain stagnant in our walk with Christ. Too many people believe that we are no longer accountable to God once we accept that Christ died for us. Christ did it all in saving us and we have no part to play.  I can't argue with people on this, it's true that we cannot save ourselves, however it is also very true that we can damn ourselves.  We choose Jesus and HE saves us. We don't choose Christ and He doesn't save us= we are never forced to be saved. When we are saved can we ever be unsaved? Yes, we can turn back, we can turn away from God. We can un-save ourselves. Remember this…

Luk 8:11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Luk 8:12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Luk 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Luk 8:14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good

…. These have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away.

….they heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasure of this life and bring no fruit to perfection.

And this…

Luk 11:24  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

Luk 11:25  And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Luk 11:26  Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

We can be saved and then still be lost.  The belief in 'once saved, always saved' is not Biblical.

We are instructed--

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

1Co 10:5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

1Co 10:6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

1Co 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

1Co 10:9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1Co 10:14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Those of old are examples for us NOW.

We must not lust, we must not give into temptation-- yet we scarcely know what lust is any longer because we've sunk so low in a worldwide society with depravities so incredibly vile and we call them good. We call evil good. We believe if we desire something it's just and good, because we desire it and the things we desire can't be wrong, because we don't believe we ourselves are wrong, that we are bad, we want to believe we are good.

We have a walk to walk, a daily cross to bear, keep that in mind as you read the following excerpt from - The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee.  Make sure you take your Bibles and read all the verses given. Take all he says to the Bible, pray and study to know truth. If he is leading us wrongly may God please reveal it to us! If he is not leading us wrongly, but to a deeper understanding of God's truth, may we learn from what we read.  By the grace of God, by His mercy, His love, His truth! All through Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR!  Amen.

*******

'The Practice

We have just seen how the High Priest operates if we accept the cross. We shall consider next the practical side; that is, how we may arrive at the experience of having the Lord Jesus divide our soul and spirit.

(1) Know the necessity of having the spirit and soul divided. Without this knowledge no such request will be made. Christians ought to petition the Lord to show them the abhorrence of a mixed spirit-and-soul life and also the reality of that deeper walk in God which is wholly spirit and uninterrupted by the soul. They should understand that a mixed life is a frustrated life.

(2) Ask for the separation of soul and spirit. After knowing, there must be a genuinely earnest desire in the heart, a requesting that this mingled soul and spirit be cut apart. Just here the question rests with the human will. Should believers prefer to enjoy what they themselves consider the best life and not desire to have their soul and spirit divided, God will respect their personal rights and not force them into such experience.

(3) Yield specifically. If believers definitely desire the experience of having their soul and spirit separated, they must consign themselves to the altar of the cross in a specific manner. They must be willing to accept totally every consequence of the operation of the cross and be conformed to the death of the Lord. Before they encounter the cleaving of soul and spirit believers need to bend their will continuously and incessantly towards God and actively choose to have this cleavage. And as the High Priest accomplishes this division in them their heart attitude should be that He should not stay His hand.

(4) Stand on Romans 6.11. God’s children need to watch lest in seeking to experience the separation of soul and spirit they fall back into sin. Remember that this separating is built upon their having died to sin. Hence they should maintain daily the attitude of Romans 6.11, considering themselves verily dead to sin. Additionally, they should stand on Romans 6.12 and not permit sin to reign in their mortal bodies. This attitude will deprive their natural life any opportunity to sin through the body.

 (5) Pray and study the Bible. Christians ought to search the Bible with prayer and meditation. They should let God’s Word penetrate thoroughly into their souls so as to enable their natural life to be purified. If they actually do what God says, their soul life shall not be able to continue its free activity. This is the meaning of 1 Peter 1.22: “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.”

(6) Daily bear the cross. Because the Lord desires to sever our spirit and soul He arranges crosses in our everyday affairs for us to bear. To take up the cross daily, to deny self at all times, to make no provision for the flesh—not even for a moment, and to be shown constantly by the Holy Spirit what are the activities of the soul in our lives: this is spiritual life. Through faithful obedience we shall be led to encounter the dividing of soul and spirit so that we may experience a pure spiritual walk.

 (7) Live according to the spirit. This is a condition not only for our preservation but also for a distinct cleavage between spirit and soul. We must seek to walk by our spirit in all respects, distinguishing what is of the spirit and what is of the soul and resolving as well to follow the former while rejecting the latter. Learn to recognize the working of the spirit and follow it.

 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.'

Are we willing?

Dividing our souls and spirit.  Do we know what this means? We should, we need to know. Too many stop their Christian walk with their accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, and forget to continue on- learning more from the Holy Spirit sent to us by our Savior.

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

A high priest's work was in the sanctuary where sacrifices were made -  Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is our High Priest now…

Heb_3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus

Heb_4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Heb_4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

An excerpt from - 'The Spiritual Man' By Watchman Nee

 'As the priest of old split the sacrifice, so our High Priest today divides our soul and spirit.

As the priestly knife was of such sharpness that the sacrifice was cut into two, piercing to the separation of the closely knit joints and marrow, so the Word of God which the Lord Jesus currently uses is keener than any two-edged sword and is able to split cleanly apart the most intimately related spirit and soul there may be.

The Word of God is “living” for it has living power: “active” because it knows how to work: “sharper than any two edged sword” since it can pierce into the spirit.

What God’s Word has penetrated is much deeper than the soul; it reaches into the innermost spirit.

God’s Word leads His people into a realm more profound than one of mere sensation; it brings them into the realm of the eternal spirit.

Those who wish to be established in God must know the meaning of this penetration into the spirit.

The Holy Spirit alone can teach us what is soul life and what is spirit life. Only after we learn how to differentiate experientially these two kinds of life and come to apprehend their respective values, are we delivered from a shallow, loose, sensational walk into that which is deep, firm and spiritual.

Only then do we come into rest.

The soul life can never furnish us rest. But please note that this must be known in experience; simply understanding in the mind will merely make us more soulish.

We need to pay special attention to this piercing and dividing. The Word of God plunges into the soul as well as into the spirit in order to effect the division of these two.

The Lord Jesus in His crucifixion had His hands and feet and side pierced. Are we willing to let the cross work in our soul and spirit?'

*******

Are we willing?

Please, Lord, please help us to be WILLING to let You, to let Your Word, to let the Holy Spirit work in us as You will!  Please!

May the Word of God divide our soul and spirit!

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Many people can recite the Lord's prayer and know this part of it-

'Give us this day our daily bread.'

Many also know this-

Mat_4:4  … Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And this-

Joh_6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

And they know this-

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We truly need OUR DAILY BREAD- our SPIRITUAL BREAD must NOT be neglected! We must feed the spirit with the WORD of GOD! The Word full of grace and truth! 

We cannot except to have any sort of spiritual walk with God if we do not feed on the spiritual Word given to us!

WE have to realize how important God's word is, we have to!

WOULD YOU DIE FOR THE WORD OF GOD?!  WOULD YOU?!  Many have chosen to do so. Many people have suffered prison, torture and death just to have and give others the eternal life giving Word of God. The word of God CAN divide the soul from the spirit! The word of God is POWERFUL- spiritually powerful!  It may not prevent physical death or torture but it prevents eternal death and this is something that Satan despises! And all of Satan's workers, all his human instruments will despise the word of God's TRUE power.  While they may use the word of God for their deceptions, the TRUE power of the word of God is something they fear, something they hate!

(Excerpt from - The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee)

'This war between the soul and the spirit is waged SECRETLY but interminably within God’s children. The soul seeks to retain its authority and move independently, while the spirit strives to possess and master everything for the maintenance of God’s authority. Before the spirit achieves its ascendancy the soul has tended to take the lead in all regards. Should a believer allow self to be the master while expecting the Holy Spirit to help and to bless him in his work, he undoubtedly will FAIL to produce spiritual fruit. Christians cannot anticipate a walk and work pleasing to God if they have not crushed their soul life by PERSISTENTLY denying its authority and unconditionally laying it in the dust. Except all power, impatience, and activity of the natural life are deliberately and one by one delivered to the cross and a ceaseless vigil is maintained, it will seize every chance to revive itself. The reason for so many defeats in the spiritual realm is because this sector of the soul has not been dealt with drastically. If soul life is not stripped away through death but is allowed to mingle with the spirit, believers shall continue in defeat. If our walk does not exclusively express God’s power it shall soon be vanquished by man’s wisdom and opinion. Our natural life is a formidable obstacle to spiritual life. Never satisfied with God alone, it invariably adds something extra to God. Hence it is never at peace. Before the self is touched God’s children live by very changeable stimulations and sensations. That is why they exhibit a wavy up-and-down existence. Because they allow their soulical energies to mix in with spiritual experiences their ways are often unstable. They accordingly are not qualified to lead others. Their unrelinquished soul power continually deflects them from letting the spirit be central. In the excitement of soulical emotion the spirit suffers great loss in freedom and sensation. Joy and sorrow may imperil the believer’s self-control and set self-consciousness on a rampage. The mind, if overly active, may affect and disturb the quietness of the spirit. To admire spiritual knowledge is good, but should it exceed spiritual bounds the result shall be merely letter, not spirit. This explains why many workers, though they preach the most excellent truth, are so cold and dead. Many saints who seek a spiritual walk share a common experience—one of groanings because their soul and spirit are not at one. The thought, will and emotion of their soul often rebel against the spirit, refuse to be directed by the spirit and resort to independent actions which contradict the spirit. The life in their spirit is bound to suffer in such a situation. Now given a condition like this in the believer, the teaching in Hebrews 4.12 takes on paramount significance. For the Holy Spirit instructs us therein how to divide spirit and soul experientially. The dividing of these two is not a mere doctrine; it is pre-eminently a life, a must in the believer’s walk. Just what is its essential meaning? It means, first of all, that by His Word and through His indwelling Spirit God enables the Christian to differentiate in experience the operations and expressions of the spirit as distinct from those of the soul. Thus he may perceive what is of the spirit and what is of the soul.'

May we through the power of the Word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comprehend what is spirit and what is soul in us, what is of God and what is of the natural man.

Please, Lord, please. We would be YOURS. We believe, HELP our unbelief!

All by the love, the mercy, the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ, our Lord now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen.

Fear Ourselves.

In today's society we are taught that to love ourselves is important. We are taught NOT to care about what OTHER'S think. We are told that self-esteem is very important and a lack of it not good at all. We are expected to walk the fine line between self-esteem and arrogance. If we cross that fine line and slip into arrogance we are told that is very wrong. A healthy self-love is necessary to a good life- this is what people say. Yet I think it's fair to say (though I could be far off the mark here) that a whole lot of people have very little self-love. Another fine line exists there where self-loathing and self-acceptance exists. We are caught up in this stuff because the WORLD tells us we should be caught up in it.  We are told we should be HAPPY.  We are told we should be CONTENT. We are told we are missing out on life's true potential when we don't obtain an equilibrium in our existence.  WE ARE TOLD ENTIRELY TOO MUCH BY THE WORLD. 

Unfortunately we tend to listen to the world. Even if we listen in rebellion and by bucking the common opinion- we tell ourselves we stand out among the status quo, but then we are joined by others who flaunt their rebellion against society and we've joined another group.  You don't care what the world says? Good! You want to walk to the beat of your own drum? Not so good. As long as we are SELF-focused in any way whether in joining the common opinion or bucking it, we are not walking in God's way.

We fool ourselves though. We lie to ourselves and say our particular views are okay, why? Because we're good people. We care about others, we do our share, we are genuinely kind and generous. We are focused on OURSELVES! We have to get OUT of ourselves. We have to get OUT of our own way, yet how to do that when we cannot escape ourselves? We have to LET another do all that we cannot do.

Very much contrary to popular opinion- we have to care about what OTHERS think-  the OTHERS being- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  When we stop caring about what they think we are truly lost because we've let ourselves and our own opinion usurp the place of our Creator, our Redeemer, our Holy Comforting One.

Let's read another excerpt from 'The Spiritual Man' By Watchman Nee.

'The call of the cross of the Lord Jesus is to beckon us to hate our natural life, to seek opportunity to lose, not to keep, it.

(Insert- Luk_9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Joh_12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.)

Our Lord wants us to sacrifice self and be yielded wholly to the working of His Spirit.

(Insert- Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. )

If we are to experience afresh His true life in the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to present to death every opinion, labor and thought of the soul life.

The Lord additionally touches upon the issue of our hating or loving our self life.

The soul is invariably “self-loving.”

Unless from the very depth of our heart we abhor our natural life, we shall not be able to walk genuinely by the Holy Spirit.

Do we not realize that the basic condition for a spiritual walk is to fear our self and its wisdom and to rely absolutely upon the Spirit?'

*******

Fear ourselves.

Fear our wisdom.

Rely absolutely upon the Spirit.

This is TRUTH.

Such a stark contrast to what the world would have us do.

Do you fear yourself?

Do you fear your wisdom?

Do you absolutely rely upon the Spirit?

By the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST alone may we have the hope of relying upon the Spirit absolutely!

The drastic work of the cross in us.

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

Excerpt- 'Many Christians are unaware how drastically the cross must work so that ultimately their natural power for living may be denied. They do not know the reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit nor that His authority must extend to gathering under His control the thoughts, desires and feelings of the entire being. Without their having an inner appreciation of this, the Holy Spirit is unable to accomplish everything He wishes to do. The greatest temptation for an earnest and zealous saint is to engage his own strength in God’s service rather than to wait humbly for the Holy Spirit to will and to perform.'

Imagine, no, I don't think we really do need to imagine because we know, we really know how powerful our natural self is. We know the strength of self over spirit, of soul-self over spiritual-self. All around us we are consumed by so much geared to promote our natural self- NOT our spiritual self. We are at war and the enemy will use every day, common scenarios to attack us.  What seems perfectly fine to the world without any consequences involved will be appalling to the Spirit.  To learn things we do every day are things contrary to God will test us. Do we choose the Spirit, do we choose God, or do we choose SELF. God forgive me, all too often I choose self.

The cross has an extreme work to do in us!

The Holy Spirit must be a REALITY in us.  The POWER of the Holy Spirit must CONSUME us- our thoughts, our desires, our feelings- all of us!

And…. we must wait HUMBLY for the Holy Spirit, truly something that our natural self wants to rebel against as it seeks to have some sort of control over us, loathed to give up the power it so desperately wants to keep.

Please, Lord, help us to humbly wait, help us, teach us!

In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ our King now and forever!

Amen.