In the war, running the race.

EXCERPT-

'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.' The Spiritual Man-  Watchman Nee

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The spiritual war is waged SECRETLY…. Is this true?  For the most part it is true. The war with ourselves is not truly shared even when we tell another all about it. It is still US who need to choose to pick up the cross daily, no other can carry it for us. No other person makes the choices we need to make at a moments in our thoughts. No other can ask God to forgive us as we need to seek forgiveness.  Yes, our soul-self wants to be in charge - we THINK we know what's best. Giving ourselves to God is something we do daily in all we do.

Truly as soon as we believe a selfish trait in us defeated it will do all it can to sneak backup. It will "SEIZE every chance to revive itself". 

We don't want to be failures because we give into our selfishness. We must fight and fight endlessly, tirelessly, knowing this is a war, this is a race and we are in the war until Jesus returns and we are in the race until Jesus returns.  Daily warring, daily racing not giving in for a single day all by the GRACE of God!

1Ti_6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Heb_12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us

Please, Lord, please we would fight the good fight of faith, we would lay aside every weight and run with patience the race. Please, Lord, please, help us.

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

Now and forever.

Amen.

Act in Faith.

As anyone following this study on the book by Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man, knows we really DO have a part to play in our spiritual life.

We have to get it through our thick skulls (mine is way too thick) that we have a role to play in all of this.  It isn't sit back and do as you please after accepting Christ as your Savior.  Accepting Christ as your Savior isn't a get out of everlasting, burnt into non-existence free card that you play every time you want to live in deliberate sin.  If we want blindness, we will be blind. If we want to sin we will be allowed to sin.  If we want truth we will be exposed to the truth. When we are confronted with the truth that goes against our natural desires we need to choose follow the truth or be accountable for not doing so.  We need to FIGHT this FIGHT, not sit back and not care. We need to have FAITH and at the same time our FAITH is revealed by the actions we make. Remember this--

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report. 

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel OFFERED unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED with fear, PREPARED an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, OBEYED; and he WENT out, not knowing whither he went. 

Heb 11:9  By faith he SOJOURNED in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 

Heb 11:10  For he LOOKED for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 

Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 

Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 

Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, OFFERED up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 

Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 

Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac BLESSED Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 

Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, BLESSED both the sons of Joseph; and WORSHIPED, leaning upon the top of his staff. 

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 

Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, REFUSED to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 

Heb 11:25  CHOOSING TO RATHER SUFFER affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 

Heb 11:27  By faith he FORSOOK Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he ENDURED, as seeing him who is invisible. 

Heb 11:28  Through faith he KEPT the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 

Heb 11:29  By faith they PASSED through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 

Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 

Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

Did you notice, a lot of those men and women of God by FAITH - ACTED.  They didn't by faith do nothing.  Their faith had works. They didn't expect their works to save them, they relied on their faith in God. We too need to rely on our faith and in faith act.   Part of that acting is choosing the spirit led life over the soul-self led life.

Read the following excerpt and we'll talk more on it tomorrow, BY THE GRACE OF GOD!

'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.' The Spiritual Man-  Watchman Nee

All in Jesus' name!

May we be HIS!

Amen.

Self-serving must be nailed to the cross.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

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. 

-- From yesterday -

'Our Lengthy Discussion as to the difference between spirit and soul and their respective operations has been to lead us to this present point. For a believer who strives after God the element to be apprehensive about is the inordinate activity of the soul beyond the measure set by God.

The soul has been in ascendancy for such long duration that in the matter of consecration it even presumes to take upon itself the task of realizing that act to God’s satisfaction. Many Christians are unaware how drastically the cross must work so that ultimately their natural power for living may be denied.

((('My thoughts on the above-  'Many Christians are unaware how drastically the cross must work' The cross, we've talked recently about the cross and how it is an instrument of death. Christ died on the cross He didn't rise up off the cross, He was killed on the cross, murdered on the cross, tortured on the cross the symbolism of the cross is the DEATH of our Savior, He died for us. When we are told to take up our own cross daily it's a cross for a reason. Our cross with Christ's cross works in us to rid us of all that is contrary to Christ.  Our daily cross MUST work drastically in us. And it is a DAILY cross because it must be borne daily, and a part of us that is contrary to God must die on that cross daily. Can you imagine for a moment opening your eyes in the morning and instantly praying asking God to nail your soul self superiority to the cross? To nail to the cross- your daily cross all the carnal things, all the flesh things, everything that would keep you from letting the spirit rule in you, through the Holy Spirit. The cross must work drastically in us. DRASTICALLY. The cross will look at our lives and reveal to us all that must die in our lives, all the self serving aspects we possess.  ))))

'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. '

(((My thoughts on the above -  The HOLY SPIRIT must have under HIS CONTROL our THOUGHTS, our DESIRES, our FEELINGS, ALL OF US.  Truthfully if we do ANYTHING that we can't imagine our Savior being with us as we do it, then we should NOT be doing that thing. We NEED to be under the HOLY SPIRIT'S CONTROL, under HIS AUTHORITY.))))

'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. '

(((My thoughts on the above- We need to PRAY, and submit. When we come face to face with a temptation- we need to PRAY. When we are shown a temptation and nudged by the Holy Spirit as to its vileness, we have to PRAY before we do anything else. In that prayer we need to give ourselves to Christ to work in us, do to that which we cannot do. IF we give into the temptation we need to pray more earnestly and KNOW that the Holy Spirit WILL do His work in us, in HIS TIME, not ours. We cannot take credit for the victories that are NOT OURS, yet we try to. We try to be the ones to save ourselves and time and time again we are shown we cannot!))))

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

(((My thoughts on the above- Do you hate your natural life? Do you seek an opportunity to lose your natural life?  We HAVE to sacrifice self and yield to the HOLY SPIRIT. EVERY OPINION, EVERY LABOR, EVERY THOUGHT of our lives must be given to the HOLY SPIRIT.))))

'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? '

The Spiritual Man -  Watchman Nee

(((The Holy Spirit must live and work in us all by the grace and mercy of our SAVIOR. Please Lord, please teach us to yield to the cross and wait for the Holy Spirit. Please. Teach us when to act and when not to act, as we seek to be yours. As we recognize the things in our lives that must be nailed to the cross help us through the HOLY SPIRIT to do so. Please, Lord, we would be YOURS.))))

Fearing ourselves, our wisdom.

'Our Lengthy Discussion as to the difference between spirit and soul and their respective operations has been to lead us to this present point. For a believer who strives after God the element to be apprehensive about is the inordinate activity of the soul beyond the measure set by God.

The soul has been in ascendancy for such long duration that in the matter of consecration it even presumes to take upon itself the task of realizing that act to God’s satisfaction. 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.

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.

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

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? '

The Spiritual Man -  Watchman Nee

*******

Tomorrow we will read and study this more in-depth. Please, read the above a few times, let it sink in. Then take your Bible and look up the following verses-

1Jn 2:15-17

Gal. 6:8

Gal. 5:16,17

Take off our blinders!

1Co_8:6  But to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Col_2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 

Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 

Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 

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.

The above verses tell us this-

We are IN God and we are in Jesus Christ. We are to DIE daily. We are buried with Christ in baptism, and RAISED from the dead.  We war against the carnal flesh in us, we war against the SELF in us, we desire to be God's. We must CHOOSE with our soul-self, with our minds, with the only part of us that can choose- to serve the law of GOD.

An excerpt from ' The Spiritual Man--

'And once possessing God’s life, we then are empowered to periodically go through death and continue to come out alive. By continuously losing our soul life in death, we may continuously gain more abundantly and gloriously of God’s life in resurrection. God’s aim is to take our soul life through death in company with His Own life in us; whenever His life in us is resurrected in our daily experience our soul also is raised with Him and produces fruit to eternity. This is one of the most profound lessons in spiritual life. The Holy Spirit alone can unfold to us the necessity of death as well as that of resurrection. May the Spirit of revelation make us understand how much our spiritual experience shall suffer if we do not hate our natural life and deliver it to death. Only when our soul accompanied by God’s indwelling life passes through death and resurrection can we bear spiritual fruit and keep it for life eternal.'  The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

 We long to be followers of Christ, we desire to know the truths of our Savior. We want to LIVE in Christ. We want our daily life to be in Christ.  We can't just say we are Christ followers and not follow Christ. We have CHOICES to make, daily choices.  If we are NOT making these daily choices then we are not dying daily- our soul-self is NOT dying daily, our flesh is not dying daily.

Please Lord, help us to RECOGNIZE when we are not being Spirit  led!  Show us where we are to choose to be Spirit led over self led. Help us to lose the blindness we've embraced concerning our own lives and the wrong choices we make. Help us to comprehend putting our soul-self to death the part of it that would lead us and keep the spirit in us put down.

Please, Lord. All through Jesus Christ our LORD! Now and forever!

Mean Christians, Struggling Christians, Cross bearing Christians.

What is a Christian?

A Christian isn't necessarily a kind, loving, generous, caring, person. Often you'll hear the words - 'They can't be a Christian they're horrible!' And you'll hear others say, 'If they're a Christian then I'm glad I'm not one, they are the worst!' And then there is, 'I can't believe they are a Christian, look at them, listen to them!'

We've developed this idea that being a Christian means attaining a state of benevolence and keeping that state of benevolence without losing it. Being a Christian means appearing loving no matter what.  We've all met these Christians who are everything we imagine a Christian to be, and yet we only know others by what they reveal to us.

That always smiling, laughing and happy Christian cries constantly in the privacy of their own home.  That soft spoken, always speaking a kind word Christian goes home and yells and swears.  Is this true for all, NO!  There very well could be the always smiling, happy, laughing Christian who is always like that - rain or shine, inside their home and outside. However, we just don't know.

Being a Christian means being a believer of Christ and striving to walk that narrow way, bearing the crosses that are ours to bear.

No one was given an instant personality change upon accepting Christ as their Savior.  The newness of a Christ walk may temporarily alter a personality, but newness wears off.

If a person struggles with gossiping before being a Christian, the truth is they may become an even worse gossip after becoming a Christian.  If a person is hateful before becoming a Christian they may be even more hateful afterwards.  How can I say this when it's supposed to be the opposite?

When a person declares their belief in Christ and asks Christ to lead their lives it is truthfully just as if a soldier in a war asks to be sent to the front lines.  What happens on the front line? It is there where the worst of the war takes place, the most dangerous area you can be in exists there. A Christian immediately draws the attention of Satan- REMEMBER you cannot believe in Jesus without believing in Satan, it's impossible.  Instantly the enemy attacks and it's not just without outside situations but more often the internal battles.

The hateful person won't WANT to be hateful and will often despair of being hateful with the inability to stop. Should they give up and forget about Christ and being a Christian because they are horrible and can't seem to change? This is what Satan desires most of all. If Satan can cause us to despair of ever being that 'ideal' Christian person, then he owns us.

Truthfully, maybe the hateful Christians, maybe the worst of the worst of those claiming Christ as their Savior are more Christian than the nicest Christian you may know. The bottom line is we do NOT know the heart of a person.  The Bible tells us 'by their fruits' we will know them. That bitter, seemingly evil person who claims to be a Christian may have a lot of fruit we don't even see or know about.  What is the fruit of a person--

Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Do the actions of a bitter, evil Christian speak for them when their mouths, their attitude can't? Is the results of their life nothing but the spread of evil? Or is the same bitter person who seems far from Christ-like- the one who spends hours praying for others, who is willing to give of themselves in ways not outwardly obvious?  If you see the evil growing from these people, evil they've promoted and encouraged then perhaps they are truly not Christians, but a lot of time struggling Christians who love Christ, who believe in Him and His salvation are waging a battle with an enemy we can't see- and thery would not promote or encourage evil at all!

So much seems out of our control. Our evil tongues are just that -  evil.  And we all have tongues. Short of yanking them out, they are going to be instruments of evil all too often.  We cry out to be truly God's children, followers of Christ and yet we behave in ways we WOULD NOT.  If we embrace our evil and call it GOOD then we are not truly Christ followers. If we abhor our own evils and seek to be rid of them, we are Christians who are fighting a fierce battle!

One thing we have to remember, and by the grace of God we will - is this -

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

We can NEVER judge another person's eternal life, never. We can judge their actions to be right or wrong, good or bad but NOT their eternal life.  They may act unChristian-like as we imagine a Christian must be, but we could be allowed to see that part of their cross bearing, their struggle - all in order for us to have the opportunity to pray for them, not condemn them.  Maybe we need to witness their behavior so we can turn and look at our own as we struggle.

Christians can hurt others, but it isn’t something they do with the intent to inflict pain. Christians are sinners in need of a Savior. All people need prayers, those who appear Christian and those who say they are but don't appear to be, and those we are not and don't even want to be.

We all need prayers as we struggle in this awful sin ruled, satan run world!

Please, Lord, please help us to be Yours! Save us from ourselves!

Who are you at your best?

Who are you at your best? Is being kind-hearted important to you? Is being forgiving necessary when considering yourself at your best? Do you need to be happy to be at your best? Can you be in tears and be the person you imagine you want to be? What defines you at your best?  If you could stop time for a moment and become that person you are at your considered best- would you? Do you despise yourself when you are not you at your best? When you let the worst parts of you rise up and rear their ugly heads does regret quickly follow? Does regret happen sometimes instantly as you are consumed by those ugly monsters- who are nothing like the you that you long to be? If you truly could define yourself, make yourself the person you'd like to be minus all your worst traits what would that person be like?

Seriously, I want you to think about what you would be like without your soulical-self in control of you over your spirit-self.

What are you like when you do NOT put yourself first, when your self-serving tendencies do not dictate your actions?

We are NOT going to change completely, so if you're waiting to suddenly wake up and be another person altogether that's not what being led by the Spirit means.  We will forever be ourselves in a spirit-self, SPIRIT led way. The UNSELFISH parts of ourselves we've been allowed to glimpse while still being us, this is us.

Truly we will still laugh, we will still cry, we will still have all the emotions we have in various circumstances and telling ourselves that they will disappear and we'll never be angry again if we are being led in and by the Spirit is a lie.  The lie Satan will goad us into believing is that we cannot be happy, sad, or all the emotions in between if we are being led by the Spirit. 

Read what God's word and what Watchman Nee has to say about this… 

*******

'Even though the body of sin has been destroyed, we still yield our “members to God as instruments of righteousness” (Rom. 6.13); just so, when natural life is sacrificed to death, we shall find renewal, revival and restraint of the Holy Spirit in all the faculties of our soul.

It cannot therefore imply that henceforth we become wood and stone without feeling, thought or will because we must not or cannot use any of the parts of the soul.

Every part of the body as well as every organ of the soul still exists and is meant to be fully engaged; only now they are being renewed, revived and restrained by the Holy Spirit.

The point at issue is whether the soul’s faculties are to be regulated by our natural life or by the supernatural life which indwells our spirit.

These faculties remain as usual.

What is unusual now is that the power which formerly activated them has been put to death; the Holy Spirit has made God’s supernatural power their life.

Let us amplify this subject a bit more. The various organs of our soul continue after the natural life has been relinquished in death. To nail the soul life to the cross does not at all imply that thereafter we shall be completely lacking in our thought, emotion and will.

We distinctly read in the Bible of God’s thought, intent, desire, satisfaction, love and joy. Moreover, the Scriptures often record that our Lord Jesus “loved,” “rejoiced,” “was sorrowful”; it is even recorded that “Jesus wept,” that He “offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears” in Gethsemane’s Garden. Were His soul faculties annihilated? And do we become cold and dead persons? Man’s soul is man’s own self. It is where one’s personality resides and whence it is expressed. If the soul does not accept power from the spirit life, then it will draw its power for living from its natural soulical life. The soul as a composite of organs continues, but the soul as a life principle must be denied. That power must be consigned to death so that the power of the Holy Spirit alone may operate all the parts of the soul, without interference from the natural life. '

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

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. 

Jesus crying-

Joh_11:35  Jesus wept.

Jesus in agony-

Luk 22:39  And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 

Luk 22:40  And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 

Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 

Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

Jesus rejoiced-

Luk 10:21  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 

Jesus loved-

Joh 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 

Joh_19:26  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

Joy-

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith

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We truly need to be Spirit led- our spirit  being led first and foremost, and our soul-self next and our body.

You can tell if you are being Spirit-led or Soul-self led by whether or not your carnal nature, your flesh nature is in control. If self is being served first, you are not being led by the Spirit.  There is so much more we need to learn, and God will teach us through the Holy Spirit, through faith, through HIS love.

More tomorrow all by the grace of our loving God!

In Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior now and forever!