Bearing fruit of discernment.

 1Jn_2:14 … and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

The Word of God lives in us, and we overcome Satan.  If the word of God does not live in us then we do not overcome Satan.

1Pe_1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever

We are born again of incorruptible seed- Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

1Th_2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

The Word of God WORKS in those of us that believe! It works and it is effective.

Eph_6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

We must TAKE the sword of the Spirit- we must TAKE the Word of God!

Rom_10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Our faith comes by the WORD of God!

Luk_11:28  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

We must KEEP the word of God which gives us faith.

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.

The word of God is ALIVE, is POWERFUL, is SHARP. The word of God will divide the soul and spirit. The word of God discerns our thoughts.

The word of God discerns the intents of the heart.

Excerpt-

'… 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. '

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

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The soul-self and spirit divided.

Being able to discern between the two in all we do.

The discernment once given to us is ours to make choices with. We don't want blindness, we want spiritual sight and when it's given to us if we choose to desire blindness afterwards it will be given to us. Many people are just like Jesus spoke in parable-

Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 

Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

Hearing- understanding not and rather than seeking understanding allowing the word to be snatched away. Receiving, hearing and yet not rooting ourselves in the words - so when trouble comes because of our beliefs we are offended and turn from the word. Receiving, hearing but letting the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of money all makes the word unpalatable to us.

Only when we receive the WORD of God, hearing it, understanding it, and bearing fruit are we truly with God.

When we are given discernment we must bear the fruit of that discernment all by the grace of God. 

Daily we are given opportunities.

Daily we are racing, and along the race we are going to find many obstacles in our path, each temptation is an obstacle. Daily we are warring and in this very real spiritual war we are going to have to do battle. There are NO office jobs in this war. There are NO cushy positions of safety for anyone in this war. If you are in this war, if you are wielding the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, then you will have to use that sword! DAILY!  How did Jesus when confronted by Satan fight the battle? With the WORD of God! It's POWERFUL, it's ALIVE, we need to TRUST in it, and USE it!

Please LORD, please help us to seek the Spirit, to seek the Word of God always! 

The Word of God- A Sword.

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.

'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. '

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

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The WORD OF GOD- is POWERFUL, is SHARPER than ANY TWOEDGED SWORD.  The WORD of GOD can divide the SOUL and SPIRIT. The WORD of GOD  is a DISCERNER of the THOUGHTS and INTENTS of the HEART.

1Jn_2:14 … and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

1Pe_1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever

1Th_2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Eph_6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Rom_10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Luk_11:28  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

The Word of God is ALIVE in the SPIRIT and the word of God will reveal to us all that is of the spirit and all that is of the soul and in that revelation we need to listen and act upon what we are shown.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!

Now and forever…. Amen.

Jesus or You?

Zec_4:6  … Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of host

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

Joh 14:19  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 

Gal_2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

Gal 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 

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'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.'

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The Bible tells us- meaning God tells us this--

2Co 5:15  … they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 

We are to live for Jesus NOT FOR OURSELVES. Can it be any plainer than this? Seriously, what do we need to comprehend that truth? We SHOULD NOT live to ourselves BUT to HIM which DIED FOR US and ROSE AGAIN.

And what does it mean to NOT live for ourselves? It means we are NOT living primarily in any self-serving manner. It means we are we are not choosing SELF over SPIRIT. Learning to put Jesus first is something we really need to do. Learning to put self behind Jesus in our life isn't something that comes automatically to us. If it were automatic we most certainly wouldn't need so many constant reminders of doing so. We wouldn't be told to pick up our cross daily if it were automatically upon us daily. We have to PICK it up! And in picking it up we are putting Christ before ourselves. We need this comprehension and I think Watchmen Nee is trying to reveal this to us - using God's word and understanding He's been given.

May we too be given the understanding we need to comprehend TRUTH and only TRUTH and then all we need to follow that truth.

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

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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