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

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

*******

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!

We are tested.

'Often we are unconscious how powerful our self is until tested in regard to material matters. At times it seems we require more grace to lose our wealth than to lose our life! Earthly things truly represent an acid test for soul life. God’s children who indulge in eating and drinking and in ease and comfort need a deeper cutting away of the cross to free their spirit from the bondage and influence of the soul and to be free to live in God. Any who still hanker after the things of the world have yet to learn how to lose their soul life through the deep penetration of the cross.'  The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee

*******

Society tells me I'm allowed to desire all the things I desire and it screams at me that it's NORMAL. 
*******

People around us tells us that it's fine to do worldly things. If we admit our guilt and desire not to do these worldly things we are again reassured that everything is fine. We hear it so often it is easy to believe the what we are told by God is evil, is now good. So much evil is now called good and if people dare to call that declared good- evil then they are looked upon as awful, horrendous, terrible, heartless people. No longer is evil- evil and the cup is almost entirely full to overflowing. As it was in the days of Noah it is now. As it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is now.

We are each 'tested' in regards to material matters- this is truth!

We are TRIED.

Jas_1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

1Pe_1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

And our CROSS is just that a CROSS- an instrument of DEATH that we bear- if it were a GOOD thing, then we wouldn't have to BEAR it, it wouldn't be a burden to bear but a joy to take hold of.  We take up a cross DAILY and that cross is the willingness to put to death our flesh nature, our carnal nature, our soulical-self all in order to allow the spirit to lead us.  This willingness to pick up our cross is all part and parcel of denying ourselves all worldly treasures that long to get their hooks in us and never let us go.

What do you have in your life you are simply NOT willing to give up?  What people, what things, what treasures?

Remember this--

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Let us lay up our treasures in heaven- let us think of our heavenly treasures as the cross is laid before us daily and by the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD, through HIS love that we don't deserve, let us pick up that cross.

Losing our possessions...

'Often we are unconscious how powerful our self is until tested in regard to material matters. At times it seems we require more grace to lose our wealth than to lose our life! Earthly things truly represent an acid test for soul life. God’s children who indulge in eating and drinking and in ease and comfort need a deeper cutting away of the cross to free their spirit from the bondage and influence of the soul and to be free to live in God. Any who still hanker after the things of the world have yet to learn how to lose their soul life through the deep penetration of the cross.'  The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee

Do you believe what Watchman Nee wrote, that bit we just read?  Do you agree that those of us who have a life of relative ease- plenty of food, in fact food to the point of excess, plenty to drink and many comforts to make our lives easier have a harder time than those who have very little and next to no comforts?  In some respects it has to be true, right? Yet in others we can tell ourselves that those who have little are in a constant state of want.  Is that true? Or is it those who have already who always seem to want more, to want better, to want the best there is?  We live in a culture that tells us we should want more, constantly. We compare ourselves to  the rich, the famous, the important, and we are taught to want that. We are taught it by many things- tv, books, peers, family, movies.  So even when we truly do have a lot compared to those who have very little, we believe we need more. We fear losing our possessions. We make plans for losing them, insuring our possessions so we can get them back again should we lose them.  And all this is normal to us. 

So, to ask the question again- Do we believe what Watchman Nee wrote about 'requiring more grace to lose our wealth than to lose our life?'

I believe it.  For me personally, I believe it. I know how incredibly hard I find it to give up things and I know all the reasoning I come up with as to why I shouldn't have to give up my things, there are so many excuses I use and I believe them.  Society tells me I'm allowed to desire all the things I desire and it screams at me that it's NORMAL. 

More on this tomorrow, by the grace of our loving God.

In Jesus' name!