2Corinthians 5:17 (Amp) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
Most believers have been living a double life, for most of our born-again life. We have one life of the flesh and another Life we live in the Spirit. We haven't understood that these aren't separate lives, but one Life is now joined together by the Life Jesus spoke about in John 10:10. When we separate the Spirit Life from the natural life of the flesh, we don't stay on this planet. The natural body can't continue living, when our spirit leaves it.
We put off the Spiritual Blessing for until we get to Heaven and continue struggling in the natural man, believing God doesn't care about this. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and was God's Son, but He still lived in a flesh and blood body while He was here. The Spirit realm met all of Jesus' needs, as well as the needs of others in His earthly walk with God. Jesus never separated Himself from either His Spirit or His Body. He lived in the fleshly Body, while walking by and in the Spirit. Jesus walked naturally Super-natural.
We're like Jesus in His earthly ministry today. We still have needs here in this natural realm, while having needs in the Spirit realm with God. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-33 (Amp), "Therefore do not worry or be anxious, saying, What are we going to eat? or what are we going to have to drink, or what are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."
Jesus assured us that, "Our Heavenly Father knows well that we need all these things." He never intended for us to be cold, hungry, without shelter, and miserable in this life; anymore than when we leave this earthly life. God took care of Jesus, before and after He began His earthly ministry. Heaven supplied everything Jesus needed from His birth and now. Do you think God can't do these things for the rest of His family?
It's not that God can't or won't do this for us, but we don't know how to function in both realms, like Jesus did. Jesus instructed us to, "Seek, aim at and strive after first of all God's Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right, and then all the other things are added." Jesus walked in the natural, in a Super-natural way. He never divided the two, but looked at them like the First Adam did, as being one man made in God's Image and Likeness.
We sometimes see prayer as being Spirit, while looking at everyday life as being carnal. Through Jesus, it's not everyday life and Spirit Life, but just "Life and more abundantly." Prayer isn't something we do sometimes, when we need something, but it's a constant place of fellowship where we hear and follow the Voice of the Shepherd, like it was with Jesus.
We're always praying in the Holy Spirit, while we're at work or at home. We're in constant fellowship with the Father, through the Holy Spirit, according to 1Corinthians 14:14 (Amp), where Paul writes, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays, but my mind is unproductive (it bears no fruit and helps nobody)."
Paul is speaking about public prayer and worship in this scripture, but says we're always in contact with the Holy Spirit, even when we're at work or at home. I can watch TV and still be in contact with God, by my spirit. My spirit is completely in Christ at all times. I hear from God when my natural mind is focused on something else and this keeps it from straying into worry or doubt.
A renewed mind is one that thinks on the Word at all times, even when something else is going on. God is never really on our mind, but is usually like a circus, waiting to stray into all sorts of things that aren't relevant to what we're seeking God for. If we can occupy our minds with work or watching TV, instead of letting them run wild, then we can hear God more clearly in our spirits.
My mind is clear, when my hands are busy at work or play. The carnal mind and the Mind of Christ, aren't the same thing. The Mind of Christ comes from my new creation man, while the carnal natural mind is what I use to drive my truck, mow hay or do natural things. We still use our natural mind and senses, but govern them by God's Word and His Spirit. You'll have a problem driving downtown during rush hour, if you don't use your senses and your sense ruled mind. God gave us a natural mind and senses, in order to govern the flesh and He gave us a spirit, in order to govern the natural mind in the natural realm.
Jesus knew when He was tired, hungry and when He needed extra clothing because it was cold. Jesus' Spirit didn't get cold or hungry, His senses were used for that. We don't discard our senses, we rule them. We're a three part being (spirit, soul and body) and each plays a vital part in our earthly walk. We must allow our spirit by the Holy Spirit, to rule the soul and body. When we allow our soul or emotions to rule, instead of governing them by our new creation spirit through God's Word and the Holy Spirit, then we'll get angry, commit sin and get involved in wrong thing. Our body will eat, until it's bloated and useless, unless we take dominion over it by our spirit. Through Jesus, we've been given control to govern our body and soul, by our born-again spirit again. The fleshly carnal natural isn't in control any longer, if we stay in fellowship with the Father.
The Law of Moses was good, but man's spirits were dead unto God. The carnal nature still ruled, by Laws and regulations alone. We've been given the new creation Living Spirit, to govern from within and not just by willpower or Laws. We must renew our minds with God's Word and His Spirit, so we have dominion over the flesh and senses. We're not ruled by feelings or emotions, but by the Word. We've believed that we can't control how we feel, but God's Word says that we can. We've accepted the world's view about Christianity, but in these Last Days, God has revealed who His family has been created to be in His eyes and things are changing.
No comments:
Post a Comment