We do live in a world with so many things going on all around us daily. The pace with which the events in the world today, often occurs around us, affects the way many do often see or perceive things.
In the midst of all of these, as believers in Christ Jesus, we must not loose cognizance of the fact that, we are not of this world. We do belong to God, and our lives in this world, is hidden in Christ Jesus. By continually applying the blood of Jesus Christ, over our lives and the things that we do, we are able to walk in the victory that Jesus gave to us.
Apart from this, we also need to be living with the knowledge of the fact that, we are the temple of God. God lives on the inside of us by His Spirit whom we had received, from the moment that we got born again.
Our ability to live with the recognition of this spiritual truth, will help us greatly in developing our spirit man, to mature into listening to the voice of our the inner witness (Romans 8:16).
Paul wrote to the Galatians:
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
I Corinthians 3:16-17 NKJV
The acknowledgment of the fact that, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, gives us the Christ centered mindset in listening to our inner man, rather than to our senses or feelings. It helps us in beginning to pay particular attention to the inner voice of our spirit man.
There are many believers today within the body of Christ, who do often confuse the voices of their feelings and minds, with the voice of their spirit man. This should never be the case, if indeed we are living the Holy Spirit filled lifestyle.
Such believers do often make decisions, based on their feelings and what their minds tells them, rather than what their inner witness is telling them. It is in fact their inability to live and walk by faith, that causes them to depend on their feelings and minds, rather than depending on the voice of their inner man.
We were created by God to live and walk, by faith and not by sight, senses or feelings. The faith that we live by, comes from the Word of God into our spirit man. God’s Word works through our hearts to remind us that, we do belong to Him. We are God’s holy temple.
As the body of Christ, God lives in us for the purpose of restoring the fellowship and communion, that He previously had with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-11). God is seeking that fellowship back again with us. This is the primary reason why all humans on earth were created by God – to fellowship with Him. As we begin paying attention to God’s voice within us, we are assured that we are never alone.
Our faith in God is strengthened, and our fellowship with Him, gets more intimate than ever before. Adam and Eve lost the opportunity that, the Holy Spirit has made available for us today. We are able to live and walk in the garden of Eden today, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. Man’s fellowship with God, the Father has been restored back again.
HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR TEACHER
Apostle John told us in his first epistle that:
“As for you, the anointing [the special gift, the preparation] which you received from Him remains [permanently] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as His anointing teaches you [giving you insight through the presence of the Holy Spirit] about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as His anointing has taught you, you must remain in Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him].”
1 JOHN 2:27 AMP
We need to pay particular attention here to the way, in which the Amplified Translation of the Bible qualifies the anointing, on the inside of a Spirit filled believer in Christ Jesus. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is defined, as “the special gift and the preparation”. And there are differences in these two definitions.
The special gift here is a direct reference to a gift of the Holy Spirit in us. This is a reference to the function of the Holy Spirit, in the distribution of spiritual gifts in the lives of each believer.
On the other hand the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as an agent of preparation is a reference to, what the Holy Spirit does to and through our spirit man. He prepares and coaches our spirit man, for that calling of God over our lives. One of those things that He does in preparing our spirit man, is in our ability to be able to see and perceive spiritual truths.
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit:
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 14:26 NIV
In doing this the Holy Spirit teaches us all things that, we never knew before. He does this until we are fully established, in our understanding of those things; for us to be able to function independently by faith with them, based on the inner witness from our spirit man.
What we are able to see or perceive, becomes therefore the evidence of our faith on the inner man. We are then able to live, and make advances in spiritual warfare, with the understanding of what is known to us through the inner witness.
Such imparted knowledge and wisdom into our spirit man, is something that can never be taken away from us. We will do good to ourselves and others, with such knowledge and wisdom; especially in the area of spiritual warfare against the enemy.
But just because our spirit man is able to perceive spiritual things, doesn’t necessarily means that, we will never need the Holy Spirit again. Being able to perceive a truth, does not necessarily means that, we are able to discern that truth. Spiritual perception is not the same as spiritual discernment. We are still in need of the Holy Spirit, to bring us discernment. This is what He does through the gift of the discernment of spirits; which is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10).
But our spiritual perception is important, because it helps us to be alert and ready, for every dirty tricks of the enemy against us in spiritual warfare. While we are involved in spiritual warfare, a lot of things are always changing and advancing around us. The enemy that we face is continually bringing up new things against us. The mere fact that he is always on the attack against us, is a testament to our effectiveness against him in prayer and intercession.
The moment he realizes that, we are strong against him in one area of our lives, he will do his best to identify other weaknesses in us, so as to come against us in those areas also. The good news is that, his tactics are always the same. He uses the same old tactics of lies and deceptions in anything that he does. There is absolutely no truth in the Devil.
FEEDING THE SPIRIT MAN
This is why our spirit man needs, to continually be feeding on the spiritual food, from the Word of God with insights and inside information, that only the Holy Spirit can give to us. This is very vital in our battle against Satan. By reading and studying Bible scriptures daily, with prayers and intercessions, our spirit man is being prepared, to perceive the things from God.
Apostle Paul challenged us to pray all kinds of prayers, in every manner that we can. He said:
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:18 NIV
There are different kinds of prayers, and they all have their unique fashions and ways, in bringing us victory through spiritual warfare. We can pray in our understanding or in the spirit, by being led in the Holy Spirit to pray. Praying in the spirit is for our self edification (1 Corinthians 14:4). Self edification is very important, because there is no way that we can edify other people, if we are not initially edified. Praying in the spirit for self edification prepares us in readiness to minister to the people. It sharpens our ability to perceive spiritual truth as we minister to others.
There are other kinds of prayers; like the prayers of faith, thanksgiving, agreement, praise and worship, practicing or tarrying in God’s presence and the list is endless. The Holy Spirit is always there to lead us and guide us, in all kinds of prayers at all times, and in any way that He deems fit.
But we do need to be praying regularly, most especially in the spirit, because it opens us up into the realm of the supernatural. This is our best approach against Satan and his fallen angels. We are able to identify our best weapon against them, when we go into prayer and Intercession in this manner. We are often led by the Holy Spirit when we do pray in this way. We do know that we are very limited in the realm of our senses, feelings and human understanding, with regards to our prayer lives.
In order for us to go beyond what is already revealed to us, as we pray in our understanding, we must be prepared to pray in the spirit always. This helps our spirit man to be able to see, or perceive God’s answer to what we are praying about in the spirit.
We may not initially get the whole picture in understanding the solution, that our spirit man perceives as we pray in this way; but we will receive the peace of God about the issues at stake, which no one can ever take away from us.
Paul explains our spiritual state of mind, as we pray in this manner when he told the Corinthians:
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV
We are able to see or perceive the truth in the spirit. But our initial perception may be blurry, or it may be in part. However if we continue praying in the spirit, for the inner witness to reveal the whole picture of things to us; we will become spiritually empowered by what we are seeing or perceiving.
It is only the Holy Spirit, who can adequately feed our spirit man with the spiritual food (John 3:6); and prepare us for anything from God. The more we do communicate in the spirit with Him daily, the more God’s thoughts becomes our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). He will lead us in this manner to begin seeing and perceiving the truth, as we start thinking like Him.
Jesus said:
“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”
John 6:63 NIV
As Jesus said it plainly here, it is the Holy Spirit who gives full and complete life to our spirit man. The voice of our flesh, senses or feelings “counts for nothing” to our spirit man. The Holy Spirit gives us life, through the workings of the Words of Jesus, inside of our spirit man.
God’s Word is not only full of spiritual food for the spirit man; but it gives life to our spirit man. Just as we do need the Word of God to renew our minds, senses and to guide our feelings into walking in obedience towards God; it is also needed to give life to our spirit man.
The mind and the body does not give life to us. The mind and the body are easily manipulated by the enemy, in causing us to fall into temptation.
The body in particular does need to be crucified, after we got saved. Apostle Paul mentioned his own personal experience in this, as he wrote to the Galatians Church:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NIV
One of the best way to crucify the body is through fasting as we pray. Fasting is abstinence from physical food for spiritual purposes (Isaiah 58:6-9). By living a fasted lifestyle, our spiritual perception becomes clearer and clearer.
Paul told the Corinthians more about the purpose in crucifying the body, as he preached the gospel:
“Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
I Corinthians 9:26-27 NKJV
We are more effective in prayer and intercession, whilst engaging in fasting. It helps us to engage the enemy more effectively, as he comes against our senses and physical body. We are to therefore continually give our body, as a living sacrifice through prayer and fasting (Romans 12:1).
The mind and the body will one day perish, but our spirit man will live eternally with God. Our feelings and senses needs to be guided to follow and obey, what we see or perceive by the inner witness of the spirit man.
The center of life inside us is at the heart (the spirit in man). That is why we need to be preparing our spirit man, to get used to living eternally with God, while we are still here on earth.
Our faith in God’s word is therefore the evidence of the things that are perceived. The Word of God produces faith in the heart (Romans 10:8). We are able to connect with the spiritual realm, only by faith which comes with the Word of God into our hearts.
DEALING WITH THE TWO WORLDS
But in spiritual warfare, there are two worlds that we often have to deal with – the supernatural and the natural worlds. Faith helps us to perceive and see into the realm of the supernatural. It is faith that brings the supernatural into the natural. The natural world is known to our senses and feelings.
God’s faith brought everything that He created, by speaking creative Words into manifestation, to our natural world, so that we may be able to relate with them.
Paul explains what goes on within our spirit, mind and physical body; as we engage in spiritual warfare by faith. He said:
“For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 AMPC
Our physical body may seem as if it is wasting away, while the mind is being renewed. But whatsoever we are perceiving with our senses and feelings, are temporary and fleeting away. According to Apostle Paul such things are not permanent; but it is the things which our spirit man perceives that are eternal. The eternal things are what we are expected to focus on.
The natural things that are seen are about to change and fleeting away, especially as we continually stand by faith in prayer and Intercession. That is why we don’t walk or act, based on what we see or perceive through the senses; but on what the Word of God says to us (2 Corinthians 5:7).
GETTING SMARTER IN THE SPIRIT MAN
Paul told the Church at Ephesus again:
“And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],”
Ephesians 4:23 AMPC
The spirit of man has a mindset, which is continually being taught by the Holy Spirit to perceive the truth; just as the soul or the brain has a mindset also which must be renewed. When we got born again, we do have the responsibility of renewing the mind of our spirit, with the Word of God by cultivating the habit of praying in the spirit.
God will not do this for us; neither is it the job of any local pastor. It is the responsibility of every born again child of God, to renew the mind and offer the physical body, as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1-2).
This is important for us to be able to understand and receive, what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We are to continually renew the mind of our spirit, until it begins to fall in line, and rules over the soul or the brain. If we are not able to get to this stage in our spiritual walk with the Lord, we will continue to stumble in perceiving spiritual truths around us.
A lot of believers often fail in this, as they continue to stumble in making spiritual progress in life. Having a fresh attitude of the mind and the spirit man, helps us to focus on the things that are never going to change.
The Holy Spirit is there to help us always. He guides us as we follow His leads, to be fully trained and prepared in the inner man for the work of God.
Let me be blunt here by reiterating that nobody is ever perfect. We are all still being trained daily by the Holy Spirit, to get many things right in our spiritual walk with God. Our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit who lives in us knows this. But the more we are able to press in on the inner man, to perceive what our spirit man is leading us into, the smarter we will become spiritually in the things of the kingdom of God. Spiritual training requires spiritual discipline. We must therefore be spiritually disciplined to get spiritually smart.
Jude, the Apostle gave us a good advice on how best to do this, as he wrote to help a Church, that has been besieged by carnal Christians. He said:
“It is these who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions–merely sensual [creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people], devoid of the [Holy] Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life. But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit;”
Jude 1:19-20 AMPC
We will continue to make spiritual progress, and rise up higher and higher, as we build up on our holy faith, by praying in the Spirit on a regular basis. Our spirit man is being built up as we do this. This helps us to be smart in dealing with difficult people within the body of Christ. As we do this, our spirit man will keep perceiving through an inner witness, the evils which surrounds us daily, so that we may be smart in dealing with them immediately. There is one thing that the Holy Spirit will never do for us. He will never do for us, whatever He is telling us to do. Neither will He ever take actions on our behalf, concerning the things that we are perceiving. Our actions and reactions are what makes us spiritually smart.
We will observe that Jude was comparing the believers here in verse 19, who were without spiritual instincts with those, that could perceive the move of God in the spirit. The enemy’s plan was to destroy this particular body of Christ, which Jude was addressing.
There are believers like the ones, which Jude warned us about in his letter. They often walk after their flesh, and they will never pay attention to their spirit man.
They do have the ability to perceive many things with their human senses though; but in most cases their spiritual instincts are insensitive to the Holy Spirit who lives inside them. That explains why they’re never growing up in the things of God. They often feed the desires of their flesh, more than they will feed that of their spirit man (which is born of God).
They definitely do need their spirit man to be revived or awakened; and we will do better by praying for them always in the Spirit. When we do this we are lifting them up before God, who alone can rescue their spirit man from their flesh.
Till next week, keep building up your most holy faith by praying in the Spirit.
