Jesus is the Door through whom every believer in His name can be saved. Upon being saved we are to enter into the Kingdom of God, so as to discover what has been freely made available to us in Him (Romans 8:32).
But it’s not enough to just discover everything that belongs to us in Him. It’s also important to know how to bring what has been revealed to us, as our inheritance into the realities of our lives.
This is where our faith becomes vital in prospering our lives with the blessing. We must begin to learn how to use our faith after our experience of salvation, just as any handyman uses his tools to get the job done. Faith becomes the working tool in the hand of the believer to get his inheritances, just as a farmer uses the hoe to till the ground on his farm for the harvest.
Of all the tools that a Christian uses, faith is the most important. But there are other spiritual gifts (or tools), that we do need to learn how to use in order for us to possess our possessions in Christ Jesus. We must then identify and be well acquainted with the use of these spiritual weapons (i.e. the gifts of the Holy Spirit), so as to apply them in guiding us to our places of prosperity (or the pasture) in our world.
That was why David said:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
Psalms 23:1-2 NKJV
When we recognize that the Lord is our Shepherd, and that He has put His Spirit in us to guide us into prosperity; then we will cease struggling in the flesh to prosper. When there is no struggling in the life of a believer, that’s the moment when the Christian will start experiencing stability, no lack or need in his life. He will stop worrying himself about many things in the world, so as to focus more on the most important things to God.
No Christian is ever meant to be doing nothing, with what belongs to him in God’s Kingdom. We are all to go out and find our individual pastures with everything that God has given to us. That’s why we are blessed to be a blessing. We are healed to bring healing to our world. Everything that has been given to us in Christ Jesus, has to be continually multiplied to replenish the earth.
This was what Jesus meant when He said:
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
John 10:9 NKJV
In the Old Testament Moses said the very same thing in this way:
“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”
Deuteronomy 28:6 NKJV
The primary purpose of becoming a Christian is for us, to be able to preserve and spread out the blessing. When you got saved, you were positioned for the blessing. You’ve come into the Kingdom of God, to be able to locate your blessing in the pastures. Once you are able to locate your blessing, you are supposed to get out into the world outside of the Church, in order to prosper with what you have discovered.
That was why Moses said that we are blessed, as we enter into the Kingdom of God; and we are blessed going out of it – to find our individual pasture for prosperity in the world. Prosperity is meant for every child of God, who has discovered his or her own “pasture” on the earth. The pasture is the place where God has called you into, to do exploits in prospering yourself.
But most of the time I have discovered that a lot of believers in Christ, are still struggling to discover their pastures; because of the lust in their flesh. They are too busy rocking the pews, while waiting for something to fall on them from somewhere. And the longer they are waiting, the sooner their flesh starts ruling over their spirit man with lustful desires. They have faith, but they are not using it to prosper themselves.
The lustful desires in them are not primarily from the devil. These are the unrighteous desires in them from their old nature, before they became Christians. The devil is not the one hindering their prosperity; but many have created their own hindrances into their prosperity “green pastures”.
Get rid of the lust for the Light to shine
As mentioned last week it is the lust of the flesh, that is keeping many Christians from bearing spiritual fruit. Lust has to do with the desires of the flesh, that comes from within a man. The devil can’t invade your life as a child of God, if you did not open the door for him to come in.
As the scriptures says:
“but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
James 1:14-15 NIV
Every believer in Christ therefore has a personal responsibility, to deal with the lust in his or her own flesh. You may have been binding the devil all the time, but you still find yourself yielding to those sinful lusts within you. But it’s not really the devil who is at fault here. You will need to make the quality decision first of all, in dealing with the lust for sin within you.
These are the unrighteous acts, habits or sinful indulgences inside of your old nature before you became a Christian. You will now have to take personal responsibility to deal with them. They do have the potential of clogging the flow of the Holy Spirit in your life to prosper you.
Once a Christian is able to identify these things in his or her personal life; then action will need to be taken to deal with them. Many people do often know the right things to do, but they are just allowing the flesh, to hinder them from applying the principles of the Kingdom of God to prosper themselves.
If as a Christian you are seeing the fleshy lust in your life, as something that is natural and acceptable to God; even though you do know that the scriptures says otherwise. Then you are telling God that, you are not going to deal with it. And many have become evasive in taking action against the lust of their flesh, because they can see others around them, who are living their Christian lives with these things.
Birds of the same feathers will always fly together. But inside of you, you do know that you are an eagle. So why are you trying to soar among the chickens. Chickens don’t even fly; but the eagle soars always even to the heights from where it can see what the chickens can never see.
God will never force anyone to do anything against their own desires. But the spiritual growth of a Christian will become impeded by his own inaction. God’s hand has provided all the good things of life for him to enjoy, but he can’t even set his hands on those things.
You are a child of the Light. The darkness of this world has nothing to do in you. That’s why you need to be doing what Paul did when he said:
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Galatians 2:20-21 NLT
The process of self crucifixion begins at the very point of self denial. If you’re unable to deny your flesh of those lustful desires, you can’t live a lifestyle of instantaneous obedience to God.
Obedience to God and His word is easier to the spirit or the mind that has been renewed in God’s word. But it may take some time for that act of obedience to get to the flesh, in order for the flesh to start being subjected to obeying God (1 Corinthians 9:27).
That’s why you will often see those, who have just been set free from any form of addiction, still struggling to be transformed. But the moment when they made the decision to obey God, their spirit man is released to walk in that act of obedience. And that’s is the moment of their salvation. It’s the most important moment of their lives.
This decision for Christ is crucial to their ability to get crucified with Christ. It triggers their mind and their flesh, to start processing the decision of their spirit man to be saved. This process has to be completed for the eternal salvation of the spirit, soul and body. As Paul said:
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
I Thessalonians 5:23-24 NKJV
God will bring to a perfect completion by Himself, what He had started with the act of your obedience in your spirit man. He will make your spirit, soul (mind) and body whole – ready to meet Jesus.
Let God’s word wash you clean
Apostle Paul went on to point out to us in his letter to the Ephesians, how he did this. Dead religion has often taught us that, it’s only through fasting and prayer that this is possible. But this is not true.
I have personally seen many Christians who will do lots of fasting, but who are still struggling in their flesh. Their spiritual lives has not changed. They are not growing spiritually into maturity.
There are a lot of Christians today, who are struggling with sexual sins. Many of them have been made to believe that, fasting and prayer alone will help them in dealing with the lust of their flesh. So they are fasting and praying. But they still continue yielding to the lustful desires in their lives. Obviously it’s not the devil; but the lustful desires of their uncrucified flesh.
But Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians recognized that, as long as we are living on the earth in our physical body, we will have to deal with the flesh. Your spirit man will have to be separated completely away from your physical body, if you do want to be free completely from your flesh.
But you can do something about it right now, by taking charge over it. Don’t allow the flesh to rule over you. You take charge over it, and let it know that you do have authority over your own physical body. You can rule over it, instead of constantly yielding to it.
Many Christians who are struggling with sexual sins, gluttony and many other sinful lusts, can actually turn it around in the split of a second; by making the quality decision to exercise their authority over the body. Your faith then becomes like a tool in your hand, as you exercise spiritual authority in turning it around.
That’s why Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians:
“He (Christ) made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water. Christ did this, so he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.”
Ephesians 5:26-27 CEV
The Amplified Classic translation says it in this manner:
“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].”
Ephesians 5:26-27 AMPC
While the Complete Jewish Bible says this:
“in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak, in order to present the Messianic Community to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect.”
Ephesians (Eph) 5:26-27 CJB
The washing of the water with the word and the “Mikveh” are not exactly similar. The mikveh is a Jewish ritual bath of purification. But a mikveh with “the washing of God’s word” is what truly sanctifies and purifies a Christian’s spirit, soul and body from the lust of the flesh. It makes you presentable before God as holy. This is what God’s word can do for anyone who is struggling in the flesh.
You will have to be spending more time meditating on the word of God, until the lust in your life depreciates and completely disappears. God’s word has the power to filter it all away. The washing of the water with the word of God, will make your flesh flawless, faultless and without any defect. It will make your spirit, soul and body holy. When you do this you’re telling your body that you are in charge.
To get this result the “mikveh” of the word of God should never be by meditation alone. It must be followed with corresponding action. The lust and desire of the flesh will often make you to start speaking, what your flesh wants. This is when you will have to start training yourself to focus on saying only what God’s word says.
As an example when your flesh is pushing the desire for alcohol, you will need to start declaring what God’s word says about it. And you don’t necessarily need to be quoting scriptures. It’s the truth in those scripture texts that sets free.
By just speaking the truth in those scripture texts, you are empowering your spirit man to take those words into your mind and body. It’s just as you take medicine through the mouth to affect the body. This will bring a change into your life.
Walk in the Spirit to fulfill the desire of the spirit
The lust of the flesh has denied many within the body of Christ of God’s blessing. They have become inert to the workability of the blessing in their lives. They see the fulfillment of the desires of their flesh as the blessing. But that is not true. They are lusting more for the things of the world, whereas they do know that these are not the will of God for their lives.
Whenever a Christian is constantly yielding in his spirit man to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the law of sin and death (which includes the desires and lust of his flesh), will never be able to rule over him again.
But the blessing of the Lord is primarily spiritual, and not sensual. Spiritual things can only be discerned spiritually. That’s why your ability to walk in the Spirit, is vital to inheriting the blessing; as the lust of the flesh are being done away with.
As Paul said again:
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18 NKJV
In order not to fulfill the lust of the flesh again, the believer must now begin to learn how to walk in the Spirit. The desires of the spirit man supersedes, that of the mind and the body. A believer who is walking in the Spirit is sensitive to spiritual things. Everything around you physically affects your mind and your body. And these are all facts, but the truth that sets free is spiritual.
By walking in the Spirit your spiritual antenna will become more sensitive to the move of God in your life. As you pray more and more in the Spirit, the desires of your flesh will depreciate and eventually disappears; until you will begin to glorify God for what He is doing in your life. You just need to receive it by faith, as your life begins to glorify God in the blessing.
In my experience of ministering to different people across the globe, I have come to realize by discernment that, the devil is not to blame for most of peoples’ problems in life. Very few of the problems of people are caused by demonic activities. In fact nobody really want anything to do with the devil. But it’s the uncrucified desires of their flesh that they are actually struggling with.
As Paul once said about his personal life:
.. “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Romans 7:21-25 NIV
When those desires of the flesh are dead, their spiritual eyes becomes sharpened and enlightened to see these spiritual truth. That’s when their spiritual discernment of the wiles of the devil will start getting stronger. Your faith will begin to get bolder, as you will begin to get established in your inheritance. You will become untouchable by the enemy, and everything that you set your hands upon will prosper in Jesus name. Amen!
“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Romans 8:13 NIV
