Holy Spirit has been teaching me to exercise… I am not talking about exercising my “physical” body (which even writing this, I’m feeling convicted, I should do… 🙂 ) but exercising my spiritual eyes, which because I never thought of exercise in that sense, can feel difficult to adjust to. Is Holy Spirit asking you to trust Him and to do the same? Are you looking at whatever situation you are going through with physical senses? Or are you choosing to push forward in faith, asking God to show you how things REALLY are? Remember the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We HAVE to learn HOW to look BEYOND the physical realm and ask Holy Spirit to give us eyes to SEE the spiritual realm. We have to ask God to give us
EYES TO SEE HIM, EARS TO HEAR HIM AND A NOSE TO SMELL HIS SWEET FRAGRANCE
We need to remember when we do this to dress in our spiritual armor each day in accordance with Ephesians Chapter 6:13
For this reason, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.
We HAVE to choose to be “after God’s heart” and in praying to do so, we need to be sensitive in our spirits to what He reveals. In other words, we have to be as according to Romans 12:2:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Allowing Holy Spirit to renew our minds IS a process. During that process He may bring to the surface all the “yuck” and “drudgery” that needs to be cleaned out and sometimes the cutting away of things can be painful. It is like when you have a wound and in order for that wound to heal correctly it first needs to be cleaned out and the cleaning out process can be painful – but it serves a purpose, the healing of the wound. There are things within us that Holy Spirit is cleaning out, things that we may not have known were hidden deep inside the heart of us. There could be “heart wounds” that have occurred in our lives that we have not wanted to face and deal with, so we have brushed them aside to the inner most regions of our heart, refusing to deal with them until Holy Spirit (Who with our profession of faith and acceptance of Jesus as Savior, making Him Lord OVER our lives) comes to live within us and is digging around making changes that will help us to become more “Christ-like” and He’s uncovering things that we have hidden and allowing them to come to the surface so that He can help us deal with them. Allow His healing to occur. Change our hearts so that we can become uncracked vessels to be filled up and used for the glory of God.
We can allow Holy Spirit to do a work in us OR we can choose to be resistant. Holy Spirit is to be our Teacher, our Guide, our Comforter and believe me when I say, it is easier to allow Him to reveal things to you so that He CAN heal you and transform your mind. If you resist Him, I can tell you (from personal experience) you will be like a student who does not pass a class, you will retake it and retake it and retake it until you learn the lessons and are given approval to go on to the next class. Everything Holy Spirit teaches us and reveals us is for OUR good!
Ephesians 4:22-24 instructs us:
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
It is not easy to line our minds up with spiritual things when we have been conditioned to walk in accordance with the physical world. But it IS possible to allow Holy Spirit to retrain us to focus on the things that are pleasing to God. When we allow Him to renew our minds, we are able to see more clearly, to walk in accordance with what God has called us to do! To pray more affectively, to minister to others more accurately! To be more sensitive to the Spirit of God and to be able to fulfill His purpose for our lives!
Submission to Holy Spirit brings SUCH freedom! There is NO greater joy than to be able to hear God’s voice and know His will and follow His plan for our lives. This is where in Philippians 4:7 tells us:
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
I sometimes have what I call “duh moments” they are moments of realization when I FINALLY figure out what Holy Spirit has been saying to me in a repeated message over and over again, trying to get me to work on something (for my betterment and for the furthering of God’s glory in my life) that I haven’t realized He has been bringing to my attention! Thank God He is longsuffering and patient with me! 🙂 Suddenly a “lightbulb” goes off in my head and I’m like:
“Wait… What? You want me to work on THAT?”
I testify to you since I have been saved for 36 years that there is no GREATER joy than to be able to look back on your life and see all the changes that have only been made in the heart of me because of the dwelling of Holy Spirit. And it’s not something to beat yourself up about, it is something to be thankful for! We can do NOTHING in and of ourselves! Only God can change hearts! But He has created us with free-will and so sometimes He allows us to go through situations to soften our hearts, to make us MORE aware that we NEED Him. God doesn’t MAKE bad situations happen in our lives, we live in a fallen, sinful world since the fall of Adam and Eve; but He ALLOWS us to go through them. 1 Corinthians 10:13-15 tells us:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Many years ago, in my walk with Christ, I went through a time where I became a prodigal. I stepped out of God’s will and path for my life. As I said before, we have free-will, we can choose to obey God and His instructions for our lives (which are for our benefit and not detriment) or we can go our own way and walk away from Him. The consequences for my backslidden condition are consequences that still radiate in my life and in the lives of those who love me. But here is the thing, just like the story in the Bible on the Prodigal’s son (read about him in Luke 15:11-52) I came to the painful realization that it TRULY is NOTHING but God’s forgiveness, mercy, grace and love that matters. I came RUNNING home to the Father asking for forgiveness, and much to my surprise and chagrin, just like with the prodigal son, my Father met me halfway with arms opened wide to receive me. If that is where you are at in this time in your walk, don’t turn away from God, turn TOWARDS Him! David in the Bible learned the SAME thing. If you take the time to read about David in 1 and 2 Samuel. David was after God’s heart, but he backslid, and it was only when God confronted it and showed him the error of his ways be means of the Prophet Nathan that David confessed his sins with a true, broken and contrite heart and sought the Lord for forgiveness and redemption.
DAVID’S REPENTENCE WAS GENUINE
When we sin against God, we need to confess it! Not hide it! We need to face it! Not deny it! And when we have reached that point where we are prostate on the floor, upset with ourselves because we have sinned against God, we reach a point where we realize it is NOTHING but God’s mercy, His love, His forgiveness and His grace that transforms us. It doesn’t take away the consequence of our actions, we cannot go back and change what we have done – BUT God can STILL take our mess and make it into a message for His glory. We can then minister to others by extending the right hand of fellowship behind us to those who are hurting and help them to know that God loves them, that God is the God of restoration. That through Jesus death and resurrection on the cross we can be redeemed.
God’s love is far reaching, He loves you so very, very much. Allowing Holy Spirit to help us to exercise our spiritual senses and be sensitive to His Spirit and His teaching is something that EVERY member of God’s Remnant SHOULD desire. It is sometimes a painful process, but the pain is not the pain of the world, but it is a pain of allowing spiritual growth within us to occur as we cry out:
“Father, I am after your heart! Forgive me for my sins and wash me with the precious blood of Jesus. Give me eyes to see You, ears to hear You, a nose to smell Your sweet fragrance and a heart to receive ALL You have to show me. Jesus has ALREADY paid the cost. I submit to Holy Spirit, help me Father to go deeper into You. THIS is the desire of my heart. In Jesus’ precious name I pray Amen.”
He didn’t say it would be easy, but He DID say it would be worth it. There is NO greater joy we can experience than living a life that has accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation. Knowing that whatever face or go through – He IS with us. The King of Kings and LORD of Lords IS with us! And He’s NEVER letting us go! \0/ \0/ \0/
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