The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but as for a broken spirit who can bear it? (Proverbs 18:14 NASB)
We teach a lot about the Holy Spirit, but have you ever thought about the importance of your own spirit? Before anyone can be saved, their own spirit has to seek God with urgency and determination. Salvation is only for those who are courageous enough to die to their flesh, and live in that state of submission all their lives. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit, our own spirit has to yearn for Him, strive to bear His fruit and be relentless until He infills and empowers us. But it all begins with our own free will – our own spirit. Salvation, healing, miracles and baptism in the Spirit don’t just happen randomly to good people. They are all fought for on our own volition, by faith.
When people tell me that they don’t have enough faith, that they’re weak willed, I know they’re being deceived at that moment. They imagine that they are weaker than they are. God would never dangle a promise over your head, and then disqualify you because you don’t have the right kind of personality to see it fulfilled. Everyone has a drive within them for something in life, from a passion for their children’s well-being, to a frustration to undo the injustice they’ve gone through, or a drive to out-shop their insecurities with as many trinkets as they can buy. We all have a driving force in us, the problem is that some waste it on useless efforts to control people and situations that only God can handle.
God breathed life into each of us when we were created. When our spirit is in tune with God’s Spirit, we can endure anything the devil throws at us, and overcome in the end. When we know we are in the right and our adversaries’ accusations are false, our spirit can defy those accusations without a doubt because we are standing on His truth. It’s not just up to God to pull us through, our own spirits need to be unshaken in our faith in Him. When we stand firm against the attacks of the devil, he may make a lot of noise and appear strong for a while, but our spirit is confident in God’s promises, and sooner or later the attacks collapse in defeat.
But when we are unsure of ourselves, uncertain if God accepts our prayers or if we have a hidden sin that accuses us, our spirits are unstable. Our prayers are hesitant and we feel no confirmation that God is pleased with us. A broken spirit is unbearable, because it can no longer reach out to God with the faith it needs. God needs us to have clean and pure consciences, and then to truly believe that He will accomplish His word. This ensures a strong spirit that can link itself to God’s Spirit.
If you feel that there is something that needs to be repented of, if you need to ask forgiveness from someone or complete an unfulfilled commitment, make sure to do that today so that there will be nothing to hold back your spirit from going full force. If you know your heart is clean but you struggle to really believe in God’s promises, begin to rebuke the lying spirits who are trying to keep you discouraged and unable to rise up in the strength that God gave you. God’s looking for your spirit to join His.
This is very true Bishop and an important factor to our growth as people and our partnership with God.
ReplyDeleteGod never forces us to act but works with us, however, when we fail to act the devil will force himself to overpower our spirit and destroy us.
This has made me reflect on my spirit and where I need to change to have the best partnership possible with God.
God bless you.
This post has just demonstrated to me the importance of our own spirit not being weak and how it works together with the Spirit of God.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard at times when our spirit is knocked down by a problem that seems so impossible before us. But it really is in those moments that we need to be strong so that the Spirit of God can do His part.
These posts are amazing. My spiritual eyes are being awakened daily by them.
I have even shared these blog with friends