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Several months ago the Lord showed me a spiritual journey that I would be going on. And in this journey I would be going down to a lower level in my spirit walk. This bothered me quite considerably because I wasn't sure where I was going or what I would be doing in this place the Lord was leading me to. It was not until I was almost through my journey that I began to realize certain things that He wanted me to face.

It seemed like a lot of things kept coming up before me, that I had considered already out of my life. They came as feelings and emotions within me, that is, things of the soulish realm. Some that I was even alarmed at myself for thinking about. Needless to say I started seeking the Lord about these things that seemed to be happening with me only to get no answer. I actually thought that I had been turned away by God. I thought that I had lost every contact with the Lord. Fear came on me, fear of disappointing my Lord, fear of letting myself down not to mention letting my family down. Not one time did I think of the promise I have in Jesus, where He said "...I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." I actually felt alone.

I began to tell myself that I need to deal with these feelings and emotions, not just cope with them or ignore them, but to actually do something about them, that I was not created to walk in this realm, I'm supposed to be in Christ Jesus, exalted into heavenly places, and these thoughts or feelings are not right. I had to do something! That's when the Holy Spirit began to prompt my heart that these feelings were things I needed to deal with in the renewing of my mind. That I had to see myself dead to the old Adam nature and firmly believe that I was dead. I had to realize that Jesus in His humanity, died for me bearing my sins upon Himself, and that when He died I died also. Galatians 2:20 says: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Unbelief stops the process the Holy Spirit is taking us through.

Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"

Ephesians 2:2 " Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"

Ephesians 2:3 "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

You see, Adam sinned by his disobedience to God, he (Adam) unleashed a force into this world. Sin is a mighty force that keeps people in bondage. Bondage to our flesh, to the point that that's all we talked about, all our desires, and that our own (Adam's) fallen nature desires to act like the brute beast that it is. We were held in this by that spirit Adam brought forth. In fact this is what the Apostle Paul talked about in Romans 7.

"...But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: For what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, which I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

The brute beast within each one desiring to do evil. But this is what most people don't see; he gave the answer in verse 25, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus Christ is our answer to dealing with our fleshly nature. Jesus has already dealt with the beast. In fact he defeated it 2000 years ago on Calvary.

Peter said, that "we might be partaker of the divine nature," of God. We have the divine nature of God inside all who are born again. He also goes on to say that "He has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness," how? "Through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." Again we see that it's through Jesus.

So how are we going to deal with this beast inside us that's keeping us from walking in the fullness of what God has given to us. Let's turn to Romans Chapter 12. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice," ...holy, (remember that Jesus has made us holy by his death)...acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world (this is where people fall): but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." I want to address the part where people fall. The Holy Spirit was given to lead us to Christ, in every area of our life. We are a three part being (body, soul and spirit), the Holy Spirit has already given us a new spirit at our rebirth, now we need to change our soulish realm because our soul was not saved at rebirth. It is a process we go through by the "washing of the water of the world."

1Corinthians 15:45 " And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." We, like Adam, was made a living soul.

1Peter 2:11 "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." The things of the flesh wars against our soul.

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Notice how Paul applied this that by believing to the saving of the soul. Our soul is saved by the process of believing in the Word.

So we see the worldly things that Paul was talking about in Romans 12 wars against our souls. He said, "not to be conformed to this world." That means that something has to be gotten out of us and the only way it can is by the renewing of our mind (soulish realm). Through this process, as we hear or read the word, the Holy Spirit deals with our souls, remember he is always leading us to Christ. By this, he lets things surface that is within us. Things that Paul dealt with in Galatians Chapter 5, the works of the flesh, remember our flesh has not been changed yet. So when these things begin to surface in our lives, whether it is by our thoughts or actions, the Holy Spirit is wanting us to deal with these feelings that are surfacing. Since we were "after the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," we automatically respond to the things that surfaces accordingly. Incase you are wondering what I'm talking about I'll put it this way. Have you ever been setting in a service and all of a sudden you got the feeling that you didn't like a certain person simply because of the way they looked, the way they sing, or even the way they testified? How did you respond? Did you feel ill toward them? Did you seem not to care about them anymore? Did you talk about them to someone else? Or maybe we just used this as an excuse to quit church and go do what was warring on the inside of us. In our weakness, we gave in to the force of sin. Instead of facing the problem and overcoming it, we just backed off and let the beast have his way (Paul said, "the god of this world hath blinded their eyes.")

All this is, is what the Holy Spirit is letting surface within you, that is in your members, so you can deal with them. Remember what Jesus said, "how can you pick the moat out of someone else's eye if you have a beam in your eye?" The Holy Spirit talks to us that way for us to deal with whatever he brings up, but we being carnally always respond carnally. Most people will respond to this by saying, "God is showing me this to let me know that these people are not in right standing with Him and that I should stay away from these people." That is the exact opposite of what the Lord is dealing with us about. This causes the church to have divisions in them, it causes hatred and malice among the people. I'm not saying the Holy Spirit is causing this, I'm saying that the people the Holy Spirit is dealing with about the problem in THEIR lives and them not dealing with it spiritually, but carnally, is causing the problems.

Remember that the Adam nature will cause you to feel sorry for yourself, to put the blame on others, and harbor ill feelings toward others, to see the things in others never seeing wrong within ourselves. And then we try to say that we are dead in Jesus and everything with us is just fine. We haven't began to die unless we can see how the Holy Spirit is trying to get rid of things in our lives that separate us from God.

Revelation 12:11 says... "And they overcame him (the beast) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

Do we still hang onto our lives and not let it die in Christ? Do we still want to see things carnally and deal with things carnally? When the Holy Spirit lets things surface in our lives, do we respond carnally? If you have ears to hear and eyes to see, see and hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is doing within each and everyone of us now.

It's so easy to ask "What Would Jesus Do," but have we ever considered asking yourself, "What Did Jesus Do?" What Jesus Did He did for us. God our Father believes what Jesus did. This is how He talks to us, as the finished product, as a result of what Jesus did. Jesus did more than just being born in a manger and died on the cross and rose from the grave. When He said, "It is finished", that's what He did, finished the work that it takes to restore us back to the Father. We need to see ourselves in this finished work right NOW!

 

David Peoples