Strong in spirit
Do not fall into the snare, as so many have, of trying to suppress your soul, or of despising it. But be strong in spirit so that your soul may be won, saved, and made to serve His fullest joy.
I want to linger with this thought, for I am guilty of attempting to suppress my soul in form of self-discipline in order to be strong in spirit. I’ve gotten it backwards. This quote from the introduction in Watchman Nee’s book, “The Release of the Spirit” pierced me when I read it and was able to read no further.
Do we not in Christendom try to reform our souls instead of allowing the Spirit of God working through our regenerated spirit to transform our souls. The “Just Say No” campaigns do little lasting good. More often than not, they make us feel condemned and guilty when all the while the Spirit cries “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. But if we walk after the soul, we receive the full fury of the soul’s condemnation. The soul will always produce condemnation unless we are transformed by the Spirit of God. The soul in its broken state allows the life of the Spirit (and enlivening of our spirit) to manifest itself in living above the things that produce condemnation. Gal. 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
When I give all my attention to the negative, I will receive the negative. When I focus on the positive, I will receive the positive. If I put full effort in being “strong in spirit” as opposed to “strong in soul”, I will find myself what many consider more successful in the area of the soul. The focus is spirit and all that we have in the Spirit instead of all we don't have (or need to have) in the flesh.
I want to linger with this thought, for I am guilty of attempting to suppress my soul in form of self-discipline in order to be strong in spirit. I’ve gotten it backwards. This quote from the introduction in Watchman Nee’s book, “The Release of the Spirit” pierced me when I read it and was able to read no further.
Do we not in Christendom try to reform our souls instead of allowing the Spirit of God working through our regenerated spirit to transform our souls. The “Just Say No” campaigns do little lasting good. More often than not, they make us feel condemned and guilty when all the while the Spirit cries “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. But if we walk after the soul, we receive the full fury of the soul’s condemnation. The soul will always produce condemnation unless we are transformed by the Spirit of God. The soul in its broken state allows the life of the Spirit (and enlivening of our spirit) to manifest itself in living above the things that produce condemnation. Gal. 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
When I give all my attention to the negative, I will receive the negative. When I focus on the positive, I will receive the positive. If I put full effort in being “strong in spirit” as opposed to “strong in soul”, I will find myself what many consider more successful in the area of the soul. The focus is spirit and all that we have in the Spirit instead of all we don't have (or need to have) in the flesh.
posted by brent at 11:56 AM
1 Comments:
I totally agree with this. So many of us, without realizing it, do this on a daily basis. And in the end...faith and religion no longer becomes a blessing...but a curse and a burden. But in right, Christ meant for us to feel loved and safe in His arms, if only we realized the right way to have faith.
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