[Special] To Cast Away Flesh and Come into Spirit
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September 04, 2011 |
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 God wants children to cast away flesh and come into spirit as soon as possible. To the extent that they come into spirit, they can communicate with God more clearly, break the works of enemy devil and Satan, bear much fruit, and live in the great glory of Heaven. 'To cast away flesh and come into spirit' here refers to the process of getting rid of the sin and evil that stain the heart with untruth and recover the beautiful heart of goodness that resembles the heart of the Lord.
Bible Terminology
In the Bible, flesh refers to all things that perish, disappear, and change and all things that are smelly, filthy, and dirty. It includes not only visible things, but also invisible untruth, sin, evil, and unrighteousness.
On the contrary, 'spirit' refers to things that do not perish and change, but last forever. It also includes things that are clean and perfect, and of truth.
First of all, you must have determination to pursue the spirit
Students often make a resolution to study hard during vacation and get better grades next time. However, just to make a resolution doesn't lead you to a better grade. You need proper actions that enable you to fulfill your resolution.
It is just same with your Christian life. Say someone took in fleshly things and worldly things, but he changed and now has the determination to pursue spiritual things. He has to make specific plans as well as to think and believe he will do his best.
To get better grades, students should avoid and distance themselves from all distractions. To do this a student has to make sure he understands the distractions in the process of entering into spirit. If soap operas on TV or games distract him and cause him to neglect the Christian life, he must cut himself off from them. He has to abstain from following the worldly trend in getting the things he desires. If something interrupts him and keeps his faith from growing, what he wants to do and even what he wants to eat, it must be gotten rid of.
He must not relax his attention thinking it is not a sin or it is a very tiny thing. He has to engrave the resolution in his heart every moment to come into spirit and set a specific goal. As recorded in Ephesians 4:22, "…that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit."
Secondly, you have to fill yourself with spiritual things.
To keep from putting flesh in the heart, we have to try hard to fill ourselves with spiritual things all the time. It is not enough to just think, 'I won't do it. I won't watch it.' We have to try to think and say in truth, and fill our heart with prayer, praise, and the word of God. Then, things that are not of truth slipped from your heart quickly.
When hatred, slandering, adultery, lying, and feeling annoyed are cast off, these fleshly things can get back into the space in your heart again if you do not fill your heart with truth. So you have to diligently fill your heart with spiritual things like goodness, love, peace, and service.
It can be done by keeping the word of God telling us to do and keep. Spiritual fruit will be borne abundantly when we practice the word of God.
When we pray fervently and try hard, the Holy Spirit surely will help us. To the extent we fill our hearts with spiritual things with the help of the Holy Spirit we can put the truth in practice more easily. We are not forced to practice the truth, but we can practice with joy.
In the process, it is very important to keep trying and acting on the word. We also must have the heart that does not give up until we become men of spirit. We can cultivate our hearts into spirit when we are not disappointed even in our slow change and keep running towards the goal with determination.
Lastly, we must not forget the grace of God that we have received
A Chinese saying goes, 'One imprints the grace that he received even on his bones.' This means that we must never forget the grace that we received and our thankfulness. Those who have good hearts will never forget the grace that they received. They imprint the grace on their mind and want to repay the grace.
There is a sister who was healed of supraventricular tachycardia, a very rare disease. She came to enjoy good health by the grace of God. She has endeavored to pay back the grace since her childhood. She stayed away from sins that God hates, and she tried her best to have the heart of goodness and spirit in which God delights. She turned down job offers from a few entertainment management agencies because she valued the works that belong to God more than anything.
All God's children have received grace even if they haven't received healing. They were destined to hell, but they received forgiveness and inherited the heavenly kingdom. How amazing grace it is! Those who know such grace are filled with hope for Heaven, joy, and gratefulness all the time.
Apostle Paul worked faithfully to the point of death and led many souls to the way of salvation, but he did not say or even think, 'I have accomplished this much. It is enough. Since I have borne much fruit, I will take a rest for a while.'
He was beaten times without number and imprisoned. But he was concerned only about the kingdom of God and he continually thought about the ways that he could repay the grace of the Lord. Even when he was martyred, he only gave thanks to God who called him, even though he was the one who had been the 'worst of sinners'. He was called as the apostle for Gentiles and God gave him glory in martyrdom.
Does thankfulness overflow in your heart? If we realize the love of God who cultivates our hearts into spirit and leads us to the most beautiful dwelling place, we can cast away evil deep in our hearts and work faithfully with all our lives. I hope you will cultivate your heart into spirit quickly and become a man of spirit and whole spirit with whom God is pleased.
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