13 Waking Your Spirit

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Waking your Spirit Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end will increase abundantly (Job 8:7). When Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden, his fellowship with God was perfect. Because Adam was in God and God was in Him, he knew God even as he was known. He was alive to God in his whole person, which is his spirit, soul and body. When Adam transgressed the commandment of God, he was cast out of God. Since he was severed from the Vine, he died to God in his entire person, which is his spirit, soul and body. Because Adam sinned all of his offspring sinned and is born dead to God. Man is born in sin and shaped in the unrighteousness of his apostate heart. Unless man turns from the consequences of the transgression unto Christ he will die in his sin and will suffer the torments of hell in eternal separation from God. Separation from God is death. When man is born again, God places him into the body of His Son as Adam was in Eden and which is according to His purpose for the heirs of salvation. Because he is joined to Christ he is one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). It means he is one spirit with the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). His spirit is alive to God from that time onward because of righteousness. The body is dead to God because of sin and the soul enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Romans 8:10,7). The basis of a walk with God is to have fellowship with Him. Man can only relate to God with that part of him that is alive to Him. That is his spirit, which is one spirit with Christ. That which is one with God is alive to Him. That

which is not in Him is dead to Him because He alone is the source of life. A branch, which is severed from the tree, can never live to bear fruit. You cannot relate to God with your body because it is dead to Him as a result of sin. You cannot see God with your natural eyes, hear him with your natural ears or touch him with your hands or taste or smell Him with your natural senses. You also cannot relate to God with your soul, which is enmity with Him since the carnal mind cannot subject itself to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. The soul is filled with different feelings and emotions and the mind is cluttered with fears, doubts and uncertainty that war constantly against the integrity of the word of God. If you endure to the end in your faith in God you have the hope that your whole spirit, soul and body will be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23). To have fellowship with God we need to relate to Him in the Spirit because heaven (Spirit realm) is the place of His dwelling. God will not materialize in the natural realm where we live in the flesh to have fellowship with us. He can but He will not. The only way to relate to God is through His word and the only doorway into the Spirit is through faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Those that are justified in the Lord shall live by their faith. The life that we live in the flesh now we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. Perfect faith is from your spirit where the Lord dwells. It is faith that is worked by love. Anything from your spirit is from the life-force of Christ in you because your spirit is one with the Spirit of Christ. You can also have faith from your soul but that is legalism, which is separated from Christ in you. It does not matter how sincere you are, any product from self is tainted with the imperfection of your fallen nature. It is from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of

good (law or legalism) and evil (lawlessness). Separation and independence from God is the heart of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Good is better than evil but it is still death because it separated from the life of Christ in you. How will you know if your faith is from your spirit or soul? It is a matter of your focus. The motivation of your spirit is to bring God joy and fulfillment while the soul is looking for justification through works or compensation or a reward. The spiritual man knows he needs not to look further for justification than the cross of Christ. His desire and motivation is to unceasingly worship God in humility of heart. Worship is everything you do. Worship is that you live no longer but Christ lives in you. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me trough His grace, to reveal His Son in me… (Galatians 1:56a, emphasis added). Your attitude is that you live no longer for yourself, but for Him who died for you and rose again. This is not something you feel but an attitude of faith. Anything that comes from your spirit is the life-force of Christ because He is one spirit with you. It is not a mixture of your spirit with His Spirit otherwise we see a mixture of fleshly glory with divine glory. God will not share His glory with nobody. When Jesus died for us He chopped down the tree of the knowledge of good (law and legalism) and evil (transgression of the law) and removed all of it from our lives. Christ fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law on our behalf and borne God’s judgment for our transgression of His law in His body. He redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. After begun in the Spirit (by faith) and then revert to the tree of knowledge of good and evil Christ become of no effect to us. He removed the tree of knowledge, the evil religious spirit that promotes independence from God that our conscience may be cleansed from dead works to serve the

living God. He planted in its place another tree in us, His Son, Christ in us the hope of glory. Christ in us is the only hope of glory God has given us and no other hope of glory. Christ in us is the light of the presence of God in us. We must come to a deep awareness of His presence in us that we do not grow weary in doing the will of God for our lives and do not loose heart. When Christ is manifested in us, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Through our own efforts we are heavy laden and often loose heart. Faith is manifested in your thoughts, words, attitudes, works and ways. If you are training your spirit to become aware of Christ in you, you start to experience the manifestation of His thoughts, words, attitudes, works and ways in you. The more intimate your relationship with the Lord the easier it becomes because your spiritual senses sharpened up in the atmosphere of heaven (Spirit). It is the will of God while being with your body on earth to walk with your spirit in heaven. No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13, emphasis added). Jesus told Nicodemus that He is on earth and in heaven at the same time. This is not so outrageous; it is just the reality of somebody that is walking by faith, which is walking in the Spirit. If you walk in the Spirit, Christ is revealed in you and the blood of Jesus washes you from all unrighteousness. Through faith you present your body, which is dead to God because of sin, as being alive from the dead and the members of your body though dead, as instruments of righteousness to God. Through faith you present your body alive and holy and acceptable to God. Your body of death sins by nature but by faith you present its members as instruments of righteousness to God. Fallen man must present him to the Lord in faith as if he has attained in

Christ to resurrection life and perfection in hope for the redemption of the whole man. Therefore, by faith you should live your life on earth as if you are in heaven. Your faith is the substance of your hope that your body will be made alive to God when the Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal body through His Spirit that indwells you (Romans 8:11). Faith changes things in the books of God. Though you may not have attained to the resurrection from the dead and is not made perfect yet, faith is the evidence that God sees the resurrection life and perfection of His Son in you, which is your hope of glory. Our hope is to be alive to God in spirit, soul and body in our Lord Jesus Christ. When God looks at man He sees man as he thinks in his heart he is, for so He sees him (Proverbs 23:7). Moreover, what you think in your heart, good or evil, you have already committed (Matthew 5:28). This is how faith works. Enoch (without the law) and Elijah (under the law) are living proof that since the transgression man could attain to resurrection life and perfection, before the appointed time, if he or she believed God for it. They were aware that the provision in Christ was already established since the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8). The Spirit of Christ who was in them testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (1 Peter 1:11). They did not consider their bodies of death, which were dead toward God because of sin, but they did not waver at the promise through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. They were fully convinced that God that gives life to the dead was able to perform His promise and that was accounted to them as righteousness. As a result of their constant faith they received the testimony they pleased God. Their faith elevated them to a level of blamelessness before God and the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, whom

indwells them made their mortal bodies alive toward God. Then God took them. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, as it is dead toward God because of sin. Flesh and blood cannot see the kingdom of God. Peter, James and John witnessed when Jesus was transfigured and Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking to Jesus. This all happened in the realm of Spirit. The three disciples could not witness the transfiguration experience of Jesus with their natural senses in their bodies. They saw it with their spiritual senses in a vision. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead” (Matthew 17:9, emphasis added). At the last trumpet the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible and the living mortals in Christ will put on immortality. However, Enoch and Elijah is living proof that we can live the future today and before the appointed time attain to the resurrection from the dead. Faith defies the dimensions of time and space that you may live with God in the dimension of timeless and illimitable eternity, which is the realm of Spirit. Paul refers to an experience he had when he was caught up into the third heavens. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2, emphasis added). Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God or be caught up into heaven because of the body of sin. Likewise corruption does not inherit incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:50). If Paul knew this why did he think that it was possible for his mortal body to be caught up into the third heavens? He knew that when he was presenting his body as alive to God that his faith was the substance of his hope of immortality and perfection, which was evidence in the

unseen reality of the Spirit, and God was the witness. Though he has not attained to the resurrection from the dead or been perfected at the time, in God’s books his faith procured the substance of immortality and perfection. I believe this was the basis for his statement. You also present your mind that is enmity against God a living sacrifice as if it is alive to God by bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, in hope that all disobedience will be punished when your obedience is fulfilled. You do it by meditating only on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtues and praiseworthy that you may be renewed in the spirit of your mind. When you came to Christ you are born into the family of God, a little baby in Christ. You need to train that part of you, your spirit, which is alive to God to become aware of the indwelling Christ in your life and of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Awareness has nothing to do with feeling but it is rather a strengthening of your faith. Feeling has to do with the realm of the soul where your self and ego dwell and faith in God belongs to the realm of heaven or the Spirit. Your spirit is that part of you that is aware of God and of the realm of Spirit because it dwells with Christ in the realm of Spirit. Your spirit is like an underdeveloped muscle in your body that can hardly function and needs much exercise because your life is dominated by your soul and the desires of your body. The objective of spiritual exercises is that you may live by the faith of your spirit and become aware of God constantly. Like any new exercises it develops gradually. If you are faithful and persevere, your relationship with God can develop into the boundlessness of God that Enoch and Elijah experienced.

Through faith Enoch and Elijah have not seen death but received a witness that they were pleasing to God before they were taken. Their faith demanded that in their world of reality they were alive to God, spirit, soul and body and in their world the spirit and natural realms have become one. Their faith brought substance to a world where heaven and earth is united in the one world of Christ. In their world the will of God has being done on earth as it is in heaven. As far as they were concerned the New Jerusalem has come down and heaven and earth has become one. They had so much life in them that God had to take them. It starts with spending time in prayer, the word of God and waiting on the Lord. These are important spiritual activities that stimulate a hunger and thirst after righteousness so that we may grow up into the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a holy priesthood we should be filled with the Spirit and the word of God. This starts out with a focus on the Lord that we may gradually grow up in Him to know Him according to His power that is working in us. If you can have a fresh beginning every day to start your day right it will take care of your walk with God. To go over to action, set your alarm for fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. As soon as you wake up read four of five verses which you have selected the previous night to prevent you from paging through your Bible and wasting time. Visualize the scene of the passage and meditate on it for a few minutes. Read it again, but this time loud. Then you pray and open your heart to the Lord. You pray, “Lord I open my heart to you that you may lead me today. Draw me and I will run after you.” This will take you the same time that you spend in the shower. So you have taken a

spiritual shower and were cleansed by the washing of the water of the Word. Now you will not going to your working place or school with self-condemnation thinking that you neglected your walk with God. You also need to have breakfast. The Word you read is also a spiritual breakfast. The word that you have read is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. He who keeps instruction is in the way of life. At least your spirit is awake to God now and God can start working a hunger after Him in your life. You also need your lunch. You can put your Bible in with your lunch. It is just as necessary to sustain your spirit as your body so you take something with you to work or school to sustain your spirit. During your lunch hour you can read the same scriptures that you have read this morning since we tend to forget easily what we have read. Read through it once. Visualize the scene of the passage and meditate on it for about five minutes. Then pray while you open your heart to the Lord giving Him thanks for the food. It is better to feed your spirit before feeding your body. Food makes you slightly heavy and it gives you a sense of satisfaction that may spoil your spiritual appetite. That is why one should not have a large meal before going to church. This is a simple key to start your day walking with the Lord. Another key to open your spirit is worshiping the Lord. It is good to worship the Lord but do not let these things become a ritual. Worshiping is not only singing and praising. You can worship by declaring your love to Him and your dependency on Him. To declare the truth to Him is also the same as declaring His glory, which is worshiping Him. If you do not know what to tell Him take

a short Psalm, like Psalm 150, and read it to Him. He delights in your praises. He knew you often ran out of words as I often do. You can worship the Lord throughout the day by just declaring you love to Him. You can tell Him before solving a problem or entering into your meeting, “Lord I trust you because I know you are the fountain of wisdom.” This is beautiful worship to Him. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. The sincerity or the intensity of your spirit is important to the Lord. To be intense is not synonymous with noise. With an intensity of heart and sorrowful spirit Hannah prayed without making a sound for a male child in so much that Eli, the high priest, thought that she was drunk. You may think that you cannot read Bible or pray at work or at school with everybody around. Well there is always an opportunity during your lunch period. You can always start meditating on the word when being in the toilet or taking a tea break. You can at anytime take five seconds declaring your love to the Lord. You can also pray in the Spirit at times without anybody noticing it. You will be more successful in your profession if you acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and not lean on your own understanding. Whatever you do, do not neglect your job but do it as unto the Lord. That is also worshiping the Lord. There was a time in my life when I was not serving the Lord. I made a comeback about a year later. I could not start where I left off. I had to take it slowly to condition my mind, body (I use to pray between 3 and 9 hours a day) and spirit again.

The same thing applies when you want to drastically change your walk with God. If you start out to drastically you may loose interest because the battle in the mind is fierce. However if you have previously prayed for hours it will be easier. You only need to use your imagination of how you have done it before and relive your prayer or waiting on the Lord life. The more you relive it the easier it is to start flowing in true prayer and waiting on the Lord again. Use your imagination to start with this spiritual isometrics. The objective of our spiritual exercises is to conform to the image of the Son of God, to the glory of the Father. The Son of God was servant of all. When you read the gospels imagine the scenery where He was moving and how He was ministering. Observe what He was saying and how he was ministering faith, hope and compassion in the spirit of meekness and lowliness to the sick and the oppressed. Now imagine that vision again but you are walking with Jesus this time. Ask the Holy Spirit to anoint your imagination. Imagine you feel what He feels and you see what He sees. With Him you tell the guy His sins are forgiven and with Him you perform the healing or cast out the demon. With Him you smile and impart love and give hope and faith to the outcast. With Him you are the servant of the Father. You minister with Him unto the needy and let that person feel he is blessed without drawing attention to you. The anointing will make room for you before kings but you will remain the servant of the Lord. Now imagine you being at home. Always ask the Holy Spirit to anoint your imagination. Imagine Christ within you the hope of glory. You start picking up all papers in

the house. You take the broom and sweep the floor. You can also imagine yourself being at work. You are preparing the management reports for the board meeting. You doing it with joy for you are the servant of the Lord. You present the month-end figures to the board. Let them feel good because in serving the Lord you have become servant of all. The next step is to do according to the imagination of your heart. It is called faith. You may say this is ridiculous. Well, ask great athletes if they use their imagination before an event. I use to run a marathon many times in my imagination, before the actual event. I could feel how relaxed my arms and shoulders are and how strong I am reaching the 20 mile mark. The spiritual is not first but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The natural is just a shadow of the things of the spirit. It is better to utilize your imagination in a constructive way then to fantasize about Alice in Wonderland. Why using the imagination? O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee (1 Chronicles 29:18, KJV, emphasis added). The Hebrew word for imagination, yêster, means to fashion or frame things or form a concept or perception in the imagination of the heart. Set your mind on the things above, not on things on the earth. So the first thing in the morning I will take a modest step as a self-starter. It is still part of the conditioning process, which is a seed sown for something much bigger in the future. I will read just a few verses, then a little visualization and meditation on the word and then a little prayer.

You will sense something exciting is happening in your spirit because you have started out to walk with the Lord. Probably before the end of the day you will be back looking for something more from the Lord because you have done something to activate your spiritual appetite. Every morning you will start putting something in motion. It is very important to start with a thought in the conscience mind that opens the spirit. You start a little meditation that reaches out to the Lord. Through repetition meditating on a promise or prophecy becomes an attitude. Attitudes are situated both in the subconscious as well as the conscious mind. By constant repetition the meditation of your heart becomes an attitude. You want to walk with the Lord manifesting His faith, hope and love. You want to come to a place where you daily conform more into His image and likeness. You start reaching out to know Him more. You will start reacting according to the imagination of your heart, which is one of faith. You have the promises of God in the Scripture and you have prophecy. Meditate on these things and give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. By constant repetition, taking heed to yourself and the doctrine, you will continue in them. Those thoughts will become attitudes. By continuing to walk with God you will save yourself and some that is around you (1 Timothy 4:1516). To allow Christ to live His live through you is ruling and reigning with Him. With Christ you rule from the realm of Spirit and make it manifest on earth. Father, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Why should we do this? We are in the army of God, and like any army, when we are not engaged in actual combat, we will be training for it. Those who are the best-trained

are those who were will inevitably do the best when action is called for. Christians, who are praying more, study the word more, waiting on the Lord more come to know Him better than the passive. The Captain of our salvation will promote the faithful but the unfaithful will loose even what they have.