09/01/2022
EXHORTATION TO PRACTICAL LIVING
(Living In The Spirit - Romans 6:22-23)
The glory of God is to be manifested through us, not through an imitation of Jesus, but through our partaking of the divine nature. Many non-Christians in the history of the world, who have had an admiration for Jesus, have tried to imitate His humility, purity and love, and have done a fairly good job of it. But it is like the painted fire, that gives no warmth. Imitation diamonds can look so much like the real one, that only an expert can detect the difference. But they are only pieces of glass, worthless in comparison.
How then are we to escape deception? How are we to know whether we are merely imitating Jesus or actually partaking of the divine nature? We can do that by allowing the Holy Spirit to use the Word to expose and separate the soulish from the spiritual in our lives (Hebrews 4:12). If we do not distinguish between the soulish and the spiritual we can be utterly deceived and not even know that we are deceived. What believers need to understand most of all in our day, is how the power of their mind, emotions and will can hinder the working of the Holy Spirit. Where we do not distinguish between soulish and spiritual activity, not only is there the possibility of our being deceived by our own hearts, but also by evil spirits, who counterfeit the work of God.
Most believers are totally ignorant about the difference between soulish and spiritual activity, because they have not developed in their spiritual lives to the point where further progress becomes dependent on differentiating between the soulish and the spiritual.
May God help us to allow the spirit of the immortality to put to bay the power of self that God will increase in our lives. Amen
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