OUR DUALITY (FLESH & SPIRIT / HEALED & UNHEALED)
INTENTION:
It can feel like we
have a “dual personality” in us when we create times of great love and care,
yet have times when we create hurt and pain. Likewise for the times that we
experience “blessings” one day, and “curses” another day.
How can the same
person have both opposites come out from them?
It is that we all
live in a reality where we exist in both the Flesh (unhealed) and the Spirit
(healed). We cannot deny either of them, but can discern them better. And then learn
to live more from our healthy Spirit (our “new man”) rather than our unhealthy Flesh
(our “old man”).
I.
TOPIC:
We want to look at Our Duality (Flesh & Spirit / Healed
& Unhealed) which we exist in!
Do you ever wonder how
you can do something so loving and kind one moment, and then something awful
the next?
This is because we exist in this
world in two forms:
1.
The form in which we are born into on this earth
(our natural with the programmed flesh / unhealthy).
2. The
form in which we were originally Created as and Born-Again into (our Spiritual
/ Healthy realm).
Paul talked about this conundrum he faced where he “did the
things he didn’t want to, and did not do the things he wanted to”. We face the
same bizarre reality. It’s as if we are a contradiction within ourselves; but
in reality, it is just the conflict between our flesh (unhealed / unhealthy parts)
and Spirit (healed / healthy parts).
We are originally Created by the Lord as Healthy Beings.
Yet, the reality of this world creates an unhealthy in us. And because of this,
we may not fully recognise the Healthy in us that gets overridden by the
unhealthy programming that gets put on us. Our Created still exists and never goes
away; it is just that much of our Healthy can get encrusted (restricted) by our
unhealthy programming—our flesh (our unhealthy programming) manifesting out of
us instead of our Spirit (our Created Healthy).
We can then easily feel trapped in this world by our
unhealthy (destructive) self—the identity of unhealthy being what we become
adopted into. But we can get an influx of help from our Creator to help
overcome that which doesn’t belong in us. Our identity that was forged by this
world (and our unhealthy), gets an Identity back to our Creator—being
Born-Again (adopted) back into the Lord.
Part of what transpires from believing in the Lord, is that
we get infused with Their Spirit to help overcome and remove that which doesn’t
belong is us. We get a Holy Spirit reminder of our Created self; yet with it, a
confirming of our current existence as both flesh in this world (no longer of
this world) and of the Spirit (Philippians
3:20-21).
This conflict we can literally feel as the unhealthy part of
us (that was trained up in this world) resists letting go of what it held
onto—making itself a stronghold. This is our struggle on this earth (our
healing-Journey), and why we manifest both our unhealthy (flesh) and Healthy
(Spirit) parts.
In an upcoming lesson (Bible Study Lesson 049), we
will look at what it means to be as a child when coming to the Lord; but here,
we will look at how being raised as a child in this world defines what our
flesh is. Which, in simplicity, is all that we picked up in this world (our
programming) that opposes our Originally-Created (Healed) self of the Lord—an
existence that thus affects our body, mind, soul, and heart.
When we are born on this earth, we (as new-borns / children)
are a blank slate to which the nurturing we receive (positive / negative / or
lack-of) gets imprinted on us as to who we will become—that nurturing also
influenced by the nature of our makeup (DNA).
The Lord designed us to be this blank slate so that we can
adapt and change to our environment to not only survive it, but thrive in it.
Without choice and without question (as a child cannot), we take on all the
traits of our parents and surroundings (environment)—both healthy and unhealthy
(“good” and “bad”), whether intentional or not.
Unfortunately, the reality of this world is that our parents
and environments are not perfect—they, themselves, raised by imperfect parents in
imperfect environments (all the way back to Adam and Eve). It is impossible for
us as adults to have pure unconditional love (in all areas of life) because of
the “brokenness” of this world. And because of this, the intrinsic unconditional
love a child has from conception, gets diminished (conditionalized) as the imperfections
of this world shape their life.
Thus, the influence we have on our children (and our parents
on us) is a mixed reality of love and mistakes. And those mistakes may not even
be known, revealed, exposed, or conscious. We do things that affect one-another
(sowing and reaping) without our realisations of it.
Some of that because our good-intentions are marred by our
own hurts and pains; and other times (or in combination) because our intentions
can be misinterpreted by those around us (as we all have filters that can alter
the meanings behind what is said or done).
All these imperfections damage our heart, soul, mind, and
body. Trust is also broken and negated. And from that damage, we develop coping
mechanisms as a child to survive the hurts, pains, and traumas of life.
Yet, the Lord is perfect. No faults whatsoever. And somehow,
with all our heartbreak and distrust of people (parents, ourselves, or others)
we have to come to Him with “all our heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark
12:30).
This goes against everything that we know. All the things we
developed to survive as a child, when held onto, become the stronghold (sin) we
become trapped (enslaved) to. These unhealthy coping mechanisms become our
natural response to life—in our own truth, they are our “gut feeling” and what
we do “from the heart”—without knowing that what feels natural to us, is not always
the natural of the Lord.
Changing that about us goes against everything we used to
protect ourselves in our childhood (and into adulthood) from the hurts, pains,
and traumas we experienced. Our “gut” and “heart” responses cannot always be
trusted if they have been altered by our past—“altered” as being from the
perspective of if we had not experienced hurts, pains, and traumas (an
impossible reality on this earth).
So, wait… if we don’t know it’s wrong, how are we to know
that we need to change it?
For me personally, I had to fully experience and see (have
revealed to me) all that was done to me (from conception) that shaped my
adulthood actions, reactions, and habits. I knew I had a traumatic childhood
(as having discussed before); but I was blinded to much of what I used as
coping mechanisms—because, to me, they were natural. And thus, as “natural”,
was therefore “right”. Oh, how I was wrong!
This includes all the “Christian” religion that was “right”
to me, but was / is not.
Once they became fully exposed (and continue to be exposed),
I could address each of those aspects and “re-parent” myself in the Lord. I had
to have my own slate wiped clean (my foundation torn down) to again become a
child that could be nurtured by my Father in Heaven. A Born-Again reality that
discards all that I knew before, to be transformed into a “new creation”
created in Christ (in HIS Original Image of me).
In doing that, I could live, no longer from that flesh-mind
(programmed mind), but in the spirit-mind of Christ. I AM a new (renewed) creation
being “transformed into His Image” (2
Corinthians 3:18). And when that happens in each miniscule area of my life,
I get to live in the simplest way—as He would tell me… to “just be Me” / to
“just be Them” (1
John 4:17). For it is the healed and un-programmed parts of me that reflect
Him as Me (Bible Study Lesson 034).
This is my responsibility WITH His help. I can overcome,
because the Spirit in me is greater than that of the flesh I am in—“greater is
He that is in me, than he who is in this world” (1
John 4:4). It is only that we got accustomed to our unhealthy flesh and its
ways (having given it authority for so long in our lives) that it become
(feels) like a great challenge to us. Especially when we don’t even know that
our fleshly-ways are not Spirit-ways.
Let’s also note that the “growing” pains we feel are often
just the conflicts which ensue between flesh (unhealthy) and spirit (healthy)
as we learn to give obedience to the healthy (Spirit) against the wants of our
trained unhealthy (the flesh). We can persevere (endure) to the end through these
pains of change—in an expectant hope that we will be set free with the help of
His Spirit in us, knowing all things will work out for our good no matter what
happens.
The book of Romans addresses many of the conflicts of flesh
and Spirit—and body (which we had also looked at in Bible Study Lesson 013
pertaining to Romans
8). For the reading and lesson: because we can understand that our flesh is
just everything unhealthy we picked up in this earth, we can read scripture in
a way that reflects this.
As such, the context of the term flesh is being those
handed-down iniquities, strongholds, and behaviours that are a result of our
upbringing—i.e., the flesh / sin = unhealthy or unhealed. When
referencing Spirit (or Christ) it is a reflection / representation of our
Created—i.e., Spirit / Christ = Healthy or Healed.
II.
READING: Romans
8:1-39 (NET) {PoG}
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set
you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law could
not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4
so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not
walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh have their
outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. 6 For the outlook
of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, 7
because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to
the law of God {Love (1
John 3:23-24)}, nor is it able to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, your
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of
righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the
dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your
mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation,
not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 (for if you live according
to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the
sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to
fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.
17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with
Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be
compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation
eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was
subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope
21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay
into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole
creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we
ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we
eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we
were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he
sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with
endurance.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for
we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind
of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according
to God’s will. 28 And we know that all things work together for good for those
who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those whom he
foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his
Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he
predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those
he justified, he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but
gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all
things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who
justifies. 34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and
more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also
is interceding for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will
trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or
sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we
were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we have
complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present,
nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in
creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
III.
RELATED VERSES AND QUESTIONS:
A. This
conflict between the flesh and the Spirit is real. As mentioned, Paul
recognised and acknowledged this; this is just an observation of our dual
reality, not one that is meant to condemn. Because of this conflict, he
proclaims himself as “wretched”. I too feel the same way when those unhealthy
and unhealed flesh-ways manifest. I feel at odds with myself—sometimes feeling
as though the Spirit inside me wants to just escape (peel-off) this body I’m
trapped it (that restricts the Spirit).
Romans
7:14-25 (NET)
For we know that the law
is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. 15 For I don’t
understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I
hate. 16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But
now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that
nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but
I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do
not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but
sin that lives in me.
21 So, I find the law that
when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of
God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war
against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in
my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of
death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself
serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Question: Do you feel a part of you is trapped;
or a part of you is in more control than another?
B. This
is where we have a choice of who to “yield ourselves” to. Whoever we let win in
us, is who has mastery over what manifests out from us (what we do / don’t do).
So, if your (my) strongholds and iniquities (sins) are ever-present in our
life, we have to decide to make that change. We can’t do it from the “strength
of the flesh” (it can’t oppose itself), but from the strength of the Spirit in
us. This is where seeking the Lord for help and answers is key. Christ Jesus
faced much persecution and hardship in His ministry—yet He held onto doing what
He saw His Father do (what the healthy way to do is). And what helped Him
succeed in that obedience, was His relationship with God the Father, seeking
Him in prayer.
Romans
6:12-23 (NET)
Therefore do not let sin
reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present
your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present
yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God
as instruments to be used for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no mastery
over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin
because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Do you not
know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the
one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in
righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you
obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, 18 and
having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am
speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you
once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to
more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness
leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free
with regard to righteousness.
21 So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now
ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, freed from sin
and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the
end is eternal life. 23 For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Question: How difficult is it to switch from one
“owner” to another in the way you Spiritually want to do things? When you have
healed from something, how do you look back at the things / yourself and who
you once were?
C. Jesus
fought the flesh and its temptations to go its own way instead of the Father’s
way. He then becomes the example for us in overcoming. Our role is to focus on
who He is as to who we are—“as Christ Jesus is, so are we in this world” (1
John 4:17b) ; ever-changing from “glory to glory” (i.e., us having been
made a glory in being Born-Again, to a glory that manifests itself in our
everyday existence). This is the arduous process of “renewing our minds”, “no
longer living in ignorance out of our flesh-mind (what we picked up growing
up), but spirit-mind (mind of Christ)”, and “letting God reveal in you what
does not belong”. When we do so, we change those engrained aspects of our life
from doing things the way we were taught (nurtured) to doing things the way the
Lord does them (as Christ did them, demonstrating for us).
Romans
12:1-2 (NET)
Therefore I exhort you,
brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. 2
Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is
good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Ephesians
4:17-24 (NET)
So I say this, and insist
in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of
their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness
of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over
to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But
you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and
were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with
reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being
corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s
image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.
Philippians
3:13-16 (NET)
Brothers and sisters, I do
not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded:
Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are
ahead, 14 with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace
this point of view. If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of
your ways. 16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already
attained.
Question: What
has this kind of renewal looked like and felt like to you? Does any fear or
anxiety hinder the change?
D. When
those iniquities (“sins”) and strongholds are revealed in you, it can feel
extremely painful. This is literally our developed / underdeveloped brain
forming new neurological pathways to form new pathways to change our way of
life (refer Dr
Caroline Leaf on the malleable brain). It is God training and teaching us
in doing things His way (healthy way) instead of our old way (unhealthy way). It
feels like a form or discipline—so painful at times that it figuratively feels
like we are being “chastised”. But it is not literally punishment (in how we
would define it), but figurative punishment (as it feels like we are being
punished for something not our fault). Instead, it is truly a loving guidance
and instruction and discipline for us to change into Him.
Hebrews
12:4-11 (NET) {PoG}
You have not yet resisted
to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you
forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?
“My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up
when he corrects you.
6 “For the Lord
disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”
7 Endure your suffering as
discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father
does not discipline? 8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all
sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 9 Besides, we
have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we {had to
respect / were confounded by (G1788)}
them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and
receive life? 10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to
them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 11 Now
all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the
fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.
Question: How often have you shied away from the
Lord’s correction because it felt too difficult or painful? Do you feel that it
is the Lord bringing the pain, or that which doesn’t want to change?
E. Part
of that correction process of renewal is the removing of strongholds (the
unhealthy ways we have believed are healthy). As mentioned in the opening to
this lesson, those survival coping mechanisms we picked up in our childhood,
brought into our adulthood, become the things we unintentionally rely on to
protect and defend us (whether it really protects us or not—only arguing that
it does).
Stronghold – G3794: ochyrōma
1. a
castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness
2.
anything on which one relies
a. of
the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his
opinion and defend it against his opponent.
2
Corinthians 10:3-7 (NET)
For though we live as
human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the
weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for
tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle
that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought
captive to make it obey Christ. 6 We are also ready to punish every act of
disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. 7 You are looking at outward
appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should
reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we.
Question: What do you defend in your mind,
actions, and behaviours that are a natural defense-mechanism to you? What are
some of your survival mechanisms that you had to use as a child that don’t work
as an adult?
F. Those
handed-down iniquities (unhealed parts) that become strongholds in life are a
huge burden on us—and on our own children we pass down to. We often feel as
though we are drowning in life—and in essence we are. For it is like someone
tied a huge stone around our necks and dropped us in the middle of the ocean.
Think of the struggles caused to you or your own children because of these
iniquities (“sins”) passed onto us/them.
Matthew
18:1-6 (NET) {PoG}
At that time the disciples
came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He
called a child, had him stand among them, 3 and said, “I tell you the truth,
unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven! 4 Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes a child like this
in my name welcomes me.
6 “But if anyone causes
one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him {that
child} to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in
the open sea.
Question: Do you feel the weight of others’ sins
(unhealed parts) upon you from your own childhood—that it was so detrimental to
your upbringing and adulthood, that you feel you can never get free from your
past (like abandonment / rejection wounds, addictions, broken relationships,
anger, bitterness, resentment, and pain)?
IV.
FURTHER THOUGHT:
A. Galatians
5:13-26 (NET) {PoG}
For you were called to
freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity
to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law
can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbour
as yourself.” 15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another,
beware that you are not consumed by one another. 16 But I say, live by the
Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh
has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are
opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you
cannot do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity, depravity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, 21 envying,
murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had
warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God!
22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, {faith}, 23
gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those
who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25
If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. 26
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one
another.
1
Peter 2:1-3; 11-12 (NET)
So get rid of all evil and
all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 And yearn like new-born
infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 3
if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.
11 Dear friends, I urge
you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle
against the soul, 12 and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so
that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and
glorify God when he appears.
Thoughts: Again, the onus is on us,
individually, to instigate the change necessary to refrain from the flesh
dominating (manifesting) in our lives—this also requiring us to discern what
those parts are in us (differing for each person). As such, don’t let what we
read in Galatians define or limit what are those parts in you that need
healing. We did not choose to have sin (unhealthy / unhealed parts) in our life
(whether stronghold, physical / mental illness, or the parents we got), nor the
troubles that befall us from our / other’s unhealed / unhealthy parts; but it
is our responsibility to push into the healing the Lord desires of us. God our
Father IS a healer! Let’s hold Him to that truth, and break free from all that
flesh that binds us in so many various and disastrous ways.
A few important aspects to
note further is that:
·
Each of our journeys to get there (into our own healing-salvation)
will be different, involve unique obstacles, and vary in length and time. For
some, you may be healing into an area that another is healing out from—for what
is unhealthy for one, is not necessarily unhealthy for another. And no matter
how you come about your healing, know that “the healing is more important than
how you get healed”. Knowing and accepting this (for ourself and for others) will
help us avoid judging others, and instead open up forgiveness (likewise for
others and ourselves). So, let us be patient with ourselves in the process; as
well as being patient with those around us.
·
Because we have our flesh / Spirit duality, it
is important to view yourself in the Truth of who the Lord says we are. If we
see ourselves only in the flesh (unhealed / unhealthy), then we reduce
ourselves to “sinners, saved by grace”. If we see ourselves only in the Spirit
(healed / healthy), we deny the harm we do to others from the flesh. As such,
we must accept and see ourselves as both (even though they are in conflict with
each other)—and from this reality, we can treat the flesh as the flesh, the
Spirit as the Spirit, and overcome the flesh from the Spirit.
·
And when doing from the Spirit, we manifest
God’s way of doing things. Those “fleshly desires that do battle against the
soul” are the pain and turmoil we feel inside us (in our emotional realm). But
as we studied, faith is a fruit-manifestation of God in your life. And the more
we manifest God, the more life we bring to our existence. Let us strive to live
that faith (the manifestation of God) because it is that which actually does
bring salvation to our souls (1
Peter 1:9).
·
Remember that we do “reap what we sow” (not as
condemning or as accountability)—for this why we are not supposed to “use your
freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh”. In essence, we are free not
to change (to not heal our unhealed parts), for the Lord understands all of who
and what we are, never holding it against us. The freedom that the Lord does
not hold us accountable does not mean we don’t to each other. The Lord only
wants the best Life for each and every person (individually and collectively);
and when we do get healed (or just be from our healed / Spirit self), then this
will in-turn help create a better Life for all of us.
B.
Philippians
4:11b-13 (NET) {PoG}
For I have learned to be
content in any circumstance. 12 I have experienced times of need and times of
abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of
contentment, whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. 13 I am
able to do all things through the one {Christ} who strengthens me.
1
John 4:1-6 (NET)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to
determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into
the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit
that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the
spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in
the world.
4 You are from God, little
children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they
speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from
God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does
not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
Thoughts:
For me, “to do all things through Christ” and “greater is He that is in you”
has not been my personal truth—even though it is Spiritual Truth. If it were my
reality and truth, the Spirit in me would always manifest itself over and above
the flesh. But it has not, as my flesh keeps on getting the better of me. The
flesh has been winning so long, I have been unable to let it go for the Spirit
win. Being deceived, I didn’t even know it was the one winning.
Hence why, as John writes,
we have to discern the difference. If we are able to pause our reactions and
responses long enough, we can put it up for debate with the Spirit—does it
align with the Spirit (with the Lord) or not—i.e., is it Love? In essence we
are asking that part of us if it “confesses (G3670:
agrees with) Jesus” or not. If that feeling we get that is trying to create a
response in us agrees with how Jesus would respond, then we know it is
Spiritual (from our healthy / healed part) and not of the flesh (our unhealthy
/ unhealed part). We have a choice—we just need to learn how to choose the
Spiritual one!
A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.
If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:
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