Live by the Spirit, walk by the Spirit

We were asking ourselves today what it means to live by the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said if you live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit in chapter 8 of Romans.

To live by the Spirit is to life live a life that is fully dependent on and regulated by the Spirit, not by  law. Many people including ourselves live many times according to our culture, different laws according to the culture and religion we are raised in. Any culture and any religion is constituted with law or regulation and once we learn them and practice them  it is easy to live by them  according to what we think or conceive to be right in our own eyes. Most human beings are like that all over the earth and they do not know any other way except what their parents taught them according to the laws and regulations of the culture and religion they lived in. The issue is that many religions, traditions, and cultural differences causing much hardship, suffering, struggling and pain.

Therefore we must come to the Spirit and heed the anointing Spirit every day. When we call “Oh Lord Jesus” we touch the Spirit, we touch life and peace in our spirit. This peace of Christ or the anointing is the Spirit that regulates us in all things. Those who are born of the Spirit, have the Spirit or the anointing of Christ. Second we should allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts regardless of the regulations and laws that are ingrained in our being according to the culture and traditions we are raised up in. When we set the mind on the Spirit and put to death all these practices we live in the Spirit. This week I was going to write something regarding the Gospel which is a good thing, but the Spirit gave me the feeling not to. A deadening feeling came in; As soon as I set or turned my mind to follow the Spirit and depended on the regulation by the Spirit I sensed life again and continued to live by the Spirit. Romans 8:13 says if you live according to the flesh, we must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.  Day by day the Spirit is regulating our inner being and if we are willing to mind the Spirit and become dependent on the Spirit for all aspects in our daily living we shall live by the Spirit and continue to abide in the presence of the Lord all day. Praise the Lord!

Another beautiful day in paradise....

Many times I hear people say, "Another beautiful day in Paradise".  People think that paradise is a physical realm that we enjoy and where we have our being.  When we look around us today and more so when we look at the world as a whole, most of us will agree that there is not  much hope for a place that we can call paradise. Although we may have reached a pinnacle in our personal or professional  live there is much more to consider before we can enter into such a reality.

 In Luke 23:43 it tell us that there is such a place, a place where we will enter once we die, just as the person who died beside Jesus on the cross. But we should not wait until we die, rather in 2Corinthians 12:4  Paul pointed out that one person he knew entered into such a realm, even when he was alive.

Furthermore in the book of Revelation  we see the overcomers in the churches, which have been and still are and exist today. Those who partake of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. Praise the Lord for the churches where we can partake of the tree of Life in the midst of the paradise of God, today!

Praise The Lord.....

Praise The Lord!

In Psalms 119:164 David said, "Seven times a day I praise you for Your righteous ordinances". We were talking about this over lunch and we realize that beside praying three times a day we should learn to Praise the Lord  for the things He gives us, the things  He has accomplished and is doing allover the earth and who He really is. These things are hidden in the Word or the scriptures. They also are referred to as ordinances or the law. Although we are not under the law any longer but Grace we still treasure them, for by getting into them we receive the riches of Christ as the Spirit and Life to sustain us in our daily lives and living.

One day a brother asked me, why do you say, "Praise the Lord", all the time?. It was an older brother who seemingly had lost the joy of the Lord or at that particular time was not enjoying the presence of the Lord. He was busy doing many things for the Lord through service, yet without joy. I was surprised to hear him say that. I was a young brother at the time, newly saved and enjoying the refreshing seasons of the Lord in my daily life. Every day the freshness of the Lord is so real when we come to Him by partaking of the riches in His word. I am enjoying His presence each time I open the scriptures and muse upon the words that He has spoken. The Words He spoke are Spirit and Life and whenever we come to the Word, we come to Him. The epistle of John shows us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and is God. He also said that He is the bread of life and if we eat Him we shall live by Him. Furthermore the scriptures are Gods breath and whenever we take it in we are  breathing in God's life and nature. Praise the Lord that the Lord is so available and that we can enjoy Him as such a reality day by day.

Besides partaking of the riches of Christ in such a simple way daily, we can also enjoy Christ during the many feasts with plenty of food during the big meetings with the Saints.  Many a times I have seen cases of Saints who are serving the Lord yet without joy or the presence of the Lord. They can  hardly open their mouth to praise the Lord.  Nevertheless upon personally getting back into the Word and daily feeding on the living word from the scriptures at home or in the meetings, they eventually all come back to serve, express and share the riches of Christ with joy in our midst. Praise The Lord!