Yes, you must have heard that many times. If only you can ponder on it one more time. What was the Spirit of God saying to us as believers when He said, “We walk by faith and not by sight”? In my previous post on Do You Believe God, I said, “The earth draws you down. Everything your senses assimilate draw you down to the earthly realm. They crowd out your understanding and knowledge of God and prevent you from seeing where you are in Christ Jesus.”
Everything you see physically crowds out your ability to sustain the consciousness of God in your heart (spirit) for a long time. 24 by 7 our senses are bombarded with the earthly situations – things and people around us, including events and circumstances. Even the sound bites from traditional and social media. The earth wants you to be earthly. To live as men and women of the earth, and die not fulfilled. There is a constant war between your spirit and everything you see, hear, touch, taste and smell. They want to control you. Our senses want to dominate us. They want to crowd the knowledge and consciousness of God out of our heart. Or at best, they want to sandwich the consciousness of God with other things.
Oh, friends! That is it. When the scripture says, the spirit lusts against the flesh, it is a fact. The Berean Translation of the Bible says, “For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. THEY ARE OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER, so that you do not do what you want.” Galatians 5:17
Because they are opposed to each other, you are the one that suffers it. Why? You do not do what you want. That is, you are not able to do the right thing as God will want you to! Don’t read flesh to mean something esoteric. It does not mean your skin, friends! It is a representation of anything physical and intangible. So the best representation of our flesh is anything and everything that has to do with our five senses – what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell. When you feed your eyes on evil or immoral scenes, your body begins to gravitate towards that. When you develop itchy ears for bad news, gossips and so on, your reaction changes in that direction. I can go on and on.
Let me show you some more scriptures by the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:5 to 9 (AMPC): “For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. 6 Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]. 7[That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot. 8 So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. 9 But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].”
Those scriptures say it all. Don’t live by senses. To walk in the dominion that Jesus wrought for us, we must see beyond the earthly noise and distractions.
What do you see? Where do you fix your gaze daily? In the news flying around or in the Word of God? Do you get absorbed into your senses or into God’s words?
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Let’s Unpack It
The just shall live by faith! Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. The Spirit of God did not say, they just shall live by doing nothing. Don’t get me wrong. Let’s unpack the just shall live by faith and not by sight. How do you get faith? You get faith by hearing what God says concerning you and everything! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17. Your filter for hearing anything else is though the anointed word of God! Also, the Word of God says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
As you apply filter on your pictures in your phone to look good and perhaps better than you are, you should apply God’s word in your life to blot out any blemish in your life and around you.
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God’s words are powerful! The Lord Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.” Did you ever read that? Okay, let me join Galatians 5:17 and John 6:63 together for you to see:
Galatians 5:17, “For the FLESH craves what is contrary to the SPIRIT, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. THEY ARE OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER, so that you do not do what you want.”
In John 6:63, the Lord Jesus said, “It is the SPIRIT that gives life, the FLESH profits nothing. The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.”
What do the two scriptures have in common? Spirit and Flesh. Your spirit fights constantly with your senses. Inside us, we want to do good (from the voice of our conscience) but our senses tell us “No!!!!” Our conscience (the inner voice of our spirit) wants us to spend more time to fellowship with God, study His words, worship and praise Him; pray to Him BUT our senses jump in pretty fast and tell us countless reasons why we must cut it short. No, we can’t live like that. We are created for the Lord.
Let the Word of God dominate your life conduct, even if the circumstances have not changed. Put the word of God in your mouth. Say it out. Go about your business, believing that He has done it. Do the work.
The Way Out
Friends, your senses constantly try to get ahead to limit your ability to see what the Spirit of God is telling you. Sad! We are buffeted daily by what we see around us.
BUT there is a way out of it. It is your responsibility and mine to determine that you and I will make God’s words first and last in our life – over and above what you see, hear, touch, taste and smell.
He is the Alpha and Omega! The Beginning and the End! That is the Lord Jesus! He is the Way, the Truth and Life. No other! None! None!! He is not an alternative! Not a second fiddle! He is the Only Way. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and other things shall be added. Jesus is the First and the Last – not a sandwich in between your senses. Noooooo! Stop making Him a second fiddle. Stop disregarding Him! He is your Lord and Saviour! He has given you His words to believe, to act on. He has commanded you to worship the Father in spirit and in truth in John 4:23. And He has given us all that we need on this earth to triumph.
“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT). Did you read that? That is His words! Yes! He has!
Purpose in your heart that you will make Him your First and Last go-to Friend. There is no friend like Jesus. He came to die and He forever lives. You are in Him now because He died, resurrected and brought us to seat with Him beside the Father in heaven. You are on this earth physically but you are also mysteriously inside Him with the Father. Oh that you may know that! Your habitation is inside the Spirit. You are engrafted into Jesus, the Branch. That is where you and I are. We are His branches. Don’t you loose sight of that.
Tell that to yourself everyday – I am in Christ. I am His branch. He lives in me. The Greater One lives in me. I am a new creature. I’m above and not beneath. I have all the resources of heaven to excel in life. Confirm and confess the reality of what Jesus Christ has done for you and I. Make it personal. I say, Make it personal!
Purpose in your heart that you will study the Word, especially the promises in the New Testament which tells you all that you are now in Christ Jesus. Study the promises. Read them in the personal mode. Read them to yourself. Read the Old Testament. I pay special attention to when God spoke through His prophets in the Old Testament. You will begin to grow the consciousness of God in your heart. Study to show yourself approved by God. Let Him place a bet on you.
You can change the situations
Find the word of God that addresses them. Grow in knowledge. Tell yourself, I will discipline my body to obey God through the help of the Holy Spirit. When circumstances of life and your senses bombard you, take a pause and withdraw to your quiet place – lay before Him in your room and just tell Him, “Father, I am here before you in the name of Your Son Jesus. Show me through Your Spirit that is in Me how I should proceed on this. Thank you because I know You have heard me in Jesus name. Stay there! Ask Him to help you to worship Him. Stay there. Ask Him to show You His words to put in your lips to speak to address the situation. Stay there. You may not hear or feel anything. Continue to practice that every day. I tell you! One day, He will begin to speak expressly to you through His words. Oh, the Father seeks worship! It is a sweet smelling sacrifice that delights Him.
Finally, remember Romans 8:5 to 9 (AMPC): “For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. 6 Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]. 7[That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot. 8 So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. 9 But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].”
Don’t let your senses rule you! No, don’t! Rather, search the scriptures regularly to find out what they say concerning that situations. Pray with the scriptures to the Father in the name of Jesus. Believe what the Word of God says. And you will see the manifestation in no time. Let me chip this in: do you know that the things you see were framed by invisible forces? God created the world by His Word. So you and I, His children, can frame our world with His Word.
Let the songs below bless your heart.
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