Living In the Spirit

One thing I love about the Lord, He is that when we seek Him his is faithful to reveal himself  to us. Many times Christians feel far away from Christ and have low faith because of their lack of desperation for His presence. Seeking God must be something that we take on as a consistent attitude, or mindset. Everyday when we wake up our hearts desire should be to know God in a greater way than we did the day before. Everyday is a new opportunity to get closer to our creator. This concept is living and walking in the spirit.

 Galatians 5:16, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." This scripture has been ministering to me for sometime now. I would say for at least two years. Yes two years! The word of God teaches us in Psalm 1 to meditate on the word of God daily. Sometimes it takes time to receive the depths of revelation that the Holy Spirit desires to show us. I prayed and sought  the Lord for the revelation of Galatians 5:16. The reason is because of my understanding of walking in the spirit. I realize now that my perception of things that are "deep" was unbalanced. I thought that a life of walking in the spirit consisted of living consistently in the Holy Place or something. (Walking around speaking in tongues, singing worship songs all day, always in some deep far out world.) I thought to myself how this would be humanly impossible  for people who have lives outside of professional ministry. If a person walked around like that all the time, people would think they were straight out crazy. But as I looked and studied the depths of this scripture the Holy Spirit revealed to me the practical implications of the text.

Walking in the spirit is extremely "deep," but very practical. Here in this scripture the tense of walk implies progression or steady progress in grace. Walking in the spirit is ones steady movement towards the things of God. Everyday we are to decide to walk closer to God and live in a way that is more pleasing. The basis of everything however is the individuals seek and pursuit. OUR PURSUIT MUST BE CONSISTENT! We must walk consistently following after the things of God. This in turn produces a life of the spirit. We must dig in deep to the things of the Holy Spirit to get to know the ways of the Spirit. A life of prayer, is essential to cultivating a life in the spirit. There are many christians that profess Christ as their savior but never seek Him personally. Their experience with God ends once the Sunday service has ended. These type of individuals never cross over into a life of the Spirit, because their life is not submitted. We must give up our life and take on the life of Christ.

We are taught in this scripture that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of our flesh. Walking in the spirit postures us to experience the abundance of the kingdom. The Bible declares that we were made in the image of God. We know through scripture that God is a spirit. We are created in His image because we too have a spirit. Our spirit is eternal, not our flesh. The flesh is consistently dying. We also know that the works of the flesh produces death. We are called to live in the spirit because that is where the Lord speaks to us and plants in us His purpose and will for our lives. The Lords plans for our lives have an eternal purpose as it relates to the things of the spirit. God desires to use our lives beyond this temporal world. Everything that we need as it relates to our destiny and calling is in the spirit! However we must live there to see it come forth in fullness. We must walk in the spirit to gain the true revelation of what we are to do with our lives. It is impossible to obtain spiritual blessings through natural and carnal measures. The lust of the flesh only brings about things that are temporal. We can lust after careers, success, money, fame, etc. The Lust of the flesh doesn't just have to be things related to sexual perversion but the lust of the flesh are things that satisfy the needs of the flesh.

So whats the point? Everything that you need in your life is in the spirit of God! Once we dig into the things of God, He in turns blesses us with everything we need to accomplish  His plan for our lives. His plan is much greater that we can perceive, but we must be spiritual to receive it.      

Word for 2012

I am excited about this year! I believe that we, in the body of Christ, are entering a time of acceleration and the Lord is bringing us into position to accomplish His plan through our lives for the earth. About 2 months ago, I was in prayer and the Lord spoke to me concerning this New Year. He shared that this was going to be a year of His “established kingdom”. We know that the number 12 is the number of government. I remembered hearing this from the Lord, questioning the validity of what I was hearing, and wondering how it even made sense. I wondered this because I know that Christ came to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. His message was the Kingdom of God and now because of His sacrifice we are members of the kingdom. I contemplated all this and meditated on it for a while until I was able to receive a full understanding of what I was hearing. I know by growing up in the church that every New Year, we have heard messages about what God was going to do in that year. People preach messages that are led to inspire people to expect great things and be hopeful that the upcoming year is going to be better than the last. With this being said, I am very cautious in sharing what I believe for 2012 because I do not want to fall in the category of sharing a cliché word to sound deep or profound that in turn carries no spiritual insight or eternal purpose. I believe that this word concerning 2012 is profound and if you receive the revelation of what God spoke to me, your life and ministry will never be the same. For this is the year of God’s established kingdom!

In reference to the times and seasons of God in the earth, we can look around at all the things that are happening in our society and know for certain that we are in the last days. Jesus is coming soon! It is imperative for His people to be ready for His return. For the past year the Lord has kept Romans 8:19 heavily on my spirit. I have been inquiring of the Lord in reference to the revelation of this passage. It says: “For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship]. (AMP) The earth is waiting for those that are the sons of God to come forth. This same scripture tells us that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells within those that believe in Him and that the spirit bears witness with our spirit assuring that we are the children of God. As children of God that possess the life giving spirit, the Holy Spirit, we are called to walk in the same spirit and power that Christ walked in. We are the sons of God and the earth is waiting for those of us that carry the life of God within us to come forth exemplifying our Father in heaven.

For some time now we have heard various revelations concerning the message of the Kingdom. We have heard great preachers and teachers teach us about the kingdom of God and what it means to be citizens of this kingdom. However these messages have all been conceptually explained. Very few believers cross over into the place of faith to where they actually live as an ambassador of heaven or have a life that displays the kingdom of God. The scripture says, “nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21. This scripture tells us very clearly that the kingdom of God is within us! We are the Kingdom. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” We are not praying that His kingdom comes from heaven, because it has already come from heaven, but we are actually praying that His kingdom on the earth in us comes forth. Jesus established the kingdom on the earth over 2,000 years ago, so now we are just waiting for those that have the kingdom within them to come forth! Think about it, you are the manifestation of the Kingdom of heaven. This means that you are a carrier of the Kingdom of heaven and the earth is waiting for you to come forth. That thing the Lord has placed within you is a portion of His kingdom. And His desire is that you would do what He has created you to do.

The Lord said that this shall be a year of God’s established kingdom! This means that God is summonsing those that He has called to get into position to be the manifestation of His kingdom. He desires to raise up his sons into places of prominence to show forth His power and to bring life to those various areas. There are places in the earth that are in desperate need of the establishment of the kingdom of God and that place has your name on it. If we avail ourselves totally to God in these days, God is going to use our natural body to reveal His power and promises to the earth. I am telling you, this is not just a concept to consider, but a place of reality that you are called to live. God is taking us, the body of Christ higher! We shall step into kingdom purpose and see all the benefits of the kingdom.

The catch is obedience! In order to step into your kingdom position in God where the message of the kingdom switches from being a thought to reality, you must walk in the obedience of God. In these days, we must know our assignment and be about our father’s business. This generation doesn’t have the same luxury of generations past to wait to move into purpose. Our days are truly numbered and He is calling for us to get into position to assist in accomplishing the plan of God in the earth. Lay aside every weight of sin and carnality and put on liberty of life in the spirit so that you can accomplish what God has called you to do. KNOW YOUR ASSIGNMENT! When you step into the revelation of why you were created, move full speed ahead towards it. Be careful to pray and seek the Lord for your assignment so that you can be apart of what the Lord is doing. This is going to look different for everyone. The Lord may call you to have an impact on one of the seven pillars of our society; arts and entertainment, education, government, media, ministry, business and family. His call is for you to raise up in to a position of dominion and show forth Christ and His kingdom in those arenas so that people can come into the knowledge of His power. Those portions of the earth are crying out for the revelation of God’s children. Seek out what the Lord would speak to you and pursue it wholly so that you can see God’s plan fulfilled in your life. I believe that this is the hour where the Lord is changing the guards as it relates to influence and He is calling this generation into places of influence to get the job done. Refuse to live in the monotony. Monotony is a curse of the devil when the Lord has called you to prosper. I believe that we have stepped over into a different dispensation and we are going to see the kingdom of God in operation in our lives. Before, we as the body at large have heard about it, but we shall see it. God is fixing and shifting the hearts of His people so that He can bring His glory back to people and ministries. He wants to restore His power to his body, but it takes coming into a place of true submission to His voice and will.