The Spiritual Life

John 3:8
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Do we realize the fullness that is possible to us in Jesus Christ? Are we able to differentiate between the heavenly life and the earthly life?

Jesus explained it to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”

We all like to think we are born again, we’ve “got it”, we understand. But do we really have a new mind, a new heart, a new everything?

We have been testing ourselves to determine the “vital signs” of our spiritual life. Currently, we’ve been reviewing our relationship to God and our knowledge of God. We remind ourselves that this life is internal. It is this desire to know Him more and more that is the absolute proof that we have been born again.

We can compare it to a baby when they go through the stage where they need their parent and nobody else will do. They cry whenever somebody else tries to take them out of their parents arms or even worse out their sight. Especially, if the baby is not feeling well, teething or what have you.

It is possible to have a separate knowledge of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. This is the apostles benediction. It uses the term “communion” which means, fellowship, union, cooperation; but also communication from and with the Holy Spirit. It is a type of partnership.

Our spiritual life is not something that we do by ourselves. It is done with God. He is our ever present help in times of trouble.

The religious man does all the things the spiritual man does but he is “in charge”. He goes to church, he is active in the community, etc.; but, he isn’t led. If he decides on any particular Sunday not to go to church, he doesn’t. He decides on his own what to do. He is in control. He believes it is his faithfulness that matters. He can be moral, ethical, an upstanding citizen. He can be self-satisfied just like the parable of the Pharisee and publican who went up to the temple to pray. The perfect example of this.

Or take Philippians 3 where Paul gives his own history to illustrate this, he lays it all out.

The spiritual man on the other hand, “beats his chest”, he is humble, he realizes that he is only there by the grace of God. He is amazed at himself that God would be communing with him in prayer. The spiritual man is aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The religious man is alone with his “system”, his to do list, and he is very proud to check off each item.

A true Christian has a personal relationship and he is aware of the indwelling, that he is being dealt with. It isn’t some loud accusing, condemning voice that says, “Get your act together, or else.” It is a still small voice leading very gently to do the right thing at the right time. My husband and I discussed this just yesterday, how awful we feel when we do not listen to Him and do what He tells us to do. Often times, it bothers you the whole rest of the day. He is dealing with you.

This is resisting the Spirit or grieving Him.

The religious man is aware that he has let himself down if he doesn’t complete every task on his list every time but he is not aware of “the other”, the indwelling Holy Spirit or that he has let Him down. It is all in terms of himself and his agenda.

The true Christian is sorry and he has let God down. He is repentant. He cries out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” They may go through a “dry time”. They still read their bible and pray, but they are aware it just isn’t the same as it was before. He wants nothing more than to have his relationship renewed, restored, brought back.

The true Christian is aware of his dependence upon the Spirit. Job 13:15
15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

He doesn’t do what the enemy of our souls suggests and give up but he keeps on seeking God. He realizes he cannot do this alone so he relies on the Holy Spirit within him.

Romans 7 and 8, but specifically Romans 8:9
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The Spiritual man is no longer content with merely following a system, a to do list, a form. He yearns to be like Jesus. He desires to be holy because his Father is holy.

Jesus teaches this to the Samaritan woman. John 4:24
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

And also, John 16:13-14

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

That’s what the spiritual man wants. He wants God to be his teacher, his confessor, his confidant. He knows it can happen because it has happened. He has read the bible “in the Spirit” and the words jump out of the page at him. He feels as if, even though he has read a passage before, suddenly it is speaking directly to him. Or the sermon he hears; he thinks it was written by the pastor specifically for him. And it was. The Spirit is teaching and preaching through the Word, through the pastor. It helps. It comforts.

It is the communion of the Holy Ghost.

Without Him, when a religious man does these same things, he gets “burned out” from it all. It gets tedious.

It is the same with praying in the Spirit verses saying the same old prayer you said when you were 6; “Now I lay me down to sleep”.

If you know the difference you have been born of the Spirit. The scripture becomes endless in what it can teach you and your prayer life comes alive and takes you up into the spiritual realm where you commune with Him. You become unaware of time. Hours pass and you are unaware. It feels like an instant.

Don’t be content with anything less. Seek Him. “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”

The spiritual man is aware of His activities within us, the promptings, the leading, the guidance. Like Philip and the Ethiopian for example in Acts 8:27-35

27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

The Spirit spoke to Philip.

Or Acts 13:1-4

13 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

I am not talking about an audible voice. It is being so sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance that you are led to go.

And also in Acts 16:6-7

6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

It was a negative, the Holy Spirit “suffered them not.” They wanted to go to Bithynia but they were forbidden.

Acts 20: 23 and Acts 21:4
23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

He sometimes uses others to hinder us until “the appointed time”.

The spiritual man is given power to do what god has led him to do by the Spirit like in Acts 4 when Peter and John were arrested and asked, “By what power have ye done this?”

You can be filled with the Spirit over and over; words of wisdom, words of knowledge, a boldness, a “knowing”, miracles etc.. You know it is “of Him”. Myself, I get the feeling of a fountain bubbling up in my heart when the Spirit of God is speaking through me to you. I am amazed whenever it happens.