What a Shock
I wish I didn't have to admit this.
After I received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues (see my Dec. 1,2,3
posts) I expected the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) to just appear in my
life. I'd be so holy.
Actually, I did overflow with love, joy, and peace.
However, I cannot say that I never
again lost my patience, never behaved unkindly, never again told a
"polite" lie, or spoke out of anger, or lost my self control.
What a shock! I'm not perfect?!??
How can this be? I hunger and
thirst for righteousness, yet I still have this fleshly nature which wars against my soul? Oh yeah. Just ask my
dear husband. Of course he may exaggerate
my faults. Just a little.
Why didn't the old things pass away and all
things become new?
The Spirit of truth led me to I
Thess. 5:23. and impressed on my understanding that I am a trinity created in
the image of God. It is my spirit that
is a new creation. My soul has to be renewed. My body will be made new at
the resurrection.
As I renew my mind with the Word, wrong
thinking and wrong doing passes away and all things become new. This
is a process. I still have to fight battles when I am tempted to be someone
that I do not wish to be, just as Paul wrote in Romans Chapter 7.
Paul said, "I die daily so
that it is no longer I ( my former self) but Christ who lives in me." Some
people think this means we live in aging bodies which die a little each day and
that's partly true, however it has a greater meaning.
I have to die to my fleshly desires
daily.
I also found that praying in the
spirit makes that easier. For instance, it would be so easy to excuse my
irritable words by saying, "Well Lord, no man can tame the tongue."
(James 3:8).
The Spirit whispers, "Yes, but I can. Put the words of Jesus in your heart for out of it the mouth speaks."
When I complain: "Father. I
tried to crucify my flesh but I got one hand nailed to the cross and there was
no way to nail the other hand," the Spirit whispers, "Yes but I can. Abide in the vine and you
will produce fruit."
There have been challenges from
without that threatened my faith walk. There have been disappointments. The
storms of life happen. Those trials are what make believers into over
comers.
I Thank God my house is built on
solid rock.I thank my God I speak in tongues. It is a mighty weapon of warfare.
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