“The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”
Proverbs 20:27
Something about the new year makes people want to do things new, try new things, date new people, see things in a new way, have a new style, make new friends. It seems all is right as long as it is something new.
But what about that good ol’ Spirit? Will you apply newness to the use of the spirit of God in you this time around? How often do you, 1) acknowledge the spirit? 2) listen to the spirit? 3) OBEY the spirit?
When it comes to the immoral (and demonic, I might add) act of rape, isn’t it ironic how passionately we (believers and nonbelievers) proclaim that “no means no?!”
Yet when it comes to the voice of the spirit and the resounding instruction of ‘NO,’ we fail to adhere to the spirit and proceed with our own desire anyway. What word can we use to describe our own forceful and defiant way with the spirit of God?
Indeed, I am referring to the many acts of intimacy we allow inside and near our spirit that ignorantly defiles the purity and sacred realm that God is!
And yes, this is a message to my sisters AND my brothers in Christ!
Although intimacy is more commonly stated in reference to sexual intercourse, the acts of intimacy we indulge in daily often goes beyond just sexual intercourse. Intimacy can also refer to the togetherness, attachment, or even just close familiarity we have to the people and things we interact with absent-mindedly.
In other words, who or what have you been sleeping on rather than with?!
Is your spirit in the midst of gossip and hate? Is your spirit in a place that encourage violence and malice? Is your spirit a silent partner in perversion? Is your spirit a bed for deceit and dishonesty? Is your spirit entwined with the body of a stranger? Is your spirit a filter for chaos and disruption? And most importantly, have your spirit been telling you “No!” this whole time?!
Granted, I am not simply proclaiming abstinence or celibacy (not in this post at least), but I am reaching out to you as a fellow brethren who knows the ills and weaknesses of the flesh.
Friend, the spirit says, “No means no!”
The spirit serves a purpose. As the scripture above proclaims, the spirit is light inside of you. How is light to shine as bright, when it is abused, malnourished, and ignored? How is the light to guide your path in this world when you shun and defile it with disobedience and impurity?
See, we often fail to realize that the enemy does not have to do us bodily harm to feel as though he is in control. Our pain do not have to be physical for something to feel broken inside. The enemy tries to pollute your spirit in every way he can. Your environment, your personal tastes and desires, your friendships, your intimate relationships, and everything that exist around you become open to the enemy’s attack the moment you stopped feeding the spirit. Even the slightest crack is too big of an opening for the enemy to come in.
But the devil is indeed a liar!
Read IS YOUR SPIRIT MALNOURISHED? to learn more about feeding the spirit.
And the loving grace of Almighty God continue to grant us victory!
My prayer for us today is that God in his goodness will look upon the depths of our hearts rather than our deeds and conform all that we are into his own masterpiece. May the grace of spiritual transition and growth fall upon us today in Jesus name. Amen.
