To Accomplish the Heart of the Spirit
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December 11, 2011 |
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 "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6)
Jesus said as written in John 14:6 that "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." As spoken, we are to lead our Christian lives diligently to resemble the Lord and become God's true children. To the extent that we achieve the heart of spirit, the heavenly glory will be different and we will realize the heart and will of God more clearly.
We can break the works of the enemy devil and Satan and bear abundant fruit when working for the kingdom of God with such a heart of spirit. Since we would always have spiritual thoughts, we would have peace and joy, thanks, and hope for Heaven that would be overflowing. What, then, do we have to do in a bid to achieve the heart of the spirit and receive such blessings in everything?
First of all, you should not have fleshly thoughts.
If you keep on inputting the fleshly thoughts, the things of the flesh will not be cast off. Instead they will be strengthened and grow greater. Therefore, to accomplish the heart of spirit, first you should cut yourself off from such fleshly thoughts. When a fleshly thought comes across your mind, you should not allow for the thought to progress. Perhaps you can think, "No! That thought is bad and unacceptable." And let it be stopped right there.
Fleshly thought is the result of evil in the heart. If you have untruth such as hatred, envy, arrogance, greed, and adulterous thoughts in the heart, fleshly thought will naturally come to you. Satan causes such thoughts to come upon you back to back, one right after the other. Then the thoughts can be developed into greater evil and more frequent negative expression. Therefore, if a fleshly thought hits you, try to stop thinking about it on the spot. And then, you should remember the Word as you have heard it so far, make full use of goodness and truth, and change it into a spiritual thought.
For example, let's say that someone speaks ill of you and it causes sadness and sorrowful thoughts to begin. Then you can think like this: 'I'm actually a princess/prince of Heaven, but I'm under training to experience relativity. I am experiencing how bad evil is. I am under this training to be able to realize the value of the truth and how to choose goodness. To meet such a person and experience this was just a test to check how well I have been trained so far.' Then, you will not dislike or hate those who have no courtesy or common sense. You may even consider them 'good men' who help you check your heart. If you can change fleshly thought into the spiritual thought like this, you will receive strength to go on toward the spirit again.
By the way, even if you can change your thoughts into spiritual thoughts, it doesn't mean your heart becomes the heart of the spirit. You should realize the root of the fleshly thought which initially hit upon you. If thoughts of spitefulness or dislike hit upon you, it proves that hatefulness remains in your heart. If you are troubled because of spiteful words, it means you still have pride in you. Furthermore, it may be the proof of your arrogance. You should pray to cast off the root cause from your heart. It is this evil that is the root cause of your fleshly thoughts.
If you don't have any form of evil in your heart, no matter how harmful the things others do to you, an evil feeling will not arise. And thus, your heart will be in peace all the time. Furthermore, you can even understand those who do harm to you, and harbor them in your heart with the wisdom of goodness. The worldly people cannot ignore you or despise you since the forces of darkness are overwhelmed by the authority of your spiritual light. To the extent you accomplish the heart of the spirit, you will emanate a strong spiritual light, and thus the forces of darkness cannot come close to you.
Secondly, you should not lock yourself inside your own limitations.
I already said that to accomplish the heart of the spirit you should first cut yourself off from the input of fleshly thoughts. You must pray to pull out the untruth which is the root. Many people become exhausted during this procedure. They become like an on-off switch, and eventually become worn out. The reason is that they try to cast off the evil from their hearts through their personal efforts and strength.
If the evil in the heart were as visible as a weed in the yard, it would be easy to pull it out. But it's invisible. There is no doubt that it is there because it keeps coming up. You have no idea how much of it is left, and until you do, you should pray. Some of you might say, "I'm too deeply involved in the worldly things. I don't have good heart and I don't have a good character." This is the way that people set up their own limitations. When they think that they cannot make it, then it becomes self-defeat and then they will never be able to gain the heart of the spirit.
So, what should you do? Even though there is a limit to the effort you can make, even though your will is weak, there are no limitations for the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who has the power to destroy the evil in your heart. You have to believe that this Holy Spirit is dwelling in you. Depend on Him all the time. It is difficult to discover and pull out the evil only with your own strength and effort. But, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit you can discover the evil and get rid of it.
That's why the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Jesus said to His disciples in Mark 10:27, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
If you receive grace so that you can believe the glory in Heaven in your hearts, your attachment to the treasures of the world will disappear. Likewise, when God gives the grace, people can give up their possessions. Here, 'their possessions' not only refers to material things. It can also refer to those invisible things in their heart such as greed, selfish motives, hatred, envy, jealousy, adulterous mind, pride, arrogance, hot-temperament, and craftiness.
Such 'possessions' can be easily cast off when God gives grace and strength. Don't lock the power of God within the limits that you set for yourself. Please believe in His power, saying, "I cannot give it up by myself, but I can when the Holy Spirit helps me" and "I cannot, but God can do everything."
Moreover, if you receive the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you can understand what cannot be understood with the understanding of man. The Holy Spirit helps your narrow vision widen so that you can see greater and bigger things. And thus, you will have the graciousness to understand even those who speak and behave with no common sense. Therefore, you can have the heart of the spirit with which you can love all the people, understand them, and forgive them.
If you long for the heart of the spirit, always depend on the Holy Spirit. Don't judge others, and don't lock yourself inside your own self-created limitations; I hope you can take a look at yourself from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, I pray in the name of the Lord that the Holy Spirit may help you accomplish the heart of the spirit.
Thirdly, you should always rejoice, and give thanks in all situations.
To rejoice over something that is minor and give thanks for it becomes the foundation in accomplishing the heart of the spirit. The heart of the spirit is not far from you. As you rejoice with a small thing and give thanks for it, you will come closer to the heart of the spirit to that extent. For example, being able to eat well and to sleep well are also the reasons for thanksgiving. On the other hand, if you complain and grumble about things, you distance yourself farther and farther from the heart of the spirit. If you have complains in your heart like this: "Why was I born in this shabby place? Why is my character like this? What if I had been born in a better family?" and if you put blame on others or on your environment, it is difficult to have the heart of the spirit.
Those who are irrecoverably stuck in and bound by the past are not wise. The past is the past. What is truly important is the present and the future. Even though you were poor and unfortunate, if you plant the seed of joy and thanks from now on, you can welcome the great future. Always make a profession of thanks first, and offer your prayer of thanksgiving. Then the seeds of thanks which are planted in your heart will bear the great fruit of thankfulness.
Moreover, if your heart becomes full of thanks like this, you can have fun while circumcising your heart. You can have fun in doing it instead of feeling that it is hard or difficult. Likewise, I hope all of you can also rejoice and give thanks in all situations. I pray in the name of the Lord that the fruit of spirit may be borne abundantly in your hearts.
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