The Lord had more to say about this topic, and that is why I’m writing one more post to help you, reader, learn some of the ways we could contaminate ourselves with the spirit of this world. We have mentioned in a previous post that as humans, we’re a three-part being. That is, we have a spirit, a soul, and a body.
When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He came to reside inside of us by His Spirit. This way, He communicates with our spirit. Our job is to feed ourselves with things that strengthen that communion and help us see and hear clearly what He communicates to our spirit. Also, what happens in the spiritual should also happen in the natural, as we nourish our body with things and activities that help it stay strong, so should we find out what can get our spirit strong.
At the soul level, (our mind, will, and emotions), when we got saved, we changed our nature from sinful to divine. However, this is something we need to learn to adapt to and apply in our daily living. We need to be intentional at renewing our minds to the truth of God’s word and feed ourselves with things that help us walk out our new divine nature since this doesn’t happen automatically.
The enemy knows this and uses situations to torment us, like rejection, offense, strife, division, or traumatic events that hurt our soul, and if we don’t take steps towards our deliverance, healing, and complete restoration, our mind, will, and emotions begin to be affected, and everything we see and hear then becomes twisted because we then see or hear from the filter of the hurt, trauma, or offense.
The enemy also uses this twisted seeing and hearing to turn us against others, especially those he used to hurt, offend, or cause us the trauma and others around us. This also leaves us with triggers that could lead us to react with anger, rage, bitterness, unforgiveness, and resentment because our mind, will, and emotions have been compromised through the hurts and traumas. Therefore, our retaliation comes against the people and not the real enemy.
Other times, the issue lies in our need to remove the spiritual clogs or blocks to the flow of God’s living water. It cannot flow out of us properly when we don’t turn to the source of this living water which is Jesus to make sure that our “spiritual pipes” are cleaned up by the washing of His Word. Instead, we tend to clog up the pipes with dirt, or make the waters murky by watching, listening, or reading polluted material. Also when we keep the wrong company or frequent the wrong places we can pick up attachments to the demonic from which we need deliverance because those attachments influence us away from the will of God for our lives.
What happens in all these cases, is that our spiritual gates are open and whatever we allow in on a constant basis is what flows out of us. We need to be careful and more diligent in caring for our soul and what we feed it, especially when we pour what we have on others on a continuous basis. Many things may be permissible and available out there, but not everything we consume or allow to enter our gates is beneficial for us and others if we want our soul to prosper and help others in the prosperity of their soul.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial or advantageous. All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. Let no one seek [only] his own good, but [also] that of the other person.” AMP
Proverbs 4:23
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” AMP
In essence, when we feed ourselves with the wrong things, the Holy Spirit cannot flow freely out of us because He is HOLY (pure and righteous). And for Him to flow out of us freely, we need to constantly feed ourselves with pure and righteous things. Pop culture is good at providing entertainment, but so much of that can pollute us and twist us in our thinking, talking, and behaving.
John 14:30
“...The one who rules the world is stepping forward, and he has no part in Me;” VOICE
The only way we can speak the words of Jesus and say that the enemy has no part in us is when we allow the Lord to process us and take us through His fire that consumes the pollution of the world, helps us renew our minds to the truth of His Word which produces things in our lives that please Him, and allow His Spirit to flow rivers of living water out of us. If murky waters are what flows out of us, then, those who drink from this pollution will also become polluted. This pollution also gets in the way of our authority to resist the devil.
John 7:38
“If you believe in Me, the Hebrew Scriptures say that rivers of living water will flow from within you.” VOICE
James 4:7-8
“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”
NLT
As I heard Pastor Kent Christmas say, and I’m paraphrasing, the intentions of the Lord for those who receive what we pour out on them don’t come from our gifts and talents, our eloquence, our pedigrees, or our positions and titles. They flow out of what we feed ourselves with. When we drink consistently from the pure waters of the presence of the Lord, this increases the power and authority of the Holy Spirit in us.
Ephesians 1:4
“God chose us to be in a relationship with Him even before He laid out plans for this world; He wanted us to live holy lives characterized by love, free from sin, and blameless before Him.” VOICE
This Scripture is so powerful in describing God’s intentions for us from the foundations of the world. First, we didn’t choose ourselves. He chose us to be in a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. In Genesis, He first prepared the place and environment for man to dwell and co-rule with Him. But in this Scripture God is saying that He first had us in mind, and then He created the world for us to rule over with Him. And this can only be sustained when we drink from His living waters.
Drinking from His living waters is what helps us live holy lives (set apart for Him, consecrated, and driven to fulfill His purpose for us). Thus, our relationship with Him and our lives purposely lived for the praise of His glory is what will help us be characterized by love, free from sin, and blameless before Him. Now blameless doesn’t mean perfect. Perfection means spiritual maturity. Blameless actually means that we keep ourselves from the pollution of the world by drinking from His water of life for He alone is our source. Therefore, because unclean waters don’t produce a pure drink, we’re responsible for keeping our spiritual pipes clean and unclogged.
Besides, feeding ourselves with the wrong things of the world, gets us deeper in bondage, not in freedom. Sadly, it doesn’t stop there. Remember also that contamination is contagious and if we serve others contaminated food, we increase their chances of getting food poisoning. And food poisoning doesn’t only come from stale food, it can also come from food that was not fully prepared in us. That is why allowing God’s complete process in us is important if we call ourselves Christian believers, no matter the industry where we work and serve others. Be it education, family, Media, arts and entertainment, the marketplace, government, and even the Church.
Matthew 7:16-20
“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” NLT
Ephesians 4:27
“and give no opportunity to the devil.” ESV
To God alone be all the glory. *
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