“6 Humble yourselves therefore under the Mighty Hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your Brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all Grace, Who has called us unto His Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:6-10
Once we accept the Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, our adversary, the devil, is an instrument used by God to strengthen and establish our faith. The unpleasant circumstances we may at times find ourselves in, are for our good and are meant to draw us closer to the Lord.
Knowing Who Jesus is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross, we know in Whom we have believed and we are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him (2 Tim. 1:12).
This Divine calling we have accepted when we are Born Again; born of the Spirit of God, demands us to walk after the Spirit and not the flesh…our flesh. Our flesh, which is so easily led away by worldly lusts, we do not follow.
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5
The things of our flesh involved our emotions; our feelings of which have no moral authority…no matter how we ‘feel’. Our moral authority is the Word of God and we have been given the Spirit of God afforded us by the Cross of Christ which will continually draw us unto Holiness and Righteousness, just as He did the day we said yes to Christ Jesus.
It is the transition from minding the things of the ‘flesh’ to minding the things of the ‘Holy Spirit’ that is never easy nor simple. The devil WILL rage. He is seeking whom he may devour. But YOU o’ Child of God, are afforded the ability to resist the devil by remaining steadfast in the faith; fighting the good fight of faith…faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Casting all of our cares upon Him, what the devil meant for evil, the Mighty Hand of God encompasses the humble heart…the heart that is perfect toward Him; His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Because we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, He has helped our unbelief; knitting together, precept upon precept our spirit with His Spirit until we are settled; unmovable on a firm foundation. Knowing that we know that we know in Whom we have believed, the Grace of God comes to us in an uninterrupted flow. We are not perfect but the One in Whom we have believed is perfect and He IS able to keep us unto the day our faith becomes sight and we behold the Face of the One Who knew us before we were ever formed in our Mother’s womb.
Sadly, the answer religion will present to the new Believer transitioning from following the flesh to following the Spirit of God, is not an edification in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified but a condolence…a comforting shoulder to mourn their condition and deliverance is never met. Forgiveness – yes…but no deliverance. Instead of pointing them to the Cross of Christ, reminding them that at Calvary’s Cross Jesus Christ broke the power of sin in their lives and to keep looking unto HIM and HE WILL author and finish their faith, our religious flesh wants to do what only the Holy Spirit can do, namely remove the sinful desire. However, the Holy Spirit will not do because we/they are not looking unto the Cross of Christ for deliverance from the sin that has so easily beset them but are being comforted in their sin or exhorted to the self will; the power of the flesh to overcome the flesh. If such victory over sin was possible, the Cross of Christ was in vain. God forbid, no!
“17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are Saved it is the Power of God.” 1 Cor. 1:17-18
The Cross of Christ is the Power of God to us who are saved. Though we may suffer for a while, the suffering is meant to perfectly knit our spirit with His; it will establish and strengthen us…it will settle us on a FIRM foundation – Jesus Christ and Him crucified, be determined to know nothing else among you.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 