WEEK 7
TOPIC: The Nature of Man (Part 3) – Cultivating The Human Spirit.
TEXT: Ephesians 3:14-16.
We have started exploring the human spirit and how he functions in the nature of man. We have seen some factors about spirit of man and how it is vital to understand them for maximum productivity in our earth walk. This human spirit has to be cultivated or trained in order to be fully developed to attain his full potentials. Without engaging a adequate training of the human spirit, a man will be weak and ineffective in his pursuit of destiny. An untrained human spirit is a great disadvantage in the race of life. Your effectiveness in your spiritual walk in Christ is largely contingent on the development of your spirit primarily. Therefore it is important we explore this subject of developing our spirit because of the place it holds in our earth walk.
How to train the Human Spirit
In life, training is what makes the difference between success and failure. Every child of God is destined to reign in life, but only the spiritually trained will truly experience it in practical reality. Listen! Every child of God is born supernatural by virtue of the new birth, but every child of God may not experience and manifest the supernatural life, depending on whether they are schooled in the spirit or in the flesh.
There are some practical things we can engage in to train our spirit man.
- Read and Meditate on the word constantly: The word of God is the source of the human spirit as we have already established. Therefore continuous reading and meditating on the word will cause the human spirit to be filled with divine substance that will strengthen him. When God was set to begin with Joshua, this is what He told him to do (Joshua 1:8). The Psalmist repeated it n Psalms 1:1-3. Apostle Paul told Pastor Timothy to give himself to reading and meditation in the word if he wants to be great (1 Tim. 4:15). Look at Jesus, it was said that reading and meditating on the word was His custom (habit) and that was how He located what was written concerning Him and His destiny erupted instantly (Luke 4:16-18). The act of reading and meditation in the word will cause your spirit to glow in the divine light and that light is what it uses to prevail over the darkness in the world. This is where the failure of many are in the church world. We are caught up in so many well meaning activities in church life and there is nothing wrong with it, but the real growth device which is criptural meditation is fast becoming a lost art. If you think your spirit is going to make it by just getting to hear a powerful preaching on Sundays only, you are joking. If you want to build your spirit strong, engage daily reading and meditation in the word.
- Believe the truth: In John 17:17, Jesus said the word of God is truth. The word is the truth of God concerning everything. The human Spirit has the capacity to believe anything and whatever it believes forms its development. Child of God, learn to consciously believe, accept and endorse the word in every matter. It will do your spirit a lot of development. Don’t argue against the truth when it comes to you. Doing so will sooner or later confuse your spirit, weaken it until your spirit is eventually conditioned in error. This is a dangerous state your spirit can find itself because you will start getting deep conviction to do certain things and yet those things are against God’s word. That you have a deeper conviction to do certain things doesn’t mean you are correct. It depends on the programming your spirit has received over time. The voice of your spirit is your conscience. This conscience can be programmed to believe and endorse things that are against the word when you constantly resist bible truth. This is what the Bible calls “DELUSION”. Delusion means you have believed a lie and become so convinced in your heart that you are at home with error. This can even give you a false sense of peace. Didn’t the Bible say, “…when men say peace, peace, then cometh sudden destruction?” (1 Thess. 5:3). Child of God, make a practice of believing the truth of the word, endorsing it, no matter how your own opinion and desire may differ. You may fall in love with an unbeliever emotionally, but in the hype of your feelings, tell yourself that the word is against it and accept the finality of the word. Soon your emotions will surrender to the truth you have accepted and you do away with the said relationship. That’s how to establish your spirit in the word and grow. Learn to believe and endorse the truth of the word irrespective of how you feel per time, and your spirit will grow strong in God.
- Read Anointed Books: Anointed books are books written by anointed men drawing their basis from scriptures on different subjects in life. These books carry the same spirit of the word, and can strengthen your spirit man. In Acts 8:29-31, the Ethiopian Eunuch told Philip that he needed a man to guide him in understanding the Bible. That’s what anointed books do; the authors, through their books, help your understanding of the word better in the area of revelation granted them. Read anointed books, and your spirit man will grow.
Points to note
- The human spirit can be trained. It can grow strong or become weak.
- Reading or meditating on the word of God helps the human spirit glow with light.
- Arguing against the truth of the word will condition your spirit in error and weakness.
- Anointed books help your understanding of the word.
Prayers/Declaration
Father, I thank you for the opportunity to develop my spirit through your word. As I engage the truth today and always, I declare that my inner man is getting stringer by the day and I’m dominating the darkness of this world in Jesus’ Name.
Questions for meditation
- Why is it important to train the human spirit?
- How does reading and meditation in the word enhance the development of the spirit man?
- What will happen to your spirit if you constantly argue against the truth of God’s word?
- What do we mean by anointed books?