Don't Eat the Garbage

I consist of three parts:  Body, Soul & Spirit.

All three, at some point or another, have to come in ALIGNMENT in order for my life HERE ON EARTH to function in harmony.

As a believer in Jesus, the third part of me (spirit man), becomes illuminated at my conversion.  When this happens the body & soul have a decision to make.  The BODY has to decide whether or not it's going to yield to the SPIRIT man.  Believe me...the BODY doesn't want to yield to the SPIRIT man and thus the battle to see who will prevail begins on the battlefield of my SOUL.

• My BODY has had years to boss me around before my conversion.  Thus the mistakes and messes I've made in my body that have tripped me up and caused consequences must still be dealt with in spite of God's forgiveness and grace.  The things I do in the body cannot be dismissed just because I'm a Christian.  The body still has to give an account for it's actions and be willing to receive discipline and restoration.
• My SOUL is where my emotions live and the will to do something resides.  It's in the soulish realm that I make statements like "I don't feel like it" or "my heart's not in it anymore."  It's in the soulish realm where the battle between my body and spirit is fought to the death.
• My SPIRIT is where the Jesus inside of me takes up residence.  Since my conversion, He now does the leading as long as I'm willing to allow Him to lead.  The more I strengthen the spirit man, the less chance the body has to gain an advantage on me.  That's why it's imperative that I keep the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, bible reading & worship a top priority in my life.  Without them, I'm a sitting duck and prey for the enemy.

Sounds easy doesn't it?  Well, actually it's quite attainable but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to live a strong spiritual life.  It's simply JUST TOO EASY to live unto the FLESH rather than DIE to it.

When we allow our spirit man to become weak we can easily yield to:

• Gossip
• Lying
• Manipulation
• Bending the truth to cover my tracks
• Finding fault in others and a critical spirit
• Fornication and sexual sins
• Lack of desire to pray, read my bible, attend church, etc.
• Stinginess
• An unwillingness to receive correction
• An unwillingness to remain accountable
• Worldly pleasure
• Etc.

Friend, the longer we live after the flesh...the longer our flesh man will prevail.  We can put on a good "FRONT" for others but God knows what we're really made of.  He knows where our struggle is and He's ultimately concerned with getting us the help we need so we can ENJOY the taste of an overcoming life on this side of eternity.

God is a God of grace.  He is also a God of forgiveness.  He wants to RESTORE us and see us achieve our dreams.  He has put protocols in our life that will not only HELP us but quite possibly could SAVE us from our patterns of destruction.

Allowing the spirit man inside of you to take the lead

will save you from dysfunction and position you in His will.

When I learn to let the Lord do the LEADING and the LIVING in my life, I cease to struggle with Him and others.  See...as long as my spirit man is weak and I'm blaming everyone else for my mess, I'll not only be out of alignment with Him but also with His people.

There are some that would have us convinced that they don't have to live with accountability or receive correction, instruction or a plan of restoration...BUT that is a RENEGADE SPIRIT and a FOOL talking.

A SPIRIT FILLED man or woman of God will not only humble themselves and remain receptive - they realize that Jesus' life is the pattern for success.  You see, Jesus found favor with God AND with man while on this earth. (Luke 2:52) Yes, God's opinion may be the one that ultimately matters in the hereafter, but in the HERE and NOW we must have favor with both in order for our ministry to be received.  There is no BYPASS around this principle.  We will ALL have to take this same route to get to the intersection of opportunity.

How fast I get there depends on me and who is doing the living in me...body, soul or spirit.

If I am going to follow someone today in ministry it will be someone who is mastering this principle in their own life.

Just because there is probably a good piece of meat in the garbage can outside of the restaurant doesn't mean that I have to dig through the garbage when I could walk inside and get a complete meal. 

Wisdom has taught me to take advice from folks who've actually led something, been fruitful, accountable, truthful, faithful and are presently walking in a covered blessing. 

Anything else is merely theory.  Anything else is merely taking a walk.

Just do right.  Nothing less.  You'll get to where you're going and in spite of the hills and valleys you'll learn valuable lessons that will prepare you along the way. 

If I can't do it here...what makes me think I can do it there?  Geography doesn't cure me...it merely changes my scenery.  However, it won't be long till what's IN me will surface again if I haven't mastered the BODY through the SPIRIT.