WHEN YOUR SPIRIT IS RENEWED

 

WHEN YOUR SPIRIT IS RENEWED

BY Apostle Dr Patrick Osondu

    Note:Bible quotes in red                   

Ephesians 5:1-14

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

² And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

³ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

⁴ Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

⁵ For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

⁷ Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

⁸ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

⁹ (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

¹⁰ Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

¹² For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

¹³ But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

¹⁴ Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light)

Introduction: 

What happened after your spirit is renewed? .....

When your spirit is renewed; you will no longer be who you used to be; your weakness to the things of God will receive strength and your ability to serve God with more seriousness than before will begin to be...

You will equally say no to sinful commitments and your hunger to live in sins and associate with sinners will gradually diminish and die permanently because you are no longer a slave to it...But, instead, a redeemed child of the Living God...

More also, One of the major reasons why you have to allow your spirit to be renewed is because; Without it, you cannot be allowed to access the throne of mercy and receive from God the Father through the Son...Our-Lord-Jesus Christ. And hence Jesus said… 

"John 4 vs. 24"

(God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth)

So it will always take spirit to be connected to the spirit...and without it, your Spiritual antenna and revelational sight will not be magneted to heaven for instant answers...

The out flows and in flows around you in the Spirit realm can now be checkmated, and hence no power or any kingdom can be able to take you unawares...

Secondly, Spiritual renewal exposes every works of darkness in and around you; and equally makes you to be conscious of how you live your life both in the open and in the secret, mostly in the secret, because you will always hear a gentle voice of direction…and with that consciousness, you will be careful not to commit whatever that is sin and every of its enticement...

Above all when you are renewed, it makes you to draw nearer to God at all times, very willingly, without being forced.

Brethren as dearly beloved Children of God, we should emulate the character of God in the cause of every renewal, it will help us to live like God and embrace one of His costliest characters which are...Love...and…God<Himself>-is-absolutely Love...Personified…

Now, let's see these refs: ...

John 3:16

  (For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life)....

 1 John 4:16b

 (Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither)....

As Christians, when we begin to develop love among ourselves as dearly beloved of Christ, we will help one another and will no longer be seeing the fault of each others... Why? Because, the Bible said that Love covers multitude of sin..

1peter 4:8…

(And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins). 

Whom you love,

You will not say evil of him / her...No matter whatever he/she does to you,

Even when others are condemning such a person, you will be the one that will be at his / her defense...

You will never be among them that always spread rumors, backbite or even gossip their fellow others, neither also, will you be able to hold any grudges against any others..

Why, because you have now understood what forgiveness is all about...

And this is what can bring us to another character of God which is..Forgiveness... 

And it is also another way of imitating Christ…

...Upon all that they did to Jesus;

He only said "Father forgives them for they know not what they are doing"

(Luke 23:34)

(Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots).

If Jesus the Chief captain of our ship did follow the footsteps of His Father in forgiveness and have given us the same right to become God's children...And..Co-heirs with Himself in the Heavenly inheritance;

...John 1:12…

 (But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name): 

...Mathew 11:29

(Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls). 

 "We should learn of him" He did forgive as many that offended him...

Mathew 18:21-22

(²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven)

And now, Jesus has handed over to us, the ministry of forgiveness Why then should we allow the spirit of unforgivingness to creep into our mind, thereby limiting the blessing of God upon our individual lives, if only we understand the havoc and the damage the demons of unforgivingness cause our lives; mostly, in the realm of the spirit, you will never associate yourself with demonic characters that hinder us not to become what God wants us to be, just to mention but a few...

There is always a pity for those who are spiritually blinded;

....because they will never know the damage that is always done to them by this unforgiving-spirit,

.....Unforgiving spirit is a very dangerous one, and it goes along with two ugly others;

...Pride and hatred...

And these ugly characters are of not of any benefit to us both in the body of Christ and equally in the society at large.

(Ephesians 5:15-17) said…

(¹⁵ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

¹⁶ Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is).

We should be very careful on how we live our lives, not as unwise but as wise people because the unwise do not only miss their opportunity to utilize their time wisely, but has fundamental problems, that they not understand...

What again are God's purposes for mankind?

When you understand it, you will be mindless of whatever people are saying about you, but instead, you will be mindful of what God is saying concerning you; because you are pursuing a goal that doesn't need distraction..And listening to people's opinion may cause you to loose focus, but focusing on God's purpose for your life will make you to remain in the track...

Let's see…Ephesians 5:18a...

(And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit) KJV;

"And do not be drunk with wine"

Let's discuss on being drunk with alcohol...

First and for most we should know that our body is temple of the Holy spirit..

1 Corinthians 6:19

(What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own)?

And that's why when the Angel that brought the good news of the birth of Samson in the book of...

Judges 13:3-5

(³ And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

⁴ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

⁵ For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines)... 

...warns the mother seriously not take any strong drink because whoever that wants to remain with God's spirit must not take alcohol...

(Proverbs 31: 4-7)

(⁴ It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

⁵ Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

⁶ Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

⁷ Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more).

Drinks here are not for the Spiritual renewal people whose focus is on God and everything that please God...

The kings mentioned there are those with the spirit of God, who will always act wisely, should not drink anything, alcohol…

(Leviticus 10:9)

(⁹ Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations):

When Aaron and his family were chosen by God to join the order of priesthood...

They were vehemently told not to take alcohol lest they die, you can see anybody that want to work walk with God as a priest should has nothing to do with alcohol..

(1 peter 2:9)

(But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light)

Now, if you consider yourself as said by God;

...You are chosen generation...

...A Royal priesthood…

Now, if you really understand what it means to be a chosen child of God, then you are in for your very flowing blessings that should not be aborted, nor bridged, it means you will lack nothing, it means before any need arises, your provision is already made available...

(Isaiah 65:24)

( And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear).

It means in the midst of that challenges God is there watching and waiting for your decisions to hand over to Him...

(1 peter 5:7)

(Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you).

"Cast your burden upon Him, He cares” in fact when your spirit is renewed, no power, no demon nor personality will be able to condemn you…

(Romans 8:1)

(There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit).

Because your life is hidden in Christ in God…

(Colossians 3:3)...

(For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God).

In conclusion: To achieve the goal of spiritual renewal we have but only one thing to do, which is (Brokenness)...

And brokenness is the dealing of the Holy Spirit to our outward man to subject it to yield to our spirit.

Holy Spirit works in the life of Christian believers by renewing our mind to be like the mind of Jesus Christ, He does this by convicting us of sin and leading us to repentance, and through repentance He wipes out what was spiritually dirty in us and allows us to bear good fruit in Him.

Brethren, whenever your heart is telling you to revenge a wrong doing, know you that your spirit is not yet renewed, so do all you can to walk in the leading of the Holy Spirit and you will never regret your Christian journey in this life and life to come in Jesus name...

Say this prayer...

...Holy spirit of the living God...

Do not forsake me, nor be far from me in this journey of life, always draw me closer to God's purpose in my life to make it greater than my imaginations...in Jesus Mighty Name!!!