Though we bodily live in a broken world, it is God's will for believers to live with their spirit in heaven.
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How to Live in the Spirit
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13, emphasis added).
Jesus said, in above Scripture, that He was abiding
in heaven while He was living bodily on earth. How can that be? He lived a life that was dictated by His Spirit. Though He is God, He emptied Himself of His divine glory and He took on the form of a bondservant and came in the likeness of man. Though He was perfect in His Spirit, soul and body He was not moved by the observation of His bodily senses or His heart’s feelings or anticipation of a gut-feel or according to a conclusion of His intellect. …I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him (John 8:28b-29, emphasis added). He demonstrated to us, the family of God, the Father-son relationship; that is one’s total dependency on God and complete obedience to His Majesty on high.
Jesus came to the earth to restore fallen man and
the broken universe by reconciling all things to God in Himself. He came to reveal God as Father and demonstrated to us how we should relate to Him as sons as He intended it to be from the beginning. All things God made must be viewed in the light of His eternal purpose to bring forth many sons to glory. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Hebrews 2:10-11, emphasis added). When you came to believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, God placed you into the body of His Son. Because you are joined to Him you have become one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). Just like when a man marries a woman and they become one flesh likewise when you are joined to Christ you become one spirit with Him signifying you are married to the King. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name (Isaiah 54:5a, emphasis added). You are not your own but God purchased you with the blood of His Son.
In Christ you became a citizen of heaven because
you are joined to Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). You belong to heaven, which is situated in the spiritual realm where God dwells, because you are born into God’s family the ruler of the country called Heaven. As a citizen of heaven you need to know God in all your ways and not lean on your own understanding. God who is Spirit can only relate to you through your redeemed spirit. God, through His Holy Spirit, reveals Himself and His ways to you in your spirit.
Why must you walk in the Spirit? You are a king in
the kingdom of God and he set man over the works of His hands. You need to live in the Spirit because heaven is the place of God’s throne, the place of His authority. Only from this realm you can truly exercise authority and be obedient to Him. Then His kingdom come because His will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.
He, the King of glory came down from heaven, to
become like you and me that we can become like Him, kings and sons; to rule and to reign with Him and to relate to God as sons; concerned about the Fathers family business – His kingdom. To rule with Christ is not a promise to come into fulfillment one day when you go to heaven but it can be yours now if you can catch on to this vision of hope and believe it and start walking in it now by faith. Faith is not a future vision but hope points to the future. Faith is always in the present, believing the vision of hope for tomorrow enough to walk in it today. By faith the promises of God, His visions of hope that he placed in your heart, come to pass. The past is just memories of good and bad times. There is nothing you can do about the past, it is gone forever. The focus of our faith is always in the present.
Though Christ restored all things and reconciled all
things to God in Himself, you are still experiencing lack because of God’s unfulfilled promises. You do not experience your whole person and all creation alive to God. Death, lack and incompletion are still daily realities. You still labor in the sweat of your brow to mainly satisfy the needs and desires of your body of death. The whole creation still groans and labors with birth pangs until now to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God and we still within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
If Christ has brought all things into fulfillment when
He died and was raised from the dead you would have been perfected and God would have placed the perfection of His Son in you. You would have been clothed with immortality in your body and perfection in your spirit and soul.
At the moment Christ is not demanding perfection
from you but faith. The manifestation of His kingdom can only come about as the body of Christ reaches into it through faith. When the Son of Man comes shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 8:18). Faith is only to be found in the realm of spirit but the Law applies in the natural realm where the flesh reigns. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Galatians 5:18, emphasis added). This scripture implies that if you are not led by the Spirit that you are under the law; the law is not of faith but of works (Galatians 3:12). You can only relate to God and others in the spirit, through faith, hope and love; against such there is no law. The fruit that you bear will be a witness of your dwelling place because a tree is known by its fruit.
Though we presently live in a sphere of lack and
incompletion, it is the will of God for His family (born-again believers) to live with their spirit in heaven while being imprisoned in a body of death on earth and tormented with a soul that is enmity against God.
Your born-again spirit is the only part of your
being that is presently alive to God, which is able to observe Him and His kingdom (Romans 8:10). Through faith you can have a life in the Spirit (heaven) while being on earth. How do you do it? By constantly setting your mind on heavenly and not earthly matters and in so doing be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you may learn to discern what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is. It is imperative to evaluate all things through the eyes of the Holy Spirit; that is the way to abide in the spiritual realm. But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16b).
The soul of man lives in the psychic or soulish
realm and the physical body lives in the physical realm. Thus, the lower sphere where the natural or carnal man dwells consists of the soulish (psychic) and physical realms. This is the realm of the flesh and the world. If you are ruled by these lower realms you will certainly die because you are making a covenant with death and the grave. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh….. For to be carnally minded is death (Romans 8:5a, 6a, emphasis added). You are in the world (soul and physical realms) but not of it, meaning that you are not suppose to be ruled by the desires and direction of your carnal soul as it is desperately wicked because it is filled with the darkness of this world (realm of the wicked one). This is to exist in a doubtful frame of mind pursuing vain things. If you are reconciled to God, raised with Christ from the dead then be reconciled to His mind.
If the carnal mind, which is part of your soul, is
enmity against God your entire soul is enmity against Him. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subjected to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Romans 8:7). The soul primarily consists of a mind (intellect), emotions (feelings) and will. The heart [emotions and independent intellect] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9). To be led by how you feel (emotions) and independent reasoning (carnal intellect) you are fulfilling the desires of your flesh and of your carnal mind (Ephesians 2:3).
Paul desperately desired to be freed from the
bondage of his sinful soul. His will, which is part of his soul, failed him often. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do (Romans 7:15). He erred by doing things or not doing things based on how he felt or on the outcome of thoughts and conclusions which he put or not put into action. This is dangerous because an independent life from God is death. Independence from God caused Adam to die. Independence from God is the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord God commanding the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Our first parents choose to sought knowledge and wisdom independently from God; they died. For this reason we must know God in all our ways and not lean on our own understanding of things and matters.
Your bodily senses cannot observe God because
your body is dead to God because of sin. Your body cannot respond to anything outside of the physical realm. It cannot respond to the spiritual realm where God dwells because it is dead to anything outside of the physical realm; it is dead to the spiritual and psychic realms. Because you cannot feel God with your hands, or smell Him with your nose, or hear Him with your physical ears, or see Him with your eyes of flesh, or taste Him with your tongue does not mean He is not there. Your physical body is a prisoner of the natural realm while God dwells in the realm of spirit. Your body and God exist in two different worlds that is why you are unable to observe, with your bodily senses God who lives in heaven. You can only relate to God through faith, hope and love, which is the three doorways into the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Flesh and blood cannot inherit or enter the kingdom
of God because it is in the realm of spirit where God dwells. Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain that Peter, James and John witnessed is a good illustration of this truth. They observed the transfiguration in a vision with the eyes of their spirit because man’s bodily senses are limited to observance in the physical realm and are unable to observe in the spirit and psychic realms. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead” (Matthew 17:9, emphasis added).
If Paul knew flesh and blood could not enter into
heaven or see heavenly things, why did he deem it not strange for his body to be caught up into heaven? I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). Through faith, Paul lived a life where he saw himself bodily alive to God. He knew that faith is the substance of his hope to be bodily alive to God. If he is bodily alive to God, his body can enter into heaven (spiritual realm), hence his bold statement. He knew in God’s books faith is reality and has nothing to do with the time of its fulfillment (Enoch [without the Law] and Elijah [under the Law] by faith put on immortality before the time of the last trumpet).
A decision independent from God’s will (command)
caused Eve to be deceived and Adam to blatantly rebel against God in disobedience. When the branches were severed from the Vine they died. Independence from Christ guarantees death, darkness and deception. Christ is not death but the Fountain of all life, not darkness but the Source of all light, not deception or the lie but the beginning and end and embodiment of all Truth.
Those who live according to the Spirit set their
minds on the things of the Spirit. This is to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ by meditating on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtues and praiseworthy that they may be renewed in the spirit of their mind.
How do you put this into practice? It is to know the
Lord in all your ways and not to lean on your own understanding but to have the mind of the Lord on all areas of your life and on all things of concern.
The first step is to formulate your problem or
issue or to read the Scriptures. My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh (Proverbs 4:20-22, emphasis added). The word of the Lord is Spirit and life (life to those who find the word; the word is health to all their flesh). If you live in the Spirit (heaven) there is no death but only life; you will live like Enoch and Elijah and not die. The Lord has set life (lifestyle according to the Spirit) and death (lifestyle according to the carnal mind) before us. Let us choose life and live.
Pay carefully attention to the information you need
to meditate on. If it is an answer or solution (e.g. an invention) you seek, carefully look at the question or problem. If you are searching for light in the Scriptures, read the chosen passage a couple of times and absorb as much as possible. You need to have a good overview of the object of your meditation. You need to have a good visual display of the story in your heart. You must remember that the Lord is always the main character in your story, regardless of its content.
If you want to do Scripture reading it is wise to stay
in the flow of the word that is coming in your church. It is a healthy habit to make notes of the sermons. Choose a passage of Scripture that came during the last sermon. Alternatively choose a passage of Scripture that is relevant to what the Lord is speaking to your own heart.
Some people may be on a course reading through
the Bible. Never take too big a passage of Scripture to read. Just take a big enough passage that you can handle otherwise you may grow weary and loose interest. It is like eating too much food. If you eat too much, a great deal of the nutritional stuff does not get absorbed into your system.
After you have chosen the passage of scripture
read one time through the whole chapter to give you clear background of the passage of Scripture that you want to meditate on. Then read the passage of Scripture prayerfully, visualizing the story in your imagination. Do it for a second time seeing yourself as part of the mental picture.
The second step is to meditate on the issue.
Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established (Proverbs 4:26, emphasis added). To be spiritually minded is life and peace.
It is important to look to Jesus when you meditate
or visualize. It is like discussing the matter with Him but without using words, seeing a vision in mute mode. When your meditation is filled with the word and the Spirit then it is Spirit and life. If it is void of the Holy Spirit it is as dead as a corpse. The letter kills but the Spirit makes alive. Your focus on the Lord and the word shows faith in God.
The third step is to pray over it. Ask the Lord to
unveil the answer to the mystery, the riddle in Scripture or the problem you are facing. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2).
You need to fear the Lord because the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Lord resists the arrogance of the proud and the irreverence of the impatient. To fear the Lord and revere His person is a choice you make by faith. To exercise patience is a choice you make. The Lord gives grace to the humble and reward the patience of the righteous. The Lord takes delight in those that put their trust in Him. If you want to be led by the Spirit of God, through His knowledge and His wisdom, the first lesson to learn is to fear the Lord and revere His holy name. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see [revelation] God (Matthew 5:8).
The Lord sometimes but seldom answers you
immediately. When you meditate on the word or waiting on the Lord for guidance you normally treat it like interpreting a dream. God’s word is God’s dreams for your life. Usually it takes time to find the answer to achieve the breakthrough. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation (Daniel 2:16, emphasis added). It is the Lord’s way of drawing you into a relationship with Him, to teach you to trust Him and to love Him regardless of delays.
In Scripture the Holy Spirit normally gives you an
unfolding revelation of the will of God. So in recording your revelation you can discover after a week or longer what the Lord’s will is for your life or you may discover what the Lord is working out in your life. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little (Isaiah 28:10).
Sometimes as you meditate on the word, out of the
blue, you will receive a witness from the Holy Spirit concerning personal matters. This happens because your spirit is open to God. Sometimes you need to meditate and re-meditate over and over on your object of meditation to get a clearer picture of what the Lord is telling you. If you have a journal in which you record your meditations on computer it is easy to alter the content as it with time becoming clearer to you. Personal matters can sometimes not be verified in Scripture and mostly you do not receive conformation of it. Time alone can prove if it was a word from God or not.
The answer from the Lord is the vision of hope that
He placed in your heart. Without hope you will perish. Hope is the foundation of faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis added).
The final step is to exercise faith. When God looks
at you, He is not looking for perfection but for faith. …when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8b). The religious man (man of flesh) always tries to impress God with some level of perfection while the spiritual man believes God. Faith is obedience that says, “God I trust You, let us go for it!” When you believe God, God sees the perfection of His Son in you. If you persevere in faith you become faithful.
Enoch and Elijah walk with so much faith that they
started to experience the life and joy Adam has experienced in the garden before his transgression. They were not moved by their bodily senses but by the word of the Lord. They were so full of life that if God has not taken them they would have still walked the earth.
Do not say it was Enoch and Elijah. Remember they
were men like us. Their faith brought substance to a reality were they were alive to God in spirit, soul and body, all things were subdued to Christ in the one and only kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. As far as they were concerned the New Jerusalem has come down and heaven and earth has become one. In their world the will of God has being done on earth as it is in heaven. They had so much life in them that God had to take them.
Enoch and Elijah are shadows of things to come and
it will come to pass in these last days. Their vision is our vision. Our vision of hope is for manifested sonship: “Our hope is to be alive to God in spirit, soul and body and to see all things subdued to Christ as all kingdoms have become the one and only kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, in a realm where heaven and earth is one.” Dare to believe God, He is faithful and He will honor your faith. If you live the way Enoch and Elijah lived and manifest their faith you will reap their reward. It is not a big thing! God is the fulfiller of the New Covenant in the blood of His Son. You only need to walk (converse) with Him and believe Him. He will honor your faith! Amen!