Learning to Die to Self

It has recently come to my realization how important it is to learn to die to self on a daily basis. This last weekend I went with my dad, his 2 sisters, and my grandmother to a meeting with Andrew Wommack at the Hilton in Minneapolis. While tornadoes ripped through the Twin Cities I was sitting in an air conditioned ballroom as goose bumps went through me at hearing the words Andrew was saying. He was talking about "Body, Mind, and Spirit". I never quite understood those scriptures about my spirit, but Andrew helped clarify things so much! He said that we are not JUST human, but we are 1/3 spirit as well and that when we become "born again" in Christ it is our spirit that comes to life - filling a void that all of us face from the day we are born. Later in my personal time with God, it came to me that when a baby is born, it's body is brought into life, but there is something so central to us humans that is dead since the moment we are conceived. But because of Jesus, we become complete because all three parts of us, body, mind (soul), and spirit are now alive. And when our spirits become alive it is made perfect because our spirits are like Jesus. So why do we constantly face a lot of strife and fear and anger and depression on an almost daily basis? It's because we are living in our flesh.

Andrew said something so radical to me that it shattered so many things I thought about God. He said that because our spirits are made alive in Christ and that they are made perfect in Him our Spirit can never be separated from God. This means that even though we in the flesh may be filled with fear and anxiety and anger our Spirit is, even now, dancing at the feet of Jesus and filled to the brim with love, joy, peace, and all the other fruits of the Spirit. It was so cool to hear that because it brought me a bunch of excitement to know that even now my perfect Spirit (never quite realized that now my Spirit is perfect) is fully immersed in God.

So why is it important to learn to die to self, to let the flesh die? Well, as Andrew said, the only way for this life and joy and peace that God has already given me to flow over into my natural life I need to stop living in the flesh. I need to make my soul (mind, emotions, and personality) to be in agreement with my Spirit (2 verses 1) in order to allow all the promises and blessings God has already given me to flow over into the natural.

It is hard to live according to the spirit because you can't use any of your senses to experience it. But you can be sure that if you walk by the Spirit you will live the God-filled, abundant life, that the Bible talks so much about. I don't know about you but this is exciting because I'm tired of letting the things of this world tear me down. I'm tired of allowing my emotions and thoughts to get the better of me. I want to live the life God wants for me, but the only way I can do that is if I live according to the Spirit (which leads to life and peace - Romans 8). Imagine, living every day dancing before the Lord. It's like living in heaven here on earth but with all the stuff of the world going on around you. I don't know about you but I want that. I want to never hunger or thirst again, but I want to live every day completely satisfied and it is my goal in life to bring others into that life.

God bless!!