“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent? Are You not the One who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over?”
That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination] (2 Timothy 1:6 AMPC). Think about this: The same Spirit by which Jesus cast out devils, healed the sick, raised the dead, and did all the amazing miracles that He did, lives in you today. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God; He’s the divine essence. He’s exactly like Jesus. He does not receive power from God; He is the power of God. He’s the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.
The Holy Spirit isn’t less than the Father, nor is He less than Jesus. The Bible says it was He who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). This Holy Spirit has also vitalized your hitherto death-prone body. Your body is now His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). Hallelujah! What does this mean for you? It means if ever your body is afflicted, if any wound or anomaly surfaces in your body, it’ll be taken care of by the Holy Spirit. He perambulates in you to ensure nothing goes wrong in or with your physical body. This is the reality! So, every so often, activate the power of God that is in you by praying in tongues and affirming God’s word.
You don’t have to attend “revival” meetings to activate the power of the Spirit. Just start declaring His Word concerning your life, and before long, His divine power will course through your being. Blessed be God! When Jesus died, you died in Him. But something happened afterwards: God raised Jesus from the dead, and you were raised together with Him. That was what happened when you were born again; you were awakened to God; you came alive in the spirit. Now you can understand the realities of God’s Kingdom; you can know the things of God, because you’re alive to Him.
The Lord Jesus said you’ve been given the power to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:10), so now there isn’t any spiritual reality you can’t understand. Never again say, You know, I really don’t understand the things of God; Rather, you ought to say, I’m alive to God; therefore, I have an understanding heart; I understand the things of God. Say this repeatedly until it takes hold of your being. You don’t have to walk in darkness or ignorance concerning the Kingdom-life, your inheritance, rights, benefits, and privileges in Christ Jesus. The Bible says, Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God (1 Corinthians 2:12). What an awesome blessing: the Holy Spirit is in you to teach you all things and unveil the mysteries of life to you.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:17-18). The word “know” in our opening text is the Greek “eido.” It means, “To become aware.” God wants you to become aware of the hope of His calling in your life, and the inheritance He’s made available to you in Him.
1 John 5:13 (NIV) says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” God wants you to know you have eternal life in your spirit now. When you’re aware of it, you’re going to live and act accordingly. It’s part of growth—learning about the things of God—knowing where you are, and who you are in Him.
Eternal life is the life and nature of God, which you receive at the new birth: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:11-12). Are you aware that you have eternal life? Has it dawned on you that you’re an associate of the God-kind? You may not feel it in your body that you’ve received the life of God; that’s because eternal life is in your spirit and not your physical body, and your consciousness of it will affect the way you live. You’re not ordinary; the life in you is incorruptible, making you excellent and full of glory. God wants you to come to the active knowledge of this truth.
Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:11) What we just read is absolutely life-transforming: we’re alive to God, alive to spiritual realities of the Kingdom. The Apostle Paul made a similar statement in Ephesians 2:1; it says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” To be quickened is to be made alive. When Jesus died, you died in Him. When God raised Him from the dead, you were raised together with Him. You were awakened in God; you came alive in the spirit. This is the reason you can understand the realities of God’s Kingdom.
The one who isn’t born again isn’t alive to God; he’s dead spiritually and gropes in the darkness. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” In Luke 8:10, the Lord Jesus said it is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
Every so often, declare that you’re filled with the knowledge of God’s will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Affirm that you have an understanding heart. This is part of your heritage in Christ. The Lord Jesus said in John 8:12, “…I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” You have insight into the mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, into your inheritance, rights, benefits, privileges, and blessings in Christ.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8:6-7). When we talk about being spiritually minded, the context here is being spiritually minded towards God. Setting your mind and affection on Him and things pertaining to His Kingdom. Some have asked, “How do I set my mind on the Lord and on spiritual things?” It’s by setting your attention on the Word!
The Word shows you what spiritual things are and delivers them to you. That’s because God’s Word is Light (John 1:1-5), and light defines and reveals (Ephesians 5:13). Your spiritual eyes need God’s light—His Word—to show you what spiritual things from Him are, so you can “mind” those things; set your focus on them. Romans 8:5 declares, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” You’re after the Spirit if your affection, the things that excite you, and what you focus your attention on, are things pertaining to Christ, His Gospel, and the eternal life that He brought to us.
Some Christians don’t show or give sufficient interest, time, attention, and effort to studying God’s Word and other spiritually edifying endeavours as praying, attending church services regularly, etc. They’d rather set their minds and attention on worldly things. But the Spirit sounds a strong warning to such folks. We read it as part of our opening scripture; it says, “For to be carnally minded is death…” (Romans 8:6). But if you want to live the life of righteousness, with the peace of prosperity, you have to be spiritually minded. The fact that you study this devotional to learn God’s Word, to learn about Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of God, is being spiritually minded towards God. Continue in it.