The Effects of Sin: Deny the Flesh, Rise the Spirit

Words from the Lord are in red italics.

Do you consider yourself a Christian (a follower of Christ), yet do not experience the power of the Spirit and God’s glory in your life?

You may claim the "name of Jesus" in your life and the lives of others, but not see the claims manifest.

Although God sees the bigger picture and is responsible for outcomes, His power is abundantly available.

The lack of access to His power is usually straightforward: you're holding yourself back.

You are not a creature of the flesh but of spirit, bound by the flesh. Remove thy flesh and let your spirit rise.

An "elevated spirit" allows the supernatural to be effective in your life.

Several reasons contribute to your not walking in His power:

1. You may think that you're acknowledgement of Christ’s sacrifice, His blood covering over sin, makes you a Christian and assures your place in heaven. Not only does this thinking keep you bound in complacency, but it also jeopardizes your opportunity for eternal life. 

2. You believe His power is a gift available to other people but somehow not to you.

3. You are not following Christ. The world is in your heart and your actions. You do not look to Him in all things, you do not listen to Him internally in spirit, and therefore, you do not act on His words in obedience.

4. You are hindered by sin. You serve your flesh in selfishness and cause your spirit to be weighed down like an anchor, encumbering movement in the supernatural.

Selfishness keeps you bound. When you no longer consider yourself, you are unbound. Become unbound and experience My glory.   

You are not thriving in the power of the spirit because you follow the world's way, and you reap what you sow.

You must put down the flesh; only then can you reap the Spirit. Deny the body what it wants and reap heaven.

The spirit is a fragile thing in the sense that it is easily encumbered if we allow it. The world has no place in the hearts of those who are His.

LEGALISM

Legalism is widely understood as the belief that salvation is not earned through good works.

However, a few assumptions about legalism prevent people from living in the spirit—living according to Christ.

Good works certainly do not earn salvation. Christ alone gave us the opportunity for salvation through His blood when He died for our sins. But people mistakenly think that salvation (redemption) and eternal life are the same! They reason that faith in Christ to cover their sins somehow removes them from the obligation of following Christ's commands to enter eternal life!

Living in Me is through Me; accepting My blood enables power over sin to defeat the enemy so you may walk in righteousness. Those who do not walk in righteousness will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Redemption is just the beginning. Put down the ways of the world and seek [Me] in all that you do, in listening and obeying [My] commands. In this, you will find peace and freedom in this life and in the next, for only those who walk with [Me] in righteousness see life eternal.

Obedience to the word of God is the opposite of legalism.

To be His, which is His bondservant, you must undoubtedly listen to Him and obey Him. If you do not, you will not walk in righteousness.

As Paul said in Romans 6, you are either a “slave to sin” that leads to death or a “slave to righteousness” that leads to eternal life.

If you do not walk in righteousness, you will not see eternal life.

Do not make the grave mistake that His grace assures your eternal life.

By His grace, Christ died to make salvation available to you.

By His grace, Christ makes eternal life available to you if you walk in righteousness according to Christ, the word of God.

A friend asked me if I liked a particular popular song. My response was that I choose to listen and sing the words I've received from the Lord to create new songs. Christ told me to do this, and I do it out of love for Him in obedience (loving Him = obedience to Him).

Taken back, his response was, "Sounds like legalism".

In all you do you either honor Me or not, it is either good for you or destructive, there is no in-between. All of you is interconnected. 

Glory and honor belong to our God and our God alone.

You cannot do whatever you want, give honor to whatever you want, sing and worship whatever you want, and be His.

There is only truth. Do not be blinded by rationalizing that there's "nothing wrong with this" or "nothing wrong with that". In actuality, you are living a worldly life.

A worldly life is a powerless life that will lead to destruction.

LED BY THE SPIRIT

The intuition of the spirit is the highest form of being; it is by which you were created. 

His ways are not the world’s ways. You are meant to live supernaturally by the intuition of the spirit, where the spirit drives your mind instead of reasoning, unbound from sin.

All sin afflicts the body and the spirit. Putting down sin releases the spirit and allows a life led by the intuition of the spirit versus reason of the mind. The spirit should drive the mind and be subject. It is I who tell you these things, heed My word. Take up your cross, put down sin, and follow Me.

Taking up your cross means you must lay down your life for Him without consideration of yourself, as He has laid down His life for you.

To take up your cross is to follow me. To put to death the cravings of the mind and soul and body. It is to pursue life in the spirit and not in the natural of this realm. It is to inflict pain so that you live a life of freedom. It is for the glory of the Lord. It is to awaken the soul unto Me so I may be Lord of [your] life. It is to put transgression aside and live abundantly in Me. Take up your cross, deny thyself, put to death the infirmary of the flesh, live in the spirit, and let the Holy Spirit be your guide in all things. 

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV

The law Paul refers to in Galatians is the powerless life you suffer and the wide pathway leading to death.

Deny the world and reap the spirit; deny the spirit and reap destruction and death.  

A Christian is defined as being led by the Spirit and guided by Christ—otherwise, a follower of the law. 

FAITH MEASURED IN ACTION

Greater is he who lives by faith than he who lives by his hand. What is the measure of a man’s faith? It is his willingness to give up everything for Me.

Taking up your cross and putting down sin shifts the world's power over you to the greater power of the spirit. Following Him means being dependent on Him, seeking Him internally in Spirit, loving Him by obeying His commandments and doing what He tells you to do, and letting Him guide you in everything. 

The spirit animates the body, its motion. Faith sets you apart, evidenced by your actions. Take action from the guidance of the spirit within. Look to the spirit, and then do.

Do not obstruct My way, for I am the way, the life, and the truth. I am the kindred spirit. 

You cannot follow Christ and follow the ways of the world. The way of the world is obstructed, and the way to death. When Christ said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, He was saying that there is no other path than Him, no other truth than Him, and there’s no life other than through Him and with Him.

Put out your old man and walk in your new man, a man who lays his life down and denies his flesh for Me.

PURSUE CHRIST

Work in Me, or it’s not work at all. Work through Me and see great things happen. Work of yourself and see dead works.

Men pursue holiness through the flesh. But I say, pursue Me in spirit and see all things become manifest.

There is none greater than I, why do [you] seek elsewhere? Seek Me and receive the fullness of My glory. Do not even the downtrodden look up?

You are meant to live in the fullness of Christ; to look to Him in all things and live supernaturally in His provision. It starts with the mindset that you are spirit first and foremost, constrained by sin and your acceptance of the flesh. 

WALK IN SPIRIT AND WALK IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

You must accept that you are of the spirit and deny your flesh. 

If you walk in righteousness, according to Christ’s ways, you can live in and command great power. 

You have the power within to change and shape this world. Act in righteousness, walk in peace. Who can come against? Who can stand in the presence of the Lord? Be of purity and light, and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Do not be shortsighted. Only through spirit do you have control of the natural and the supernatural. Only through spirit do you have life in the flesh. Do not rely on your own understanding but on the power of the spirit. 

Do all things in the spirit so they may be realized perfectly in the flesh. 

Leave all behind and follow Me in whole. Your spirit longs for this, your body lags behind and encumbers your spirit. Free your body and let your spirit soar. Your body will be free in glory, let your light shine and you will be glorified. Do not resist, for I am within thee. I am there to sprinkle My blood and guide your footsteps.

Untie from this world. Be dependent only on Me, in suffering and truth. Release your dependence on your food shelf and give back to Me. Be of charity and goodness. 

Extricate yourself from this world; only then can you truly be in My presence. For I am of spirit and I am of light. Become unbound and experience My glory.   

THE UNITY OF MARRIAGE

If you are married, you have become as one body and one spirit. The actions of one affect the other. The sin and selfishness of one impede the spirit of the other.  

Those tied together, as in marriage, are as one. If one rises, so does the other. If one sinks, so does the other. So if one is to rise, both must rise, as they are as one.

A ship sails as one. Is not the mast, the anchor, and the hull all as one, moving together as one? So must you with your [spouse], raising the sail and lifting the anchor as to not impede your progress.  

PUTTING DOWN SIN

I am the wind and the sea, the power that surrounds your vessel. Who is responsible for the anchor, who will set sail? 

Supernatural power is readily available to you if you do not hinder the spirit in sin (the "anchor") and are led by the spirit (the "sail"). You are responsible for putting down sin and walking in righteousness to live powerfully through Christ. 

Be filled with the Holy Spirit and sin no more. 

With the infilling of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled not to sin.

Do not be deceived that it is impossible not to sin. 

Feed your flesh My word, My flesh, and your body and mind will be strong.

Choosing not to sin starts with feeding your mind the word of God (yes, reading, but mainly listening to Christ's words in spirit).

Likewise, feeding on evil and sin increases the enemy, decreases your spirit, and weakens your mind and body.

Evil and sin are like cancer; remove their food, and they will perish. Deny your flesh and increase in spirit, and the enemy will be destroyed.  

Consume wisdom, [My] word internally through spirit, and be redeemed by [My] blood.

If you sin, you must be made clean to move forward without impediment. 

But know this: there is a price to be paid for becoming clean. 

Do not ask Me for forgiveness, would you re-crucify Me? Instead, reclaim My blood as a covering over you and enter into My blood, knowing that each time it is being consumed.

Christ shed His precious blood for your sins so you may have hope for life with Him in God’s glory. Each time you choose to sin and enter into His blood, you decide to deplete His blood.

But in sinning, you must enter into His blood by faith. His blood must cover you to walk in righteousness. 

HEALING

Sin destroys, but My light heals. Which do you choose?

Sin is a choice. The pain and suffering from sin are often realized as pain in our bodies.

Although sin is not in our cells, it is an inhibitor. 

No one wants to live with pain; it is an indication that something is wrong.

Pain causes change, an awareness that something needs to change. War the enemy and see health restored. Change your habits to war the enemy and not be idle. 

Do not be a partaker of sin, but war against sin. 

If we want ourselves and our world to be healed, we must change our habits of sinning and deny the flesh its desires. When the spirit rises, there is surrounding peace and glory, God's power unabated, and the enemy defeated.

The more the enemy is defeated, the healthier our world will be. Health is the eradication of the enemy. 

Releasing the spirit conquers the flesh, destroying the darkness and healing the body.

Flesh cannot conquer flesh; only spirit can conquer flesh. Let the light within destroy the darkness and heal the flesh. This is My way, not the way of the world. Deny the world and reap the spirit, deny the spirit and reap destruction and death.  

In denying the world, we are in obedience to the word of God. Obedience leads to righteousness, and righteousness to walking in spirit. Walking in spirit unlocks the power of the supernatural to fulfill in the natural, including healing.

Seek Me within, the body will follow for the righteous. 

All sin afflicts the body and the spirit. There is healing in mercy and healing in obedience to My word. 

Healing comes from being in My spirit. Glory is the building blocks of My kingdom, it is the foundation of all things. Peace to glory is like the hammer is to the nail. With peace, build in glory.  From My glory comes power, and in power movement. Movement of flesh and spirit, healing and prophecy and all forms of gifts of the spirit and the natural. I work in the supernatural and the natural obeys.

It is of Me and from Me that life flows. Life cannot reconstitute itself without Me. Remove Me and all will be shattered. I hold everything together, My word makes it so. I am the way and the pasture, feed on Me and you will have everlasting life. Remove thy flesh and let your spirit rise. 

LIVE POWERFULLY

You may believe that sin is just a way of life because we are "only human".

You may believe that faith in His blood over sin keeps you redeemed no matter what you do.

The bondage of these misguided beliefs not only leads to a powerless life but also to an unhealthy life.

Worse yet, this bondage could keep you from eternal life if you do not do as Christ commands.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through Me. This should be in the hearts and on the minds of every person, every day. 

Every day, take up your cross and follow Him.

Every day, keep His truth in your heart and on your mind.

Every day, choose not to sin and live a powerful life with hope in Jesus Christ for eternity.

Turn off your lights and let your light internal shine through. Untether from this world and soar with Me in spirit.