The spirit is willing

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter.  ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh [human nature] is weak [lacks the necessary resources].’” (Matthew 26:40-41)

We have a spirit inside of us.  It is created by the breath of God and gives us life (James 2:26).   We know that it connects and has qualities similar to the Holy Spirit as it searches us and gives us understanding.  

1 Corinthians 2:11  says,  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”  Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.”   And Job 32:8 says, “But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

The purpose in searching us and giving us understanding is to lead and guide us towards God.   If the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with everything inside of us, the spirit’s job is to help us to do this.   Our spirits are the perfect depiction of a servant leader.   They help us to see, discern and, unless overridden, will follow the Holy Spirit and guide us into all righteousness so it acts as our subconscious in serving us.

Our spirits can be overridden and become seared.   When it is seared, like our hunger signal that tells us we need to eat, if overridden long enough, will no longer give us this feedback and we stop being hungry.  In the same way, it can stop giving us feedback.

In 1 Timothy 4:2, Paul warns that in the latter days, people will follow deceitful spirits and lead others astray.  He says, Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”  

In this verse he was speaking of those following religious rules like do not handle and do not touch.  Rather than receiving with thanksgiving what God has for them, they push it away in abstinence.  Following this kind of rules can actually sear our conscience and disconnect us from walking with God… the true purpose of our spirits.  

In the verse where Jesus told his disciples that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, just earlier, Peter had proclaimed that if everyone else fell away, he would not.  He would never disown Jesus.   His confidence in the flesh made his flesh [human nature] stronger and his spirit weaker.   Also the son’s of Zebedee had earlier been asking to be on his right and left, greatest in His Kingdom and insisted they could drink from His cup.   Their flesh was strengthened by this and their spirit weakened.

Lying, deceiving and other sin is what sears our conscious, causing our spirits to diminish and become significantly weakened. Jeremiah 23:26 says, “How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?”  And Ephesians 4:19, “Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

In the same way that opposing our spirits cause it to be diminished and seared, when we feed our spirits, it becomes revived, refreshed and renewed.  2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

 We can feed our spirits on the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

We can also look to Daniel on how he fed his spirit.  Daniel 6:3 says about him, “Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” 

Daniel followed practices that strengthened his spirit on a daily basis.   He spent time petitioning God for himself and his people at dawn, noon, and sunset every day.   He made this a priority in his life.  He also carried burdens of the Lord in prayer.   We know that even at the start of his 21 day fast, that angelic hosts were working on his behalf and answering prayers.

Daniel was serious about not doing anything against his conscious.   He submitted to his conscious and trusted that God would make a way through.   He refused to eat tempting food an the kings table.   He could have easily excused himself, as being forced to eat rich food, but instead he begged for mercy and God opened the way.   Him and his friends also refused to bow to any idol. 

As the devil is the father of all lies, there are forces constantly forces at work trying to get us to excuse ourselves and not feed our spirits.   We get rushed and wake up without time to pray.   We skip out on reading the word or hurry through it.   But, we cannot have an exceptional spirit and compromise our spirits at the same time.  And we especially cannot worship idols. 

It says in Luke 1:15 about John the Baptist, “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”  It goes on to say that part of this is that he did not drink any strong drink from birth.  He also lived a lifestyle that gave up his own comfort and luxury for fasting and repenting for the people in the heat of the desert.   He closed out all distractions and filled his life with God.  It goes to show that we cannot fill our lives with the world, comfort or luxury and expect to have an exceptional spirit.

So what does an exceptional spirit look like?

In Daniel 5:12, “Daniel, the one he named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, as well as knowledge, understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Summon Daniel, therefore, and he will give you the interpretation.”

When we have an exceptional spirit, we tap into the things of God.  Our spirits are not limited by the natural world.   They bring us knowledge and understanding that is from the Kingdom realm.  They give us dreams and help us to interpret them, explain difficult problems and find supernatural solutions.  Our spirits master the word and bring it into our world.

With Elijah, Ezekiel, David and John the Baptist, we see that their exceptional spirits caused them to pray powerful prayers, be in full alignment with God’s will, and be strengthened to make difficult sacrifices. It caused them to reach greater heights of worship, be able to share prophetic insight with others, and have extraordinary courage to not back down.

It also caused some of them to sometimes be transported places (physically and/or by their spirit).  It caused people to be able to see into the angelic realm.   Their bodies so accommodated the spirit that they no longer had the same natural forces that held them back like continual need for food, having sickness, or even death. Some of them were able to go with someone by the spirit. 

At the same time, when God sent His Holy Spirit and it changed everything.   The Holy Spirit resides in us and is like a backbone that strengthens and feeds our spirits.   We see significant changes in Peter and other disciples as the power of the Lord filled them.   They had supernatural courage, influence and power for healing and deliverance.

A greater potential was given to us to live in the Spirit when the Holy Spirit was sent to guide and teach us all things.   As we pray in the Spirit, our spirit inside us is strengthened.   As we lean into the Holy Spirit, we step into His limitless potential through our spirit.   We become supernatural and limitless in our potential through our spirits.  What was available to a few who had honed their spirits exceptionally well, becomes available to all who seek and rely on the Holy Spirit.

However, even after receiving the Holy Spirit, we still see people quenching the Spirit and getting caught up in sin.  We see people with the Holy Spirit still falling away, making poor choices, letting their soul and emotional lead rather than their spirit, and becoming hopeless, bitter or hard hearted.   This means that even though the Holy Spirit fills us, it does not over-ride our responsibility to both follow and  strengthen our spirit.  Ephesians 4:27 says to give no foothold to the devil.  

As we pray, repent, put things aside that distract us, guard our hearts, train ourselves to be godly, fast, and follow other spiritual practices such as gratitude, giving, and spiritual rest, we strengthen our spirit and capacity to pull from the unseen realm.   Our spirits were made to help us endure through all circumstances, overcome adversity victoriously (1 John 5:4) and not give up (Proverbs 18:14).

It is all about alignment.  We align our spirits with the Holy Spirit who is aligned with Jesus Christ and we become more and more one in Him. As we are aligned with Him, we are more able to pull from the unseen realm and bring His Kingdom forth in the natural realm.  Like oil poured down from the beard of Aaron, anointing is available to minister and fulfill His purposes.   We become not only more one in Him but we can also become more and more one with each other.   We are the body of Christ with many parts and were meant to function as one together.  As we mature, we unify into the Bride of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 says, “So that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves, so it would also be the role of our spirit to help us to do this.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we see that our love for others can be transformed and purified.   Our spirits can even bond us with others at the soul level like Jonathan and David and impart to others as like with Paul and Timothy.  

As our faith flourishes, our love and concern for others will grow.  Love is a verb and follows our actions.  As our spirits grow, we become less self-focused and more others focused and giving rather than self-serving.   We develop a care and concern for others and a capacity to put ourselves aside and help others get ahead (which further grows our spirit and connection with others).  

We can quench this strength of spirit by following temptations to envy, compete, blow up at someone, discourage them or cause them difficulty in their lives. This not only diminishes them but diminishes us and damages our souls.   Our souls, like an air filter, receives substance from the choices we make.   Our souls can prosper or diminish.  

In John 3:2, he prays, “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.”   Another translation says, “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.”

As I have found with praying for people, the strength of our spirit can also impact our health.  If the spirit is weak and full of compromise, one’s soul collets all this gunk and ultimately it impacts physical health as well.  Nursing anger can sometimes create TMJ for example.  And bitterness that is carried and nursed can lead to all kinds of pains and make us susceptible to many diseases and illnesses.   We make ourselves open to “unclean spirits” that can also cause us illness or even death.

There are “unclean spirits” and “familiar spirits” that can inhabit, influence and afflict a person’s soul and physical body.  They enter when they get some sort of foot-hold due to sin. They are separate from our spirits as when they are cast out, the person still has life.  But, for a period of time while they inhabit them, they may overpower a person’s spirit and significantly influence behavior and/or cause illness.

Luke 13:10-12 says, “One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your disability.’”

Besides demonic spirits having influence, there are also angelic spirits that have influence.   While they do not attempt to possess a human or override our will, they are sent to minister to humans. Hebrews 1:1. 4 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits. Servants to God, to Christ, and to his people, and therefore must be inferior to the Son of God.”

Our spirits return to God when we breath our last breath.   Ecclesiastes 12:7  says, “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”   And as animals have life, they also have a spirit.  Ecclesiastes 3:21, asks “Who knows that the breath [spirit] of man ascends upward and the breath [spirit] of the beast descends downward to the earth?”

We also know that our spirit is judged.   1 Peter 3:19-20 says about Jesus, “After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”

Lord, we long for a stronger spirit.   Strengthen us in the inner man and give us exceptional spirits so that we are fully in line with you and giving out from the Kingdom realm.  Prompt us on anything we should pick up or put down so that we have more bench strength.   

“We are not of this world, there is so much more than what we see here” sings in the background.