Peter Pan's "Following The Leader."

Remember Peter Pan's Following the Leader. That sweet little clip with cartoon characters that were innocently following their leader with determination, and resolve that they would do their job successfully, come what may.

Well, Father, I say that we have the "childlike" faith to do the same, to follow our "Leader" the Maker of Heaven and Earth and all that fills them with the resolve that we will do the "job" we've been given, come what may. We will be "Led" by Your Spirit through our own spirit, and we will listen and do, all that you have designed for us to do with the VICTORY that you've made provision for, in Jesus' Name.

Man: An Eternal Spirit

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring another excerpt from it today entitled "Man: An Eternal Spirit" Yummy!

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Man: An Eternal Spirit

Genesis 1:26, 27
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:….So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.

Man is a spirit being. He is made in the likeness of God. Jesus said that God is a Spirit (John 4:24). So man must of necessity be a spirit.

Man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a physical body (I Thessalonians 5:2).

When the physical body of man is dead and in the grave, the spirit lives on. That part of man is eternal. Spirits can never die, and man is a spirit. Paul is speaking of physical death here:

Philippians 1:23, 24
23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
Paul is going to live. Whether in the body or out of the body, he is still going to live. If he abides, or lives in the flesh he can teach the church at Philippi and be a blessing to them. That would be more needful for them. It would be far better for Paul himself, however, to depart and be with Christ. Paul was actually saying, “I am going to live in the body or I am going to depart and be with Christ.”

Who is going to depart?

“I” am going to depart. Paul was not talking about his body. His body was not going to depart. Paul is talking about the inward man, the spirit man, who lives inside the body.

People sometimes ask, “Will we know one another in Heaven?”

I always quickly ask, “Do you know who is going to be there. If you know one another down here, you will know one another there. You are the one who is here, and you will be the one who is there.

“I am going to depart,” Paul says, “and be with Christ which is far better.” I like that! If he had just said it was better, that would have been good. But he said, “It is far better!”

Some false cults teach that when a man dies he is dead like a dog is dead when it dies. No, man is not. Man is more than a body. He is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body. Others say that when man dies he is in “soul sleep.” The Bible does not teach that. Some say the spirit does depart all right – but it comes back as a cow, a dog, or as someone else. Reincarnation is unscriptural and unbiblical. Stay with the Word of God and it will solve all your problems along this line. Paul said, “I am going to depart. I am going to be with the Lord, which is far better.”

Paul preached the same truths and taught the same facts to all the churches. Here he uses different words to teach the same blessed truth to the church at Corinth.

II Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

There is an inward man. And there is an outward man. The outward man is not the real you. The outward man is only the house in which you live. The inward man is the real you. The inward man never grows older. He is renewed day by day. The inward man is a spirit man.

What is our spirit? Keep in mind our introductory texts. Romans 8:14 says, “…as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Then verse 16 gives us a little insight into how the Spirit of God leads us: “The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” In other words, the Spirit of God bears witness with the spirit of man. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord…” According to these scriptures God will guide us through our spirits; therefore, we must find out what our spirit is.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Nicodemus, being natural, could only think naturally. So he said, “…How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (vs. 4)

Jesus was not talking about a physical birth. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (vs. 6). He was talking about a spiritual birth.

The part of man that is born again is his spirit. Man’s spirit receives eternal life – the life of God, and the nature of God. It is man’s spirit that is made a new creature in Christ.

Paul calls man’s spirit “the inward man.” Peter calls man’s spirit “the hidden man of the heart.”

I Peter 3:4
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

In many places when the Bible speaks of the heart, it is speaking of the spirit. This is the real man. It will help you in your believing and in your faith to think like that.

In the New Testament, wherever the word heart is used, substitute the word spirit and you will get a clearer picture of what the Bible is talking about. It is the spirit of man that is born again.

II Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is talking about the inward man. It couldn’t be talking about the outward man. When you are born again and become a new creature, you do not get a new body. The outward man is just like it was before. If you were bald before you were born again, you are still bald afterwards. If you had brown eyes before, you still have brown eyes. The outward man does not change. God does not do anything with the outward man. You find out what God wants you to do with the outward man from the Bible – and then you do it.) God does something with the inward man. He makes the man on the inside a new man in Christ, a new creature – a new creation.

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Father, I ask You to HELP US to know who and what we are so we can BE all we need to be while we're here on assignment in this Earth. In Jesus' Name.

The Lamp of the Lord

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring another excerpt from it today entitled "The Lamp of the Lord" Yummy!

The Lamp of the Lord

Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Sirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

Children of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God.

Another translation of Proverbs 20:27 reads, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord….” Had this verse been written today it might have read, “The spirit of man is the light bulb of the Lord.” What it means is this: God will enlighten us – He will guide us – through our spirits.

Many times, however, we seek guidance by means other than the way God said. When we do, we get into trouble. We sometimes judge how God is leading by what our physical senses tell us. But nowhere does God say that God will guide us through our physical senses. Too often we look at things from a mental standpoint and endeavor to reason out things. But nowhere does the Bible say God will guide us through our mentality. The Bible does not say that the body of man is the candle of the Lord, nor that the mind of man is the candle of the Lord.

God will guide us – He will enlighten us – through our spirits.

Now before we can understand how God does lead us and guide us through our spirits, we have to understand the nature of man. We have to understand that man is a spirit, that he has a soul, and that he lives in a body.

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Father, HELP US to know how to be led by YOU through our own spirits, in Jesus' Name.

Difference Between Spirit and Soul?

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring an excerpt from it today entitled "What Is the Difference Between Spirit and Soul?" Yummy!

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Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit...

The spirit and the soul are not the same.

Many years ago, back in the early '50's, I began an intensive study on this subject. I got books from the leading Bible schools and seminaries, both Pentecostal and denominational, to see what they taught on the subject of man. Non satisfied me. None were actually scriptural. They were only scriptural, as the Bible says "in part." I asked leading Bible scholars and ministers across the nation. You would recognize some of their names if I mentioned them. I even heard someone ask one of today's most well-known ministers, "What is the difference between the spirit and the soul?" He looked startled and said, "I thought they were the same." That was the answer I got from most of the ministers I asked.

Yet how could they be the same? Paul, by the Spirit of God, said they can be divided by the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). If you can divide them, they cannot be the same.

Only the Word of God can divide the spirit and the soul, however. The reason we have not been able to distinguish between them is that we have not dug deeply enough into the Word. Years ago, in the western part of the United States, they had what we call "the gold rush." People rushed out West. They were gong to get rich in a hurry. Most panned a little gold out of creeks. Some found a few nuggets lying on the ground. But if you really wanted to strike it rich, you had to dig or it. The same is true in spiritual matters: You can skim along on the surface of the Bible and pan out a little gold here and there - and even find a nugget occasionally. But if you really want to strike it rich, you have to dig down deep into the Word of God.

For 15 years I studied carefully, burning the midnight oil. If there was anything I desired to know it was the difference between the spirit and the soul. Eventually, I went through this process of elimination. I wrote it down like this: With my body I contact the physical realm. (That goes without argument.) With my spirit I contact the spiritual realm. That left only one other part of me that made contact with any other realm. I knew then that it had to be with my soul that I contacted the intellectual or soulish realm (which included the emotions and the intellect). So I wrote: With my soul I contact the intellectual ream. Here is a scripture that helped me:

I Corinthians 14:14
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

The Amplified translation reads, "For if I pray in an (unknown) tongue, my spirit (by the Holy Spirit within me) prays, but my mind is unproductive...."

Our understanding, our natural human mentality, is a part of our soul.

Notice what Paul said. "My spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." He did not say, "When I pray in an unknown tongue my soul prays." He did not say, "When I pray in tongues, I pray out of my intellect, or out of my mind." He said in effect, "I am not praying out of my soul when I pray in tongues; I am praying out of my spirit, my heart, my innermost being." Do you remember what Jesus said?

John 7:37-39
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, OUT OF HIS BELLY will flow rivers of living water."
39 BUT THIS HE SPAKE OF THE SPIRIT, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As a result of receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, 'out of the belly shall flow rivers of living water." Another translation reads, "out of the innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

A Full Gospel pastor's daughter was six years old when she and some of the children were off by themselves one night at a revival. Some of these youngster were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues. This little six year old, holding her stomach, ran up to her mother, saying, "Momma, Momma, that came right out of my belly."

She was being scriptural. She was speaking in tongues from her belly - her spirit, her innermost being. That's where tongues come from - the Holy Spirit who resides in your spirit gives your spirit the utterance and you speak it out.

Consider these scriptures together now. "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the INWARD PARTS OF THE BELLY....OUT OF HIS BELLY shall flow rivers of living water..."

All the leading I have ever received have come from out of my spirit. And most of them have come while I was praying in other tongues. You can understand why. Your spirit is active when you are praying in tongues.

One reason the church world as a whole has failed so miserably is that it has done so much of just one kind of praying -- praying with the understanding, or mental praying. Christians have endeavored to fight spiritual battles with mental abilities.

I have learned this through these many, many years. In every crisis of life I have learned to look to my spirit inside me. I have learned to pray in other tongues. While I am praying in other tongues, guidance comes up from inside me. This is because my spirit is active. My body is not active, my mind (my soul) is not active, but my spirit is active, and it is through my spirit that God is going to guide me.

Sometimes I interpret what I am praying in tongues, and through the interpretation I receive light and guidance (I Corinthians 14:13). But most o the time, that is not so. Most of the time, just while I am praying in tongues, from somewhere way down inside, I can sense something rise up in me. It begins to take shape and form. I cannot tell anyone mentally how I know it, because my understanding has nothing to do with it. But I know on the inside of me what to do.

I follow that. I listen to my spirit. Because the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.

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Father, I ask You to HELP US to know the difference between our soul and our spirit. Help us to know WHERE you speak to us and how to hear and listen to you, in Jesus' Name.

Unfortunately, We Can't judge Christianity by "Christians"....

We can't necessarily judge Christianity by "Christians"...the only way we can judge Christianity is by the life of Christ, and His Word.

If we look to people, they will fail us, and we are not to pattern our lives from "human", just JESUS.

Romans 13:14 tells us:
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 4:24 says:
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Colossians 3:8-11
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Romans 8:12-14
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

We're instructed in Romans 12:1,2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.


Father, HELP US to walk like You, talk like You and move and have our being IN YOU by putting on Your Son, Jesus. Help us to make Your Word final authority in our lives, and not to make excuses for the flesh and the lusts that come out of it. Help us to learn to be LED by YOUR SPIRIT. Help us not to lean on ANYONES arm of flesh, but to look to Your Son, the author and finisher of our faith. Thank You for HELPING US. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen