MY SPIRIT, MY RESPONSIBILTY

Pr. James Victor Lubwama

Whenever you go to church for fellowship, you are like a vehicle that has been taken for servicing; your spirit and mind are serviced and your entire life is renewed by the word taught! When you hear a word from heaven – throne word, you develop spiritual strength; and whenever your spirit is reinforced, you will be able to overcome temptations and all other troubling things the world throws at you. The temptations are vast and they are always targeting to ensure that you do not become what God purposed you to be. Just as one eats food and develops physical strength, when you come to church and hear the word of God, you develop spiritual strength which enables you to overcome the plots of the devil – the word of God is the spiritual food you need to eat daily not occasionally lest your spirit become malnourished.

Developing your spiritual strength can lead you to do spiritual works but it requires you to become Born Again first. Nicodemus asked how one can become Born Again in John 3: 4-6 (TLB) “…..What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again? 5 Jesus replied, ‘what I am telling you earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 6 Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven”

The physical things are of the flesh and that which is born of the Holy Spirit is Born Again, and thus must be fed by spiritual food in order to grow. Just as we have responsibility in the flesh, we must also have spiritual responsibility because there is a spiritual world – where we came from and where we shall dwell in eternity. You are flesh, but you dwell in the spiritual world at the same time and there are responsibilities that must be executed. The evil spirits we combat are in the spiritual world, the angels who minister to us are in the spiritual world too; all your prayers traverse through the spiritual realm, so you have responsibility in the spiritual realm and because of that, you must be active in the spiritual - your spirit must be healthy. When you partake of spiritual food, you assume spiritual strength and that’s taking responsibility of your spiritual life.

Our spirits are weakened because we neither feed them with the word nor do we cultivate them spiritually by fasting. Most of the problems we encounter are spiritual, hence the strength we need comes only from spiritual food. Your spirit operates in the spiritual world and that is reason enough for you to ensure that it is well nourished by the word of God – His word is bread form heaven that nourishes your spirit. Jesus said in John 6:63 (GNT) that; “What gives life is God’s Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God’s life-giving Spirit.” The word of God contains nutrients which charge your spirit making you able to stand in the spiritual world and combat the evil spirits. 

Though you are born again and eloquent with all the truths but have a weak inner man - spirit, you will be overcome by the evil spirits, however, for you to overcome, you have got to be in the presence of God. The radiance of heavenly angels is received from the presence of God and the more they dwell in His presence, the more radiant they become, so you constantly being in the presence of God charges your spirit causing you to become more radiant as well. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 (NLT) “You are the light of the world…..” In the physical world you cannot see a person shine so bright, but in the spiritual realm, you can – one who is spiritually healthy appears as bright as a star. Being away from the presence of God causes your brightness to fade gradually and darkness takes over, and in that state your inner man - spirit is very weak and cannot combat the rulers of the darkness of this age.

We draw our power from the presence of God through fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Whenever you receive a word from the mouth of God - throne word,  it comes with power that charges your spirit, tears down the walls and enables you to pray effectively and fervently (checkout post);  and because the throne word comes with anointing and creating power, you easily breakthrough.  Matthew 4:4 (AMP) says; “………It is written and forever remains written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”  That is the word that comes out of the heart of God, through the Holy Spirit or via his servant.

When your Pastor stands and speaks the heart of God, the words he declares at that moment come with power that charges your spirit, and when you are charged, even though temptations come you overcome because you have been empowered. Why are we always overcome by temptations? Because we lack the Holy Spirit (that soft still voice that speaks to your heart): We need to always have fellowship with the Holy Spirit and to develop the habit of dwelling in the presence of God. The bible was written by the prophets who were inspired by Holy Spirit; God spoke then and he is still speaking today. A word declared by the servant of God – ‘thus says the Lord’ is at that moment coming from the mouth of God and, it comes with anointing, creating power and life. Whenever we go to church, we draw life and that life comes from the word which proceeds from the mouth of God; that is the word that charges your spirit; however, we lack that word today because we don’t set apart time to go into the presence of God, to hear from the heart of God. Revelation 2:17 (AMP) ^“He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches”

If you want to live a purposeful life, you need the word that proceeds from the mouth of God because it is spirit and life; you need it as well to overcome challenges, obstacles and the devil because it is fire and a double-edged sword. Whenever you remain in constant fellowship with Holy Spirit, the devil will see you from afar and flee. Church is not just a gathering place to share our experiences but a place where we receive counseling and guidance; God’s sanctuary where we get to hear words that are full of life, we get to learn the revelation behind the word and mysteries of God. It’s not about the reading the bible that changes you but the revelation behind that word. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV) that; “…..For the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.”

If you stand alone you will not overcome, you need direction. David said in Psalm 119:105 - "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" Without the word of God in your life, you will be walking vagabondly in the dark and prone to the attacks of the enemy

God’s love is unconditional however, whenever you compromise and disobey, the Holy Spirit departs from you yet he is the source of life and righteousness - you cannot be righteous without the Holy Spirit; He is the source of everything and whenever he is not in you, you lose your spiritual strength and control, but when He is in you, you have everything. Whenever you rebel and disobey, the Holy Spirit leaves you; and after that you become empty and begin to struggle making it easy for him to conquer you. 

God gave us the Holy Spirit because the dispensation of struggle ended. In Zechariah 4:6 (GW) the Lord told him; “…….You won’t succeed by might or power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies.” When the father authorizes the Holy Spirit to take over, advancement, victory and success will not be by your wit or strength, but by His Almighty spirit. If you want to do mighty things, you need to ensure that you are in constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It’s only the Holy Spirit who can give you power to do great exploits! In this generation, those who know their God and are obedient and faithful will do exploits! Samson was so mighty and the power that drove him was of the Holy Spirit; he was made mighty physically by the Holy Spirit and when the presence of the Lord departed from him, he couldn’t do what he used to do before. You have got to learn to keep the Holy Spirit by being obedient.

Each of us has two nations inside us fighting against each other and there is a nation that has to win or dominate the other; the two nations are your spirit and mind. Genesis 25:23 (NASB) says; “The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” 

In this struggle, you need to overcome your mind. The devil always uses your mind to make you disobey the instructions of the Holy Spirit which always emanate from the heart; we were not called to obey the mind but the spirit – this is because God sits and communicates to your heart. If you want to walk the walk of faith, follow your heart. The true shepherd - Holy Spirit will direct you and show you what to do and when. Develop the habit of training your mind to submit to your heart. Your heart will never lie to you but your mind will.

If you want to have the Holy Spirit, you need to learn to love. 1 John 4:7-8 (MSG)  says; “My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. 8 The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love.”

God is love and those who love are in God and He dwells in them. Most of the things we do don’t last or succeed because they are not done in love; the Holy Spirit will not dwell in you if you are not in love, and for you to love others, you need to first love yourself. There is no weapon as powerful and strong as love.

If you want to be above, you have got to learn to diligently obey the voice of the Lord. Deuteronomy 28:1 (EXB) “You must completely obey [listen to the voice of] the LORD your God, and you must carefully follow all his commands I am giving [commanding] you today. Then the LORD your God will make you greater [set you higher]……” 
Obey the voice of the Holy Spirit because he is your shepherd – he sees the end from the beginning. The anointing you seek cannot follow you until you hear the master of the anointing speaking. You need to listen to the voice and do what it says. We are predestined to be heads not the tails, but that can only happen if we are obedient.  Deuteronomy 28:13 (TLB) says;  “If you will only listen and obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, he will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall always have the upper hand.” Be encouraged, the Lord will lift you up; when you hear the voice, do not harden your heart.

We have a debt to fellowship with the Holy Spirit; to always be under the guidance of the servants of God - pastors and to always feed on the word of God if we are to live a healthy Salvation life – your spirit is your responsibility.