Manifesting our spirit to reveal what God has put inside of us is a deliberate act of faith. Warriors reveal their inner being in order to confront the enemy and help God do what he wants to do. Something exists inside each of us that must rise up in the face of trouble.
We see this same phenomenon centuries later when Jesus and his disciples crossed a lake.
Mark 4:35 – That they when evening came, he said to his disciples, let us go over to their side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took in the long, just as he was, in the boat. There was also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the Stern, sleep in on a question. The disciples walk in and said to him, teacher, don’t you care if we drown? He got up, rebuke to win and said in the waves, quiet! Be still! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said his disciples, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!
The disciples, acting as another typology of our soulish nature, panicked in the storm and woke Jesus up. Don’t you care if we drown? They asked, desperate to be delivered. Inside, the disciples blame Jesus for not helping them. Similarly, the soul will blame everyone and everything for its troubles. Jesus, representing the spirit man, rebuked the winds and waves by sharing the peace he had on the inside. Out of that restful nature, he was able to bring rest to the situation around him. He manifested what God had placed in His spirit.
We’re not victims in our circumstances, but we can be victors. It is vital to position ourselves in the truth. We have Christ in us, not as a concept of truth, but as a reality of God’s word. Christ in us releases a confident expectation that heaven will come through for us as it did for him.
We’re learning to grow in that dynamic of trust and faith. We take care of the inner man and God takes care of our surroundings. We can start by positioning our will so that our mind is influenced by our spirit, and not by our circumstances. When we accomplish this, our mind uses our mouth to praise, confess, and declare God’s greatness.
We each have a choice: will we magnify the Lord, or will we magnify the situation that is currently bothering us? Magnifying God is the antidote to a negative mindset. It turns a setback into a comeback. To live in the spirit, and to reveal our inner being, our whole person must be in agreement. Faith is demonstrated by our entire person – soul, spirit, and body. With mental agreement and emotional submission, the action of our will agrees with the focus of the spirit and comes into alignment with who God is and what he wants to do. The instance this happens, breakthrough starts.
To magnify is part of our DNA. We will always magnify something, either positive or negative. We can turn a mole hill into a mountain. We can make the opposition so big that we appear as grasshoppers in our own site. Alternatively, we can see the Lord as he really is – high and lifted up, powerful, strong on our behalf – Almighty God.
Rejoicing always, giving thanks in all things, and being at rest and peace are all ways to develop an inner atmosphere of calm, joyful dependence on the Lord. The important decision is to allow the Holy Spirit freedom to declare to you what the father wants to be within the situation you are experiencing!
We all choose the experiences we want to have, whether through actual option or by default. If we allow experiences to be forced upon us by our failure to take control, then we have another set of problems to deal with as well as the original situation. An absence of internal focus leads us into a lifestyle of negative experiences that weigh heavily against our faith and confidence. We eventually come to place where we cease to believe passionately and refrain from praying positively. We live in worldly hope – not true Christian hope, which is full of expectation.
We become unstable in all our ways. Life tosses us around from one fear to the next, like a piece of driftwood in the ocean –
James 1:5 –But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.
We develop a single-minded focus on God’s majesty as we worship who he essentially is in himself. Then we move his Majesty into our situation and begin to praise him and declare his power. The inner atmosphere of our man of the spirit actively participates; and we generate faith, not only to ourselves and the situation, but to other people standing around watching.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was as much for the benefit of the people present as it was for Lazarus himself! Jesus prayed in a particular way so that they could share in his partnership with the father. Lazarus is diagnosed as terminally ill in verse 2 and is raised from the dead in verse 44. In the intervening time frame Jesus is not responding to external requirements. He is listening to the father only. Though he loved the family, he remained obedient to God.
He has a physical journey to make in order to return to Judah, but he has already made the journey in his inner man. I go to awaken him. When we live in the intentionality of God, we are prepared for every circumstance, and the external pressure cannot affect us adversely. The Fruit of self-control prevents the enemy from making a nuisance of himself. It strips him of his power by simply focusing our attention on the Lord. Self-control is pulling up the drawbridge to our interior castle, thus denying entry to any malicious or unbelieving voice.
I’m glad for your sakes… Our inner man exists for the blessing and benefit of people around us. He knows that he will reap from what is sown and he has no intention of seeing that promise ruined by selfishness. God is no man’s debtor. He loves to reward us. He loves to see us blessed and prospering. He teaches us a giving lifestyle so that he can reveal his abundance.
When the big moment came, Jesus drew everyone around him into the action. He prayed in such an all-inclusive way that the people were drawn into the environment created by his inner man.
So, they remove the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes, and said, father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that you sent me. When he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Remember, Jesus was not God pretending to be a man. He was actually a man in right relationship with God. As such, he was modeling in his own relationship with the father, pre-– cross, how we could expect to live in a post-resurrection environment.
Our inner atmosphere determines our external environment. In this case, the inner presence of Jesus called all the shots for the external crowd around him. They were drawn into the influence of his inner strength and faith. Something or someone is going to dictate your circumstances. In Christ you are empowered to make right choices.
Assignment – what experience do you wish to have in your current situation? What inner atmosphere do you need to develop in the course of your relationship with the father? This is only hard work initially. Eventually – in a few weeks – it becomes normal and a part of your usual routine – like brushing your teeth and tying your shoelaces.
Commission – develop a routine of rejoicing throughout the day. Learn the simple art of giving thanks to the Lord in every circumstance. make it your 1st response – thanking the Lord for who he is in himself, who he is for us, and in our circumstances. David used the psalms that way. They are recorded responses to various circumstances. Make a list of responses that you can make internally to God specifically to challenge your present situation.