THE BALANCE OF THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT

                                           THE TWO LEGGED WALK
( MUCH OF WHAT I WRITE ARE THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED THE HARD WAY BY MAKING MANY STUPID MISTAKES, OTHERS I HAVE GLEANED FROM HEEDING THE INSTRUCTIONS)

“For God is my witness, Whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son…” Romans 1:9

“And be not 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.” Romans 12:2

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” Psalm 119:9

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”119:105

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

INDEX:
- THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
- SERVING GOD BALANCING THE WORD WITH THE SPIRIT
 THE TRAP OF FALSE SPIRITUALITY
 LIVING BY FAITH
 LIVING AND TRAINING IN THE WORD OF GOD - THE BIBLE
- THE BIBLE IS: OUR INSTRUCTION MANUAL
 IT IS OUR GUIDE AND PLUMBLINE TO ALL TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
 IT EXPOSES OUR ERRORS AND CONFIRMS RIGHT WAYS AND THINKING
- CAUTION
 SAFETY RAILS AND WARNING 
- FOLLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT
SERVING WITH YOUR SPIRIT
HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE SERVING GOD WITH OUR SPIRIT?
- WHAT ABOUT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS OF ANOTHER?
- FEEDING YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK
- COUNTERPRODUCTIVITY TO SPIRITUAL HEALTH 
- CHECK AND BALANCES FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK 
- CONCLUSION


  THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
     As already mentioned, the life that Jesus has brought us into needs to
 function in our day to day lives in this world if we are to at all bear fruit for God and glorify Him. This is where the fun begins and where so much of His power is revealed to us, and through us. Let me give you a few tiny examples of day to day life in Christ:

 A friend of mine who had just believed on the Lord Jesus Christ told me that as he had always done, he went to the bar after work. To that point he did not notice any real change, but when his beer was brought to him it occurred to him, “What do I need that for?” Then he looked at all the people around him partying and drinking, and he thought again, “What am I doing here?” So he got up, left, and never went back. He was a new creature in Christ, old things had passed away, behold all things had become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is not about the ‘Can we drink alcohol?’ issue, but the Lord called him out of the world, where he would be in it but not of it. No one had told him or laid a law on him, he was merely responding to the Holy Spirit that was now in him.

 Another incident that truly inspired me as a young Christian happened when I was about twenty. This family which I became acquainted with and I would regularly visit were all on fire for God. One of the sons, Mark, in High School, challenged the teacher in class as he was teaching evolution. Mark did such a good job, and not disrespectfully, that the teacher gave him an entire class to present the Biblical perspective, which he did gladly tackled.

 They also started a Christian club in the High School, and the students were noted as saying that the two strongest pressures in school were either to do drugs, or to become a Christian. One of the druggies who had a terrible stutter, after getting saved, sometime later they prayed for him and God instantly healed him from his stutter. He was the guy who later led me to the Lord. I met him at work.

 Mark and his older Mike, who were both amazing Christians, bold and on fire for God, started a small band called Sons and Daughters while in school. Near the end of the year there was a talent show in the school and they entered. When they took to the stage the crowd booed them. Then Michael said, “We are Christians and we are proud of it.” Then they began to play. When they were finished they got a standing ovation. Praise the Lord!  How wonderful is that!
 
 While strapping a truck differential onto a pallet at work I wrenched my back so severely that I almost broke into tears from the pain. I thought to myself, "This is bad. Now I will be laid up in the hospital for a couple of weeks and spend a month on pain killers." Then it occurred to me to go to the church for prayer. I had been recently introduced to the ministry of laying on of hands Mark 16:18, so I figured I should go and get prayed for. Carefully I walked out of the building (the jarring of every footstep, no matter how gently I stepped, sent pain up my back) and drove to the church. When I arrived I went straight to the office. The church secretary and our missionary were there at the time. I said, "Ladies, can you pray for me, I hurt my back real bad?" They immediately laid their hands on me, prayed a simple prayer, and I turned around and almost ran out of the building. Right then it became apparent to me how much of a privilege it is to be a follower of Jesus and have all these benefits. That is a "Thank You Lord Jesus! (Realistically, I have not always been healed, but it sure was great the times when I have been healed, and if I was not, I am good with that too).
 

   Some years ago, while playing outfielder during the church picnic baseball game and bored out of my mind, one of the guys (whom I somewhat despised) yelled out to me, “Gerry, it’s coming your way!” I ignored him because he irritated me. “Gerry, it’s coming your way!”  And sure enough it did. Now he was on my team and he never played with any of us before, yet in my heart I knew that it was the Holy Spirit through him telling me, but I was being a very bad Christian since I did not want to play, and especially not want to listen to him (pretty ignorant, hey). Well I missed the ball. Not only did I feel stupid, but also reprimanded by the Lord. This fella was known for pulling off some amazing feats of faith, yet he lived like a vagabond.

  Another life changing lesson I learned from watching believers in action was when one of the brothers from church (he was in his twenties), gave one of the single mothers, an older woman who worked at the church and who relentlessly served the young people, his car, and it was a very good car. I had never seen anything like it up to that time in my life. I myself tend to be a cheapskate, and for me to give someone a few dollars was a huge endeavour. I had been learning in the Bible classes about giving and charity, but I had never seen anyone actually give like that before, and especially not me. That guy was not at all rich, and I recognized that that act of kindness was genuine Christ-like character in action. Years later he did the same for me.
 

 A few years ago, while on my way to work I stopped off at the BC Grain Cleaners early in the morning. Normally I had popped in periodically because they were customers on our original route. The manager was always friendly and chatty. In previous jobs I was more aggressive with the Gospel but on this job I was much more careful and far less forward with sharing the Gospel.

 During the six previous years this region of the Peace had been under a very serious drought and the farmers were growing concerned.  As I was getting out of my vehicle, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Tell the farmers that they need to get together and pray.”

 That made me rather nervous. In this position as manager I felt that as the owner’s direct representative I had better be careful with what I said least it got back to him and he felt that I was misrepresenting him. But I also knew that doing the Lord’s will was my priority and I had failed Him before. I meekly headed up the stairs and into the building. There were a few farmers there and the office, and instead of his usual friendly welcome he said sharply, “What do you want?”

 “Just checking in to see how everyone is doing.” I answered sheepishly.

With that I asked, “So how is everyone?”

  One of the farmers answered, “I think God is mad at us.”

  “Well I have a message from God for you.” I replied, and then went on to tell them what He had just told me. Immediately I turned about and hurried back to my vehicle and PRAYED. My biggest fear was that we would get no rain after that. It was early May and the fields had just been planted. That week the Lord sent what they called the million dollar snow fall. It snowed about 3-4 inches of wet heavy snow which took a few days to soak into the ground and the draught ended that year. That is a "thank You Lord Jesus!" not only for the Word, but especially for hearing the cry of the farmers who feed the populace, and for us, the beneficiaries of their produce. We take so much for granted.

 

 No doubt these are very small examples of Jesus working in our lives compared to what many of you have and are already experiencing, but the simplicity and the smooth flow into our daily activities is what I want to emphasize. There are countless stories that we can all share regarding the life of Christ in our day to day lives, miracles, and acts of genuine love and compassion, feats of faith… but the important thing is to live it. The crime is to leave it in church on Sundays. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and light of the world. That means that the name we carry should also be a demonstration of who we are in our daily lives and bring His grace and salvation to those around us. If we call ourselves Jesus followers, then it should show. The important thing to remember is that we do not preach ourselves, but we preach Jesus, at least in the way we behave. Furthermore, as I had stated before, we do not have to put on some kind of act. God forbid! That is not only distasteful to Him, but to everyone else as well.  We merely live out the life He has put within us when we were born again (John 3:3). One does not need teach a dog to bark or a fish to swim, all they need is to be allowed to be and do what they are created to be and do. Training is for the fine tuning of what is already resident there. It is the same with us.

  What if we slip up in front of unbelievers? Actually I often found that unbelievers can be very gracious, at least as long as we have treated them with due respect, and if we are willing to admit we are wrong or did wrong.

           SERVING GOD BALANCING THE WORD WITH THE SPIRIT
                             THE TRAP OF FALSE SPIRITUALITY

 - A tendency that people can fall into when they discover the, or a 'spiritual' life (there are many types of so called spiritual lives) is that they may fall into the trap of despising routines, schedules, regular  responsibilities, traditions, and disciplines of various kinds. There is a safety in keeping to these, and our natural man ( the physical) functions best having a "healthy" blend of routines, responsibilities, and disciplines in our day to day lives, and God has designed it to be so.  "The sun rises...Man goes forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have you made them all... Psalm 104:22-24. The truly spiritual man flows easily into these. I cannot get into some of the more critical safety aspects of this topic, but please be warned that God had given us them for our wellbeing.
 The Mind of Christ - "...But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16 - IT can be difficult to grasp the fact that we, when we are born again with Jesus Christ living in us, that we actually have the mind of Christ  (considering some of the thoughts that can pass through our minds). But deep within are the steady rational considerations and inspirations that flow from Him into us, and we more than likely do not even recognize it. When we study the Scriptures it becomes far more apparent because we can see that our/His thoughts will agree with them. Too often, when we look at the aspect of being led of the Lord, we miss the point that often we already are, unless of course we are walking in rebellion (Romans 8:5-9). The Scriptures will confirm our reasoning, or expose the error, as I mentioned. We tend to think that we need to 'hear His voice' at all times, and perhaps some do, but as we are following Him, our thinking may very well be unwittingly in tuned with Him. So what we think may be super mystical and difficult to attain to is closer to our grasp that we suppose, and we are already flowing with Him.  
 

LIVING BY FAITH

 This expression can be and is interpreted in many ways. Perhaps one of the most simple and basic is - living according to the known will of God and trusting Him for everything. That encompasses our entire existence, however the execution of it is a lifelong learning experience and growth. To live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has provided two basic ingredients, the Word of God and the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. In short, these are our guides to living in the Kingdom of God. One preacher called it a two legged walk. To walk properly, as with our legs, they have to be perfectly balanced, and that can be a challenge.

 Simple solutions often require complex ingredients. In this case the requirements for growth in these areas involve dealing with things within us through love, faith, discipline, humility, and diligence. Outside of us, we need instruction and discipleship which the Lord will also provide.

LEARNING AND TRAINING IN THE WORD OF GOD - THE BIBLE

 The Word of God is the Seed of life by which we are actually birthed into the Kingdom of God. “…your new birth was not from any mortal seed but form the everlasting Word of the Living and Eternal God.” (Jerusalem Bible) “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but in- corruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.” 1 Peter 1:23

THE BIBLE IS OUR INSTRUCTION MANUAL

 When we enter into the Kingdom of God we are given His manual for life – the Bible. Through the Bible we have all the information we need “According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that had called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption of the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:3-4

 Jesus Himself demonstrated the importance of the Scriptures throughout His life. The first recorded was how He withstood the temptations of the devil by answering, “It is written…” Matthew 4:3-10,  Being the Son of God and well trained from His youth in the Synagogue, He knew the Scriptures impeccably and how to apply them appropriately.  Our opinions are powerless by comparison. The Evangelical sector of the Christian world had developed the discipline of the study and application of God’s word over the centuries, and by it they have done wonderfully in the Gospel work throughout the world.

 

“All Scripture is God breathed…” “…and the Scripture cannot be broken.” 2 Timothy 3:16, John 10:35

IT IS OUR GUIDE AND PLUMB LINE TO ALL TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

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 From the Bible, we not only learn about Who God is and what He is looking for in us, but also what He calls good and evil, holy, righteous, and true. This is so critical for how we live our lives, in the choices we make, and how we are to treat people with godly morals and ethics at every level. We also learn how to deal with offenses and injustices. Because some of the teachings are so contrary to our carnal nature it takes genuine faith and humility to apply them. For instance, the teachings of Jesus Christ on the Sermon on the Mount where He tells us that not only is murder a serious evil, but being angry with your brother without cause, and calling them down is punishable, but calling someone a fool is putting yourself  in danger of hell fire. Then He challenges our lusts by saying that even looking at a woman lustfully is committing adultery in our heart... He further goes on to say we are not to take revenge, but to turn the other cheek… and we are to love our enemies, to bless those that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and to pray for those which despitefully use and persecute us Matthew 5. How beautiful and wonderful are these teachings! What an honor and privilege to have been entrusted with the execution of these precious teachings in our lives. Can you imagine what the world be like if everyone lived like this, if we all walked in the love of Jesus?
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-The Word of God is to be applied prayerfully, by faith, in humility and the fear of the Lord.

 

IT EXPOSES OUR ERRORS OR CONFIRMS RIGHT WAYS AND THINKING

“‘FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS,’SAYS THE LORD. ‘FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS.’” Isaiah 55:8-9

 So often as individuals and as the human race we make plans, or engage in an activity with the certainty that we are on a good course, and then it goes wrong. In bitterness we may blame God and everyone else. “When a man’s ways please the Lord He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Proverbs 16:7

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps.” Jeremiah 10:23

 The righteous precepts of God’s Laws and Commandments are timeless and borderless, and especially His Gospel. They are engineered by the limitless wisdom of the Creator of the Universe. Should we not heed His Word? Who knows better than He how we should live, behave, survive? Father knows best!

CAUTION!!!

“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” 1 Corinthians 8:1NAS

“…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6

“The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.” Proverbs 10:29

 Although I have placed a strong emphasis on the importance of following the Word of God, the Bible, and necessarily so, it also must come with a strong caution. Considering these three Scripture verses (along with many others), it is imperative that we fear God and walk ever so softly before Him, taking into full account the corrupt nature of our flesh and self centered, arrogant tendencies. If we approach the Scripture on strictly an intellectual basis we will not only be blinded to the heart of the Word of God, but will manipulate it to suit our carnal nature. The Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and must be interpreted through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the end product will conform to the flawless character of Jesus Christ and comply to the doctrine of the Grace of God, which is the heart of the Gospel and our salvation. By following the letter of the Law, we fall again into legalism, and put heavy burdens on ourselves and others, blind people to the cross of Christ, and make ourselves His enemy.  Philippians 3:18-19

 Another very dangerous practice some have undertaken with the Scriptures is that they pick and choose passages that conform to their thinking or personal agenda, and disregard or discard the rest. By doing this, they neglect the “Whole counsel of God” and thus produce some very destructive and even damnable heresies.

SAFETY RAILS

Here are two verses that can serve as tremendous safety instructions:  “…but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

 As was previously stated, filling ourselves with knowledge alone makes us proud and even arrogant, but grace tempers our spirit and perspective, and keeps us in step with Jesus in our day to day lives.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10  NIV 

 Our best discernment comes when we are walking in love. The love that God wants in our lives is completely opposite to selfishness. When we are walking in love, we see more clearly, and have clearer understanding of people and the world around us, and the will of the Father. Because God is Love, the heart of His Word are seen and are more clearly grasped through the love of Christ. By the way, God's love is humble/meek.

SAFETY RAILS and WARNING SIGNS:

There are some Safety Rails and warning signs than we should consciously hold on to in our Christian walk :

- Be teachable and correctable – any time we cannot receive correction,  discipline, or even be questioned, we must realize that our pride is involved. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

- Be always open to the teaching of others and be careful to consider the side of those whose perspective is different from yours.

- If we feel we have all the answers, realize that only God "is never wrong. We all seem to know that, except when we are in a debate. The Scripture says, "...we know in part..." 1 Corinthians 13:9

- Never ignore Scriptures that seem to contradict your Biblical perspective. You do not hold the corner on truth, knowledge, or understanding.

- Do not conform the Scripture to your experience or the lack thereof. For example, just because we may have never seen someone raised from the dead, we do not interpret what the Bible says about miracles as being just for that time.

- Learn to distinguish the absolutes from the open end issues. The hard core Christian doctrines are quite reliable; Only one God, the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His death, burial, resurrection, His return… Topics that are not clearly laid out we can have our views about, but we are not to be contentious with them.

- Watch for the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh in your actions, speech, and behavior Galatians 5:19-23 They will give you a good indication of whether you are on track or not.

- “Blessed are the peace makers, for they are the sons of God.” If our ‘ministry of the Word’ is constantly bringing strife and conflict, maybe we need to check out what is driving or leading us. “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if there is bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is form above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” James 3:13-18

- Is your devotion to Him shown in your attitude or expressions of love to others, especially toward those of His household of faith?

 

 FOLLOWING HIS HOLY SPIRIT

 The Greatest Gift the Lord has given us through the Cross or Calvary is Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. He not only is now our Comforter, our Guide, our Help, but He is our God and our very Eternal Life.

TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

 - Remember that Jesus said, “…without Me, you can so nothing.” Literally, to do anything for God that He can accept and that will bear fruit can only be done through His Holy Spirit. That eliminates all human ambition and pride, but produces fruit that will last for ETERNITY!

 If you have ever tried to do something for Him without His power working in and through you, you will understand what He meant. We may feel good about our effort, but in all honesty it will have been powerless and fruitless. No doubt it was a good learning experience and worth the effort if we did indeed learn.

- His Holy Spirit quickens our mind and brings to life the Scriptures in a fresh and powerful revelation “…Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32

 -With the wisdom of His Spirit we can refute the strongest of contradictions, and put to silence the mockers. Take note of the ministry of Stephen Acts 6:10, 7.
- He also enables us to solve mysteries and problems. We can see this in the ministry of Joseph. Not only did it show in his ability to interpret dreams, but also how he managed the needs of the nation Genesis 41,47. Daniel also possessed a similar gifting Daniel 2, 5

- By the power of His Holy Spirit we can discern and tackle demonic forces, Acts 16:16

- By His Holy Spirit He can perform miracles through us, John 14:12, Mark 16:16-18, 1 Corinthian 12:4-11

- By His Holy Spirit His Love can flow through us and touch a hurting world, John 7:38-39

- IT IS ONLY THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT WE CAN LEAD A CHRIST-LIKE LIFE!!!

- “Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

 SERVING WITH YOUR SPIRIT

“For God is my witness, Whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son…” Romans 1:9

 
  If you will recall, we are spiritual beings, that have a soul, and live in a body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Because God is Spirit, and the Father is looking for those that worship Him, to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24), it is the same with our service (which also is a form of worship), we serve him from our spirit, “But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:17. Our service to the Lord should originate from within our spirit through the inspiration and prompting of His Holy Spirit. The snare we easily fall into is when we serve by the persuasion of  our intellect or stirring of our emotions which will not only lack the power, but also the faith that produces the patience and endurance needed to follow Him. Jesus' parable of the Sower and the Seed (Luke 8:11-15) illustrates this beautifully; the second is when the Word lands on shallow ground. It is immediately received with joy, but because there is no depth the person quickly falls away under testing and temptation.  The third is when the Word lands on busy or cluttered ground., It makes sense to the individual, but the cares, riches, and pleasures, choke out the fruit of the Word in their life. When the Word lands in a well prepared heart (deep and uncluttered soil, or a good and honest heart) it bears much fruit. So it is with us. Ideally, the command or directive is from His Holy Spirit through our spirit, managed by our mind in compliance to His Word, embraced by our soul, and executed through our physical. (Basically this is a way we express our love to God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength). In an ideal and non-dissected form, the Holy Spirit puts something in our heart and we earnestly follow through and do it.

 

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE SERVING GOD WITH OUR SPIRIT?                   

 From our spirit we derive our inner drive that propels us into life's activities ("The spirit of a man will sustains his infirmity... Proverbs 18:14). Now this can be for most anything, so our hearts must be safeguarded, “Keep your heart with all diligence, or out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23  We must keep our heart pure so that our desires, mind, affections, are on the Lord and not on anything or anyone else. Matthew 5:8, James 4:8
-His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Matthew 11:30  There may be much work involved, but it seems amazingly easy considering, and your being remains refreshed for prolonged periods of time "I have meat you know not of..." John 4:32

-The power is there to accomplish the task - if our spirit is what is our motivating us, the power of the Holy Spirit which works through our spirit will be present, and He accomplishes through us what we could not do without Him, "...the flesh profits nothing." John 6:63, 1 Corinthians 4:20-
- Jesus is glorified and people are drawn to Him and not to you - 2 Corinthians 4:5  -All that is directed by the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus and points to Him, John 16:13-14  The flesh draws attention to itself

-Our objectives, actions, and behavior, line up to Scripture Acts 15:15, comply with the character of Jesus Acts 8:29, flows in the gifts of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22-23 , and bares the fruit that glorifies God.
-You find that you have a very deep love and patience for the people God has called you to serve, and this love seems almost unreasonable John 3:16, Romans 9:1-3

 
WHAT ABOUT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS OF ANOTHER?
  Even if we are following the commands of an authority in the Lord, we should be carrying out the directives in the power of the Holy Spirit "...for I myself am a man under authority..." Matthew 8:9 it is imperative that we are serving in the power of the Holy Spirit, and if we are, the fruit will show. In 2 Kings 9, Elisha calls one of the sons of the prophets and tells him to prophesy over Jehu and to anoint him as King over Israel. He even tells him what to prophesy. Notice that as the prophet prophesies the Word of the Lord flowed out if him directly even as if he was following the Lord's directive only. In the Book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas were sent out on their missionary journey by the Holy Spirit through the elders of the church Acts 13. If we are working under an authority, we must be careful about how we respond to instructions. We must follow by the hearing of faith. WHAT IF WE DO NOT GET A WITNESS IN OUR HEART CONCERNING THEIR DIRECTIVE?  This is a difficult situation,  especially depending upon the commitment we are obligated to under the authority. Joab resisted David regarding taking the census but complied reluctantly because of the king's command, and he did not actually fully complete it because he knew that the command was a sin against the Lord, 1 Chronicles 21:6. While functioning in the church you must pray about it and get the mind of the Lord. There are Scriptures that can point in either direction.
 

FEEDING YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK

Spiritual food for spiritual service: Feeding our spirit is similar to feeding and exercising our body. Also as with our body, the proper diet and exercise will determine its health and development.

To feed our spirit we need spiritual food and exercise:

- The Word of God - through reading, study, teaching, and preaching as a regular diet to give us strength and direction

- Then there is the exercise part - where we need to practice, live out what we have heard and learned. The more we live it out, the more we will crave and hunger for more James 1:23-25

- Prayer – the many forms of prayer are a spiritual exercise whereby we communicate with the Father in prayers, petitions, supplications, intercessions, and the giving of thanks . Then there is praying in tongues, praying in the Spirit 1 Corinthians 14:15, Jude 20. The greatest part is our intimate communion with Him. 1 Timothy 2:1

- Worship – Praise and worship, where we glorify and adore Him from our heart with all of our heart. That not only blesses Him, but it also refreshes not only our spirits, but our entire being. Acts 16:24-25

- Fellowship – There is a refreshing and reviving of our spirit through fellowship as the Lord is there when two or more are gathered in His name, Matthew 18:20, Acts 28:15

COUNTER PRODUCTIVITY TO SPIRITUAL HEALTH

 Again, as with our bodies, it is the same with our spiritual walk – proper diet and exercise – and rest.

 - Improper diet – like eating too much junk food, the more you eat, the less you want or even crave the proper meats, fruits, and vegetables. It is the same spiritually, the more the worldly entertainment and pleasures, the less interest we will have for spiritual things. The Word and service of God will becomes less appealing, satisfying, and even relevant. Galatians 6:7-8

 - Laziness – will do the same spiritually as it will do for us naturally. We become lethargic and out of shape for any real activity Matthew 25:26

 - Worldly Fellowship - Because we are also natural beings, it is very, very easy for us to gravitate to natural things and drift from the spiritual. Loving and being friends with non-Christians is good, but there must be safety borders in place, 1 Corinthians 15:33,2 Corinthians 6:14

- Burnout – Just because we are following the Spirit of God with our spirit does not mean that we can neglect the care of our bodies. God did provide Sabbath rests for our physical bodies because He designed them to take rests, and although we are not under the law, the principle of rest still stands. I found that out the hard way. Jesus would call his disciples apart when they did not even have even enough time to eat. Guess what, He actually cares about that too.

CHECK AND BALANCES FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL WALK              

 When we balance the Word and the Spirit in our day to day walk with the Lord we live a more wholesome life, bear more fruit, have more peace, and have less chance for error. We have covered some of the dangers of being out of balance using the Word of God. The Scriptures have checks and balances all the way through, that sometimes may look to some like contradictions, but are actually are safety valves, so to speak, to counterbalance extreme tendencies (as well as for other concerns).

 With the spiritual walk there are also checks and balances which we mentioned, since we can go off course if we tend to be of a zealous nature, the devil can trip us up to think we are being led by the Lord and get us to do strange thinks in the Lord’s name. Again here are some checks and balances:

- Is it Biblical, would Jesus do that?
- Will it glorify Jesus and draw attention to Jesus or to yourself?

- Does it hurt anyone? 1 Corinthians 14:3,26,40

- Ask your spouse, first if you are married, or ask your pastor or someone that you know is a solid disciple of Christ. They might not know, but you may get some rich advice that you need to consider. Galatians 2:1-2

- Have you put your will in neutral, and thoroughly waited on the Lord in prayer before you set out to do whatever? Luke 22:42

- Did you sense the peace of God in your spirit, Colossians 3:15

CONCLUSION:

God in Christ Jesus has given us a wonderful life to live, and all the tools we need to live. Let us not be ignorant, careless, proud, or presumptions; nevertheless, let us live it out to the full.