OPEN HEAVENS Devotional – Thursday
August 11th 2016
TOPIC: THE CARNAL MAN
Memorize: God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24
Read: 1st Corinthians
9:24-27,
24 Know ye not
that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain.
25 And every
man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to
obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore
so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep
under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I
have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Bible in one year Isaiah 8-10, Psalms 32
MESSAGE
If you want to do great
exploits for God you have to rise above your carnal mind because no serious
exploit can be done in the flesh. One of the things responsible for the
miraculous events in the early church is that everything was done in the
atmosphere of God’s spirit. This is why we need to thirst for more of His
presence in our midst if we want an outpouring of His spiritual blessings. It
takes the Spirit of God for one to have access to deeper revelations of God.
“For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the father.” Ephesians 2:18
Anyone who wants to experience
and encounter the glorious presence of God must be ready to let go of the flesh
and allow the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Truth to take over. The
carnal man is manipulated by his emotions and thinking. The carnal man is
vulnerable to lust. The carnal man cannot understand the things of the spirit.
The carnal man is always a victim of strife and questionable actions. The
carnal man will always be found in questionable environments and circumstances,
but the man that allows the Spirit of God to dwell in him will always be
sensitive to the leading of the spirit.
To effectively deal with the
problem of carnality, wisdom demands you take it from the root. A tree that is
cut down but not uprooted will grow again; it is only a matter of time. The
only time you can be assured of permanent victory over the flesh is when you
uproot the carnal man from its root. The moment you turn on the light, darkness
automatically ceases. There is a need for you to turn on the Spirit man, who is
nourished through a life of holiness and consecration to the Almighty God. As
long as the Spirit is in charge, you cannot be defeated. You remain a champion
and everything that is not of God will keep its distance from you, but the
moment you give the carnal man a little attention, it begins to take over
again. The best way to deal with the carnal man is to flee from every
appearance of evil. One of my spiritual sons once told me that anytime it is
Friday, he was always looking forward to the weekend being over because he
wanted to be in the office on Monday. He was always looking forward Monday mornings
because of his Secretary in the office whom he had grown fond of. I told Him
that he was playing with a cobra in his bed and at anytime, the cobra could
bite him. I asked him to kill the cobra once and for all by sacking the
secretary that was unknown to him, feeding his flesh to destruction. Out of
wisdom, he heeded my counsel and sacked his secretary, who in turn verbally
insulted him and all those who had advised him. After she left, my son found
peace in his spirit. Anything done with the carnal mind will always bring
problem and fear, but where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty and rest of
mind. Are you toying with sin? Repent and come to Jesus for restoration. Are
you in the company of those who will feed your flesh? Return to Jesus, His grace
will overcome the works of the devil. Obey His Word, walk closely with Him and
you will see yourself exercising victory over weaknesses.
Prayer Point
Father, mortify every deed of
the flesh in my life in Jesus’ name.
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