![living the divine life by minding the things of the Spirit and being led by the Spirit [in the picture: morning glory flower, a reminder to spend time with the Lord in the morning!]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/morning-glory-time-with-jesus1.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 "living the divine life by minding the things of the Spirit and being led by the Spirit [in the picture: morning glory flower, a reminder to spend time with the Lord in the morning!]")
Romans chapter 8 is an amazing chapter with much revelation and light!
This morning we were enjoying several of the matters in this chapter like minding the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), putting to death the practices of our body (Rom. 8:13, 5), being led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14), and crying, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15).
We need to see the way we can live the divine life in the human life – by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit, by putting to death the practices of our body, by being led by the Spirit of God, and by crying Abba, Father!
Minding the things of the Spirit
We need to mind the things of the Spirit by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-6; 1 Cor. 2:14) – these things are the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10-11) concerning Christ as our all-inclusive portion.
We should not allow our mind to be absent, vacant, empty, wandering around, flying all over the earth – we need to learn to set our mind on the spirit and on the things of the Spirit! Our mind needs to be busy and occupied with the things concerning Christ not only in the meetings but also in our daily life, our family life, our school life, at work, etc.
“The secret of spiritual warfare is to not allow our mind to be vacant. It is especially dangerous to let our mind be vacant in the morning and when we are resting” (Witness Lee, The All-inclusive Indwelling Spirit).
The mind is the key to the spiritual warfare – if we let our mind “chill”, rest, and be vacant, it will be filled with many evil things.
When we’re at work or at school, our mind is busy and occupied – but when we are not busy, we need to exercise to fill our mind with God’s Word, the things of the Spirit, the things of the glorious Christ! In this way, we will gain the victory (1 John 2:14)!
Putting to death the practices of our body
Rom 8:13 says, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live”. What are these “practices of the body”?
According to the Bible, the practices of the body are our old habits, including not only sinful things but also everything that is practiced by our body apart from the Spirit.
When we set our mind on the things concerning Christ, we immediately put to death all the practices of our body.
We need to coordinate with the indwelling Spirit to take the initiative to put to death the practices of our body; then, the Spirit will come in to apply the effectiveness of Christ’s death to these practices, thus killing them.
This is especially true in the morning – what do you do first thing in the morning? As soon as we wake up, it is so easy to start thinking about the things we need to do that day, the situations, etc – more than 9 out of 10 things we intend to do are of the flesh.
This is why we need to put to death the practices of our body, our old habits, our old inclinations, even our good habits – anything we do apart from the Lord.
Give Him the first place, touch Him first, enjoy Him first, and set your mind on the things of Christ!
Being led by the Spirit of God
If unregenerated people “put to death the practices of their body”, there’s nothing left for them.
But if we, as believers in Christ indwelt by the Spirit of God, put to death the practices of our body by the Spirit, we will be clear concerning the leading of the Spirit (Rom. 8:14).
Many times we don’t need to “seek the leading of the Spirit” – all we have to do is to stop, put to death the practices of our body, set our mind on the things of the Spirit, and there will be a clear leading within!
When our outward activities are stopped and our flesh is not active, what remains is the Spirit in our spirit!
crying, “Abba, Father!”
The result of declaring that we choose not to be according to the flesh but according to the spirit (Rom. 8:2, 4), of our continual setting our mind concerning Christ (v. 5), of our putting to death the practices of our body by the Spirit (v. 13), is a spontaneous cry, Abba, Father!
This is the way to live by the divine life – not in and by ourselves, but by setting our whole being on the mingled spirit and stopping any outward activity of the flesh.
Then, the Spirit’s leading is clear to us and the Father is our sweet Daddy – we love Him so much! We need to practice these things – practice living by the divine life in our human life.
Thank You Lord for the light in Your Word! We want to give You the first place in the morning by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit, the things concerning Christ! O, Lord, our mind! May our mind never be un-occupied or vacant – we don’t want our mind to automatically be inclined to receive evil things! O, Lord, strengthen our choosing You – choosing to put to death the practices of our body by the Spirit, that we may be led by the Spirit of God! Oh, Abba, Father, we love You!
[sharing inspired from, The All-inclusive Indwelling Spirit, ch. 8 (by brother Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery, week 2. Read more sharing on this morning revival via, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery.]
Today I was very touched that:
" The secret of spiritual warfare is to not allow our mind to be
vacant. It is especially dangerous to let our mind be vacant in the
morning and when we are resting."
No one was born, raised, or educated to have a habit of setting the mind on the Spirit… but "the result of declaring that we choose not to be according to the flesh but according to the spirit (Rom. 8:2, 4),
of our continual setting our mind concerning Christ (v. 5), of our
putting to death the practices of our body by the Spirit (v. 13), is a
spontaneous cry, Abba, Father!
This is the way to live by the divine life
– not in and by ourselves, but by setting our whole being on the
mingled spirit and stopping any outward activity of the flesh. Then, the
Spirit’s leading is clear to us and the Father is our sweet Daddy – we
love Him so much! We need to practice these things – practice living by
the divine life in our human life." Amen.
"Now we have seen the way to live by the divine life. First, we need to declare that we choose to be not according to the flesh but according to the spirit (vv. 2, 4). Second, we need to continually set our mind on the things concerning Christ (v. 5). Third, we must put to death the practices of the body by the Spirit (v. 13). Then spontaneously, we will cry, “Abba, Father! Father, I have put to death everything but You. So I cry to You, Abba, Father!” If we practice these things, we are living by the divine life." (Witness Lee, The All-inclusive Indwelling Spirit, pp. 35-37)
There seems to be a progression here – we first need to KNOW and REALIZE the law of the Spirit of life which was installed into us at the time of our regeneration. Then, we need to learn to set our mind on our spirit – life is in our mingled spirit, and when we set our mind on our spirit, our mind becomes life! This happens by us setting our mind on the things of the Spirit – on Christ, the all-inclusive One! Praise the Lord! When we set our mind on the things of Christ, spontaneously we put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body! When the practices of the body are put to death, we will be led by the Spirit – we become sons of God in reality, even "more mature" sons of God! Oh, Abba Father!
Amen, The practices of the body our old habits include not only sinful things but also everything that is practised by our body apart from the Spirit-anything we do apart from the lord. When we set our mind on the things
concerning Christ, we immediately put to death the practices of the body by the Spirit.
And that “We need to coordinate with the indwelling Spirit to take the
initiative to put to death the practices of our body; then, the Spirit
will come in to apply the effectiveness of Christ’s death to these
practices, thus killing them”.
Today I was very touched that:
“The secret of spiritual warfare is to not allow our mind to be vacant. It is especially dangerous to let our mind be vacant in the morning and when we are resting.”
No one was born, raised, or educated to have a habit of setting the mind on the Spirit… but “the result of declaring that we choose not to be according to the flesh but according to the spirit (Rom. 8:2, 4), of our continual setting our mind concerning Christ (v. 5), of our putting to death the practices of our body by the Spirit (v. 13), is a spontaneous cry, Abba, Father! This is the way to live by the divine life – not in and by ourselves, but by setting our whole being on the mingled spirit and stopping any outward activity of the flesh. Then, the Spirit’s leading is clear to us and the Father is our sweet Daddy – we love Him so much! We need to practice these things – practice living by the divine life in our human life.”
Amen.
“Now we have seen the way to live by the divine life. First, we need to declare that we choose to be not according to the flesh but according to the spirit (vv. 2, 4). Second, we need to continually set our mind on the things concerning Christ (v. 5). Third, we must put to death the practices of the body by the Spirit (v. 13). Then spontaneously, we will cry, “Abba, Father! Father, I have put to death everything but You. So I cry to You, Abba, Father!” If we practice these things, we are living by the divine life.” (Witness Lee, The All-inclusive Indwelling Spirit, pp. 35-37)
There seems to be a progression here – we first need to KNOW and REALIZE the law of the Spirit of life which was installed into us at the time of our regeneration. Then, we need to learn to set our mind on our spirit – life is in our mingled spirit, and when we set our mind on our spirit, our mind becomes life! This happens by us setting our mind on the things of the Spirit – on Christ, the all-inclusive One! Praise the Lord! When we set our mind on the things of Christ, spontaneously we put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body! When the practices of the body are put to death, we will be led by the Spirit – we become sons of God in reality, even “more mature” sons of God! Oh, Abba Father!
Amen! occupy my mind, Lord.