Over the last week at our church there has been a lot of preaching/teaching on the difference between the natural man and the spirit man. The natural man being the result of a man and woman (our fathers and mothers) coming together physically; and the spirit man being created by God before the foundations of the earth. Our pastor, Tony Boyd, has been greatly anointed as he has taught on this subject the last two times he has preached. About a week ago I had the chance to teach on what it not only means to be a son or daughter of God, but what some of our God given rights are by being His son or daughter. At the time I spoke a bit about the spirit man and without the slightest hint of what Tony was going to be preaching on the following Sunday, and again tonight. The Holy Spirit did though, and I love it when He puts things like this together. (By the way, if you are ever in Geneva, Ohio, be sure to visit us at "The City." We are experiencing the Lord in incredible ways!)
Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I have found it both mysterious and intriguing. It really introduces and addresses who and what the spirit man truly is before God and Jesus. Within Ephesians I have many favorite verses. A couple of them are found in Ephesians 2. In verse 5 we see that we (the believers) have been made alive together with Christ and verse 6 follows it by telling us that we have been raised up together and made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Now as for me I can tell you that the body of the person that I see when I look in the mirror has never sat down with Jesus in heavenly places. Yet when I read the Bible and specifically passages such as Ephesians 5 & 6, I have no other choice but to believe that yes I have. At least if I take the scripture literally. I love the mysteries of the Word of God. Mysteries that God, by the way wants to reveal to us.
I posted the following vision back in 2010. It is a vision that God allowed my great friend and brother to see while he was praying in his church. Larry is a man who loves Jesus deeply and is a man of integrity. He is passionate about prayer and the Word. I would trust him with my life and he has spoken into my life many times. I tell you this not to puff him up, but so hopefully you will understand that he is not a baby Christian, nor is he blown around by whims and emotion. When Larry has a vision, or a word from the Lord, he can be trusted. I hope his vision helps you to better understand the difference between our natural man and our spirit man. I'm going to drink a nice, cold glass of sweet tea now. You should go get something for yourself, too, so that we can relax and take our time as we read................................
To See and Be Seen................. Saturday, 5-22-10
During Wednesday prayer time the Holy Spirit spoke this phrase into my spirit- "to see and be seen."
Saturday morning, while I was alone at the church in prayer, I was laying on my face asking Jesus to show me the Father and to help me understand the phrase"to see and be seen". As I was asking Jesus to see the Father I felt that He took me by the hand and started leading me toward a large red curtain. As we walked I became younger and younger to the point that when we got to the curtain I was a small child and He was holding me in His arms. As we went through the curtain I knew that we had just passed through the blood of Jesus and had entered the throne room of the Father.
As Jesus took me over close to the Father I had now become a small baby, but was very aware of my surroundings. Jesus then laid me before the Father. I just looked at the Father's eyes. I then saw a large warrior standing to the right of the Father and watching both of us with great intensity. Without a word from me the Father spoke and said "welcome, this warrior is you,and you are always in My presence in the spirit realm." I knew immediately that I had just become aware for the first time of who I was in the spirit. I actually was seeing my spirit being standing next to the Father and I was amazed at how focused he was.
I then understood that the baby I had become in the presence of the Father represented everything I was in the flesh. I was being shown that even though I am a full-grown man on earth, in heaven this fleshly person has only the wisdom and maturity of a small baby. I then knew that for me to make decisions based on my human knowledge and wisdom was equivalent to this small baby trying to tell this mighty warrior about anything. I knew that this warrior was who I was created to be from the moment of conception and that this was how the Father always saw me. I also knew that this warrior was not complete but, even though he already appeared as a valiant warrior, he was still in the process of being transformed into the full image of Jesus. I then began to cry out for the Spirit to not only transform me so that I would always remember who I was in the spirit and quit walking according to the flesh, but to also transform this warrior into the full image of my Lord & King Jesus.
The Spirit spoke to me and said that my spirit man was always in the Father's presence and as He said this I began to feel the great intensity of my spirit, this warrior, waiting to hear anything that the Father would say or even think. It was bread for my spirit man to consume. As this mighty warrior I stood by the Father desiring Him to speak a word, think a thought, or give a command as any of these from Him would feed me. I just kept crying out to the Father for more of His commands so that I could be fed. I now understood better the verse "man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". And "I have meat to eat that ye know not of...my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me,and to finish His work." I then asked the Father if He would also show me Ginger's (my wife's) spirit. As soon as I had spoken this, I saw the most beautiful woman coming toward the Father. She was reclining on what looked like a mist of cloud and was several feet off the ground. I immediately knew that this was my wife in the spirit. She would come close to the Father and then move away as if just wondering around the throne room. I watched the Father's eyes as He watched her with great compassion and joy. It was like a young child being observed by their parent as they rode a bicycle past them several times. The Father was so enjoying just watching His child. Ginger would come close and then move away and just continued to relax in His presence and do this. The only time she changed positions was when we began to worship the Father, then she would come as close as possible to Him and get on her knees with her head bowed. You could tell that this was what she loved.
As I continued to observe this warrior (me) standing and communing with the Father I knew that this was the Spirit teaching me how to first see the kingdom as a little child, so that I could then be seen as I truly am in the spirit. I realized that the man I thought I was on earth was nothing compared to who I truly was in heaven. I am truly seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). Each of us needs to first see the kingdom so that we can be seen as we truly are. I now want to see every Christian that I meet as they truly are seen in heaven before the Father's throne. I want to know the person in the spirit, not just according to the flesh any more(2 Cor. 5:16).
Sunday morning during worship I felt an unction from the Spirit to go forward and lay before the Lord. I hesitated and the Holy Spirit immediately took me back to the scene with my warrior spirit next to the Father. This time the warrior was laying on his face before the Father and worshiping Him, the only choice is will your soul and flesh yield and join what your spirit man is already doing or will you grieve and fight against your own spirit and this mighty warrior. I immediately went forward and laid on my face before the Father and wept for how many times I must have fought against this mighty warrior that was trying to do everything that pleased the Father, without any hesitation. The Father showed me that when we yield to an unction from the Holy Spirit to do anything, it is simply coming in line with our spirit man that is already doing it. It also gave me understanding of the scripture "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father" in spirit and in truth."
Later, during prayer time, I began to pray for a financial need I had in my life and again was immediately taken back to this same scene. The warrior was standing next to the Father listening for every word from the Father. I could also understand that because this warrior was in heaven at the throne he had access to all of heaven's resources; healing,deliverance,finances,......everything heaven had was available to him. I then wondered why, if my spirit warrior had access to all of heaven's resources and I was praying for finances, he wasn't going and retrieving the finances for me. The Spirit then spoke to me and said "the spirit man only moves at the will of the Father , not prayers form the soul". I knew that the finances I was praying for were available, but that it wasn't the Father encouraging me to ask for them but just my soul praying out of a need. I knew that when the finances were needed the warrior would hear the Father's command and the resources would be made available. This also made me realize that everything that comes from heaven is from the Father's will and is actually a part of the Father himself, as He is the creator of all things. Anything that gets poured out from heaven is the Father pouring Himself out upon His children (every good and perfect gift). What a blessing to know that if I listen and come in line with my spirit man that I will only respond to the Father's words.
I am now beginning to look to my spirit man much more often. Always watching to see what he is doing and how he is responding to situations. His only place to respond from is before the throne of God. How differently we would respond to every situation if we only became aware that our responses are while we stand before the God of all creation. It's truly amazing how many situations that happen here on earth, and so easily distract the fleshly-side of us, never even got so much as a flinch out of this great warrior. His eyes remained fixed on the Father, waiting for the next piece of food. The things on this earth just are not important compared to what the next morsel of bread is coming from the kingdom.
I hope this vision from my Brother has ministered to you. I hope it has made you also ponder. I especially hope it has made you think about making decisions and walking in the flesh verses walking in the Spirit. I hope you better understand the difference between the natural man and the spiritual man.
God loves you incredibly,
Mark S.
Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I have found it both mysterious and intriguing. It really introduces and addresses who and what the spirit man truly is before God and Jesus. Within Ephesians I have many favorite verses. A couple of them are found in Ephesians 2. In verse 5 we see that we (the believers) have been made alive together with Christ and verse 6 follows it by telling us that we have been raised up together and made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Now as for me I can tell you that the body of the person that I see when I look in the mirror has never sat down with Jesus in heavenly places. Yet when I read the Bible and specifically passages such as Ephesians 5 & 6, I have no other choice but to believe that yes I have. At least if I take the scripture literally. I love the mysteries of the Word of God. Mysteries that God, by the way wants to reveal to us.
I posted the following vision back in 2010. It is a vision that God allowed my great friend and brother to see while he was praying in his church. Larry is a man who loves Jesus deeply and is a man of integrity. He is passionate about prayer and the Word. I would trust him with my life and he has spoken into my life many times. I tell you this not to puff him up, but so hopefully you will understand that he is not a baby Christian, nor is he blown around by whims and emotion. When Larry has a vision, or a word from the Lord, he can be trusted. I hope his vision helps you to better understand the difference between our natural man and our spirit man. I'm going to drink a nice, cold glass of sweet tea now. You should go get something for yourself, too, so that we can relax and take our time as we read................................
To See and Be Seen................. Saturday, 5-22-10
During Wednesday prayer time the Holy Spirit spoke this phrase into my spirit- "to see and be seen."
Saturday morning, while I was alone at the church in prayer, I was laying on my face asking Jesus to show me the Father and to help me understand the phrase"to see and be seen". As I was asking Jesus to see the Father I felt that He took me by the hand and started leading me toward a large red curtain. As we walked I became younger and younger to the point that when we got to the curtain I was a small child and He was holding me in His arms. As we went through the curtain I knew that we had just passed through the blood of Jesus and had entered the throne room of the Father.
As Jesus took me over close to the Father I had now become a small baby, but was very aware of my surroundings. Jesus then laid me before the Father. I just looked at the Father's eyes. I then saw a large warrior standing to the right of the Father and watching both of us with great intensity. Without a word from me the Father spoke and said "welcome, this warrior is you,and you are always in My presence in the spirit realm." I knew immediately that I had just become aware for the first time of who I was in the spirit. I actually was seeing my spirit being standing next to the Father and I was amazed at how focused he was.
I then understood that the baby I had become in the presence of the Father represented everything I was in the flesh. I was being shown that even though I am a full-grown man on earth, in heaven this fleshly person has only the wisdom and maturity of a small baby. I then knew that for me to make decisions based on my human knowledge and wisdom was equivalent to this small baby trying to tell this mighty warrior about anything. I knew that this warrior was who I was created to be from the moment of conception and that this was how the Father always saw me. I also knew that this warrior was not complete but, even though he already appeared as a valiant warrior, he was still in the process of being transformed into the full image of Jesus. I then began to cry out for the Spirit to not only transform me so that I would always remember who I was in the spirit and quit walking according to the flesh, but to also transform this warrior into the full image of my Lord & King Jesus.
The Spirit spoke to me and said that my spirit man was always in the Father's presence and as He said this I began to feel the great intensity of my spirit, this warrior, waiting to hear anything that the Father would say or even think. It was bread for my spirit man to consume. As this mighty warrior I stood by the Father desiring Him to speak a word, think a thought, or give a command as any of these from Him would feed me. I just kept crying out to the Father for more of His commands so that I could be fed. I now understood better the verse "man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". And "I have meat to eat that ye know not of...my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me,and to finish His work." I then asked the Father if He would also show me Ginger's (my wife's) spirit. As soon as I had spoken this, I saw the most beautiful woman coming toward the Father. She was reclining on what looked like a mist of cloud and was several feet off the ground. I immediately knew that this was my wife in the spirit. She would come close to the Father and then move away as if just wondering around the throne room. I watched the Father's eyes as He watched her with great compassion and joy. It was like a young child being observed by their parent as they rode a bicycle past them several times. The Father was so enjoying just watching His child. Ginger would come close and then move away and just continued to relax in His presence and do this. The only time she changed positions was when we began to worship the Father, then she would come as close as possible to Him and get on her knees with her head bowed. You could tell that this was what she loved.
As I continued to observe this warrior (me) standing and communing with the Father I knew that this was the Spirit teaching me how to first see the kingdom as a little child, so that I could then be seen as I truly am in the spirit. I realized that the man I thought I was on earth was nothing compared to who I truly was in heaven. I am truly seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). Each of us needs to first see the kingdom so that we can be seen as we truly are. I now want to see every Christian that I meet as they truly are seen in heaven before the Father's throne. I want to know the person in the spirit, not just according to the flesh any more(2 Cor. 5:16).
Sunday morning during worship I felt an unction from the Spirit to go forward and lay before the Lord. I hesitated and the Holy Spirit immediately took me back to the scene with my warrior spirit next to the Father. This time the warrior was laying on his face before the Father and worshiping Him, the only choice is will your soul and flesh yield and join what your spirit man is already doing or will you grieve and fight against your own spirit and this mighty warrior. I immediately went forward and laid on my face before the Father and wept for how many times I must have fought against this mighty warrior that was trying to do everything that pleased the Father, without any hesitation. The Father showed me that when we yield to an unction from the Holy Spirit to do anything, it is simply coming in line with our spirit man that is already doing it. It also gave me understanding of the scripture "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father" in spirit and in truth."
Later, during prayer time, I began to pray for a financial need I had in my life and again was immediately taken back to this same scene. The warrior was standing next to the Father listening for every word from the Father. I could also understand that because this warrior was in heaven at the throne he had access to all of heaven's resources; healing,deliverance,finances,......everything heaven had was available to him. I then wondered why, if my spirit warrior had access to all of heaven's resources and I was praying for finances, he wasn't going and retrieving the finances for me. The Spirit then spoke to me and said "the spirit man only moves at the will of the Father , not prayers form the soul". I knew that the finances I was praying for were available, but that it wasn't the Father encouraging me to ask for them but just my soul praying out of a need. I knew that when the finances were needed the warrior would hear the Father's command and the resources would be made available. This also made me realize that everything that comes from heaven is from the Father's will and is actually a part of the Father himself, as He is the creator of all things. Anything that gets poured out from heaven is the Father pouring Himself out upon His children (every good and perfect gift). What a blessing to know that if I listen and come in line with my spirit man that I will only respond to the Father's words.
I am now beginning to look to my spirit man much more often. Always watching to see what he is doing and how he is responding to situations. His only place to respond from is before the throne of God. How differently we would respond to every situation if we only became aware that our responses are while we stand before the God of all creation. It's truly amazing how many situations that happen here on earth, and so easily distract the fleshly-side of us, never even got so much as a flinch out of this great warrior. His eyes remained fixed on the Father, waiting for the next piece of food. The things on this earth just are not important compared to what the next morsel of bread is coming from the kingdom.
I hope this vision from my Brother has ministered to you. I hope it has made you also ponder. I especially hope it has made you think about making decisions and walking in the flesh verses walking in the Spirit. I hope you better understand the difference between the natural man and the spiritual man.
God loves you incredibly,
Mark S.
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