The New Life

God weighs our spirit; the letter is not so important. The fruits produced by this life—the virtues—are what give our lives weight, authority and confidence from God. The effect a person’s words has on others depends on the life-content he has, and that varies greatly from person to person. Those who live close to Jesus live close to His Word in their thoughts. They come into need; they are poor in their spirit, and this poverty of spirit takes the kingdom of heaven by force. Our spirit should be filled with the peaceable fruits of righteous­ness so we can learn to know Him both as Mediator and High Priest. Then we will be able to speak with the authority that a life in God gives. We can only take with us into eternity what we have gained in our Spirit. We have to be aware of this in the trials of life. Knowledge is light for us; it shows us the way we should live. If we then are faithful in the situations of life, this knowledge will become the light of life. What strengthens and blesses people the most is when they sense the fragrance of a life in God, unshakably firm in all of life’s situations.

Most people’s inner man is very weak, and yet it is possible for the entire fullness of God to dwell in our inner being. Then outward tribulations can be absorbed by the fullness we pos­sess in our inner life. We feel strengthened by the Spirit’s power within. The Word must become flesh in us so that we too, can be His own special people and show others who the Master is.

Just think that we can be transformed—a totally new life can come into being! What was previously impossible is now possible! God saw us writhing in our blood, and He said: “Live!” We have come to know the One who can do more than everything. Therefore, let us continue steadfastly in the race and suffer death according to the flesh so that living water can flow in every step we take. Our spirit will be quickened so that it grows and develops in the midst of the desert. We must live what we preach if we want spirit and anointing to abound. We must always be gripped of the desire to lay hold of more of this life and receive the prophetic light so the morning star can rise in our hearts. Then there will be power and authority in our words—the power and authority that come from the life we live by faith in God. This will always be in direct contrast to Pharisaical words where the speaker is occupied with the form, but has no real desire to live the life he speaks about.

God waits for the precious fruits of the earth. He wants to see the results of His work. All of us have received talents from the Lord. The talents are the possibilities God has given us in life, and He expects development and growth in us as a result of these possibilities. We are called to be good and faithful servants who in love invest what God has given us. In this way we increase our spiritual capital. Paul had a special ability to plant and give people knowledge, and Apollos had a natural gift to water, but we can see that Paul increased his talent by also allowing himself to be watered. He planted the knowledge and gave hope, and by his love he was able to gain access deep into people’s hearts. We should also desire to re­ceive in our spirit the things we see that others have had a greater grace to supply to the body of Christ than we have.