A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Chris Musgrove of Future Now)
Scripture for the Day (December 10, 2015)
I Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Our scripture for the day states that we are spirit, soul and body. I like to say it like this, “I am a spirit, I live in a body, and I have a soul (mind, will, emotions). The Bible says in Genesis 1:27 that God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him. John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”.
Well, if God is a Spirit and we were created in God’s image, then that makes us a spirit. Our spirits are the part of us that are like God. It is the spirit of man that gets born again. You don’t get a new body when you get saved; you become a new man on the inside (your spirit).
In John 3:3 Jesus was talking about the spirit man when he told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Romans 7:22 says, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.”
I Peter 3:4 says, “Rather let it be the hidden man of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
Paul in II Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day”. The New International Version says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
The hidden man of the heart or the inward man is the spirit man that is being renewed day by day. Paul was referring to the spirit man in Philippians 1:21-24 when he said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” The I that has a desire and depart is the real Paul, the Spirit man, not his flesh. When you die the only thing that will depart is your spirit.
Spending time in the word of God daily will cause your spirit man to grow and be strengthened. I Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:” We encourage you to take time for the man on the inside today. That is the Real You!
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:13)
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. (1 John 3:24)
