Enoch Walked with God! - The Call

I am writing this without any self-importance whatsoever. Besides, God never let me forget my humble beginning and how I was nothing when He found me, therefore I cannot afford to pretend, be pretentious or feel more deserving. I was in the wilderness for about 4 years and 10 months when God showed me my new heart. He taught me how to hear Him and communicate with Him from the new heart. Since then, while He still communicates with me through visions, but He ceased to talk with me through dreams and also His voice is no longer as loud as it used to be. Strangely, the same day He showed me what my spiritual new heart looks like, He asked me to walk with Him like Enoch did. First of all, I have no idea what it entails to walk like Enoch, but for some reason I was taken aback when He asked me and I felt that I could not give Him an honest answer. One of the reasons I was so reluctant was the fact that I found out how dangerous it could be to live a life of surrender to Him, therefore I knew this was not something I could take lightly, and in my heart, I felt, there must be so much more to it.

I remember talking to my son about that. It was almost as if I was looking for some feedback, but he did not say anything to me. So, I put it all in the back of my mind and I was honestly hoping that God would forget about it. It has been three years since He asked me this question. Throughout this week God kept waking me up very early, which usually means after two or three hours of sleep. I know it is God waking me up, because when you are used to Him, He has some sort of imprint that no one else could imitate. Secondly, when it is Him, it does not matter how little sleep I have, for some reasons I feel energized, alert and fresh. By the time I reached Wednesday, I knew He wanted to talk to me, but could not understand why He was not talking. So, I used the time to pray and draw closer to Him. Last night, once again I was up by 2:30 Am which is early when you consider that I usually go to bed around midnight. I spent the first hour praying, then  for some reason I could not stay in bed at all, as if the outside was calling my name.

It was an amazing time with God. I still cannot explain what happened in between, the sudden change in my heart and the overwhelmed need to walk closer to Him. The whole time of prayer was about “supplication” to be able to walk with Him like Enoch did. It is strange to see how I felt ready and also felt there is no other path and no alternative for me except learning to walk with Him until I fade away. Anyway, after five o’clock, I went back into the house and still continue praying, this time I was more subdue. But, between these hours, it feels as if my life has changed. Through His grace, He put this desire in my heart; I know that is His next goal and the next step for me.

I still do not know what it means to walk with God like Enoch did. I am not sure of anything except that His grace and Salvation is at work in me. As usual, the internet is filled with information about Enoch walk. But, most of what I found so far, are people playing guessing games and put forth their own hypothesis. I will keep praying and listening to God to speak and lead me. By now I know Him well enough to know that it will take time and He will also teach me. So, if anyone of you wants to keep me in their prayers, I would be grateful. It does not matter your level of spirituality with God, it matters if you are truly walking the walk with Him, then I know your prayers will be heard. I am also asking for your prayers because if indeed you have a heart for Him, then you know without a doubt that praying for me to please Him, is really not about me or you, but about pleasing His heart, Glorifying and delighting Him.

In the meantime, with wisdom and discernment, I will try to find more on the subject. The reason I want to find more on the subject, it is not because I want to go ahead of Him, but I know through writing my blog and sharing with you guys, He is also teaching me. So, I will keep you posted.   Have a blessed day!

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Are We Open to Intimacy?

This is why we accept the false reverence—it’s like having a relationship with someone out of state. It doesn’t intrude into your life like a spouse or a good friend does. There is safety in the distance. We secure ourselves against a fuller experience of Jesus’ presence because he is so unnerving. There is no faking it in the presence of Jesus; there is no way we can cling to our idols and agendas. We sense this intuitively, and so we keep our distance without really looking like we’re keeping our distance. By using false reverence. “The Good Lord” probably isn’t going to show up at your New Year’s Eve party.

Want more?

So, when it comes to experiencing more of Jesus in your life, much depends on what we are open to experiencing—what we have been told we can experience, and, what we are comfortable with. Are you willing to let Jesus be himself with you?

From Ransomed Heart devotion book

The Consummation of the Affair (What Is Worship, After All?)

The post below, from Ransomed Heart is really good and it is true all the way. One thing the author forgot is that these days social media and technology toys have been ranked right up there with sex. They are used in order to fill the void we carry within us. They have become our gods and idols, and we sacrifice all to them.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying social media and technology are wrong. On the contrary, we have the opportunity to spread God's word and help other Christians growing in the Lord. But, like the Israelites, when it comes to God, we have to have the last word, as such, we fail to let Him use us, instead, most of us uses these tools  like the unbelievers, in the flesh.

I am afraid most of us will never know the joy of using social media while being used by God. It is fun, and it brings fulfillment. Mind you, this does not mean you will be more popular, but each time you decide to post something, God's hand will be at work through you. Make no mistake, when God is at work, you will reach those He targeted. His own niche; isn't that wonderful. Sometimes I read social media posts and I feel, some people calling themselves Christian need prayers and some are actually in need for people to pray for the salvation of their souls.

This is an excerpt found in the Ransomed Heart's devotion book

The older Christian wedding vows contained these amazing words: "With my body, I thee worship." Maybe our forefathers weren't so prudish after all; maybe they understood sex far better than we do. To give yourself over to another, passionately and nakedly, to adore that person's body, soul, and spirit—we know there is something special, even sacramental about sex. It requires trust and abandonment, guided by a wholehearted devotion. What else can this be but worship? After all, God employs explicitly sexual language to describe faithfulness (and unfaithfulness) to him. For us creatures of the flesh, sexual intimacy is the closest parallel we have to real worship. Even the world knows this. Why else would sexual ecstasy become the number one rival to communion with God? The best impostors succeed because they are nearly indistinguishable from what they are trying to imitate. We worship sex because we don't know how to worship God. But we will.

We have grown cynical, as a society, about whether intimacy is really possible. To the degree that we have abandoned soul-one-ness, we have sought out merely sex, physical sex, to ease the pain. But the full union is no longer there; the orgasm comes incomplete; its heart has been taken away. Many have been deeply hurt. Sometimes, we must learn from what we have not known, let it teach us what ought to be.

God's design was that the two shall become one flesh. The physical oneness was meant to be the expression of a total interweaving of being. Is it any wonder that we crave this? Our alienation is removed, if only for a moment, and in the paradox of love, we are at the same time known and yet taken beyond ourselves

Hear God's Plea With Your Heart,Through The Book of Hebrews

I have been somewhat bedridden with a sinus cold, fever and a cough that makes me feel like my bronchitis is coming back. To be able to spend time with God, I need to take two pills in the morning which allow me to feel better for a little while. I found myself stuck in Hebrews, unable to move on. Furthermore, I kept feeling overwhelmed by the revelation of His word in the Hebrews book. There are times I would read two or three verses and that’s enough for me for the day because it is too much to take all at once. So, I would close my Bible and meditate. But, in the back of my mind I am always rushing my mediation time to get to those people that I pray for on a daily basis, just because I am afraid the pills would wear off and I would be useless.

So, yesterday I was meditating after I closed the Bible, I decided not to rush myself and not to pray for anyone else. I felt the need to minister to God and I wanted the time to be about Him alone. Finally God got my attention. I realized that’s what He has been trying to do for the past few days. Then He asked me if I noticed the difference in the way I read the book of Hebrew now compare to a few years ago when He was using Hebrews to teach me about my walk with Him?  I answered yes I notice you are teaching me as if I am a pastor reading some verses to prepare a sermon. I have no idea why this comparison. It just felt like it.

The difference is when He was training me few years ago to prepare me for a walk of holiness and faith He focussed on this book with me and taught me why certain passages had to be imparted to me. He did that, to help me understand the pain I was going through. Through this kind of training with Him, I learned that when we are suffering, He uses our trials to impart this life in us. So, the frustration disappears or at least it becomes more bearable when we understand the process and all the benefits intended by God. We know the pain serve a purpose so we can focus on the goal instead of the pain.

God turned things around this time. The first time there was joy, I was learning, and the word was coming alive in my life. This time around is so painful and the only way I can describe the pain that I am feeling is that I feel like I am carrying the world on my shoulders. I am frustrated that God chose to show me these things. I am frustrated because I feel powerless. I am also frustrated because I do not know how to help people understand how important it is to heed to God’s words. As I was asking God what gives? He told me to blog about it. Honestly, that’s not what I wanted to hear for several reasons.

Right away, I thought about the last time I posted the Godly wife’s post; I lost over 500 people on Facebook. Secondly, I have a craving to be normal, even a little bit superficial so that I could attract more people. (Confession time) I hate the fact that my ministry resemble to the prophet of doom. There is a beauty in God and a beauty in being His heir that I would love to be able to talk about all the time. Yet, I know God’s plan for me is to help people understand how to get to the beauty we find in Him. That’s what we Christians tend to avoid. We want the beauty but not the pain we have to go through to get there.

Times like that, I find solace in knowing what God is asking of me is the size of a fly compare to Noah. Imagine, having to live more than hundred years warning people about something that was totally unreal to them. But, I supposed because he would have needed tons of strength to persevere in faith and to take on the ridicule that he must have been exposed to, God must have lavished His grace on him to help him keep the faith alive. I find solace in knowing that as ridiculous as I sound sometimes when I warn people of the danger of a shoddy Christianity, when it matters most, they will know that I was right. Sadly, it will be too late.

When you think about Noah, he preached every single day for over hundred years, warning people of the flood and calling them to make things right with God, yet he was not able to save a soul except the members of his family that God granted him. I would not have understood why if God did not explain it to me. You see, it is extremely important to God to use others to warn people. The funny thing is that God usually chooses people who do not like this task.  God already knows the majority of people you are warning do not care about your message. But, like He said to me before and gave me a glimpse of an image, when judgement time comes, He will have an answer for those who are planning on using “ I DID NOT KNOW” as their excuses. This is part of God being a just God.

You see, as Christians, we are so in love with what we understand with our intellect and in the flesh when in reality God’s word have to be grasped with the Spirit to understand the full scope. For instance, when we say something like, “NOTHING COULD SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD” people feel all warm and tingly, they get a buzz, they say amen with all the strength they have and if you post this on Facebook, you will have hundreds of “likes.” Then, they go on with their shoddy Christianity feeling really good. In reality, it is awesome to know that, but there is so much more to it that we cannot grasp with the flesh and with the intellect.

While we should be grateful for knowing this truth, we should know that God love for each of us is so wide, so deep and so humongous that it feels and look bigger than the world.  But, when He teaches you about His love, you realize there is an intensity to it that could cause you to suffocate within seconds of being closer to His love. The intensity you find in His love has a consuming passion, jealousy wrath etc. As you get to know Him intimately, through loving Him and walking with Him in the spirit, you realize none of these attributes are negative. In fact, the word negative does not even come to mind. You are not scared of His wrath either. His nature in you, teaches you how to accept them and see His beauty through it all. His love is as intense as His wrath and knowing the two, it brings some sort of balance in your walk with Him. But, this is not something you can grasp over night and neither in the flesh. Only as you live and walk in the spirit you learn these things at his feet. – You see, TALK IS CHEAP!

Another reason that I find it hard to have my ministry is because I know how hard it is to tell people they are in reality spiritually blind. They find so much satisfaction in “doing” Christianity. They have lots of activities in their lives, they attend church, bible study,   they feel passionate about things etc., and you cannot tell them they are spiritually blind. They simply do not understand what you are talking about. Yes, these things are good things to have in our lives, but if we remain spiritually blind throughout our Christian walk, well, a caterpillar that has not morphed into a butterfly is not a butterfly.  

Through the book of Hebrews the warning is about the Jews who remained on the side and did not want to have anything to do with Christianity. But most of the book, the writer dedicated to us Christians, to also warn us about how important to have true faith and go forward with Him for the inward transformation to take place so that we can all become butterflies. When it comes to blindness, we have an example of Job right in front of us. When I read job, I don’t care his problems stemmed from Satan having given permission by God to bring him down. What I take from the book is how we are to grow through our trials. It is how to worship God, live for Him in good or bad times and be all that He wants us to be. Even though I read the book over and over again, I cannot wait to get to chapter 42: 5-6 where Job said: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job was referring to the eyes of his heart there. I find the book beautiful because I know without the shadow of a doubt, that we all need to go through some major trials in our lives to get the eyes of our hearts open, and only then we can say “oh I see” – Job had no idea he was spiritually blind, I had no idea I was spiritually blind either, until I was able to see. Another thing we find out is that as we can see with our spiritual eyes, we also realize we have no use for those ears we have on the side of our heads.  God wants us to hear with our hearts I remember saying “oh!” That’s why even deaf people have no excuses for not knowing you intimately.  

So, I have no intention of revealing all that God has revealed to me from the book of Hebrews. But, for the next few weeks, I will be using some of the puritan and those classic pastors like Spurgeon perhaps to blog about the book. I will make sure to include some of my own experiences and thoughts.  

I feel so lousy, I have to stop but I hope all that I said make sense and prepare some of you to learn to hear with your heart. I hope you crave intimacy with Him and that you learn to live just to know Him more.

I love you all,

MJ  

Exploring The Hidden Questions Of Our Heart

It is possible to recover the lost life of our heart and with it the intimacy, beauty, and adventure of life with God. To do so we must leave what is familiar and comfortable—perhaps even parts of the religion in which we have come to trust—and take a journey. This journey first takes us on a search for the lost life of our heart, and for the voice that once called us in those secret places; those places and times when our heart was still with us. The pilgrimage of the heart leads us to remember together what it was that first engaged us in deep ways as children: ". . . anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it," said Jesus (Mark 10:15).

Our journey will take us to explore the hidden questions of our heart, born out of the stories of our lives. It is only by leaving home and taking a pilgrimage that we will begin to see how our own stories are interwoven with the great Romance God has been telling since before the dawn of time. It is on this pilgrimage that we begin to see that each of us has a part in the cosmic love affair that was created specifically with us in mind. Last, this pilgrimage brings us to the destination, set within all of our hearts, which in some way we have known, longed for, and been haunted by since we were children.

...Our journey begins by asking questions, putting words to the movements of the heart. "What is this restlessness and emptiness I feel, sometimes long years into my Christian journey? What does the spiritual life have to do with the rest of my life? What is it that is set so deeply in my heart, experienced as a longing for adventure and romance, that simply will not leave me alone? Does it have anything to do with God? What is it that he wants from me? Has he been speaking to me through my heart all along? When did I stop listening? When did his voice first call to me?"

Excerpt from Ransomed Heart Ministry

http://www.ransomedheart.com/

“It Is A Bad Thing To Be Satisfied Spiritually”

I read this sentence from Oswald Chambers devotional today. The idea behind his devotional is about God teaching us patience. Patience is the fruit of the Spirit and the other name often used to describe patience is long-suffering. Whether you say patience or long-suffering this fruit of the Spirit is not only essential in our Christian walk, but when you learn patience it brings endurance and it also says that you are not devoted to yourself or your idea of who God is, but you are devoted to the true God. It says that you now have true faith instead of having faith in your own belief. Believe it or not it makes a big difference because faith in our own belief never brings God close. The gift of patience conveys a steadfast walk with God.

 “It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually” In this small sentence there are two things to consider. One is being satisfied inwardly and the second one is the key word “spiritually” we cannot leave out this key word. Many Christians equate being satisfied with their Christian walk as in “working for God.” While some get involved in serving more in the Church and some actually go on their own without having the vision from Him, or if they have had the vision they did not wait for God, but instead, went ahead of God to realize the vision by creating opportunities for themselves. None of these things bring spiritual satisfaction. Spiritual satisfaction comes from pursuing God in a steadfast walk.

It is sad to be satisfied with less, when the God that we possess inwardly is so small. If your God is small, then you need to understand that you are not in God’s will because His will for you is to have Him in abundance. One of the most common things that cause us to live the Christian life with a miniature God in mind is that we are lazy. This laziness that I mentioned several times in different posts, is not something that one should be insulted when reading it. This laziness, even the most devoted Christians have to struggle to get out of this frame of mind to get hold of God. It forces us to get into the habit of doing Christianity while inwardly we are idle.

Many times, we have to bring ourselves up and struggle to keep cultivating the mind and heart and be willing to grasp more of God. Over the years I have come to understand not only we have to wait for God’s vision to take shape in our lives, to let Him prepare us for service whether here or in heaven; we also have to keep the vision of God every day of our lives to help us reach over and above what we know and understand. To keep grasping for more means we have to commit it all to God. We learn to commit to let Him be the Master in this relationship as we yield to Him. These things I mentioned in this paragraph alone, when you set out to do them, you will find it is easier to work for Him 365 days a year with no rest and no sleep, than to live out this kind of commitment to Him. Unfortunately unless we learn to grasp with our mind and heart through an unwavering commitment to Him through patience, then, intimacy with God will always be one more unattainable thing in the Christian life.  

I learned through the years, this command in James 4:8 “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” It is of the utmost importance because it keeps us close, it keeps our mind sharp even when life is totally foggy and God is nowhere to be found. It keeps us alert so the enemy cannot get the opportunity to invade our camp. It keeps us where we need to be as soldiers of His. Through the pursuit of intimacy, we are sustained in Him and it keeps us consistent in our constancy. It also helps us to remain connected inwardly to Him when laziness set in. So, we can't afford to be satisfied spiritually because as we do, we forfeit all while Satan is having a feast at our expenses.

Some of us are wasting time every day finding comfort in one verse or two and we high five other people we say Amen and we feel good. While it is good to keep the verses in our hearts but ask yourself, how has God’s Word changed me inwardly lately?  You want to make sure you go a step further than Satan and his legion of demons, by letting the Word of God changes you.

If you are not aware that the Word of God is having His way in you, then who is? Let go of your mini God and get hold of a God that is so big, so powerful, so majestic, and so sovereign that the universe is not big enough to contain Him. Can you see Him? Can you get hold with your mind and your heart of this God that is so humongous that He holds the whole universe in His hands? Let this God be yours and embrace Him with your heart. Go forth with one goal in mind “to make Him yours” and do not stop on your way, do not be content with what you have of Him. When you truly fall in love with God, you really do not care what’s in it for you. Calvary is already plenty. Please consider surrendering your whole life once again, dedicate all that you are for His glory. Ask Him to teach you how to keep your heart and mind open to Him and let Him have His ways in each itsy bitty part of you. He is your father, He loves you and there is no reason to fear the unknown with Him. He will be delighted and He will delight you in return.

It is okay to have fear of surrendering your all to Him, but it is not okay to let your fear cripple you to the point where you rather learn to be spiritually satisfied with less of Him. Stop repeating verses after verses of how much He loves you but prove it to Him that you truly believe His Word by surrendering your all. By passing your fear to surrender to Him because you believe He truly loves you, would be an example of the work of your faith in Him, a work pleasing to Him.

We are soldiers of the Cross, let’s not be lazy or the enemy will invade the camp!

Here Is Oswald's Devotional

The Patience To Wait for the Vision

05

02

2013

Though it tarries, wait for it . . . —Habakkuk 2:3

Patience is not the same as indifference; patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults. Having the vision of God is the source of patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration. Moses endured, not because of his devotion to his principles of what was right, nor because of his sense of duty to God, but because he had a vision of God. “. . . he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue— he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it. Things come to you with greatness and add vitality to your life because everything is energized by God. He may give you a time spiritually, with no word from Himself at all, just as His Son experienced during His time of temptation in the wilderness. When God does that, simply endure, and the power to endure will be there because you see God.

“Though it tarries, wait for it . . . .” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have already grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. The psalmist said, “What shall I render to the Lord . . . ? I will take up the cup of salvation . . .” (Psalm 116:12-13). We are apt to look for satisfaction within ourselves and say, “Now I’ve got it! Now I am completely sanctified. Now I can endure.” Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. Paul said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on . . .” (Philippians 3:12). If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation

Walking in the Spirit

I had people asked me “how do one walk in the Spirit?

Walking in the Spirit really does not need a formula. However, there needs to be an attitude of openness toward God. When the Spirit started teaching me to walk in the Spirit He made it clear that this openness toward Him is not open for negotiation. You cannot have a plan A and a plan B and be dead set on wanting Him to negotiate your terms with you.

More often than not, we do have plan A & B but we do not even realize that. There are times our contingency plans are more obvious to us. But sometimes they are not, while they might not be obvious to us, but they are obvious to Satan and he used them against us. If you take for instance someone who reads something from Chambers, Spurgeon, Tozer, Paul Washer, etc then, dismiss it while saying well, this guy is out of his mind and these things he is talking about, I do not need them to be saved.

Then the conclusion here is that you do not have the Holy Spirit in you to begin with to help you understand the truth of God. Or it could be you utter such words simply because in the depth of your heart you know what you read upset your plans. But because your plan B is more important to you than God’s plan A, you stick to your guns. With a mindset like that, you forfeit your walk in the Spirit. The spiritual darkness that is looming over your heart and soul comes from the fact that you know something but you have no intention of obeying God. No matter how beautiful or successful your life might look on the outside, no matter how hard you appear to work for God, well, none of it is being done in the Spirit and you are not walking in the Spirit. This is just one tiny example amongst all those examples that I could give you. But I hope you see where I am getting here.

A test that will never fail us as to whether or not we are walking in the Spirit is the depth of Christ being revealed to us. Understand that I am not talking about us exercising gifts we may or may not have.  Now, I am not saying that He cannot work this life in you because as I mentioned in my book, I have seen God working this Christian life through people, in spite of themselves. But, you are as useful to Him as Pharaoh was in His hand. The only difference between you and Pharaoh is that you have found more grace in His eyes. Openness to God keeps us surrendered to His will, teachable and obedient, hence, you are not perfect, you still have a long way to go but you are walking in the Spirit.

After I learned to walk in the Spirit, God with His sense of humour took one of my pet peeves to show me how easy I can be separated from the oneness with Him and how important I keep focussing on Him and walk moment by moment to keep this oneness. My greatest pet peeve is people who pick their noses. I find it so gross and I cannot understand why not using tissues. Anyway, a lesson that I cannot forget no matter how much I want to, is that God showed me one day, after I experienced His awesome divine nature that could be compared to oxygen so pure that you know it is out of this world. It is so pure that you cannot imagine living without it and if we could see what we are missing, we would indeed make sure we walk moment by moment so that we do not spend one minute out of His nature.  

He showed me even if I have a sin so small that it could be the size of a tiny booger, He said to me, even though you could hold it between your fingers and re-enter your union with me, it would not be possible because this tiny booger however small cannot find a place in my nature. He said if I allow you to get in without the repentance and the cleansing of the blood, you would introduce dirt within me. For someone else this might not be important, but to me, I can't live without this visual, to remind me where I am at in my oneness with Him. I need to constantly ask myself, have I moved away from Him without even knowing it?

With that in mind, I leave you with a good description of the subject with pastor Philpott

This is just an excerpt from J. C. Philpott's sermon preached in 1862

"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1

1. To walk, then, after the Spirit is to walk after and in a revealed Christ– not a Christ in the letter, but a Christ in the Spirit; not a Christ in the word only, but a Christ in the heart, formed there the hope of glory. The work of the Spirit is to reveal Christ, to glorify him, and make him precious to believing hearts; to apply his blood to the conscience, to discover his righteousness, and to shed abroad his love. To walk, then, after the Spirit is to follow his gracious discoveries of the Lord Jesus to the heart, and to realize them by a living experience of their sweetness and blessedness.

2. But again, the Spirit leads into all truth. This was the promise given by Christ to his disciples– "Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13.) It is impossible for us to know the truth savingly and experimentally, except the blessed Spirit guides us, as it were, into the very bosom of it. Until then its beauty and blessedness, its liberating, sanctifying influence are hidden from our sight. But if I am guided by the Spirit into all truth, if he himself condescends to lead me into the truth as it is in Jesus, and enable me to walk in the truth as he leads me into it, then I may be said to walk after the Spirit.

3. But again, the Spirit is spoken of in the word of truth as an Intercessor, teaching us how to pray and what to pray for; no, he himself is represented as "interceding for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." If, then, I pray in the Spirit, I walk after the Spirit, for I walk in that path of prayer and supplication in which he is pleased to lead me. He has promised to help my infirmities; and therefore if I find my many infirmities helped by his grace and overcome by his power, then too I may be said to walk after the Spirit.

4. But the Spirit is also the author of faith, hope, and love, for these are fruits and graces which spring from his work upon the heart. If, then, I believe in Jesus with a spiritual faith, if I hope in him with a spiritual hope, and love him with a spiritual love, I walk after the Spirit; for the Spirit moves me both to will and to do those things; and as he leads I follow.

5. But the Spirit is also a Spirit of contrition, of brokenness, of humility, of godly sorrow for sin and honest confession of it. If, then, I am ever blessed with humility, contrition, repentance, and godly sorrow for sin, I walk after the Spirit.

6. But the Spirit is also the Comforter of God's people, for that is the name which our blessed Lord himself gave him. So that if he ever comforts your heart with his choice consolations, and you walk after his comfort, desiring to drink into it, and following after everything which may promote it, you follow in the steps in which the Comforter leads you.

7. But if we walk after the Spirit, we shall also be spiritually-minded, which is life and peace; our affections will be fixed upon heavenly realities where Jesus sits at the right hand of God; for all this is his special work, and nothing short of his power and influence can produce it. If then we are favored at any time with this spirituality of mind and these heavenly affections, it is a proof that we are walking after the Spirit.

8. But again, through the weakness of the flesh and the power of temptation, we often fall into a state of coldness, darkness, hardness, and even miserable carelessness in the things of God. Then the Spirit has to revive our drooping graces, bring us out of this miserable state of carnality and death, to lead us to the fountain once opened for all sin and uncleanness in the blood of the Lamb, to renew our hope, strengthen our faith, and impart to us fresh confidence. As we then walk in the light, life, and power of these gracious revivals, we walk after the Spirit.