Seeds of Change

“Self is the very citadel of Satan in the heart;
it is the great stronghold of the enemy.”
John Gregory Mantle: Beyond Humiliation The Way of the Cross (p33)

Seeds of Change:

I always loved teaching children about seeds. It was part of their gaining an understanding about the beauty and complexities of plant life. I would preface my lesson on seeds by asking about the life that was inside the dormant seed.
I’d hold up a lima bean (or other seed) and ask, “Is this seed alive?” Without fail the students would classify the seed as something that was not living.
We would then take some seeds and soak them in water overnight. The next day we would examine the seeds and find the seed coats were usually shriveled and broken. Of these seeds we would plant some in soil and others in clear jars filled with cotton batting and water. Still others were left out on a shelf in dry Petri dishes as controls to the experiment. The students would examine the seeds each morning as they came in. They would draw a picture of their seed and journal about the observations they had made for the day.
Within a few days the students were surprised to see a sprout emerge from the seed. When this happened I would ask again, “Is this seed alive?” With big smiles of discovery on their faces they proclaimed that there seeds had been alive all along, they just didn’t know it! It was always amazing to watch their daily discoveries of the root systems growth and then the emergence of the plants first pair of dichotomous leaves (which in fact are not real leaves, but a food source to allow the growth of real leaves). Within a few weeks they had journal entries and diagrams a-plenty documenting the growth of their seeds that could verify their findings that ‘seeds really are alive.’

Anyone who has been a believer in Christ for any length of time comes to understand that one of the biggest obstacles in the life of a believer is ourselves.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that our outer man (our soul) often fails to be in harmony with our inner man (our spirit).
The Apostle Paul observed it this way in his letter to the church in Rome:

14For we know that the Law is spiritual,

but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15For what I am doing, I do not understand;

for I am not practicing what I would like to do,

but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do,

I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17So now, no longer am I the one doing it,

but sin which dwells in me.
18For I know that nothing good dwells in me,

that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me,

but the doing of the good is not.
19For the good that I want, I do not do,

but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want,

I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21I find then the principle that evil is present in me,

the one who wants to do good.
22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23but I see a different law in the members of my body,

waging war against the law of my mind

and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God,

but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-22 NASB

When we are born again in Jesus Christ our inner man (the spirit)

is regenerated and desires the things of God and His kingdom.

The outer man however, still seeks its own way and own will.

The soul of man finds it difficult to surrender to the control of the inner man

and the Spirit of God which dwells in our human spirit..

We quickly discover that the inner man is hampered by the outer man,

which sets up road blocks for us to hinder the use our spirit for the kingdom.

The regenerated spirit of man

desires to discern God’s Word and walk in its fullness

to bless others with the truth

through the power and anointing of God.

Because the soul resists submitting to the draw of the Spirit

there is a continual battle for supremacy and control

of our thoughts, actions and behavior.

Until the outer man of the soul is broken

and becomes submissive to the spirit

this raging will continue

and we will be less effective for the purposes of God,

and a target for the wiles of the enemy.

Because of this battle,

there is a preoccupation in the church for revivals,

pleading prayer and a zealousness toward activity

to prove ones worthiness

(which of course can only come through Christ, not the works of men).

Believers will travel across the country

to attend Christian seminars and workshops

seeking the solution that lies only in their soul’s surrender to the spirit.

8For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB

The Word of God clearly describes these parts of all men:

22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
Romans 7:22 NASB

Our inner man takes great delight in the Law of the Lord.

16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:16 NASB

Paul reminds us again of the daily encounter

between our inner man and his adversary the outer man

which makes it imperitive

that we be renewed daily by the Spirit of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying,
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB

When we are born again God comes to dwell in our spirit.

There He provides all the abundant life and power

that we need in order to live a faithful and productive walk with Him.

We are co-laborers in Christ.

To be fruitful we must be yoked to the Master, following His lead.

29"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Matthew 11:29 NASB

This regenerated spirit is found at the center of our being is the inner man.
Surrounding this inner man indwelt by God, is the soul.

This outer man is comprised of our mind, will and emotions.
The outermost part of man is surrounding both the inner man (spirit)

and the outer man (soul).

This is our physical body or the outermost man.

Because we deal with our outermost man the most,

we tend to get consumend by its concerns.

We often allow the issues

of our physical comfort

or our thinking, will or emotions

to dominate over the inner man.

We must never forget that our inner man

is the human spirit where God has chosen to dwell.

This is the interface of our spirit with God’s Holy Spirit.

It is the place from which we embark on every desire of God for our life,

the place of peace, the place of love and compassion, the place of Christ-likeness!

17But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
1 Corinthians 6:17 NASB

21that they may all be one;
even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You,
that they also may be in Us,
so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
John 17:21 NASB

9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you
But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin,
yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:9-11 NASB

If we are to be ambassadors fro Christ

and the kingdom of God

then this inner man must be allowed to control

both our soul (mind, will and emotions) and our physical body.

2And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is,
that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 NASB

5Have this attitude [mind ed: fkj] in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus,
6who, although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
7but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men.
8Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8 NASB

8for bodily discipline is only of little profit,
but godliness is profitable for all things,
since it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:8 NASB

We must always remember

that the largest issue in our walk with God

is not others, or even the enemy… it is ourselves.

Our spirit is like the life inside the seed coat

that is waiting to spring forth…

but the outer man must be broken and put to death

so that the life of God can be released in all its glory.

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End Part 1
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