“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
The above scripture tells us that two things are happening to us as we go through this life. The first is that our outward man, our physical body, is aging to the point where we will one day leave our body to go and be with the Lord for all eternity. The other thing that’s happening is that our inward man is being renewed each day! Now, that needs some explanation, but the primary focus in this writing is concerning our inward man – our spirit man.
There are several ways our spirit man experiences renewal. One avenue of renewing our spirit man is by feeding upon the Word of God daily. Jesus said in John 6:63, “The words that I speak are spirit…” Your spirit man requires spiritual food, and the Word of God is that spiritual food that comes from the mouth of God!
The second way our spirit man is renewed is exercising ourselves in the Word. The Bible teaches us to be DOERS OF the Word. Our spirit doesn’t grow and age according to the passing of time like our body does. It grows by what we put into it and how we walk it out! Doing the Word is what completes the cycle of feeding and exercising our spirit!
Yet another way our spirit is renewed daily is through prayer, which is a continual dialogue with the Father. The Bible teaches us in I Thessalonians 5:17 to “Pray without ceasing.” The easiest way I know of doing this is by praying in unknown tongues as we are instructed to in I Corinthians 14. There are several benefits of praying in tongues listed in this chapter. It says we speak mysteries, which are divine secrets. We also edify ourselves when we pray in tongues. The word edify comes from the word edifice, which is a large immoveable object. Verse 17 tells us that when we pray in unknown tongues, “we give thinks well!” Thanksgiving in itself is a form of prayer. I Timothy 2:1
New Power and a renewed inward man is really as accessible to us as our decision to receive it! It simply requires some cooperation…. 1) Feed Upon the Word. 2) Be a DOER of the Word. 3) Pray and avail yourself of praying in the spirit. It’s free! It’s accessible! And it will bring about eternal changes that will be a blessing to you, so you can in turn be a blessing to others!
With Love,
Pastor Tom