Have you took time to ask why spiritual people fail and almost never amount to anything in life?
Have you thought about those tongue-talking brothers whose fires were suddenly extinguished?
Have you not wondered why believers exhibit so much zeal for God and in no distant time quiet down?
Why would a man, zealous and burning for God suddenly go cold after falling into sin?
What or who is responsible for this setback of failure many believers encounter in their walk with God?
For a long time, I was scared of failing as a spiritual person. I was scared of ending up like many I have heard of and read about. I was scared of falling into sin because of the large number of persons who used my life as a basis to follow God. Failing meant the failure of others.
I knew I needed help so I don't end up like many spiritual persons who regardless of their spirituality fell into sin and short-circuited thier lives.
I took cognisance of the lives of spiritual men who failed both in scriptures and in our day and time and I discovered the single most deadly factor responsible for the failure of spiritual people.
This factor can be attributed to the failure of Samson (Judges 13-16).
Samson was a man anointed by God to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). His was a major call and ordination from God backed up with the resting of the Spirit of God (Judges 14:6,19;15:14).
With all of the endowments that Samson had one would expect that he would be successful and die gloriously after judging Israel for many years but then we know his end was a fatal and premature one.
NOTE THIS: The anointing of the Spirit, your prayer fire, your ability to search scriptures, memorize them and produce rhema from them can not completely guarantee your success in this spiritual journey.
Being anointed and having the ability to undertake kingdom functions will not necessarily keep you from failing. You must deal with the tendencies of your flesh. The greatest battle to fight as a believer is the battle against the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. – Galatians 5:17
To be spiritual is good but if you do not fight and conquer the flesh you would fail. Many great and anointed men of God have failed because they never considered fighting their flesh.
We are often concerned about spiritual warfare that we neglect the primary warfare of our lives which is against our flesh.
It was Apostle Paul that said;
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. – 1 Corinthians 9:27
Like Apostle Paul, you must bring your body under subjection that is prevail over your flesh lest what you preached against becomes what you practice. You must conquer your flesh else you would fall into the same sin you spoke against.
If you fail to gain mastery over your flesh, after rebuking a brother who fell into sexual immorality you will fall into same sin. Your flesh must be subject to you so that you don't move in the anointing on stage and become the devil's tool at work. You must fight and conquer the flesh.
I know of a man of God, a world-renowned writer, a New-york times best selling author, who wrote about how many great men of God failed. Sometime in November, 2019, I was told that he fell into the sin of adultery.
He wrote about how others failed and still joined the bandwagon of failures because he never realized that the tendency to commit sexual sin was in him. It is interesting to note that many of us use our tongues and prowess in the word to cover the tendencies of our flesh. And then the devil is seated by a corner, smiling, waiting for the right time to strike you.
The sad thing about this is you may have these tendencies and never know. You may think because you are highly spiritual hence you can not fall for a promiscuous woman until the day the devil brings that opportunity your way. You will never know you can lie until an avenue opens up were lying seems to be the best option you can take.
The tendencies of the flesh not conquered has brought many spiritual men to their knees. That's why Apostle Paul said "I put under my body, and bring it into subjection"– 1 Corinthians 9:27 Paraphrased.
How can we defeat and escape the death-trap of the tendencies of the flesh?
To defeat the flesh and escape its death-trap, we must walk in the Spirit.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16
Only on the account of a true walk with God's Spirit can we conquer the flesh. When you walk with God's Spirit, He supplies all the arsenal and ammunitions you need for defeating the flesh. To do this, we must;
#1. Trust God's Spirit to help us identify and take away fleshy tendencies.
O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. – Jeremiah 10:23
Chances are that you may have these tendencies in you and you will never know. The way of man like Jeremiah said is not in himself. He lacks the ability to direct his steps hence it is expedient to trust God's Spirit to help you identify and take these tendencies away.
He does so through the faculty of your spirit man.
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. – Proverbs 20:27
God's Spirit walks hand in hand with your spirit to fish out the tendencies of the flesh in you. Your spirit is His candle with which He searches to reveal the tendencies in your heart.
You know when light come it has an effect on darkness. Light reveals everything that has been lurking in darkness but before this will happen, we must pray like David in Psalms 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Ask God to conduct a search of your heart to see if there are tendencies in you. Go before God in all sincerity, brokenness and contrition.
ACTION POINT: Pray using Psalms 139:23, asking God to reveal the tendencies of your flesh and purge you from them. Make this prayer a daily prayer.
#2. Fight your tendencies by praying in the spirit.
After discovering or identifying your tendencies, you must begin to trash them out. Our battles as believers is prosecuted mainly by prayer. The battle against the flesh is not exempted.
Use the tool of praying in the spirit as Jude admonishes;
"You build yourself up, founded on your most holy faith, making progress, rising like an edifice higher and higher until you've gone beyond the flesh, praying in the holy spirit." – Jude 1:20 AMP (Paraphrased)
Pray in the spirit like your depends on it because the more strengthened your spirit man is the less powerful your flesh becomes.
#3. Fast the Flesh.
One of the major ways to keep the flesh under and bring it into subjection is by fasting. Fasting is starving the flesh off everything and anything that makes it comfortable. From food to pleasure to sleep to Television and so on.
Fast the flesh to weaken it. When the flesh is not given that which it desires it grows weak. The effect of this process on the spirit man is more strength. As the flesh gets weaker and weaker through constant denial of pleasure, comfort and satisfaction, your spirit man begins to find expression more and more.
Fasting will not kill you. It is not going to go down well with your body. Your body will definitely want to resist but the goal is actually to make it weak so that it cannot carryout the things it desires.
When you're weak you would be incapacitated to do the things you normally do. In like manner, when you fast the flesh, it becomes weak making it difficult for the flesh to carry out its lust.
At least twice every week fast in this light; to take the flesh.
Jesus is coming to rapture a pure church. He is not coming for a church that allowed the tendencies of thier flesh sway them off the path of holiness.
You can escape this ravishing factor for the believers failure and live a pure, holy and spiritual life.
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