One Week - Walking by Faith Not by Sight

One Week—Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

You must go through the above ten steps daily for one week. It is not that the “work on the cross” is not done. Indeed, upon your free will, you have crucified the old structures and thus have demolished their stronghold over your life. In the spiritual realm, this is now a reality. Yet, you are encouraged to practice these steps for a week so that your mind can agree with your spirit that your victory is indeed a reality on Earth as it is in Heaven. One week of consistent practice of the above steps has shown to be effective in overcoming the old habits of the flesh. The old structures of the thought processes, the old inclinations of yielding to emotional pain, lag to conform to the new spiritual reality. Stay the course of one week, and soon, you will stand in the holy assembly, testifying to your new-found freedom. In one week, what Jesus has done in your heart in the heavenly realm will become a reality on earth.

Don’t be surprised at what is happening! Be prepared instead and knowledgeable to respond adequately. Don’t allow yourself to think, even for a moment, that what you have done failed to deliver healing. Demonstrate unwavering faith. Because you have crucified your old self, your old self is indeed dead now. What you are experiencing again are rumblings of old patterns of thinking and feelings that call for instant gratification. These old ways wish to survive and contend against their demise. They tend to have lives of their own for a while because they are products of the old flesh. They continue to surface even though the source of their origin has been crucified and is now dead. The old practices have no underlying structure to support life in them anymore. They are indeed dead. With time, the urges subside and fade into history. 

When you find yourself enticed by old thoughts, emotions and attitudes of the heart, it is in your will and power to stop them by reminding yourself that they are indeed dead. Show discipline and be consistent when this happens! It will not take long until you find your heart burden-free and pain-free. This is the point at which your mind agrees with your heart that the oppressive practices of the old flesh are gone.

Death on the cross is slow and painful. Resurrection afterward is not immediate. It took Jesus three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). How long will it take for your sinful nature of flesh to die? How long will it take for the newly resurrected life in Jesus to replace the old structures of flesh with God-filled righteousness and holiness? (1 Corinthians 1:30). It all depends on how firmly you stand in faith to resist the forces of darkness and claim your new self formed in the image of Jesus Christ. 

You must continue to renounce daily any residues of your old nature of flesh and haul them to the cross. Deal with them as you initially dealt with your old ways: Crucify them! Cleanse yourself from their defilement by washing in the blood of Jesus and fill yourself with the healing presence of the Holy Spirit. Believe that what you have done on earth has also been done in Heaven. The power of your prayers has stirred up into a motion set of events in the spiritual realm to complete this process. Your prayer, spoken in faith on earth, was heard in Heaven and has become a reality in your life. 

The prayer pattern above must become your daily spiritual discipline. It assures your victory over the old ways of life. It affirms your continuous walk on the narrow road. You will soon see how your misery turns into bliss. By committing to the prayer of sanctification and transformation in the image of Christ, we commit to 

Always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)