Are We Walking Like Jesus?

 Ephesians 5:27 says that Jesus is returning for a “radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

The bride of Christ is the Habitation of the Lord. Are we looking, sounding and acting as the habitation of the Lord? We are to manifest His qualities on the earth because we are His body. This requires us to purge ourselves of the stains and wrinkles and be holy as He is holy. We do this by true repentance. Repentance means changing our mind so that our thoughts, speech patterns, emotions, and life choices reflect His image. It requires us to identify the carnality within us and rid ourselves of it.

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-8 (NKJV)

The dictionary says that carnal relates to the physical and sexual appetites and the temporal world which includes worldly or earthly things. To live carnally is the practice of finding satisfaction in activities related to fleshly desires and appetites. In Greek the word carnal means pertaining to flesh, bodily, temporal, and unregenerate.

Unregenerate means not renewed in heart and mind, unrepentant, holding to and persisting in our prior convictions and opposing new ideas that are contrary to our core beliefs. So, the foundation of carnality is our thought patterns and core beliefs that are not in agreement with the Bible. This produces our motives and the way we present ourselves to the world.

God desires our obedience.

Obedience = die to self.

We need to make a daily habit of crucifying all that is within us that is carnal. It can be a painful experience because we must die to what feels right or true based on our life experiences and our rational reasoning. Every message that we receive and embrace that is contrary to the Bible, is sin. Every thought pattern, core belief, motive, speech pattern, and life skill that we operate in that is in disagreement with the Bible is also sin. You can use the below graphic to see how your experiences create messages, which create your thoughts, core beliefs. Those then lead to your emotions ions, speech patterns, and life skills. Finally, those produce the consequences and fruit in your life. If you choose to align your agreements with God, you will reap positive fruit.

Jesus died on the cross to pay for sin. Do not take that sacrifice lightly by hesitating to crucify what we must identify within ourselves. Take captive what you believe, who you think you are, and choose to become who you were created to be.

”So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.” Genesis 3:14 (NKJV)

Satan feeds on your carnal thought patterns, core beliefs, and choices. It was said of Jesus that he had nothing of Satan in Him. He had no faulty thoughts, core beliefs, or motives that were contrary to the Bible for the enemy to use as a foothold against Him. The Bible says “do not give the devil place.” When we tear down all that is not in alignment with the Word, we choose to starve the enemy, crushing carnality and instead we strengthen the spirit man.

 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31 (NIV)

He is returning for a bride and the time is getting shorter. He doesn’t ask but commands us to repent-change your mind-which will result in His ability to manifest Himself through us to the world so that the full measure of souls will come into the kingdom before the end of days.

“Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple* to lie in ruins?”  Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

“You have sown much, and bring in little;

You eat, but do not have enough;

You drink, but you are not filled with drink;

You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;

And he who earns wages,

Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD. “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Haggai 1:3-11 (NKJV)

It is carnal to focus on the temporal without first considering God and what He has for us to do. Life experiences, relationships, plans, entertainment, and business distract us from the purposes of God. We need to consider ALL our ways and care for God’s house. We are the temple, seek God first so you will be prepared. The way to care for this temple is to line up our thinking patterns and core beliefs with the Bible which will change our motives, speech patterns, emotions, and life skills so the temple displays the glory of God.

“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”‘ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14 (NKJV)

Don’t make light of God’s call to be the prepared bride. Whatever we have grown accustom to and are comfortable in, if it is contrary to the Word, must be torn down. We can’t be like those who killed the prophets to silent the voice of God that urges us to be transformed. Focus on the preparations that God requires and we will become what Christ intended.

“… But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work… Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight…”

1 Corinthians 3:10-14, 16-19 (NIV)

 How do you build your life? What thoughts and beliefs do you truly build it on? What honestly comes first? How much of your Thoughts, Core Beliefs, Emotions, Speech Patterns, and Life Skills will stand in the fire of God’s testing.

 “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?”

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV

 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV)

What does carnal look like?

We must evaluate our lives, experiences and thoughts, searching to identify our faulty core beliefs and lining up our thinking to agree with God and His Word. Then, we will be that spotless bride Jesus is returning for, and we will reap good fruit in our lives.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

Dr. Michele

Copyright © 2014 by Michele Fleming, Ph.D.