«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

　　Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

　　Second Corinthians 3:17 states that the Lord is the Spirit, Romans 8:16 reveals that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit, and 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. These verses reveal that the Lord who is the Spirit is living, dwelling, working, moving, and acting in our spirit. They also show us that if we desire to know the Lord in a practical way and to experience Him in our daily life, we must learn to discern our spirit. If we do not know our human spirit, we cannot understand God’s moving within us and cannot follow the Lord, because the Lord today is the Spirit living within our spirit. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 2, “God’s Intention concerning Christ and the Church,” p. 113)

　　Human beings have many inward parts. These parts include the spirit, the soul, the heart, the mind, the emotion, the will, and the conscience…The Scriptures tell us that the Lord is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). Thus, it is very important for us to discern our spirit and to realize that our spirit is different from our soul, heart, mind, emotion, and will. We may be clear that our spirit and our body are different, but we must also be clear that our spirit is different from the other inward parts of our being.

　　The mind, emotion, and will, which are all parts of the heart, are also the three parts that make up the soul, that is, the natural life, the self. These three parts are not parts of the spirit… If we are following our mind, emotion, or will, this indicates that we are not following the Lord, because the Lord is not in these parts but in our spirit. Often we think so much that we quench our spirit. At other times we do things that are against the Lord because we are so strong in our will. Moreover, we often find ourselves under the influence of our emotion, and this causes us to go against the Lord. This shows us that if we want to follow the Lord, we must deny our mind, emotion, and will…When we follow the spirit, we follow the Lord Himself, because the Lord is in our spirit. He is not in our mind, emotion, or will but in our spirit.

　　The Lord is in our spirit. Hence, it is critical for us to learn to discern our spirit and to know the difference between our spirit and our mind, emotion, and will. If we do not know this difference, we will often find our fellowship with the Lord frustrated. For example, many times while we are praying, we sense the presence of the Lord and have genuine fellowship with Him in spirit. Often, however, while we are having such fellowship, we suddenly exercise our mind and begin to think about or remember something. When we do this, immediately our fellowship with the Lord stops… In such a situation we must give up the self and tell the Lord, “Lord, I do not agree with my mind; I agree with my spirit. I reject my mind, and I take my spirit.” This [is] a basic principle—the way to follow the Lord is to do things not according to our mind with its thoughts but according to the inner sense and the deep consciousness in the innermost part of our being. We need to follow this deep inner sense because it is the sense of the Lord in our spirit.

　　When we go along with our spirit and follow the sense in our spirit, there will be a result—Christ will make His home in our hearts [Eph. 3:16-17]… This means that the Lord fills our mind, emotion, will, and conscience…and our whole being will be filled with Christ. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 2, “God’s Intention concerning Christ and the Church,” pp. 114-116, 118-119)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “Our Human Spirit,” ch. 9; CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “Our Urgent Need—Spirit and Life,” ch. 2