ICS Daily Devotions
The Heart, Our Spirit Man
Ephesians 3:16-17 (NKJV) that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love
The “Heart” refers to the core and center of man’s being, the most important part. This is not talking about the physical organ that pumps blood, but the spirit. The words “inner man” and “heart” in this verse refers to the same thing, the spirit of man.
The Apostle Paul calls the spirit the “inner man”. The heart is a man, but he is hidden. Hidden means not readily observable, obscure, not easy to see. He is hidden from the physical senses. The spirit cannot be seen with the physical eye. The outward man is the part that can be seen and is recognizable. We cannot see the “real you”. We can only see the house in which you live i.e. the body. We cannot locate our spirit with our physical senses. However, the spirit is even “more real” than the body. The spirit is eternal but the body will decay and die. God, who is a Spirit, created everything that is physical.
We are not to spend all our time with the outward man, but to make sure that our inward man is adorned. This does not mean that women cannot wear gold or fix their hair. But the adorning of the inward man is what will win an unsaved husband to the Lord. The hidden man of the heart, the man on the inside, is not corruptible (subject to decay).
2 Kings 6:17 (NKJV) And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), an actual event told by Jesus, we learn that the spirit being has senses. For example, it has eyes to see (Luke 16:23). The rich man after his death was in Hades, lifted his eyes and he saw Abraham and Lazarus. The spirit being also has ears to hear (Luke 16:24-25). God can allow us to see through the use of open or closed visions.
We need to be sensitive in listening to the promptings of God through our spiritual ears during our time in the closet which is a private place where we can go to alone to spend quality and focused prayer time, or on the way to work or in business meetings.
The inward man/spirit is the receiver from God if we want to position ourselves to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When being led by the Holy Spirit and listening to the voice of God have become second nature to us, then we know we are constantly connected to God. We will become sensitive to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit and will not allow the flesh to dictate our lives.
Sermon Series: From The Closet to The Street
