Charles Capps - The light of life in the spirit of man

Contents

GOD WANTS TO LIGHT YOUR CANDLE

You are important to God. Though darkness is all around today, God has made provisions for you so you won't have to walk in darkness.

The same God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness wants to turn the light on inside you. He wants to enlighten your darkness . Let's find out how He is going to do it.

Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward .

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psalm 18:24-28

David says, For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. The Word says if you walk in darkness you know not at what you stumble.

The Human SpiritGod's Light Bulb

Proverbs 20:27 says, The spirit of man (the human spirit) is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. This is not talking about the stomach; it is referring to the human spirit.

The spirit of manthe human spiritis the candle of the Lord. In the day these scriptures were written, candles were used for light; but modern man doesn't think of a candle as a light. Today we would say it this way: "The human spirit is the light bulb God uses to enlighten you."

Your Bible may have a footnote that uses the word lamp. The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

The word belly is used in both the Old and New Testaments, usually referring to the human spirit. Jesus, when talking about the Holy Spirit, says it this way: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). He was speaking of the Holy Spirit which had not yet been given.

When you receive the Holy Spirit, He dwells within your human spirit for God's Spirit bears witness with our spirits. Concerning things of the spirit, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to compare spiritual things with spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13).

In John 4:24, Jesus says, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Created in God's Image

God Who is a Spirit created man in His image and likeness. In the beginning, He said:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air ... and over all the earth.

Genesis 1:26

Adam was created to be ruler under God and have dominion over all the earth. God didn't intend for man to be a little worm in the dust, searching for things to do and not knowing how to do them. He gave man dominion over all the earth.

Man was to function in that realm because his candle was lit. His spirit was like God's, for it came out of God. He was in God's likeness.

God breathed into Adam the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7.) The Amplified Bible says He breathed into Adam the Spirit of life. God breathed His Spirit life into man, and man became a living spirit being made in the image and likeness of God.

I believe Adam was an exact duplication of God's kind.

What kind is God? God is a spirit.

Since God is a spirit, we cannot contact Him with our bodies. We contact Him with our spirits. There are angels around us, but we cannot reach out and get a handful of angels. They are spirits and do not have physicalflesh, blood, and bonebodies.

Several years ago, I was teaching in a certain church about understanding the human spirit and how we communicate with God through our spirits. I made the statement: "Spirits communicate with spirits, not with physical bodies." Suddenly, a CB radio broke in over the PA system and a voice said, "Hey! What are you-all doing down there?" Three men jumped up and ran in three different directions! I thought they were leaving, but I found out later that they were running to turn down the PA system. It almost made their hair stand up, like mine, but it did put the point across.

Spiritual Light and Revelation

God is a Spirit. He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. He uses your human spirit to enlighten you, to bring revelation and understanding of things you don't know naturally.

You can be a highly educated, intellectual person and have no spiritual understanding. Your carnal mind may be educated, but your spirit may be uneducated concerning the things of God. As Paul said, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Book of Isaiah states: When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him (Is. 59:19). Since the Holy Spirit has been given and we are living under a new and better covenant, I believe we should read it this way: "When the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him ."

Where does this flood come from? Jesus said: Out of your belly (your spirit) flows rivers of living water.

When you know not how to pray as you ought, the Holy Spirit helps your infirmities, or weaknesses. (Rom. 8:26.) What does the Holy Spirit do? He sheds light and gives insight to your spirit when you don't know how or what to pray. Then He makes intercession through your spirit in the perfect will of God. This is spiritual light that God brings to you, the revelation that comes through your human spirit when your candle is burning.

Supernatural Insight

There is no way we can understand all the things God moves upon us to do or say. I have had people to call or write me from hundreds of miles away and say, "What were you doing on a certain day at a certain time? I was led to intercede for you, and I prayed in the Spirit." When I checked my calendar, I found that they were right on! I was in need of prayer at those times.

One winter, at the exact time they were praying, I was flying in bad weather and flew into freezing rain. My airplane began to take on a load of ice. I did need prayer their prayers! The Holy Spirit knew my need and revealed it to their spirits. They didn't know how to pray effectively in their natural language; but because their candles were lit by the Lord, they had light in their spirits to pray in the perfect will of God.

The Word Brings Light

David said it this way: The entrance of thy words giveth light (Ps. 119:130). So God's Word brings enlightenment to the spirit.

Now let's look at John 1:1-4.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

In him was life. In who? In the Word (Jesus). In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. This is why David said, "God will send His Word and light my candle The entrance of the Word brings light.

In Psalm 119:105 he said, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The Word is a lamp or candle that enlightens darkness. The Word entering your human spirit enlightens your darkness!

I don't believe we have fully recognized the wisdom that is released in the Word of God. Wisdom comes out of the mouth of God; it is His Word revealed and conceived in the human spirit. Wisdom comes by the Word of God and thrives in the human spirit.

The wisdom of the Word affects everything you do and say. It will give you light when darkness is all around. While others are wringing their hands, not knowing what to do, the Word conceived will bring you light.