120 The Release of the Spirit #18 - Chapter 9 ‘Considering the Qualities of Meekness 4: Spiritually Receptive’

121 Walking in the Spirit #1 - ‘The Flesh and The Spirit’

In this opening episode of Walking in the Spirit, we begin working through Chapter 10 of The Normal Christian Life and move from the frustration of Romans 7 into the liberty of Romans 8. Many of us understood what it meant to be “in Christ,” while still trying to live the Christian life through self effort, natural strength, and the self life with its fierce independence. But this chapter begins unveiling another way altogether, walking in the Spirit. In this episode we unpack the difference between being “in Christ” and actually walking “in the Spirit,” and begin looking at Galatians 5:17 in a completely different light. This is not a war between Holy Spirit and the new man. We are not our flesh. Holy Spirit has been given to deal with the flesh, while we learn what it means to remain hidden in Christ and depend upon the One who we are joined to in spirit. Definition of the flesh: “Flesh is all of the ways, both good and evil, that I met my own needs, from my own resources, independently from Them (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).” The Normal Christian Life: https://ccel.org/ccel/n/nee/normal/cache/normal.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com [https://ccel.org/ccel/n/nee/normal/cache/normal.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com] About Alex Alex is from the UK and he teaches and disciples across nations after years serving in Poland. His heart is the maturing of sons, believers growing into the fullness of Christ and revealing His life on earth. He serves within Firm Foundation, a work the Father is unfolding, joining partners who carry the same call. Through the Firm Foundation Focus podcast, Alex helps sons mature in Christ, discover the Father’s eternal purpose, and live Their way of life. Check out the Firm Foundation website for more information ffdiscipleship.co.uk [http://ffdiscipleship.co.uk]

120 The Release of the Spirit #18 - Chapter 9 ‘Considering the Qualities of Meekness 4: Spiritually Receptive’

We finish Chapter 9 today by reading the final section, “Spiritually Receptive,” where Watchman Nee brings everything together around one confronting reality: brokenness opens a person to receive life from the rest of the Body. We look at how an unbroken intellect can leave a believer spiritually untouched for years, even while sitting faithfully in meetings, listening to teachings, and gathering knowledge, because the outward man is still resisting the inward flow of Christ through His people. Alongside Nee’s reading, we continue drawing from Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, looking at the difference between humanly built Christian community and the actual life of the Body through the released spirit. We end with some very serious questions about what we are actually building together, whether we are truly receiving life from one another, and whether much of what we currently call church bears any resemblance to what the Father originally intended for His Son. Questions at the end of the episode: 1. When we gather together, is it actually the Body of Christ expressing the life of the Head, or have we accepted something far below what the Father intended for His Son? 2. Have we built gatherings around personality, intellect, gifting, presentation, charisma, and preference, while the released spirit remains almost completely absent? 3. Are we truly receiving life from one another through the shared Spirit of Christ, or are we simply exchanging information, doctrines, opinions, and polished teachings? 4. When we listen to others speak, are we contacting the spirit, or are we sitting there inwardly analysing, evaluating, comparing, and measuring everything through self? 5. Has intellectual Christianity left us spiritually untouched while convincing us we are deeply mature? 6. Have we become so full of our own understanding, our own preferences, and our own conclusions, that there is almost no openness left in us to receive from the rest of the Body? 7. And honestly, when the Father truly gets what He has always wanted in His Son, a corporate expression of shared life through broken and open vessels, will much of what we currently call church even resemble it at all? The Release of the Spirit https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf [https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf] About Alex Alex is from the UK and he teaches and disciples across nations after years serving in Poland. His heart is the maturing of sons, believers growing into the fullness of Christ and revealing His life on earth. He serves within Firm Foundation, a work the Father is unfolding, joining partners who carry the same call. Through the Firm Foundation Focus podcast, Alex helps sons mature in Christ, discover the Father’s eternal purpose, and live Their way of life. Check out the Firm Foundation website for more information ffdiscipleship.co.uk [http://ffdiscipleship.co.uk]

119 The Release of the Spirit #17 - Chapter 9 ‘Considering the Qualities of Meekness 3: Mutually Corporate’

We continue through Chapter 9 of The Release of the Spirit, moving into Nee’s section on “Mutually Corporate,” where he shows that true Body life only becomes possible through brokenness. A person may be active in church life, deeply involved with people, and passionate about fellowship, and yet still remain inwardly closed because self is still protecting, preserving, reacting, and resisting. Nee shows that only the meek and broken can touch the shared inward life of the Body, because the released spirit becomes open to the common life of Christ flowing through His people. Alongside Nee’s teaching, we also bring in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warnings from Life Together about “human” community and the danger of self trying to build Christian fellowship around its own expectations, ideals, and demands. Both men expose the same root issue: self ultimately resists the Father Himself. This episode looks at spiritual sensitivity within the Body, mutual inward awareness among broken sons, and why the outward man must be dealt with if we are going to live together from the mind of the Head rather than from self. The Release of the Spirit https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf [https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf] About Alex Alex is from the UK and he teaches and disciples across nations after years serving in Poland. His heart is the maturing of sons, believers growing into the fullness of Christ and revealing His life on earth. He serves within Firm Foundation, a work the Father is unfolding, joining partners who carry the same call. Through the Firm Foundation Focus podcast, Alex helps sons mature in Christ, discover the Father’s eternal purpose, and live Their way of life. Check out the Firm Foundation website for more information ffdiscipleship.co.uk [http://ffdiscipleship.co.uk]

118 The Release of the Spirit #16 - Chapter 9 ‘Considering the Qualities of Meekness 2: Highly Sensitive’

We continue through Chapter 9 of The Release of the Spirit, looking at spiritual receptivity and the openness that begins to appear when the outward man has truly been dealt with. Nee continues showing that a broken person becomes teachable, receptive, easy to help, and able to receive from others without resistance, defensiveness, or the constant need to protect themselves. We gather together many of the hallmarks of meekness and brokenness from these sections, and continue looking at how the Father produces openness, honesty, fellowship, spiritual sensitivity, and receptivity in sons who are learning to live from Their shared life rather than from self. The Release of the Spirit https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf [https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf] About Alex Alex is from the UK and he teaches and disciples across nations after years serving in Poland. His heart is the maturing of sons, believers growing into the fullness of Christ and revealing His life on earth. He serves within Firm Foundation, a work the Father is unfolding, joining partners who carry the same call. Through the Firm Foundation Focus podcast, Alex helps sons mature in Christ, discover the Father’s eternal purpose, and live Their way of life. Check out the Firm Foundation website for more information ffdiscipleship.co.uk [http://ffdiscipleship.co.uk]

117 The Release of the Spirit #15 - Chapter 9 ‘Considering the Qualities of Meekness 1: Easily Approachable’

We continue through Chapter 9 of The Release of the Spirit, looking at another quality of meekness, what Nee describes as being “highly sensitive.” This section focuses on spiritual awareness, responsiveness, and the ability to recognise what is happening around us because the soul is no longer dominating everything through self interest, opinion, reaction, and independence. We talk about dullness, bulldozing ahead with our own ideas, missing what Holy Spirit is saying, and the difference between living from self awareness and living from oneness with Him. A meek son becomes receptive, aware, and responsive because Holy Spirit has worked this sensitivity into them over time through the dealings of the Father. The Release of the Spirit https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf [https://dci.org.uk/zipped/ReleaseOfTheSpirit.pdf] About Alex Alex is from the UK and he teaches and disciples across nations after years serving in Poland. His heart is the maturing of sons, believers growing into the fullness of Christ and revealing His life on earth. He serves within Firm Foundation, a work the Father is unfolding, joining partners who carry the same call. Through the Firm Foundation Focus podcast, Alex helps sons mature in Christ, discover the Father’s eternal purpose, and live Their way of life. Check out the Firm Foundation website for more information ffdiscipleship.co.uk [http://ffdiscipleship.co.uk]