A little child asks mommy, "Who is Jesus?" But what does mommy say? How does mommy answer. What if mommy doesn't know? How many modern day christians sit in church every week and listen to song after song, sermon after sermon, and yet would still find it hard to answer that question? Think about your own life. Reflect back on your last month, or year of church services, and pretend that what you learned was all you ever knew about Jesus. Would you be able to answer the little child as to who is Jesus?
If your answer is no, then you would be like many Christians in our society today. We have a certain knowledge of Jesus which revolves mostly around the historical story of His life. But if you were sitting in a restaurant and Lord Jesus sat down at the table behind you and began to speak loud enough for you to overhear His conversation, would you recognize His voice? Would you recognize the inflection and manner of His speech, the tone and tenor of His speech? Would His gentleness and kindness make you sit up and take notice? Would His laugh make you turn and stand to your feet and address Him with joy?
He says in the word that His sheep know His voice. Well, do we? Is there anything we can tell the child about Him from our knowledge? Not the knowledge we received from listening to others, but I mean first hand knowledge. Impossible? Rediculous, you say? Then why does the word say His sheep know His voice?
We are all capable and more than welcome to come into a personal intimate knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is His desire for us to know Him and to have fellowship with Him in the Spirit. Our head knowledge of Him can only be limited and two dimensional. It takes our following Him in the Spirit to come into the perfect place where friendship can develop and grow.
Through that friendship, Lord Jesus becomes three dimensional in our lives, and the reality of His precious presence fulfils our entire spirit, soul, and body. This relationship is possible for all believers, and enables us to answer the child with joy and confidence as we tell about our Lord, Master, and friend Jesus.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The Master Encourages a Beloved Friend
“I am never disappointed in you. You have never let me down. You and I are tight. We go through everything together. I hold you up, defend, and protect you. I lead, and you follow. I feel comfortable with you. You make me laugh and give me great joy. I look forward to your waking every morning so we can spend our day together. I dread your sleeping; for though I am there, you don’t always know it. I look forward to the day when we never have to part. But until then, Lo I am with you always.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Why Spirit Fellowship?
I have found through the years that the Holy Spirit will lead us into a deep and rewarding friendship, and fellowship with Himself, Lord Jesus And Father. The goal of this Blog is to simply share that friendship with you and encourage you to seek a deeper walk in the Spirit. There are unending heights and depths in God yet to be discovered by us all. He beckons. Let's go!
Do Christians Have A Split Personality?
The temple of God, as described in the bible, was divided into three distinct areas. The outer court where anyone could enter, the holy place where the priests enter and make sacrifices, and the holy of holies where only the high priest was permitted to enter, and then only once a year in order to make a sacrifice for all the people. It is the most holy part of the temple, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and the presence of God met and communicated with man. There is a trinity to the make up of the temple.
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and there is a trinity to our make up as well. We are a spirit; we possess a soul, and live in a body. Our body is like the outer court of the temple. It is there for the entire world to see. It is our connection to the world, without which, we could not be in nor communicate with the world.
Our soul is like the holy place in the temple. It’s between our spirit and body. It’s our connection between spiritual and physical, heaven and earth.
Our spirit is like the holy of holies, the innermost sacred part of the temple. It’s the place where God is, where heaven is, where we meet God.
Our spirit, soul, and body are in a constant rivalry. We determine in our soul if we are going to be more body oriented or spirit oriented. This is the struggle we endure. The pull and tug between our fleshly body, which craves the things of the world, and our spirit, which craves the things of God, can become fierce unless we keep our body under control and seek God through our spirit. Our body will rule us unless we die to self and embrace the presence of God through our spirit.
We become born again by asking Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and come into our heart. Our spirit becomes alive to God when this happens and we have a new relationship with Him through our spirit. The split personality we were born with becomes one in Christ, and we are accepted by God as a temple He can dwell in through the Holy Spirit.
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and there is a trinity to our make up as well. We are a spirit; we possess a soul, and live in a body. Our body is like the outer court of the temple. It is there for the entire world to see. It is our connection to the world, without which, we could not be in nor communicate with the world.
Our soul is like the holy place in the temple. It’s between our spirit and body. It’s our connection between spiritual and physical, heaven and earth.
Our spirit is like the holy of holies, the innermost sacred part of the temple. It’s the place where God is, where heaven is, where we meet God.
Our spirit, soul, and body are in a constant rivalry. We determine in our soul if we are going to be more body oriented or spirit oriented. This is the struggle we endure. The pull and tug between our fleshly body, which craves the things of the world, and our spirit, which craves the things of God, can become fierce unless we keep our body under control and seek God through our spirit. Our body will rule us unless we die to self and embrace the presence of God through our spirit.
We become born again by asking Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and come into our heart. Our spirit becomes alive to God when this happens and we have a new relationship with Him through our spirit. The split personality we were born with becomes one in Christ, and we are accepted by God as a temple He can dwell in through the Holy Spirit.
A Salesman's Prayer
Dear Father,
I pray you grant me wisdom, strength, and love to share with my customers today. Bless them with your favor, as you bless me through them. Help me to meet their need with my product, and them to recognize that need and seek my help. Rebuke the devourer for our sakes. All honor, praise, and thanksgiving go to you, dear Father. Amen.
I pray you grant me wisdom, strength, and love to share with my customers today. Bless them with your favor, as you bless me through them. Help me to meet their need with my product, and them to recognize that need and seek my help. Rebuke the devourer for our sakes. All honor, praise, and thanksgiving go to you, dear Father. Amen.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Growth
Why does growth usually hurt? Remember how when you were a kid, you'd have a growing spurt which were accompanied with pains or soreness in your legs? When our bodies grow they stretch, and stretching hurts. It's a fact of life.
Spiritual growth can hurt as well. There are trials of faith, growing spurts, which are accompanied with pain. However with spiritual growth, there is no medicinal pain reliever we can take. No, we must ride it out and pray that the Lord will ease the pain until we get through yet another trial of our faith.
The good news is that we do make it through, and come out stronger, taller, and more developed into the maturity of our faith. Then get ready for the next level of growth. When someone says pray the Lord to take you to a new level, I brace myself and pray, "According to thy will Lord. According to thy will." There is a cost for each new level, but the rewards are really worth it. Just trust Him to give the growth when He knows we can handle it. Selah!
Spiritual growth can hurt as well. There are trials of faith, growing spurts, which are accompanied with pain. However with spiritual growth, there is no medicinal pain reliever we can take. No, we must ride it out and pray that the Lord will ease the pain until we get through yet another trial of our faith.
The good news is that we do make it through, and come out stronger, taller, and more developed into the maturity of our faith. Then get ready for the next level of growth. When someone says pray the Lord to take you to a new level, I brace myself and pray, "According to thy will Lord. According to thy will." There is a cost for each new level, but the rewards are really worth it. Just trust Him to give the growth when He knows we can handle it. Selah!
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Tip Of God’s Spear
Today, while in prayer for our troops in Iraq, God gave me a vision. In the Spirit, I saw an aerial view of Iraq and the surrounding countries. There appeared a giant spear stuck in the city of Baghdad. It was as large as the city and the shaft extended out high into the sky.
As I surveyed the scene, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Your nation is the tip of my spear. I am using it as a stopgap to hold back the tide of what is to come. I do this so that others might have time to find my grace.”
This vision was quite unexpected because it came to me during a Sunday school class prayer over the needs of the class. Someone requested prayer for our troops and God responded.
I have learned that there are three aspects to a vision such as this. First, is the visual image shown by the Spirit. Second is the verbal expression, the words that the Spirit says. And third, is the aspect which is the most difficult to describe. It is the feeling you have as you discern the emotion and feelings of the Lord, which comes through as the Spirit speaks.
In the Spirit, I could feel the strength of His determination and control over this situation in Iraq. We Americans debate over how to conduct the war on terrorism depending on our political, religious, or social perspectives. But we Christians must pray for God’s will in Iraq. Our nation is not only the tip of God’s spear in the natural world, but we are the tip of God’s spear in the spiritual world. We must pray, pray, pray!
We are not only in a war on terrorism in the physical realm; we are in a war on terrorism in the spiritual realm. As our nation fights this war in the physical realm, let us fight this war, in prayer, in the spirit realm.
We are the tip of God’s spear!
As I surveyed the scene, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Your nation is the tip of my spear. I am using it as a stopgap to hold back the tide of what is to come. I do this so that others might have time to find my grace.”
This vision was quite unexpected because it came to me during a Sunday school class prayer over the needs of the class. Someone requested prayer for our troops and God responded.
I have learned that there are three aspects to a vision such as this. First, is the visual image shown by the Spirit. Second is the verbal expression, the words that the Spirit says. And third, is the aspect which is the most difficult to describe. It is the feeling you have as you discern the emotion and feelings of the Lord, which comes through as the Spirit speaks.
In the Spirit, I could feel the strength of His determination and control over this situation in Iraq. We Americans debate over how to conduct the war on terrorism depending on our political, religious, or social perspectives. But we Christians must pray for God’s will in Iraq. Our nation is not only the tip of God’s spear in the natural world, but we are the tip of God’s spear in the spiritual world. We must pray, pray, pray!
We are not only in a war on terrorism in the physical realm; we are in a war on terrorism in the spiritual realm. As our nation fights this war in the physical realm, let us fight this war, in prayer, in the spirit realm.
We are the tip of God’s spear!
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