Monthly Archives: February 2016

Spiritual Experiences

28 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in Discipleship, Holy Spirit Power

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God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
(John 4:24 ESV)

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13 ESV)

Spiritual experiences are part of God’s plan for we who follow Jesus. I’m thankful that I have sensed God’s power and presence in my life. Spiritual experiences are good, but they are not necessarily a sign of spiritual maturity. When God uses us in a powerful way, it is intended to bring glory to Himself, not to “gifted people.” In a world with so much counterfeit spirituality, we need to be careful not to promote ourselves or our experiences over the Author of our faith.

God sometimes does extraordinary things – but most of the time we see his hand in plain ordinary everyday life. We can expect to be filled with joy even in the mist of trials. His Spirit is ever present. He is all knowing and all sufficient. Prayer is our connection to the Father of lights. And the Bible is our guide to living in the true knowledge of God. Without this revealed knowledge (sound doctrine) we become susceptible to spiritual deception.

Jesus tells us that we are to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He also comforts us with the knowledge that if we ask His Father for the Holy Spirit, we can be confident he will only give us something good. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in perfect harmony and balance – three persons – one God. Aligning ourselves with the only true God through repentance (turning from our way to follow His) and acknowledging the truth claims of Jesus absolute lordship, is the true path of life. Living life outside of revealed biblical truth – leaves us open to demonic deception.

The Kingdom Is Advancing

27 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by in Kingdom, Spiritual Warfare

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The Kingdom of God is advancing all over the Earth. I think it is time for many of us in the church, to renew our focus on God’s global harvest and the advancement of Christ Kingdom. The enemies’ strategy is to keep us distracted from our calling to prayer for the Nations, with personal and family problems. As we begin to actively pray for and participate in the advancement of the Kingdom of God in the Earth, our chaotic lives come into His divine order. We will also experience a greater measure of freedom form self-centeredness.

A global harvest of unprecedented proportions is an easy thing for God to accomplish, so we must not let Satan, intimidate us because of the magnitude of the task. We need to refuse to see ourselves as an insignificant part in this harvest.

We must not stay focused on our limitations and those things you can’t do well. This is all about God and he only uses weak vessels. God uses our weakness and total dependence on him as we pray for Gods’ global Kingdom purposes. Prayer is the greatest ministry God has given to his people. One commentator said, that Psalm 2 was written to keep us from being intimidated by the rulers of the world, or the magnitude of the job ahead of us.

 Psalm 2

 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

God’s Kingdom Transcends Our Kingdoms

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by in Kingdom

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By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
(Hebrews 11:4 ESV)

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7 ESV)

It has been a serious mistake of many throughout Church history to try and merchandise the Kingdom of God. Some have sought to try to use the Scripture to manipulate people, and God. While the truth of the Kingdom must be proclaimed outwardly, it must also be internalized. We still benefit from the writings of those great Christians of the past who died in faith. They are those that received the Gospel into receptive hearts, and acted on its transformational truth.

There is the tendency to politicize, and to nationalize Christianity. To protect against this abuse we must turn daily to the Scripture and read it’s truth, in light of Kingdom of God, and in the presence of Jesus. God’s Kingdom transcends our ethnic, cultural, or national identity.

Ultimately the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s Church, and the Kingdom of God will spread throughout the earth. For the last 2000 years the Church has survived. And has always been made up of a remnant.  The spread of the Gospel (good news of Jesus offer of eternal life) has been contested by Satan since Jesus defeated him on the cross.

Jesus bound Satan in the sense that all of mankind can now enter into the life of God. By bowing to Jesus as Lord, through repentance(agreeing with God about our sins and turning to him for deliverance) and receiving the forgiveness of sins. At the point of regeneration or salvation, we begin our journey out of spiritual darkness into the light.

Darkness has no substance, but light does. The Light overcomes the darkness, and the children of the Light learn to overcome this dark world.

We Need God’s Power

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by in Discipleship, Kingdom, Worldview

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“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.(Acts 2:17-18, ESV)

 

Some Theologians in the Evangelical world today, still doubt the amazing number of supernatural power encounters with God that are being reported worldwide. This anti-supernatural worldview did not come from an unbiased study of the Bible. Many of these same teachers vehemently defend the authority of God’s word. But some scholars have been so affected by this western naturalistic worldview that they interpret the Scriptures with a bias. Dr. Craig Keener refers to what we call the third world as the “majority world.”

It is being reported by multiple reliable sources that Jesus is appearing to Muslims in dreams in an unprecedented manner in many nations. People are being healed of disease, and signs and wonders are being well documented all around the world. I believe much of the western church could experience more of the power of God, if we would just ask Him for it. It is vitally important that we keep our main focus on the Gospel message.

But if we are to be faithful to the teaching of the Bible we should be asking for power encounters with God to see those in demonic bondage set free and sick people healed. Signs and wonders point to Jesus and the ultimate goal is the salvation of the lost.  God is a supernatural God and his people have been empowered with his Spirit. We desperately need a fresh encounter with God’s Spirit today.

Prayer: Father restore the power and the presence of your Holy Spirit back to the western Church. We are living in spiritual poverty. Grant us repentance and have mercy on us. In Jesus name amen.

We Can’t Fix Ourselves

12 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Kingdom

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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)

Many of us have a tendency to seek God for self-centered reasons. We all want God to fix our problems. But God desires that we embrace him not as a “fixer” but as our all consuming passion. Prayer and Bible study are not just spiritual activities that are an end in themselves. Fellowship or seeking the face of God should be the main focus of our lives. Being with God should be our goal. Living in the Kingdom of God is living intentionally in his presence.  Change only comes when we abandon all of our preconceived ideas about God as some sort of  ‘Cosmic Santa Claus,’ and embrace him as the way, the truth, and the life..

As hard as we may try, we can’t conform God into our image. He will not be used or manipulated to just make our present situation easier. The Father calls us  to come into the community of the Trinity, and to be conformed into the image of Jesus. God is not trying to fix us, he is in the process of transforming our inner-self, so that our  life can be swallowed up by his life. God’s transforming presence comes as we abide in Jesus. We don’t have the ability to change ourselves.

We can easily drift into idolatry when we try to get God to work with us, instead of allowing him to work in us. Sometimes our pursuit of God is fueled by wrong motives, pride, and a kind of “self worship.” Our extreme desire for the approval of others is a sure sign we have not embraced God’s acceptance. All of our spiritual posturing with God must be done in a spirit of humility, and obedience to the truth, that God has revealed about himself. It’s easy to deceive ourselves about believing the truth about God, while we reject him with our actions. God is a relational being, and we must relate to him on his terms.

Blessed

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in The Gospel

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (Ephesians 1:3-4 ESV)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14 ESV)

Many believers feel cursed due to a lack of victory in their daily spiritual lives. The fact that we can’t live up to the letter of the law weighs heavy on us. It’s easy to look at our past and present failures and to develop a “cursed mentality.” But, if you are a follower of Jesus, God has given you access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. If you are a believer, God chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world.

The curse that Adam and Eve came under for their rebellion  against God in the garden of Eden has been forever removed by Jesus’ death on the old Roman cross. Christians are now in right standing with God.“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

Jesus’ death on the Cross has paid the penalty for our rebellion against our Creator. As we meditate on what Christ has done for us, it will affect our behavior in a positive way. When we begin to comprehend the love God has for us, we will be changed into the image of his Son. In Christ the curse of Adam has been reversed and we are blessed!

Fuel For Meditation

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV)

Scripture is the fuel for meditation, and experiencing the presence of God is our goal. Meditation stokes the fire of our affection for God. Meditation fuels contemplation,  which is the awareness of God’s felt presence. The veil that once existed between God and ourselves has been lifted by Jesus Christ. Christ’ atoning death on the cross and his resurrection has removed the barrier between God and his image bearers.

The call is for all those who are “in Christ” to access the Holy of Holies that was given to us by the blood of Christ. His people “the Church” those who have been redeemed have been given free access to the Trinitarian life of God. As the people of God we make up his holy temple. To experience life in the Spirit, we must look to, and ask for the grace of God, and cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles us. Sin hinders our communion with God and results in a lack of peace.

While Christ has paid the sin debt of those that trust in him, we are called to participate in a life of spiritual transformation. This transformation is fueled by thinking on things above and walking in obedience to the truth.

Pure Light

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Uncategorized

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How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

(Psalm 36:7-9 ESV)

“In your light do we see light” are powerful and revealing words. The person who is living apart from Christ is spiritually blind. In this state the cross of Christ and his message of redemption is utter foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18.) Jesus is the light of the world that illumines our path through the Scripture. God’s light reveals those things that have been hidden from the wise of this present age. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, and Jesus shows us the Father. The nature of  God is triune; one God in three persons. We must have illumination from the Spirit to see this truth in the Bible.

Jesus still opens both physically and spiritually, blind eyes today. And He still leads us like a Shepherd leading his sheep in a very dark world. Jesus is not some far away mythical deity who refuses to interact with his creation. He reveals himself in greater measure to those who diligently seek him. There have been many false teachers, and “messiahs”throughout the ages, but only Jesus leads us to a place of internal rest and peace.

While sound doctrine is essential in knowing God, he is also a relational being, who desires to share his life with us. God is pure light and brings us into his spiritual house, so that we can experience fellowship with him, and drink from the river of his delights. This unspeakable joy and glory is only found in the presence of the God who made us, and reveals himself to us.