Holy Spirit is the agent of change in bringing about transformation and restoration into our hearts. The Bible tells us that only God knows the heart of man “you alone know the hearts of all the sons of men (1 Kings 8:38). He knows the condition of our hearts. Throughout the Old Testament both in the history of the human race that we find in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, and in the history of Israel which began with the calling of Abraham, we see the wickedness of human’s heart. Not only did God know the heart of man, but also he looks at our heart. God spoke to the prophet Samuel about the value of heart saying “The Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” ( 1 Sam. 16:7). These verses clearly show that God cares more about our character than our outward features or religious activities.
In the Old Testament, after the northern and the southern kingdom of Israel were destroyed, God raised Ezra to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem; though the walls were rebuilt and the temples stood, the heart of God’s people remained unchanged. The prophet Zechariah said, “They made their heart like flint” (Zec. 7:12). Thus God promised to send the messiah to create a new heart. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36:27). Knowing and looking at humans’ heart God intended to remove it and recreate a new heart.
The cross of Jesus Christ did not bring an external modification in our action, but it recreates a new heart in us (2 Cor. 5:17). The new heart we found in Christ produces evidence of our salvation in the character we exhibit. As it was promised by the prophets of Old Testament, it will be a heart circumcised by the Spirit. A circumcised heart is a heart that belongs solely to God. “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” (Deut. 30:6). The “heart” signifies ultimate love. It is an expression used to denote devotion and loyalty to God. A heart touched by the God is committed to God alone. When we experience the love of God in our heart, we can smash all our idols, and obey anything that we are being asked of him. Anything that we love more than God is an idol. That is why Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Our love for God must always be matched by our obedience for his command.
A circumcised heart is also a heart that knows and fears God. Seeing the glory of God on the mountain when God gave the law to Moses, the people of Israel feared God. Their hearts were filled with reverence witnessing the magnificence of the divine; then God spoke to Moses saying, “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all my commandment always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever” (Deut. 5:29). If we honor God in our heart, he will honor us. Only a renewed heart can utter true worship.
Finally, it is only the heart that is circumcised that can rest in God. A heart that is not touched by God is restless. The importance of the renewal of the heart cannot be over emphasized. God is looking for people with a changed heart submitting to his revelation (Rom. 3:30 Col. 2:11). More than anything the state of our heart matters to God. Just as it is impossible to be an uncircumcised Israelite,so it is impossible to be uncircumcised in the heart and be a Christian. We cannot meet God and remain unchanged. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so that we can receive the word of God with humility.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
The Price of walking in the anointing of God
The anointing of God comes on the new self. The cost of walking with God is this: We must each give up our old selves in order to embrace and become the person Christ has created us to be. We cannot fulfill the purpose of God in our life in the flesh. Human wisdom will fail us, and our understanding cannot get the job done. Therefore "put off the old man with his deeds" (Col. 3:9-10), for "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have to live out what we have become in Christ because the “doing” comes out of the “being.” "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:14). Simply put, the anointing cannot come on the flesh.
Are you ready to pay the price? I sometimes wonder that the reason we don’t walk in the fullness of our calling is because it is costly. If we are to walk in the fullness of God’s call, there is a price that needs to be paid. We have to be committed to obey God without delay, completely, and submissively. Many desire to walk in the anointing of God, but don’t want to pay the price; therefore, their desire will not be fulfilled. There is a strict lifestyle the anointing demands of us.
There are some decisions that we should make that will cost us something. These decisions will make us a vessel worthy of walking in the anointing of God. These quality decisions will radically and permanently change the entire course of our life. We cannot be anointed by God and be careless rather we have to be faithful and diligent in our calling. Whenever we lay down our will to the will of God, we go into new territories. Once you sacrifice what God asks of you, you leave the shadowy realm of confusion into the light of God that feels your soul with joy.
Though it costs much to obey God, the benefits of our obedience will by far outweigh the loss. Paul, who understood the cost very well, declared, "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." (Phil. 3:7-9). Here Paul is simply following the words of Jesus: we have to lose our life to gain his life. "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 10:39). We have to commit to Christ unreservedly.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, only God knew how the story would end. Abraham obeyed God without delay. “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands” (Psa. 119:60). If we let God have his way, the anointing will flow out of us. Paraphrasing the words of Paul, the apostle, Watchman Nee said, “Let death never cease to work in me that life may never cease to flow out to others.” “so death works in us, but life in you” (2Cor. 4:12).
As Abraham was walking those three days to sacrifice Isaac, he was entering to the provision of God by covenant. Once we have dedicated our life to the purpose of God, we have no more right to live. God did not say to Abraham, I will take your son. I would think that it would have been easier because God must have to kill Isaac; nevertheless, he asked Abraham to willingly sacrifice Isaac. The sacrifice symbolized the death of the person to the will of God. Abraham’s obedience was a two-edged sword. While one edge of the sword goes on Isaac, the other is cutting Abraham’s will. God is waiting on us to do his will over our will. Let us obey God for our sake, and he will trust us with more. God’s power and grace will see us through after we obey. Disobedience can never see the provision of God. The only way to see what God has in store for us is to let go of what is in our hands.
Are you ready to pay the price? I sometimes wonder that the reason we don’t walk in the fullness of our calling is because it is costly. If we are to walk in the fullness of God’s call, there is a price that needs to be paid. We have to be committed to obey God without delay, completely, and submissively. Many desire to walk in the anointing of God, but don’t want to pay the price; therefore, their desire will not be fulfilled. There is a strict lifestyle the anointing demands of us.
There are some decisions that we should make that will cost us something. These decisions will make us a vessel worthy of walking in the anointing of God. These quality decisions will radically and permanently change the entire course of our life. We cannot be anointed by God and be careless rather we have to be faithful and diligent in our calling. Whenever we lay down our will to the will of God, we go into new territories. Once you sacrifice what God asks of you, you leave the shadowy realm of confusion into the light of God that feels your soul with joy.
Though it costs much to obey God, the benefits of our obedience will by far outweigh the loss. Paul, who understood the cost very well, declared, "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." (Phil. 3:7-9). Here Paul is simply following the words of Jesus: we have to lose our life to gain his life. "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 10:39). We have to commit to Christ unreservedly.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, only God knew how the story would end. Abraham obeyed God without delay. “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands” (Psa. 119:60). If we let God have his way, the anointing will flow out of us. Paraphrasing the words of Paul, the apostle, Watchman Nee said, “Let death never cease to work in me that life may never cease to flow out to others.” “so death works in us, but life in you” (2Cor. 4:12).
As Abraham was walking those three days to sacrifice Isaac, he was entering to the provision of God by covenant. Once we have dedicated our life to the purpose of God, we have no more right to live. God did not say to Abraham, I will take your son. I would think that it would have been easier because God must have to kill Isaac; nevertheless, he asked Abraham to willingly sacrifice Isaac. The sacrifice symbolized the death of the person to the will of God. Abraham’s obedience was a two-edged sword. While one edge of the sword goes on Isaac, the other is cutting Abraham’s will. God is waiting on us to do his will over our will. Let us obey God for our sake, and he will trust us with more. God’s power and grace will see us through after we obey. Disobedience can never see the provision of God. The only way to see what God has in store for us is to let go of what is in our hands.
Friday, January 15, 2010
God’s call to Holiness
The way we see God can change from time to time, but God’s opinion of us never changes. He knows everything about us. We can never improve on God’s knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In other words, we cannot add or take anything away from God because he is perfect. God waits for his people to take his word seriously. Most of our problem with holiness comes from the way we see God. We cannot compartmentalize God’s attributes. Donald Bloesch in his book titled God the Almighty stated the polarities we find in God, “What is lacking in so many instances is a strong affirmation of the holiness and almightiness of God. God is not simply with us and in us, but he is also against us and over us. He is judge as well as savior, master as well as friend … I shall try to hold in dialectical tension the polarities that are reflected in God’s nature and activity – his majesty as well as his vulnerability, his sovereignty as well as his grace, his wholly otherness as well as his unsurpassable closeness, his holiness as well as his love.” Only balanced biblical approach to God can produce godliness in us.
I think the biblical way to approach God is to take him as his word describes him and adjust our thinking, words, and action accordingly. When we read the first epistle of John, we see that God is love but at the same time light. Though his love that was fully expressed in Jesus, makes us want to run to him just the way we are; there is also that other side of him. God is still an unapproachable light. Nevertheless, we can approach God cleansed by the blood of Jesus and feel his light and love at the same time.
When we accepted the work that God has done for us through his son on the cross, God has declared us righteous. Then God continues to work in our life through his Spirit, that indwelled us, to make us holy as he is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). Salvation is a complete work of God. However, many do not understand what it means to be saved. In the New Testament salvation has three tenses: past, present and future. If one is truly saved, he has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, currently his being saved from the power of sin, and ultimately he will be saved from the presence of sin. Salvation is an ongoing process that is currently incomplete. As a Christian, we have been saved from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9), eternal death (Rom. 6:21), dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14), and from life of fear (Rom. 8:15), and one day we will be delivered form the sinful body we have now. A person is truly saved when he comes to God convicted by the Holy Spirit through the work of the cross (Eph. 2:18).
With all the religious gadgets we have today, we are still bound with sin. Even among the professing Christians few fear God truly. We know too many facts that are not helping us a bit because we don’t know the God of the Bible. No one can have a genuine encounter with God and remain the same. The cross of Jesus Christ has not done an external modification to us, but internal transformation. Only when we know God we can fear him. As a Christian, it is an honor to be different than this world. It is not vain to fear God. Let this be the prayer that is burning in our heart. We have to keep ourselves pure while living in a system that is corrupt. God is faithful to keep us holy for his glory. “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 24-25).
I think the biblical way to approach God is to take him as his word describes him and adjust our thinking, words, and action accordingly. When we read the first epistle of John, we see that God is love but at the same time light. Though his love that was fully expressed in Jesus, makes us want to run to him just the way we are; there is also that other side of him. God is still an unapproachable light. Nevertheless, we can approach God cleansed by the blood of Jesus and feel his light and love at the same time.
When we accepted the work that God has done for us through his son on the cross, God has declared us righteous. Then God continues to work in our life through his Spirit, that indwelled us, to make us holy as he is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). Salvation is a complete work of God. However, many do not understand what it means to be saved. In the New Testament salvation has three tenses: past, present and future. If one is truly saved, he has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, currently his being saved from the power of sin, and ultimately he will be saved from the presence of sin. Salvation is an ongoing process that is currently incomplete. As a Christian, we have been saved from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9), eternal death (Rom. 6:21), dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14), and from life of fear (Rom. 8:15), and one day we will be delivered form the sinful body we have now. A person is truly saved when he comes to God convicted by the Holy Spirit through the work of the cross (Eph. 2:18).
With all the religious gadgets we have today, we are still bound with sin. Even among the professing Christians few fear God truly. We know too many facts that are not helping us a bit because we don’t know the God of the Bible. No one can have a genuine encounter with God and remain the same. The cross of Jesus Christ has not done an external modification to us, but internal transformation. Only when we know God we can fear him. As a Christian, it is an honor to be different than this world. It is not vain to fear God. Let this be the prayer that is burning in our heart. We have to keep ourselves pure while living in a system that is corrupt. God is faithful to keep us holy for his glory. “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 24-25).
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Spirit Empowered Biblical Prayer
God listens to our prayer, and he loves to answer our prayers. The scripture does not suggest that we pray but command us to pray. As a Christian we are commanded in the Bible to pray without ceasing, in all things and with our entire being. Prayer is dominion. When people in the Bible prayed, God showed up on their behalf. Prayer that is according to the will of God wins God’s favor.
When we start to pray, God changes things. Prayer is talked about in Bible schools, seminaries, churches, and preached by many but practiced by few. Though it is good to study about prayer, we will never learn how to pray until we start to pray. Mother Angelica comparing the prayer of the early church and ours said, “They had the spirit but so do we. They had the Eucharist but so do we. They had men who taught them the Word of God but so do we. They had communal worship but so do we. They prayed without ceasing but we do not.” It is not enough to read books about prayer and teach about prayer, but one should pray to experience God. In the Bible, those who sought God in prayer have entered into His presence and got their prayer answered. Everything that one understands in the Bible or other books should lead the person to prayer.
The Christian life is never to be separated from a life of prayer. In fact, as our prayer life is so is our Christian life. Until we start seeing prayer as the way of maintaining our own Christian life, we cannot fully know what prayer is meant to be. For every Christian prayer should be a language of experience. It is the perfect will of God that Christians would experience the power of prayer.
We get biblical answer from God, when we pray biblical prayers. God is not our heavenly vending machine where we put a prayer “coin” and demand that he does what we will. God is sovereign. He gives us what we need in his way, in his time and as he wants it. No human being can command God because He is God and we are not. So prayer is not imposing our priorities on God rather prayer should be taking God as He is and bend our self God’s will. Though it is unfeasible to control God's will, a person who tries to manipulate God is guilty of witchcraft. When King Saul did what was right before his sight and though that he obeyed God, the prophet Samuel said to him “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam 15:22-23). Rebellion is the same as the sin of witchcraft.
Prayer is also a fight and the adversary (Satan) will do anything to stop Christians from praying. If there is no spiritual battle, why would Paul wrote to the Ephesians to put on the armor of God: the girdle of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the preparation of the Gospel, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the spirit (Eph. 6:10-17). After Paul listed all these armors, he continued and said “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). When Paul exhorted believers to pray with all kind of prayers, he told them with the spiritual warfare in mind. Paul commanded the readers to stand and pray at the moment of attack. All the armors of God are given by the Spirit of God because what believers are fighting with is highly-organized opposing kingdom of Satan.
Prayer is communing with God. God gives us grace to pray. As for me, Bible is not the end but the means to an end. In other words, Bible shows us the way of seeking God. Only genuine encounter with God in prayer can transform our life. If the Bible was the end then all people who know what is written in it would have known God, but that is not the case. There are a lot of people who spent all their life studying the Bible but never met the author, Holy Spirit. When we pray we are expressing our need to God with humility; then God will reveal himself to us. . After Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, they couldn't pray because it takes more than knowing how to pray to engage in the discipline of prayer. May God teach us how to pray and empower us to pray by his Spirit
When we start to pray, God changes things. Prayer is talked about in Bible schools, seminaries, churches, and preached by many but practiced by few. Though it is good to study about prayer, we will never learn how to pray until we start to pray. Mother Angelica comparing the prayer of the early church and ours said, “They had the spirit but so do we. They had the Eucharist but so do we. They had men who taught them the Word of God but so do we. They had communal worship but so do we. They prayed without ceasing but we do not.” It is not enough to read books about prayer and teach about prayer, but one should pray to experience God. In the Bible, those who sought God in prayer have entered into His presence and got their prayer answered. Everything that one understands in the Bible or other books should lead the person to prayer.
The Christian life is never to be separated from a life of prayer. In fact, as our prayer life is so is our Christian life. Until we start seeing prayer as the way of maintaining our own Christian life, we cannot fully know what prayer is meant to be. For every Christian prayer should be a language of experience. It is the perfect will of God that Christians would experience the power of prayer.
We get biblical answer from God, when we pray biblical prayers. God is not our heavenly vending machine where we put a prayer “coin” and demand that he does what we will. God is sovereign. He gives us what we need in his way, in his time and as he wants it. No human being can command God because He is God and we are not. So prayer is not imposing our priorities on God rather prayer should be taking God as He is and bend our self God’s will. Though it is unfeasible to control God's will, a person who tries to manipulate God is guilty of witchcraft. When King Saul did what was right before his sight and though that he obeyed God, the prophet Samuel said to him “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam 15:22-23). Rebellion is the same as the sin of witchcraft.
Prayer is also a fight and the adversary (Satan) will do anything to stop Christians from praying. If there is no spiritual battle, why would Paul wrote to the Ephesians to put on the armor of God: the girdle of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the preparation of the Gospel, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the spirit (Eph. 6:10-17). After Paul listed all these armors, he continued and said “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). When Paul exhorted believers to pray with all kind of prayers, he told them with the spiritual warfare in mind. Paul commanded the readers to stand and pray at the moment of attack. All the armors of God are given by the Spirit of God because what believers are fighting with is highly-organized opposing kingdom of Satan.
Prayer is communing with God. God gives us grace to pray. As for me, Bible is not the end but the means to an end. In other words, Bible shows us the way of seeking God. Only genuine encounter with God in prayer can transform our life. If the Bible was the end then all people who know what is written in it would have known God, but that is not the case. There are a lot of people who spent all their life studying the Bible but never met the author, Holy Spirit. When we pray we are expressing our need to God with humility; then God will reveal himself to us. . After Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, they couldn't pray because it takes more than knowing how to pray to engage in the discipline of prayer. May God teach us how to pray and empower us to pray by his Spirit
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