God Wants Us Filled… for Real

21 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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being filled with the knowledge of His will, Colossians 1:10, Colossians 1:9, complete knowledge, defending the faith, deny ourselves, epi, fruit inspectors, gnosis, Jesus has the know how, just partial knowledge, knowledge, knowledge for knowledge sake is dangerous, lay down our lives, more than intellectual prowess, older wiser quote, people will pick fruit, real truth bears real fruit love, starved for knowledge, Walk refers to a lifestyle, Warren Wiersbe quote

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding… Colossians 1:9

Evidently, some are satisfied with just a little knowledge from God. This is why Paul prayed in this fashion. He knew God’s heart was to fill us with the total knowledge of His will. Are you currently “being filled” with the knowledge of His will?

One day I discovered that our outside water faucet was busted. It happened during one of those cold winters in the South. I really didn’t know where to start in the repairing process. But while picking up something at one of those Big Box stores, I decided to talk to someone in the plumbing department. I explained what I heard and saw. This guy knew exactly what I needed. With so little effort he suggested the right parts and proffered step-by-step instructions to repair the busted pipe. How was he able to do this with relative ease? He was filled with knowledge and experience. He had instructed a hundred others in the same area. Since I sought him out, he transferred that knowledge and experience. My new friend had the “know how” and I didn’t. If I had pushed forward in my own “know how,” the job would have resulted in drips, leaks, and errors. It would have cost me more in time, money, and frustration. He knew a way to accomplish the task without soldering pipes. All I had to do was tap into my new friend’s superior knowledge and gain his experience and knowledge. It only took 5-10 mins to get the “know how.”

The word for “knowledge” in verse nine is “gnosis”. In this text, the preposition “epi” which means “over” is added on to this word knowledge. So the idea here is we can have “over knowledge” or “complete knowledge” not just partial knowledge about God’s will. Does all this sound like something you wish to possess?

Every day we are invited to spend time with the Lord to learn how to get our job in the kingdom accomplished the correct way. Jesus has the “know how.” We don’t. The Lord doesn’t want us to possess a partial knowledge or simply a little knowledge about certain issues. When we neglect giving ourselves adequate time with the Lord, we end up with drips, leaks, and errors. Understand, our knowledge of the Holy ought to be as practical as it is theological. In other words… our hands, feet, and hearts should be busier than our brains. If our “complete knowledge” simply fills our heads with facts and figures about the Bible, then we haven’t really spent time with the Lord.

In my pastoral ministry, I have met people who have become intoxicated with ‘studying the deeper truths of the Bible.’ Usually they have been given a book or introduced to some teacher’s teachings. Before long, they get so smart they become dumb! The ‘deeper truths’ they discover only detour them from practical Christian living. Instead of getting burning hearts of devotion to Christ, they get big heads and start creating problems in their homes and churches. Warren Wiersbe

Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is dangerous. It leads to pride. But the knowledge we gain is supposed to take us somewhere. This is why the Bible always equates knowledge with “walking“. If we are unable to walk-out what we have been taught…. then what we have learned is useless. This is why verse 10 says, “…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects…” Walk refers to a lifestyle. Our Father is concerned about our whole life! Can you say your whole lifestyle is worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him? “All respects” is everything. Is it your goal to please the Lord in all matters? I talk to lots of people who are interested in pleasing the Lord in most things. But I talk to very few who make it their goal to please Him in all things.

A lot of believers struggle in defending the faith. Yes, they can quote scriptures and debate the issues. But, the struggle we are in today demands more than intellectual prowess. In fact, if this is all we have to offer, we will ultimately lose the battle. There is no better defense of the truth in all the world than a person whose hope in God is so strong that they gladly deny themselves in order to meet the needs of others. Somewhere along the lines the truth should become so real to us we choose to lay down our lives for it.

Real truth always bears the same fruit….love. Yes, sometimes it looks like kindness, generosity, and patience. In the end…it is love. The big question is, if someone came along picking fruit from your life right now, will they want to be like you ….will they want to know the Lord Jesus Christ …. will they want to know His will for their own life?

Yes, we do need to possess the right knowledge. This knowledge needs to be complete. It is complete when the Lord has done such a perfect work in you, you willingly lay down your life for it. Your conduct, your conversation, and your character are the fruits of your life. This is what people are seeing and hearing. You can say you are a believer with the loudest voice possible, but know this ….people will check the fruit. You can say that you don’t believe in fruit inspectors, but understand, they are out there. The whole world is checking out the fruit of those who call themselves “believers.” In many cases they have rejected it… and I don’t blame them.

Blessings,

Pastor

We Need a God With Skin On!

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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Colossians 1:15, Dick Alexander Raw, distinguishing marks, eikon, exegetes, God with skin on, Ground Zero, icon, image, image is everything, invisible God, John 1:18, made known, Mark Twain Quote, Statue of Liberty, the two most important days in your life, visible, wedding band, word icon

(Jesus) “He is the image of the invisible God.” Colossians 1:15

Marketing executives tells us “image is everything.” Images convey meanings to us way beyond what words can describe. They are like pictures, which elicit emotional responses.

My wedding band represents the fact that a remarkable but unfortunate woman said “yes” to me! When Americans see the Statue of Liberty, something unexplainable takes place deep inside. In addition, when we see the American Flag flying over Ground Zero it ignites feelings of patriotism, sadness, and maybe even anger, over ten years after 9-11.

As powerful as these symbols are, they are simply representations of far deeper realities. My ring doesn’t make me married. Rather, it’s a symbol that I am married. The Statue of Liberty doesn’t in and of itself do anything. It stands for a nation that gives hope to the hopeless and honors freedom. Possessing an American flag doesn’t make anyone a citizen. But, when we wave it with pride, we do so knowing it stands for over 200 years of fighting for freedom at home and abroad.

Colossians reminds us Jesus is not just a symbol of God; He is God Himself. The word used here for “image” is “eikon”. Sound familiar? It refers to a “likeness, manifestation, or replica.” It is where we get our word “icon”. You are probably familiar with hundreds of icons on your computer and phone.

In the culture of New Testament, “image or eikon” was a die or stamp which enabled the creator to make exact reproductions of that particular object over and over again. Also, passports in Paul’s day had a section called “eikon” or “distinguishing marks”. Since passports couldn’t hold pictures, they had eikon sections which described something personal about the person which set him apart from everyone else.

This is why Paul used the word eikon in Colossians. Jesus is the visible eikon or image of the invisible God. He is the precise copy because He is God Himself. He both represents and manifests God to the world.

“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18)

The phrase “made Him known” means that Jesus declares, or literally “exegetes” to the world what God the Father is really like. As the little boy said to his father during a lighting storm…”I need someone here with skin on.” Jesus is God with skin on.

The Father never intended for His children not to know Him. He sent His Son…the exact representation of Who He is to the world. If we are struggling with the actions and will of God, we need only to turn back to Jesus, in the purest, most basic sense. In reality, this is what others are longing to see in us personally. I share a poem by Dick Alexander to remind us of what our lives should be like.

Dick Alexander, Raw

It’s a word I never liked
Raw carrots are too hard
Raw oysters too slimy
Raw humor is too dirty
Raw skin is too painful
In fact raw applied to anything human sounds painful
But we live in a world of raw human need
It’s all around us
Do you ever wonder how many people struggle with homosexuality in your church
How many alcoholics
How many families with incest
How many addicts, how victims of violence and abuse
Will they find help
With the raw human need touching us every day
The church can scarcely afford business as usual
In practice many traditional churches view their mission
As holding Sunday services
Satisfying the members and doing a little good here & there
Such churches are on the way out
Within a few years they will be dinosaurs
Not because their doctrine is bad but because they lost their mission
Only churches serious about rescuing the hurting will survive and make a difference…

Plan on being one of heaven’s eikons today, so that you can make a difference in the world around you.
Blessings,

Pastor

Father’s Day Blessings

17 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Illustrations/Cartoons/Etc.

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blessings, Father's Day, pastor, Scriptures on how much our Heavenly Father loves us

Again, many Father’s Day blessings to you. Father’s Day is a reminder to us all to be thankful for the fathers in our life and for the fathers who have gone on to be with the Lord. There is a list below of scriptures to remind us how much our Heavenly Father loves us as well.

May God richly bless you and your family on this day.

Blessings,

Pastor

Ten Popular Father’s Day Quotes

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Quotes

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Father’s Day Blessings! May God richly bless you and your family this Sunday.

Pastor

I Heard the Sound …

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in The Strange & Unusual Voice of God

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a visitation, crash, crowd, give testimonies, giving the Lord permission to move, Kenya, looking for the supernatural, lunchtime services, normal, preach, preaching in the park, slain in the spirit, sounds crazy, strengthen churches, teach, the Holy Spirit, the sound of a galloping horse, wanting the Lord to move in unusual ways, what God is doing in the here and now, young Kenyan girl

I am going to wrap up these last few blogs on the Holy Spirit by relating an experience that happened to me over twenty years ago. Back in the early 1990’s I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya for a forty day mission trip. It was basically a trip to strengthen churches in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Nakuru, as well as other small towns. Our small group didn’t do any construction, medical work or other activities, but we were able to preach, teach, and give testimonies in all sorts of venues and occasions. Aside from preaching and teaching on weekends in different churches, I had the opportunity to also speak in movie houses and parks during lunch hours. It was during one of the lunchtime services I wish to elaborate on in this blog.

In Nakuru there was a park in the middle of town and the church regularly held noontime services as an outreach to the community. As you can imagine, the crowds there varied from service to service. On this occasion a group of over 100 people showed up for the noon gathering. Everyone present from the church walked around the park inviting people to come for the service. The church also brought a small P.A. system and a few instruments to sing songs to help attract a crowd. I noticed several people laying on their stomachs under the trees. I was told these were the hungry who had been looking for work. Since they couldn’t find work that day, they were sleeping in the park on their stomachs to help quell their hunger.

I was the guest speaker on this occasion. That should have been enough to attract some folk’s attention. I probably was the whitest preacher from America with the funniest accent they were ever going to encounter. At this time, I had been in the country over thirty days and had grown accustomed to speaking with an interpreter. Also, I was beginning to understand which messages to share and which illustrations to use in order to minister to people. We sang several songs and I began to share. From all appearances everything was “normal”. At the end of every service I would turn the service over to a local pastor. I did the same after this service. Several people came forward and some gave their lives to the Lord and a few made other decisions.

While I was standing up front listening to the pastor with my back towards the crowd… I heard the sound of a galloping horse, bull, or water buffalo. What was galloping towards us, I did not know. At the time I wasn’t even sure if anyone else heard it. Because I wanted to know what it was, I turned towards the crowd to detect what was going on behind me. I looked and looked but couldn’t see anything….but the sound was getting closer. The galloping came right into the crowd but no one seemed to care or even be aware. I know all this sounds crazy. It is one of the reasons I don’t share this story very often. But I knew I was hearing the sound of a galloping animal coming into the crowd.

All of sudden the galloping turned into a crash! The galloping horse, bull or whatever ran straight into and over a young Kenyan girl. She immediately hit the ground with a thud. It was like a sack of potatoes had fallen off a ten story building. She was just six to eight feet away from me. She laid there like someone shot or clubbed her. Fortunately, some of the ladies in the church gathered around her and started fanning her as if she had fainted. In fact, as the minutes passed, several of the ladies tried to stir her, all to no avail. She continued to lay there like a corpse as the service broke up.

As time continued to pass, I heard some of the people who spoke English talk about the “galloping” right before the girl went down. Now, at least I knew I wasn’t hearing things. The conclusion everyone was drawing was this young lady had been slain in the spirit. I had seen such activity before… but not in services I’d held. I’m not against it or anything… at the time I just didn’t normally see such events. This young lady’s experience was not like what you might have seen on t.v.. The people I had seen on t.v. barely even went down. Still after about 20-25 minutes the people were still trying to wake this young lady. Finally, I could see in her eyes…she was still groggy and wasn’t sure where she was or what was going on around her.

Some have asked me what I thought of the whole situation. Because I wasn’t able to talk to her after, I don’t know what really happened to this young lady physically or spiritually. Some would easily write the whole thing off as a coincident. I didn’t. I felt then and I still do now, the Lord was moving. It might surprise you to know all I could think about was … I wanted to be her. I wanted the Holy Spirit to come galloping across some park and run me down like a Mack truck. I didn’t care if I was in some foreign country or at home in the U.S.A.. I didn’t care if anyone was watching. I just wanted to be taken out by God and wake-up never being the same. Here I was preaching some “important” message and the Holy Spirit came head hunting for one lone Kenyan girl. I am sure He knew what He was doing… but I desperately wanted to be her in that moment.

My whole point for sharing this story is to remind believers that we all should be ready in the blink-of-an-eye for the Lord to move, even in unusual ways. We never truly know just what the Lord is going to do in any given situation. We quietly go about our business, even sometimes spiritual business and the Lord is just about to break into our world with a visitation. I do believe we should desperately desire Him to do more and be more in our lives. There have been other occasions when the Lord showed up when I least expected Him. I was just as shocked on those occasions as I was in this one. Not everyone needs to be run down by a wild, galloping invisible force… but I do believe we need to be touched from time to time. I don’t think the Lord ever intended us to travel this life without Him visiting us and giving us just what we need in those moments.

If you are saying to yourself…”The Lord has never touched or visited me,” well that just may be the issue. You are neither believing or expecting the Lord to move in your life in any supernatural way. You just may have relegated the Lord to the quiet recesses of your life and never really expected Him to show up in any way. When the Lord does show up, you don’t even believe it is Him. It is sad when all we read about is “what God did long ago in history past” and never hear stories about “what God is doing in the here and now“. I know I have grown tired of reading about what God did years ago in revivals past. Praise God He moved back then. But, what I really want to see and experience is God moving today.

Let me encourage you to seek the Lord anew. Give the Lord permission to move in your life anyway He sees fit. And if you are hearing the sound of a galloping horse coming up behind you… get ready! Your time of visitation might be at hand.

Blessings,

Pastor

It is a Jesus Thing

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in When the Holy Spirit Comes

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Advocate, business matters or work, Comforter, Companion, Gordon Dalbey, Healing the Masculine Soul, Helper, Jesus thing, John 16:14-16, logos, Luke 1:37, Matthew 18:19, Matthew 21:24, paraclete, pragma, rhema, the Holy Spirit, the spoken word or revealed word, the written word or account, things, to be called to one's side

Have you learned just what your Jesus thing is? The word “thing” is over-used in our language today and has lost its meaning. But Jesus talked about things all the time and it meant something specific. When Jesus used the word “thing” it represented one of three issues.

1. “logos” – Things sometimes translate as God’s “written word or account”. On one occasion Jesus was telling the religious leaders…”I will reveal to you My things (words) if you show Me yours first.” (my paraphrase) Matthew 21:24 Note to self…Never get into a word or revelational match with Jesus. His things are bigger and better than my things.

2. “rhema” – Things sometimes are translated as God’s “spoken or revealed word” to us personally. Mary, Jesus’ mother, discovered the power of a thing when Gabriel said to her…”For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) Just think… there’s never been a revelatory word and there never will be a word impossible for the Lord to perform in our life. If God speaks to you, then He will perform it. Wow!

3. “pragma” – Things are sometimes translated as the Lord’s “business matters or work.” Our English word pragmatic comes from this word. Listen how Jesus used it in Matthew 18:19. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” What a promise. Jesus promises to bring to pass any practical business matter which two believers agree should be performed. Anything is not everything. Anything is only God’s business.

Why I am talking about this today? Because in the last few blogs, I have been sharing about the necessity and importance of having the Holy Spirit in our lives. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus. The Spirit does this by taking those “things” of Jesus and disclosing it to you and me. Listen to these words in John.

He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:14-16

Here in verse 15 the “things” of the Father and the Son are “pragma“. So, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to reveal to us the very practical business matters of the Kingdom. Numerous times in the Gospels, Jesus alluded to the fact that all He has at His disposal is available for His followers. The Holy Spirit is the vehicle the Lord uses to give us Jesus’ knowledge, power, and authority. We should be expecting this process to happen throughout our walk with the Lord.
Another Greek word used by John for the Holy Spirit is “Paraclete“. You may be familiar with it. It basically means “to be called to one’s side.” Translators have used many different words to try to translate it…

Comforter
Helper
Advocate
Intercessor, and even
Companion.

Maybe the best way to understand this word is to give an illustration from Jesus’ day. In the book Healing the Masculine Soul, Gordon Dalbey says Paraclete was an ancient warrior’s term. “Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs, so when the enemy attacked, they could draw together back-to-back, covering each other’s blind side. One’s battle partner was the paraclete.”
The point is the Lord never intended for any of us to fight the good fight alone. Jesus knew in the beginning we would need a Partner, Helper, and Companion. The Holy Spirit is our Battle Partner who covers our blind side and helps in our struggle to bring to pass the Lord’s business.

None of us will be able to accomplish the Lord’s will without the Holy Spirit’s help. Take some time today and ask the Lord to help you understand more fully the Holy Spirit’s role in your life. There are some “things” there you need to know.

Blessings,

Pastor

Think

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Illustrations/Cartoons/Etc., Quotes

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Christian quotes, inspirational quotes, inspiriational, kind, Love people with careful words, necessary, Think, truthful helpful

Sunday Blessings,

Pastor

From: Idoddle

A Little Inspiration From Lou Holtz

09 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Quotes

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10 percent, 90 percent, ability motivation attitude, do right, do your best, don't tell people your problems, Life, Lou Holtz quots, no one has ever drowned in sweat, one thing will dominate your life, overcome adversity, to be ordinary

I thought a little motivation from Lou Holtz might give a little pep to your weekend.

Blessings,

Pastor

The Holy Spirit and Our Future

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in When the Holy Spirit Comes

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disclose means to uncover or reveal, eating crow, flagging, grandiose words and pictures, inside our own spehre of influence, John 16:3, my wife, photgraphic memory, picture, quells fear, snap shot, sphere of influence, teacher putting childs boots on, the arrogance of pastors, the Holy Spirit is not a fortune teller, the Holy Spirit speaks to our future, the Lord starts small, words don't start with large

He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13c

Why does the Spirit need to speak to us concerning issues of the future? I think many of us could use a little information about our future. If we are totally clueless about the future, we will eventually be blown away by it! Usually knowing a little about the future quells fear and makes our faith stronger.

I know many years ago when the Holy Spirit first began to speak to our family about some futuristic event, it was like being given a snap shot or picture of something that was going to happen at some time down the road. On most occasions, these snap shots were not outside our own personal sphere of influence. These glances or pictures were about our own personal world. We couldn’t do anything about the event, except watch it transpire. We called it “flagging.” In other words, the Lord shared with us something of the future and we would flag it so that we wouldn’t be shocked when the event came to pass. This went on for years.

As time has passed, these same snap shots have grown bigger to include other larger events and even some cataclysmic events. But believe me, it didn’t start off with large, grandiose words and pictures.

Does the Lord want to speak like this in everyone’s life? I believe He does. The reason He can’t is because the Holy Spirit is never allowed to start small in the believer’s life. If not for my wife, I would have never listened or paid any attention to the Spirit’s prompting in those early years. She was the one who listened intently, recorded them, and marked the calender when they came to pass. Because those first snap shots were not as “meaningful” as I thought they should be, I discarded them like yesterday’s news. Oh, the arrogance of some pastors. Needless-to-say, I got tired of eating crow. My wife didn’t make me eat it, the Lord did!

Jesus plainly told us…The Holy Spirit will disclose to us what is to come. This is why I like this word “disclose.” It means to uncover, unwrap, or reveal. In other words, these futuristic events the Lord wants to share with us are going to happen anyway, whether we know about it or not. We can be “in the know or remain in the dark.” Since God wants to take care of His children, He would rather us be one of His children who is “in the know.” Sometimes, when God reveals snap shots of the future, it is a call to prayer. This means the Lord desires a different outcome and prayer is needed to change things. The Lord always speaks to us when some action needs to take place on our part.

Please remember, the Holy Spirit is not a fortune-teller. We are never to dictate to Him what we want to hear. He only speaks what He hears from the Father. If you are looking for your fortune, you need to repent. It is a dangerous thing to grieve and quench the Holy Spirit.

Start by expecting the Holy Spirit to speak to you in small ways. Unfortunately, most want to begin in dramatic fashion. If you could handle a “big” word, the Lord would have already shared it with you. Most of us think when the Bible talks about the future it is referring to some BIG, cataclysmic, futuristic event that changes the course of mankind. But is this what the scripture is referring? Not necessarily. If you just had a little info about what you are going through right now in your world of experience, it would help you sleep at night, bless you, and bring glory to the Lord. Life would not be so difficult all the time, because you would already be aware of some of the futuristic hardships.

Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked and sure enough, they were.

It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on – this time on the right feet.

He then announced, “These aren’t my boots.” She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?” like she wanted.

Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them.”

She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, “Now, where are your mittens?”

He said, ”I stuffed them in the toes of my boots…”

Sometimes, we just need help. Just a little information about the future would make all the difference in the world. If the Lord Jesus promised help, then it is available.

Blessings,

Pastor

The Holy Spirit’s Discpline

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in When the Holy Spirit Comes

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The Kingdom of God has order. Hearing always precedes speaking. Just think about it for a moment…The Holy Spirit has never spoken a word to you which He didn’t first hear the Father speak to Him. Wow! Could you maintain this type of discipline?

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13

Jesus wanted everyone to know how He personally operated. Like the Holy Spirit, Jesus listened first, then He spoke. This is the order of heaven and we need to know it because this is where our instructions and our truth will originate.

The Spirit of God is never going to give us brand-new, startling, isolated truths no one has ever heard. Every now and then some “minister” will say, “God has spoken to me and has revealed to me a brilliant new idea, no one has ever taught. The Lord has only spoken to me. If you want to know the secret, you’ve got to come to me!”

This was exactly what Jesus said would not happen. The Spirit of God will never speak in this fashion. He will only speak what He hears. Therefore, what He reveals or speaks will always be integrated truth. This truth will always be in line with what God has already spoken. It will never differ from what God has said in the past. This is why Jesus said “I didn’t come to abolish, but to fulfill” what was already spoken.

I personally have a large library of books. I was moving into a new office one day and someone commented after seeing all my books, “I don’t read much. The Holy Spirit tells me everything I need to know. I don’t need to read books.” Now, I have heard this line numerous times. What these folks are basically saying is, “I am too lazy to read, learn, and listen to the lessons of others.” I don’t want to chase this particular rabbit now. But, suffice it to say…this is exactly how error is born and developed. I don’t read much these days to learn some new spiritual truth. I read to learn how the saints struggle and fight to continue serving even during dark times. I read to avoid errors. I want to know how others avoided life”s pitfalls. This is one of the reasons I blog. I want to help others avoid the same mistakes I’ve made.

The Holy Spirit will build upon what He previously taught others in generations past. I do not want to fall into the same pits my ancestors fell. No, I want to build upon the legacy they left behind. If you personally are just trying to maintain what the previous generation accomplished, you need to rethink whether or not you are listening to the Holy Spirit. Because while the Holy Spirit is our Tour Guide, while He only speaks what He hears… He is constantly speaking about the future. Your future to be exact. If you are one of those just maintaining the status-quo, you are probably in the dark.

This is why we are specially told by our Lord to expect the Holy Spirit to speak truth into our lives. You need truth, I need truth…all God’s children need truth. The problem is the truth we are told is not the truth we always want to hear. This is the main reason why people cannot hear the Holy Spirit speak to them personally. He is only speaking TRUTH and they are not looking to hear the blunt truth from the Lord.

Let me give a personal example. I have heard the Lord speak to me so many times about pride issues. I have gotten to the point where I did’t want to hear about it anymore. Have you ever been there? I really did’t think there was anything wrong in getting up every morning and looking in the mirror to sing “How Great Thou Art.” Just Kidding. Follow me here. In those times of the Lord confronting me about issues of pride, my quiet times were very, very…lets say “quite“. The Holy Spirit had nothing else to say and no other truth to offer. I wanted Him to say something else. I begged Him to say anything. By the way, this didn’t mean the Holy Spirit wasn’t using me to preach a message or lead people to the Lord. I could still be used. Being used of the Lord and being completely obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading are two different things. Don’t be deceived. God used Balaam’s ass, but it still was an ass. You probably know what I had to do to move on. I could fake it or make it real. The only way to move on was to repent, confess (agree with God’s assessment), and allow the Lord to show me a better way. Once that transpired, I received new truths.

A professional carpet layer stepped back to survey a newly installed carpet. Reaching into his shirt pocket for a cigarette, he realized the pack was missing. At the same time he noticed a lump under the carpet in the middle of the room, about the size of the missing cigarette pack. There was no way to retrieve his cigarette pack from under the attached carpet without ripping everything up and starting over. Finally, he decided to beat the object flat, thereby destroying any evidence of his mistake. Gathering his tools, the carpet layer walked out to his truck. There on the seat of his truck was the mislaid pack of cigarettes. As he lit one up, the homeowner hurried out of the house and asked, “Hey, have you seen my son’s gerbil?”

It is possible to believe something is true when it is not. It is equally possible to believe something is not true, when in actuality it is true. Understand, the Holy Spirit is trying to bring TRUTH into our lives. It is our job to give Him access to both sides of our belief systems. Most believers are able to allow Him to teach them “new” truths. They struggle in giving Him access to “old truths” they believe. These are labeled “sacred cows” and untouchable. The problem, this is exactly where the Spirit begins many times. I have a long list of beliefs the Holy Spirit has totally destroyed and ultimately rebuilt. The quickest way to grow unhindered is to give the Holy Spirit unlimited access to every area and belief in our life. It would be one thing if you were a BLANK SLATE, but you’re not and neither am I. We all have programs and data on our hard drives. Sometimes the Lord needs to do some erasing before He can write new programs. Remember it is the Holy Spirit’s job to lead you into ALL TRUTH, not partial truths or incomplete truths. The only question is will you allow Him access.

Blessings,

Pastor