Burdens Too Difficult to Carry

04 Thursday Apr 2013

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C K Chesterton quotes, external behavior, Hypocrite, Jesus' harshest words, lifeless religion, love relationship with God, Luke11:46, majoring on minors, meaningless spiritual activities, passing burdens along, Pharisees, pushing buttons, relationship, religion, religious folk, repetitive motion, substance and appearance, taking all the joy out of living for God, the Christian Ideal

Hypocrite! Hypocrite! We are quick to judge who we think may be a hypocrite, but most of us never consider we might be one. Jesus reserved His harshest words not for thieves, prostitutes, or drunkards, but for a segment of religious people He identified as hypocrites. One of Jesus’ missions was to expose people who claimed to represent God and His ways, while not living out what they professed.

Just what bothered Jesus about the Pharisees? It was their focus upon external behavior, all the while ignoring internal change. They were more concerned with form over substance and more concerned about appearance than reality. The Pharisees were only concerned with what a man did. Jesus was concerned with what and who a man was.

So Jesus’ toughest words came at the Pharisees’ expense. He accused them of majoring on minors, being preoccupied with being noticed, and being a burden upon people rather than a blessing. Ouch! Listen to Jesus’ words…

“And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” Luke 11:46

Jesus accused these religious leaders of taking all the joy out of living for God. Do these guys sound like anyone you know? Bottom line – they made serving God a joyless burden. This is what lifeless religion will do… it will suck the life right out of you and anyone else around you. Lifeless religion causes us to focus upon meaningless activities. It keeps the flesh busy while the soul starves.

It’s like pedestrians in New York who still press the button to get the lights to change… despite the fact their activity produces no results. Since the late 80’s all the traffic signals have been controlled by computer, but the city won’t pay to have the buttons removed. It’s probably just as well. The repetitive motion helps boost people’s illusion of control. We feel better when we can do something… right?

The Pharisees had all of Israel pushing buttons which really didn’t matter. Why? Because someone in the past told them to do it… they just kept passing along burdens to the next generation. Each generation’s burden became larger than the previous.

This is why Jesus always pointed people back to discovering a relationship with God. It is not about activity, but all about who we are in the Lord. Religion focuses upon activity. Relationship focuses upon love. If you want to remain free today, focus upon your love relationship with the Father.

Blessings,

Pastor

Can God Trust You With His Presence?

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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believer, church, Ephesians 4:30, fundamental spiritual laws, grieve or quench, offended the Spirit, power, presence of God, relationship, stiffing God, the anointing, Tozer Quote, vulnerable

Can God really trust you with His presence? You are probably answering in the affirmative. We should want it. If He can trust you with His presence, then where is it? You see, the Anointing is the presence of God. It is not a vague reality that only certain “spiritual people” can discern about you. No, the Anointing should be a matter of fact about us. God’s presence can become so THICK in your life that people can’t help but be affected by it.

It is all about the relationship we have with the Lord. Our relationship with God’s Holy Spirit is of primary importance. You might get away “stiffing” God for a few weeks. Some neglect to pray for weeks and months. They put their whole relationship with God in neutral. Afterward they seek and receive forgiveness and are gladly welcomed back into the family of God.

But when you neglect and “stiff” your relationship with the Holy Spirit, He is not so easily found on the back side. It is not that He will never come back. It is not that He will stop filling you. But you have offended the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit takes your neglect personally. You are the one who sought a relationship with Him and now you have bailed out of the relationship. The Bible exhorts us to not “grieve” or “quench.”

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

Do you think the Holy Spirit is going to continue to leave Himself in a vulnerable position so that you can continue to walk in and out of a relationship with Him. It is a dangerous thing for a believer, church, or organization to grieve and quench the Holy Spirit . In many cases, the Holy Spirit has left the building and we do not even know it. This is why many have had to place their trust in “man-made” programs. The Spirit departed long ago.

The Holy Spirit desires a continuous, harmonious, enduring relationship with each believer and each church. “Quench and Grieve” are words no one would want to use in talking about a relationship they might have. Think about the things we have done to other believers that have absolutely grieved the Holy Spirit. Think about the things we have done in churches that have absolutely grieved the Holy Spirit.

The primary question we need to ask before doing any activity or church business is not, “What will old Uncle Harry think?” No, we should be asking, “Will this course of action quench, grieve, or invite the Holy Spirit’s work in my life and the church?”

When I was a mere lad (8-9 yrs. old) I had an old battery in one of my toys go dead. It was a “C” or “D” sized battery. I desperately wanted my toy to work once more. I knew that electricity ran through batteries. I also was aware electricity flowed in the wall plugs. I figured out a plan to get electricity from the wall socket into my battery. My mother was a beautician and had bobby pins all over the house. So I made a V out of the bobby pin and stuck the two ends into the socket while connected to my battery.

REJECTION —- I learned that day there were certain principles that needed to be applied to harness the power of electricity. No matter how I might want to cheat, shortcut, believe, or somehow get around those fundamental laws governing electricity — THE LAWS WERE STILL IN OPERATION AND I MUST ABIDE BY THEM. I eventually learned, if you fail to abide by these laws you can be shocked, caught on fire, or destroy an otherwise working appliance. I was blown across the room and sparks flew all over the place. Those sparks politely burned holes in my bed spread. I FELT THE POWER! The problem was I did not want this type of power. I was trying to invent the battery charger before there were battery chargers. If I had just been a little more persistent, I could have been a millionaire by inventing the first battery charger.

The truth is God wants us to experience and share His power. You must believe this truth. Jesus said, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.“

He is not trying to keep us from power, God is trying to get us to use His power. But there are Fundamental Spiritual Laws at work in the spiritual realm concerning the power and anointing of God. It shouldn’t surprise any of us that the Lord only shares His power with those who can be trusted with it. Can God really trust you with His presence and power?

Blessings,

Pastor