A Prerequisite to Learning From the Holy Spirit

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by eisakouo in When the Holy Spirit Comes

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all truth must be planted, birth grow and harvest, can't bear the truth, confess, confussion and frustration, crumble under the weigt of spiritual truth, cultivated and harvested, developing follow through, guilt, how to respond to truth, ill-equipped to know how to respond, John 16:12-15, lacked understanding of the rescources needed, light is not the issue, must learn to respond in faith and trust, natrual committment, refusal to reveal anything deeper, repent, stay in your process until it is completed, surrender to the process, the presence of the Lord, the process by which the Holy Spirit teaches us, the truth is out there, you can't make a comeback

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 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. 14 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 16:12-15

When we finally get to the end of John, we have arrived at the good stuff. In this passage Jesus revealed the process by which the Spirit Himself was going to teach us. But according to Jesus there was a catch. He mentioned one prerequisite to learning. He said to these disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you.” Why didn’t Jesus communicate everything on His heart? What was hindering Him?

The answer of course, as he said, was they couldn’t bear the information right then. Don’t you hate it when someone does this to you? People say things like, “I would tell you, but you wouldn’t understand. You wouldn’t believe me. I would share, but I don’t think you could take it.” My response is you shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.

These disciples were not talking to an ordinary person. They were talking to the Lord Jesus. If Jesus said something was too difficult to bear, it must be too difficult. What Jesus really wanted to share would have placed too heavy a burden on them. It would have created a demand greater than they could respond to, so He refused to reveal anything deeper.

Why couldn’t Jesus open up fully? What were His disciples lacking? Evidently, they lacked the understanding of the resources they needed. They did not know how to handle these demands or how to satisfy these requirements, so Jesus would not reveal certain bits of truth until they had the power to respond appropriately. I hope this doesn’t sound too convoluted. I will give an illustration.

Today there are many conferences, seminars, and meetings being held in which great biblical truths are being placed before people. The truth is out there, but many sincere believers are not always being told how to respond to it appropriately. When we don’t know how to respond correctly, we default back to the only response we know. We summon up our natural commitment, our natural strength, and attempt to do the best we can to fulfill what we just learned.

Many times when a sincere believer attempts to accomplish a particular spiritual maneuver, it hinders and cripples without them knowing why. How does this happen? It is not that what they are being told is incorrect. They simply are ill-equipped to know how to respond. This is why everyday, at least on my blog, the top search terms are in the area of faith. People know what they need, they just don’t know how to get there. So they seek to build their faith.

It is important for every believer to understand we must learn and know how to respond in faith and trust to the One who dwells within us before we can ever move forward. Without faith in what God has previously spoken, it is all but impossible to respond to any additional commands from heaven. Read these last lines three times please and believe it. This is the prerequisite to learning. Don’t try to learn something you are not willing to allow God to birth, grow, and harvest in your life. (This is the thrust of the parable of the sower.) If you are not going to allow this process to transpire in your life…stop going to conferences, seminars and the like. You are wasting your time and only crippling your walk. All truths must be planted, cultivated, and harvested. If you are not going to be a cultivator and harvester…then don’t plant! You will only become like the Dead Sea. Water and life come into you, but no water and life goes out.

It is a very dangerous thing to be shown spiritual truth. Why? Because if you do not “follow though” with it, it can become disastrous. It will weigh you down and you will live in guilt, confusion, and frustration. Jesus knows sometimes it is best that we not be given spiritual truth. He warned us to “count the cost” first before we build. If we crumble under the weight of spiritual truth, it will be even more difficult to come back around the second and third time.

The prerequisite to receiving spiritual truth and growing is…. know in the beginning you will respond to God’s word and know ahead of time you will stay in the process until it is completed in you. Stay with me in the next few blogs and I will try to explain how the Holy Spirit leads us in this process.

Let me give a brief invitation for those wanting more at this point. If you have been one of those who has crumbled under the weight of God’s revelation, you don’t need any more truth. More head knowledge will only puff you up. Light is not your issue. There are no shortcuts or tricks. It is about the process which God has placed you. Most simply want out or want it over! Say amen, if you have been there, done that, and got two t-shirts to prove it. The simple way to correct the situation is to confess your anger, hatred, frustration, etc. with God’s dealings in your life. Repent and surrender to the Lord’s process. Begin telling the Lord how much you love Him, regardless of where He leads. In this you will find spiritual refreshment for the rest of your journey. Stop asking for more revelation and start asking for more of the Lord’s presence. Always remember, it is not about the destination. Life is about the journey and the Lord loves giving Himself to our process.

Blessings,

Pastor

Recovering From a Spiritual Dry Spell

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

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13 years of silence, A.W. Tozer quote, Abraham and Sarah, acting presumptuously, brithed an Ishmael, doing it our own way, dry spells, fresh encounter, Genesis 17:1-3, hunger for the promises of God, lost years, pity party, repent

One of the reasons I identify with Abraham and Sarah is because their spiritual walk was not perfect. They both made plenty of mistakes, but didn’t stay in that condition. Eventually, they got things back on track with the Lord. Maybe, like Abraham, you have blown it spiritually. You need a fresh encounter with God and a renewed vision.

Spiritually speaking, it is never too late to make a fresh start because we are never beyond God’s reach. In Genesis 17, God challenges Abraham to move to a new level of trust and faith. This was a time when Abraham probably thought his best years were behind him. Yet, God asked him to step up and believe. It is amazing to consider that when we think it is all over, God is thinking about new beginnings.

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying… (Genesis 17:1-3)

Abraham was now ninety-nine years old. Twenty-four years had passed since God’s initial call and he had left Ur. It had also been thirteen years since the events recorded in Genesis 16. So far as we can tell, God had not spoken since He and Hagar got together. Thirteen years of silence! If we would be honest with ourselves, we too have experienced long periods of “dry spells” in which God’s revelations and appearances were few and far between. It didn’t really have to be this way. But because we held on to our sin and kept walking in disobedience, even after being confronted with the truth, God remained silent.

I remember on one occasion when I was upset with the Lord over His dealings with me. I was sulking and throwing a spiritual pity party. After a few days of this, I soon realized that no one was attending my pity party but me. A few days later I was praying and heard these words from the Lord, “I am not going to come and get you this time.” In other words the Lord was telling me, “He wasn’t going to attend my selfish pity party either.” I decided it would be better to repent and return to the Lord, rather than continue in my self-absorbed vanity. I still didn’t understand the Lord’s dealings in my life. But at least I was on track again. It was only months later that I understood what God was doing. Sometimes it is better to repent first and ask questions later.

Here is the point: When we insist on “doing it our own way”, we will eventually eat the fruit of those seeds. Thirteen years earlier Abraham had taken a wrong turn (he and Sarah birthed an Ishmael). For thirteen years there had been only silence from heaven. These were years of unhappiness and unrest in the household of Abraham. Yes, the old couple had a child… but it wasn’t the “child of promise.” By their own hands, they produced unwanted/ungodly interference to God’s plan. It wouldn’t have been so difficult had not the promise of God still been lingering in the air. The presence of Ishmael in the home created contempt, bitterness, envy, and strife. Yes, they had problems before this, but they were always ultimately victorious. I don’t believe these were necessarily lost years. God used these thirteen years to teach Abraham the cost of acting presumptuously on his own.

One of the most frightening things in life is when you insist on having things your own way. God may let you have your way for a season. You may be sorry you asked for it. But ultimately for those who are hot hearted for God, the hunger for the promises of God draw you back.

Blessings,

Pastor