A Sacrifice of Praise – Driving Satan Crazy

06 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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a praise of sacrifice, accuse God, adversity, God believes in His children, Hebrews 13:15, hell breaking loose, learning something new, pain, Paul Billheimer quote, praise must leave our lips, sacrifice of praise, satan, Satan's chief accusation, Satan's logic, sorrow, Watchman Nee quote

I wrote a blog last week about “Becoming Fixed On Praise”. Sometimes “keeping our praise on” is not easy.

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give (confess) thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:15

A “sacrifice of praise” appears to be an oxymoron. Anything sacrificed in the Bible was offered up and killed. How can such a beautiful word be associated with sacrificial offerings? Maybe if we turned it around and called it a “praise of sacrifice”, it would make more sense. Praise doesn’t carry a death sentence, but the one offering it, the worshiper does! Paul Billheimer relates –

One must sacrifice his own judgment, his own opinion, his own evaluation of what is right and good, and “praise God always for all things” including the good, bad and indifferent.

The most difficult thing to do when all hell is breaking loose is to praise God. Every reflex tells us to blame our circumstances, blame people and accuse God of malfeasance. We learn through the story of Job – Satan believes that if he sends enough pain, sorrow, and adversity our way, we will collapse under the weight and curse God. Satan’s chief accusation towards God is always… if good is removed from God’s children, they will hate Him. Satan sees to it everyday …. to apply negative pressure to our lives to get us to agree with him. Have you been guilty of agreeing with him lately?

Conversely, the Lord believes in His children. He believes if pressure is applied to our lives, we will be driven closer to Him. So when the going gets tough and it always does… the tough believer should offer a “sacrifice of praise”. This means we are dead to making accusations against God. We refuse to follow Satan’s logic and blame our Creator. A sacrifice of praise is choosing then to believe God is good. God is great and all His dealings with us personally are just and right. We are dead to believing any differently…no matter what the outward circumstances dictate.

One other issue… A “sacrifice of praise” isn’t really a sacrifice or praise until it leaves our lips. The goodness and greatness of God must be our confession in difficult times. If you want to be one of those believers who drives Satan crazy, then praise God when everybody else has already cursed Him and left. Praise God when you don’t understand, when you can’t make sense out of life. Choose to praise God when every bit of physical evidence says God is wrong and Satan is right. Choose by loosening your lips to praise God anyway!

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

The Holy Spirit Needs a Container

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by eisakouo in When the Holy Spirit Comes

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Charles Wesley, conviction, Great Awakening, I will sent Him unto you, John 16:7-8, our job is to be filled, realtionship with the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit does not come to the world He comes to believers, the Holy Spirit into containers, the Holy Spirit is not like the force in Star Wars, Watchman Nee quote

The Lord only shares with us the things we need to know in their season. Jesus has been talking to the disciples about some very serious issues which He couldn’t speak to them about in the beginning of His ministry. Now it was time for them to hear these new instructions. This is one of the most helpful passages in Scripture to enable us to understand the workings of the Holy Spirit. The focus of Jesus’ teachings was upon the type of relationship His followers would have with the Holy Spirit… NOT the gifts the Holy Spirit brings to the relationship. This is very important for us to understand. If we would but first get the relationship correct with the Holy Spirit, then everything else would fall into place, including spiritual gifts.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;” John 16:7-8

I wonder if there are any verses of Scripture more frequently misread than these in John 16. It is commonly quoted and read as though the Holy Spirit was going to come into the world and work directly upon the hearts of unbelievers, those who are not Christians. Those who read it this way leave the believer totally out of the equation. But if you read and interpret in this fashion, you have not read this verse correctly. This is not what Jesus was trying to communicate.

Let’s read it again with an emphasis on a key word. I also want to take that same word and insert it in a place in verse 8 where it does not occur, but where the context makes clear it belongs. I think then you will see what I mean. In Scripture there are no breaks between verses.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come (to you), He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

You see, the Holy Spirit is not coming to the world; He is coming to you, the church, the Christian, the believer. When He comes to the follower of Christ, this will convince or convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. I believe this is what Jesus was trying to communicate. The Holy Spirit does not come to the world; He comes to us. Unless the Holy Spirit comes into our life and abides in us, He will not be able to accomplish all those things Jesus wants done in the world. If the world around you is NOT experiencing the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment, whose fault is it…. God’s or Your’s?

How many of us have gone to the grocery store in the past two weeks to buy milk, coke, juice, or some other type of drink. The grocery store always provides liquids in some type of container. We must have containers to carry our liquid refreshments. What if the store simply poured the milk into our hands? Obviously it would pour all out into the floor and be wasted. Well, at least we would get an ounce or two.

God always pours out the Holy Spirit unto containers, or vessels, if you will. The Lord did not send the Spirit to “float around“, but to indwell the hearts and minds of believers. The Holy Spirit is not like “the force” in Star Wars. He is a person of the God-head. Because the Holy Spirit is a Person, we must be willing containers which desire a relationship with Him.

The Holy Spirit will only get into the world (via) indwelling your life. If the Holy Spirit is not indwelling the world around you…it is because you are not carrying the Holy Spirit with you. You are an empty vessel. Jesus told us what to expect….I will send Him unto you!

During the Great Awakening all Charles Wesley had to do many times was to stand up before people and they would fall into great conviction. On these occasions he didn’t speak a word. Why? Was it because of him? No, it was the Spirit that dwelt within him. He simply became a container of the Holy Spirit. The more space we give Him, the more of Holy Spirit we will have. The Lord doesn’t want us to do the Holy Spirit’s job. This leads to man-made religion. Our job is to be filled.

Blessings,

Pastor