No, you haven't missed any days. I just haven't posted in a while. There's been a lot going on.
I laid in bed this morning praying, and listening to the Holy Spirit. I thought about the fact that Jesus wasn't able to heal many people in his home town. BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. How could they believe that a carpenter's son was the long awaited messiah? They would not believe. Perhaps that's why we don't see many miracles in America. We trust too many others things. Doctors, medicine, bank accounts, the gov't, jobs, our resources... What if we had no hope, no options but God. I have a feeling that we would cry out in desperation like many I read about in the Bible. And if we are struggling with unbelief, we would cry out, "Help my unbelief!" That is my prayer.
I also thought of the scripture that says don't be filled with much wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Drunk people are controlled by the enemy. Scripture says drunkenness leads to debauchery--wreckless immorality or excessive indulgence of appetites. It is a tool the enemy uses to lower our inhibitions so that are are easier to control. Every time I've read about a group of people who are oppressed, alcohol and drugs are always involved. As I think of my own family's history, both of my grandfather's did horrible things when they were drunk. The enemy is a tyrant. He doesn't ask to rule. He just takes over and does what he wants, at the expense of the human. Satan HATES us (humans)! We're made in God's image, and just think, God gave us the opportunity to rule over him. Boy, he doesn't want us to know that!
The second half of that verse says we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Unlike the enemy, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, as my friend Tamatha always says. His control brings good to us and to others--the HIGHEST good. He makes Himself available to us. He desires to control us, but he will only control us if we permit Him. We must submit ourselves, saying, "Yes Lord have your way." Then let Him take control. It kinda reminds me of a game that my family plays called Family Fun Cranium. One of the challenges requires one team member to hold a pencil while the another teammate controls the first person's hand. Only the person doing the controlling knows the answer. Every one else in the group has to guess what is being drawn. I hope that makes sense. The pictures come out pretty funny looking. Person 1 (the one holding the pencil) must resist the urge to control the pencil. He has to trust the one who knows the answer, even if he thinks he knows. If they are able to do this, they have a better chance of winning the challenge.
I admit that I really don't know how to let the Holy Spirit control me. I'm learning though. I know it involves waiting. Waiting to hear from Him before doing anything, instead of me just doing what I think. Boy, I need some re-training in that area! It involves listening. Which means I must be quiet and still enough to His voice. It involves releasing. Releasing my own personal desires. Releasing my need to understand, first. Releasing sin. Releasing my desire to look good in front of others. (Sometimes the Holy Spirit will tell you to do something that will make you look like a fool!) It reminds me of a story I read recently about a man who died in a car accident and spent 90 minutes in Heaven. A pastor and His wife happened to be traveling on the same road of the accident. When he realized that there was an accident, he went to make his services available. He wanted to know if anyone needed prayer. Well, the injuries were only minor and another man was already dead. The Holy Spirit told this pastor to pray for the dead man. He was absolutely convinced that he was supposed to pray for the dead man. But the paramedics kept telling him, no, this man has been dead for over an hour. There was no need to pray for him. The pastor persisted. Finally, the paramedic gave in. I'm sure the paramedic thought this pastor was a complete idiot. Who wouldn't? So he crawled into the back of the vehicle, put his hand on the man's shoulder and began praying. The Holy Spirit even told him what to pray for. He prayed that the man would have no internal injuries. He prayed and sang, and before you know it, the dead man began singing with him. The man wasn't dead anymore! And later, the doctors were amazed that he had no internal injuries! This man, Don Piper, is alive today!
Releasing is hard, especially in this culture. The mantra of America tells us to be independent, self-sufficient, strong, and competent. Pull yourselves up by your boot straps. Be resilient. Work Hard. Don't be a loser. Don't be an idiot. Make yourself happy. You deserve it. No one wants to look like an idiot. No one wants to appear weak or incompetent. No one wants to take this Christianity thing too far! Let's be reasonable here. God gave us a brain, right? And yet, when I read scripture, God's people did take it too far! They were willing to obey, no matter the cost. All around the world, God's people are joyfully serving Him at GREAT cost. Their devotion encourages and convicts me. They have the same Holy Spirit as I. They are human like me, and yet they are able to withstand great opposition for the Name of Jesus. I have a hard time withstanding funny looks from people. Lord make me bold for you!
If the Holy Spirit is to control us, we must believe and trust. First believe that we have the Holy Spirit. Believe that through the Holy Spirit we have been given a power that cannot be compared with any other power--known and unknown. We must believe that this power is like the working of His mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised Him from the dead. 2nd we must trust the Holy Spirit. Trust that He knows all and sees all. Trust that He speaks. Trust Him enough to obey His leading. Trust that He will provide and protect. He will protect us from deception. He will provide ALL we need. Trust His timing. It's often inconvenient, or longer than we expect. Trust His methods. It's often unconventional. Trust that I have more than enough to give freely of His gifts. Trust that He is completely good. We can only give ourselves to someone we completely trust. And even He will teach us how to do this. Oh, God thank you for that. Help me to trust you more. Teach me more about yourself, and help me to believe. Teach me how to give myself completely to you. Show me modern day examples.
Hope this makes up for me not posting for a few days.
May the Holy Spirit display His power to you today, and through you for the rest of your days!
I laid in bed this morning praying, and listening to the Holy Spirit. I thought about the fact that Jesus wasn't able to heal many people in his home town. BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. How could they believe that a carpenter's son was the long awaited messiah? They would not believe. Perhaps that's why we don't see many miracles in America. We trust too many others things. Doctors, medicine, bank accounts, the gov't, jobs, our resources... What if we had no hope, no options but God. I have a feeling that we would cry out in desperation like many I read about in the Bible. And if we are struggling with unbelief, we would cry out, "Help my unbelief!" That is my prayer.
I also thought of the scripture that says don't be filled with much wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Drunk people are controlled by the enemy. Scripture says drunkenness leads to debauchery--wreckless immorality or excessive indulgence of appetites. It is a tool the enemy uses to lower our inhibitions so that are are easier to control. Every time I've read about a group of people who are oppressed, alcohol and drugs are always involved. As I think of my own family's history, both of my grandfather's did horrible things when they were drunk. The enemy is a tyrant. He doesn't ask to rule. He just takes over and does what he wants, at the expense of the human. Satan HATES us (humans)! We're made in God's image, and just think, God gave us the opportunity to rule over him. Boy, he doesn't want us to know that!
The second half of that verse says we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Unlike the enemy, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, as my friend Tamatha always says. His control brings good to us and to others--the HIGHEST good. He makes Himself available to us. He desires to control us, but he will only control us if we permit Him. We must submit ourselves, saying, "Yes Lord have your way." Then let Him take control. It kinda reminds me of a game that my family plays called Family Fun Cranium. One of the challenges requires one team member to hold a pencil while the another teammate controls the first person's hand. Only the person doing the controlling knows the answer. Every one else in the group has to guess what is being drawn. I hope that makes sense. The pictures come out pretty funny looking. Person 1 (the one holding the pencil) must resist the urge to control the pencil. He has to trust the one who knows the answer, even if he thinks he knows. If they are able to do this, they have a better chance of winning the challenge.
I admit that I really don't know how to let the Holy Spirit control me. I'm learning though. I know it involves waiting. Waiting to hear from Him before doing anything, instead of me just doing what I think. Boy, I need some re-training in that area! It involves listening. Which means I must be quiet and still enough to His voice. It involves releasing. Releasing my own personal desires. Releasing my need to understand, first. Releasing sin. Releasing my desire to look good in front of others. (Sometimes the Holy Spirit will tell you to do something that will make you look like a fool!) It reminds me of a story I read recently about a man who died in a car accident and spent 90 minutes in Heaven. A pastor and His wife happened to be traveling on the same road of the accident. When he realized that there was an accident, he went to make his services available. He wanted to know if anyone needed prayer. Well, the injuries were only minor and another man was already dead. The Holy Spirit told this pastor to pray for the dead man. He was absolutely convinced that he was supposed to pray for the dead man. But the paramedics kept telling him, no, this man has been dead for over an hour. There was no need to pray for him. The pastor persisted. Finally, the paramedic gave in. I'm sure the paramedic thought this pastor was a complete idiot. Who wouldn't? So he crawled into the back of the vehicle, put his hand on the man's shoulder and began praying. The Holy Spirit even told him what to pray for. He prayed that the man would have no internal injuries. He prayed and sang, and before you know it, the dead man began singing with him. The man wasn't dead anymore! And later, the doctors were amazed that he had no internal injuries! This man, Don Piper, is alive today!
Releasing is hard, especially in this culture. The mantra of America tells us to be independent, self-sufficient, strong, and competent. Pull yourselves up by your boot straps. Be resilient. Work Hard. Don't be a loser. Don't be an idiot. Make yourself happy. You deserve it. No one wants to look like an idiot. No one wants to appear weak or incompetent. No one wants to take this Christianity thing too far! Let's be reasonable here. God gave us a brain, right? And yet, when I read scripture, God's people did take it too far! They were willing to obey, no matter the cost. All around the world, God's people are joyfully serving Him at GREAT cost. Their devotion encourages and convicts me. They have the same Holy Spirit as I. They are human like me, and yet they are able to withstand great opposition for the Name of Jesus. I have a hard time withstanding funny looks from people. Lord make me bold for you!
If the Holy Spirit is to control us, we must believe and trust. First believe that we have the Holy Spirit. Believe that through the Holy Spirit we have been given a power that cannot be compared with any other power--known and unknown. We must believe that this power is like the working of His mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised Him from the dead. 2nd we must trust the Holy Spirit. Trust that He knows all and sees all. Trust that He speaks. Trust Him enough to obey His leading. Trust that He will provide and protect. He will protect us from deception. He will provide ALL we need. Trust His timing. It's often inconvenient, or longer than we expect. Trust His methods. It's often unconventional. Trust that I have more than enough to give freely of His gifts. Trust that He is completely good. We can only give ourselves to someone we completely trust. And even He will teach us how to do this. Oh, God thank you for that. Help me to trust you more. Teach me more about yourself, and help me to believe. Teach me how to give myself completely to you. Show me modern day examples.
Hope this makes up for me not posting for a few days.
May the Holy Spirit display His power to you today, and through you for the rest of your days!
Ephesians 5:18-20
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
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