Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Psalms 51:11
When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed.
The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument.
Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that's impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on and never know the difference.”
I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. I've been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can't find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there's something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God.
The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I don't think we have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism, but I believe we ought to have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed.
The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument.
Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that's impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on and never know the difference.”
I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. I've been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can't find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there's something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God.
The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I don't think we have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism, but I believe we ought to have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed are the Pure in Heart
Scripture Reading: Exodus 33:18-19; Matthew 5:8; 2 Corinthians 4
Eating organic food is a big health craze right now. No one wants to eat the stuff that's been sprayed with pesticides or pumped full of steroids and preservatives. Why? Because it's a proven fact that the extra stuff will contaminate our bodies and make us sick. When we eat food that man has messed with, we keep our bodies from functioning as God intended.
The same principle applies to our hearts. When we feed our hearts what the world dishes out, we keep them from doing what they were meant to do.
But when we focus our hearts on God's Word and worship God with our thoughts and actions, He will keep our hearts pure. Only then will our hearts be capable of doing what they were meant to do - help us see God.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 33:18-19; Matthew 5:8; 2 Corinthians 4
Eating organic food is a big health craze right now. No one wants to eat the stuff that's been sprayed with pesticides or pumped full of steroids and preservatives. Why? Because it's a proven fact that the extra stuff will contaminate our bodies and make us sick. When we eat food that man has messed with, we keep our bodies from functioning as God intended.
The same principle applies to our hearts. When we feed our hearts what the world dishes out, we keep them from doing what they were meant to do.
But when we focus our hearts on God's Word and worship God with our thoughts and actions, He will keep our hearts pure. Only then will our hearts be capable of doing what they were meant to do - help us see God.
Patience and Hope
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer...let your requests be made known unto God – Philippians 4:6
Prayer is the means God has given us for unburdening our souls. This is important to consciously, biblically affirm. Otherwise, we may feel weighed down with anxiety, with guilt, with discouragement, or with sorrow and yet have no solution for these soul burdens.
Does that perhaps describe you? As a Christian, you have a vague awareness in the back of your mind that we should not be constantly walking around with 1000-pound weights on our souls, but honestly you have forgotten lately what the biblical answer to this problem is.
Paul tells us give our burdens to God in prayer. Now let’s do a quick self-diagnostic here. When we hear Paul’s instruction, does it just sound to us like escapism or positive thinking? If so, then we have accepted our secular culture's idea of prayer. It is blind faith in faith itself.
The secular idea of prayer is basically just throwing all your garbage up in the air and hoping it does not fall right back down on your head again; because, in the end, there is no one up there to catch it, and hold it, and help you with it! But this is a far cry from the biblical view of prayer, which is taking real problems to a real God, who really does have more strength than us and more wisdom than us. And this God really does care about our difficulties.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer...let your requests be made known unto God – Philippians 4:6
Prayer is the means God has given us for unburdening our souls. This is important to consciously, biblically affirm. Otherwise, we may feel weighed down with anxiety, with guilt, with discouragement, or with sorrow and yet have no solution for these soul burdens.
Does that perhaps describe you? As a Christian, you have a vague awareness in the back of your mind that we should not be constantly walking around with 1000-pound weights on our souls, but honestly you have forgotten lately what the biblical answer to this problem is.
Paul tells us give our burdens to God in prayer. Now let’s do a quick self-diagnostic here. When we hear Paul’s instruction, does it just sound to us like escapism or positive thinking? If so, then we have accepted our secular culture's idea of prayer. It is blind faith in faith itself.
The secular idea of prayer is basically just throwing all your garbage up in the air and hoping it does not fall right back down on your head again; because, in the end, there is no one up there to catch it, and hold it, and help you with it! But this is a far cry from the biblical view of prayer, which is taking real problems to a real God, who really does have more strength than us and more wisdom than us. And this God really does care about our difficulties.