Intellectual Faith***

The Spirit calls to me from deep within my sleep state.  The first  thing I hear is, "Beware of intellectual faith".....As I am getting my first look at the clock, it is still dark outside, but the Holy Spirit continues...."the faith that remains in the mind only....the faith that comes out of knowledge brought to the mind but never makes it into the heart.  The "knowledge" of God is different than the "experience" of God." 

As I began processing His profound statement, I realize that for faith to be real, it must have personal experience from which to draw.  Each one of us, called to live a life of faith, must have a personal experience with our Lord.  We each must have a personal testimony that brings together all the knowledge we have "about" our God, as we live to see and feel the wonder of a life "with" our God.

The enemy, the ancient foe of mankind attacks the mind and debates the knowledge of the Holy One.  Since the very beginning of man's days upon the earth when Eve fell and enticed the first Adam to follow her lead, the curse we bear is the knowledge of good and evil.

The fruit of that tree opened the door to our minds, where the enemy of our souls could challenge and question our thoughts and plant lies about our Creator that would repel man and separate us from our God.    This ancient foe goes by many names in scripture he is called "Nebo" or "Nebu", the Babylonian god of learning (education) and is found referenced in Isaiah 46:1.

The heart and the mind are two different things and I see that there is knowledge in both.  We can have  heart knowledge that comes from experience, and have head knowledge that comes from a book.  Paul spoke of it in Eph 3:17-19, "and to know this love that passes knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God".

The Sovereign God of all Creation who sits enthroned above the Heavens, desires to be in a personal relationship with each in of us and is willing to orchestrate all the personal experiences we need to have heart knowledge of Him. He has given us His Word, the Bible, but The Almighty has also made the way through the Person and life of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us, His Beloved, to experience and enjoy a personal relationship with Himself.

Jesus came to show us the Father.  Jesus came to assure us that the One who has given each one of us the breath of life, desires to be personal; so personal that He wants to dwell within our hearts.

The indwelling Presence of God, Himself, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, wants to make our heart His home.  The intellectual mind cannot fathom such a mystery.  The Who, the how, even the why is beyond our mind's imagination and the human intellect cannot begin to explain it.  But the heart has the ability to accept it as Truth.

With this mystery that the heart can accept, comes supernatural intervention into our lives that give us our tangible personal experiences with the One who is Spirit.  God orchestrates and ordains the circumstances whereby He reaches into our lives and becomes strangely visible.  The impossible happens, the unlikely occurs, desperate needs are fulfilled where there is no viable means on the horizon. Miracles, we call them miracles and rightly so.

To experience Divine intervention and gain heart knowledge, means that we must live at risk. The human demand for control is turned upside down when God moves in our lives and most try to live within well defined comfort zones.  Trials come and threats to our security abound, but it is at those times when, in desperation, our hearts cry out.  When the human mind has no answers for our dilemma.  When everything we understand with our mind unravels. It is in those times that our hearts begin to know.  As the Almighty begins to act in our behalf, then we begin to gain the heart knowledge of His Presence.

I ponder why the Spirit has brought this up.  I think He is warning about a move by evil in these end times to corrupt the "knowledge" of the Holy One.  I believe the warning comes to make sure my faith is based on  knowledge and experience together. Like the man born blind who was given his sight at the hands of Jesus said,  "Whether he is a sinner I do not know, but what I do know is this, I was blind and now I see."  John 9:25.  Heart knowledge, experience, a miracle from God that changed his life forever.

Are we living in the anticipation of daily miracles, and life changing experiences that are a standard against the lies of evil and doubts about our God?  Are we willing to live at risk so our Lord can demonstrate His Presence in our lives not just for our own sake but for the sake of His Glory made visible to the world around us?   Or are we hanging into an intellectual faith, that won't be needed until the last day we draw our breath here on earth?  A faith that remains within the limits of our human mind and reason, but never makes it to our heart.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Patience In The Process

The Spirit calls to me this morning. A strategic victory has been won and a long standing prayer answered.  The Spirit reminds me that even in the rejoicing over a great battle won, the work must continue until the last day and the Lord Himself returns for us. "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."  Phil 1:6  "Do not grow weary in doing good."  Gal 6:9

His words help me to realize that the moment of great victory in a battle fought and won pass quickly and are to be savored and celebrated, yet are not the end.  Once saved, the battles we face are part of the process.  The ultimate goal is to bring each one of us into the conforming image of Christ Jesus Himself and bring Glory to God in the transformation.

The Spirit calls me to look back over my life and trials.  In each one, the pattern was similar:

The trial hits.  Shock and confusion permeates my heart and mind, the heat turns up, the questions swirl.  God, where are you?  God, why is this happening?  God, what do I do?

But the trial continues.  No quick fix comes.  I gain my footing and get up.  I know myself well enough to understand, it is not by my own strength that I find a place to stand.  It is the Lord Himself who has begun to lift me up.

But the trial continues.  Battle lines are drawn, the enemy of my soul keeps the arrows coming.  Relentlessly he assaults me. God's Word and His promises are my only comfort.  Thanksgiving comes out of the storm for this place of relief.

But the trial continues. Faith, hope, trust, love are all challenged from within my mind,  Even the promises I hold onto seem like dandelions in the wind, blown and scattered.

Then the Holy One finds my ear.  He takes me to the one verse that has helped me weather trials in times past.  Isaiah 54:16.  A familiar friend speaks, "See, it is I who have created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for it's work.  And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc."

Out of context, and all alone, this verse would seem to paint my loving Creator as a cruel and heartless Being, bent on my destruction, sending the enemy on a search and destroy mission against me.  And, the evil one wants me to stop right here in my thinking and understanding of why I am suffering.  The enemy tries to use this scripture to discourage me. For it is, after all, the Word of God.

But as I read on, the hope comes, "no weapon forged against you will prosper.  You will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord".

I am reminded that each struggle, each trial, each battle, each heartache has a purpose and a point know to the One who created my inmost being.  I am a work in process.  I was not born in the image I was destined to have.  Changes need to take place.

Resolution of my trial is not the end goal.  Transformation of my heart and mind is.  The trial is only a means through which the Holy Spirit of Christ can work me into His image.  The "battle"  for me, is the place of perspective, where I must choose priorities and decide what is worth fighting and dying for.

For me, the battle must be fought for the Holiness and Righteousness and Honor of my Heavenly Father, and for the Glory of my King Jesus. 

The trials of life will continue.  Battles will be fought and won.  But the end comes when the King comes.  Until that day, we will continue to be in the process of refinement, in the process of being transformed into the likeness of the King Himself. 

He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Love Requires Performance

The Spirit calls me this morning. In my personal life, much work had been done in my marriage and the covenant of love has been on my mind a lot. The Spirit calls me this morning and speaks of the covenant between my Lord and I. So today, I take the time to remember the covenant I entered into WITH my Savior when I asked Him to BE my Savior.
 

I see how a "covenant" is a mutual agreement between 2 (or more) parties. I see how many have failed to grasp the truth, that the covenant relating to our salvation is a mutual agreement between an individual and the Most High God of all Creation. Many have accepted God's end of the covenant but failed to grasp their individual responsibility in the covenant. I see that many do not see the truth that a covenant is a 2 way contract with obligations and privileges from both parties.

Jesus came to die for all mankind, to pay the high cost of sin against a Holy God. But, each one of us must ask that His death and sacrifice be counted as the one paid in our own personal behalf. Someone has to die for the sin of mankind and personally atone for the personal sin of each one of us who ever walked the earth. Each one of must choose to ask that Jesus be our own personal Savior.


  

Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth and in an outrageous act of love, paid that price for all of us, dying to save each life. God acted out His love for me and I entered into a sacred romance in covenant with Him. Now I must reciprocate acts of love unto my Beloved.

Non believers are not obligated to love God back. They have not yet entered into the sacred romance and Holy Covenant like unto a marriage. But for those of us who have embraced the love of God and accepted the action He took to prove His love, for us, there is an obligation in love, to act out demonstrations of love.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands" John 14:15. "If you love Me". Jesus is Asking all who love Him to act in a way that reflects our love FOR Him.

The Spirit is saying to me, "What will you do to act out your love for Me?"

Opportunities abound in this fallen world to demonstrate and act out our love for Jesus. Do we consciously perform acts of love for our Beloved? Does the world know we love Jesus by our actions and then do they know that we act in such a way because of our love for Jesus, and not just because we are a "good person"? Is our love relationship glorifying the King of Glory who first loved us?

Sometimes I forget in the day to day struggles touching my life, that my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, is looking for me to act out my deep love for Him as I respond in this earth realm to earthly challenges. Some are love actions that come easy but some go so deep that I do what I do only because He has asked it of me, and only by His Spirit living within my heart, which is Glorifying to Him not me.

I am very aware as I look around that many have accepted Christ's promise and responsibility in the covenant I.E. He died to pay for their sin, providing the assurance of Heaven as their final destination, but then they fail to take up their personal responsibility and promise in the covenant I.E to proclaim to the world, Jesus as their personal Savior and also to submit and surrender to Him as Lord and Master, in obedience to His commands.

As the day approaches when Jesus will return to earth for His people in all His Glory, maybe it's time to go back and remember the covenant we entered when we first got saved. Maybe it's time to remember our first love and perform those important acts that reflect our love for our "covenant" Savior.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Responsibility of Maturity

The Spirit calls me this morning, as I look at where I am and ponder why all the craziness is pressing down on me. As gentle as a spring breeze blowing through the forest, the Spirit said,
"It is the responsibility of maturity to model My Son".

The words were not spoken as a challenge for me to buck-up and stop whining. Nor as an indictment of all my past failures and lessons taught over the course of my life. Today, the sweet voice of the Shepherd of my soul, gives me an answer, an explanation and a time to pause in humble gratitude for a new perspective.

True Vine-live is living and growing to produce more fruit, to the Glory of our Father in Heaven. As the years in the Vine pass, sometimes the growth is so subtle that we don't track the reality that we are maturing.

The pruning hurts; the cutting back and off of useless twigs that seem to just appear out of nowhere. That wrong attitude, that deceitful motive, that inappropriate response that grieves the Holy Spirit. Snip, snip, snip. We whine, we cry, we plead for relief, but the work by the hand of the "Tend-er" of our soul continues. John 15:1-2.

Looking back at where we have been and where we are today is the one way to chart our maturity. Looking back one day is not a long time to chart our growth, but looking back one year or one decade and things become clear. The process is agonizingly slow. The human heart and mind takes time to renovate and be renewed.

I am thankful that the One who calls me to "remain in Him" and the One who tells me that "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5), is faithful to continue and complete the work He began in me so long ago. Phil 4:6

As we continue on our Journey with Jesus and growth in the Vine, can we see all the transformation in ourselves and our lives taking the shape of the Son of God? Can others see it in us?

Looking back, I can see it now, and I pray that you can too.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him

A Time To Remember

The Spirit calls me even as the enemy's sabres are rattling in my ear. The battle is raging, the victory out of view, and the lies of evil pummel the battlefield of my mind.

He says, "Come away with Me for a while. I want to talk to you about altars and memorials and the importance of remembering what the Lord has already done in your life."

The old testament is full of accounts of altars and memorials to the Lord being built as reminders for the people lest they forget what the Almighty, Sovereign God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has done for His people in times past. Altars of sacrifice, memorial stones along the way, to identify, celebrate and give praise to the Lord for His Divine intervention, rescue, protection, provision, and promises fulfilled.

Gen 8:20, Noah built an altar after exiting the Ark of his deliverance.
Gen 12:7, Abram built an altar after receiving a visit and a promise.
Exodus 17:15, Moses built an altar after a long victorious battle
Judges 6:24, Gideon built an altar after a personal encounter with God's angelic messenger.

Joshua 4:4-9, Joshua, at the Lord's command chose 12 men and 12 stones to be taken out of the Jordan at the place where the Lord parted the waters and the nation of Israel crossed over into the promised land. The twelve stones were to be a lasting memorial to the people of Israel and that future generations would be told how the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

As I sit in the quiet of His counsel room, the Spirit takes me back in time to previous personal battles, where I can recall amazing miracles of rescue and deliverance by the mighty hand of my God.

A kaleidoscope of life experiences. Trials represent testimonies and year after year, the Lord has provided a myriad of trials and enabled me to gain a storehouse of memories; altars and memorials in my mind and journals that testify of His love and faithfulness.

Today is a day to sit with the Holy One and remember His miraculous intervention and loving care for my life. As I sit and reflect on the past and ways the Lord has brought me though other desperate times, I find the peace just knowing He will do it again.

The battle rages but my heart has peace. The threats of evil are overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.

I am thankful that the Holy Spirit knew exactly what I needed today. A walk through some old reminders of His powerful protection and Presence. I am thankful for all those altars and memorials to remember. For unless I can recall those victories in the past, the current battle might just overwhelm me. How gracious of Him to remind me.

The Lord my God has been faithful over all my life. He never changes so I will not be destroyed. Malachi 3:6

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?