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?
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?
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