After listening to many strong truths, and some very solid messages over the past couple of weeks, I had to take sometime and write about this specific area that God is drilling me with, being lead by the Holy Spirit, actually just experiencing Him as a Christian. Some of this is quotes from a book by Francis Chan called "Forgotten God", and then some is gonna be thoughts.
"that by keeping in step with the Spirit Himself, we might regularly fellowhsip over what He is doing rather than what He did months or years ago"....How often do you genuinely experience the power of the Holy Spirit? What kind of supernatural work is He DOING in your life, not just what He has DONE.
Who are you?
1-The person who is always talking about the Holy Spirit, but yet your life is bearing NO fruit of His presence in your life?
2-The person speaks of the Holy Spirit in theorectiacal or scholarly terms, but who doesn't experience Him?
3-The person who really doesn't talk much, but yet who's life is a powerful display of His presence and power?
Chan ask this question,"and this is the question i just cant get around: If its true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirits temple, then shouldn't there be a huge differecne between the person who has the Spirit of God living in them than the person who does not?"
If I told you I had an encounter with God where He entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn't you expect to see an amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court? After all, THIS IS GOD WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! and if you saw no changes in my athleticism, wouldn't you question the validity of my "encounter"? "Churchgoers" all across the nation "say" the Holy Spirit has entered them. They "claim" that God has given them a supernatural ability to follow Christ, put their sin to death, and serve the Church. Christians "talk" about being born again and say that they were dead but now have come to life. When will we stop talking about the Scriptures, and let our lives speak? When will we allow God to speak? When will we stop talking about our knowledge of Him, and talk about our RELATIONSHIP with Him? Yet when those outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our INTEGRITY, our sanity, or even worse, OUR GOD!
Most of you who will read this blog probably have a basic knowledge about the Holy Spirit, but when it comes down to experiencing the Spirit in your life personally, its a whole different ball game. Take some time, and honestly answer this question, When was the last time I undeniably saw the Holy Spirit Himself work in me or around me? undeniably work?
I challenge you for one week, just one week, to genuinely ask for the reality of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit Himself. I challenge you to cry out to Him for a supernatural work in your life. I challenge you to be obedient to His leading, in whatever it maybe. I challenge you to do this for this week.
I really pray, for Gods Name sake, that His church will grasp the truth about the Holy Spirit, grasp it with their lives! I pray that we would consistently live with an awareness of His strength, power, presence. It is when believers live in the power of the Holy Spirit, that the evidence in their lives is supernatural. This is when the church cannot help but be different and the world cannot help but notice!
Willy
Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thoughts on a Rainy Day
I already hate driving in the rain, but today was the worst. We’re talking torrential downpour. I was on my way to Lake City Community College (excuse me, Florida Gateway College) for my math class and I could barely even see the road I was driving on. I’m not going to lie, I was kind of scared. I tend to be a bit of a pessimistic thinker, so of course all of the worst-case scenarios are running through my head. So here I am, leaning into my steering wheel, squinting my eyes, and singing I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin (I can be slightly dramatic) on a seemingly endless road. I started to think, “You know what? This is what my life feels like.” I mean, I am a senior in High School, I have all of these life changing decisions to make, and I want to know what God’s will for my life is… but I just feel like I’m driving blindly. I can’t see what’s ahead and to be honest, that scares me. I feel like at any moment I could start hydroplaning and lose control.
But then, I caught up with a little green van. It had probably been in front of me all along, but I couldn’t see it because of the rain. It wasn’t raining any less hard, but somehow I started to feel better now that another car was in view. I didn’t feel so alone. I had “a guide.” “Alright God, what are you trying to teach me?” I asked. But I already knew. I may feel like I could lose control at any moment but you know what, I was never the one in control to begin with. God is in control of my life. I just have to loosen my grip on the steering wheel and let Him do the driving. And like the little green van, God is my guide. He goes before me, directing my steps (Deuteronomy 31:7). I don’t know what lies ahead, but He has already shaped my future.
When I finally make it to my math class we were working on the kind of problems that take up a whole sheet of paper to come up with one answer. I get so frustrated when I get one of these problems wrong and have to start all over again. It is usually because of one little mistake I made in the very beginning of working the problem, like I forgot to carry down a negative sign or something. I used to think God’s will was like that. What if I make a mistake now, at the beginning of the page? Will I totally miss out on God’s plan for my future? But I’m starting to think differently. I’ve already made a lot of mistakes, but God hasn’t given up on me yet. Maybe there is “an easy way and a hard way” but somehow He will get me to where He wants me to go. My goal is to be obedient even though I don’t know what’s next. To keep my eyes fixed on Him rather than where I am going. Even when it’s raining. :)
“But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.”
-Psalm 141:8
-CD :)
But then, I caught up with a little green van. It had probably been in front of me all along, but I couldn’t see it because of the rain. It wasn’t raining any less hard, but somehow I started to feel better now that another car was in view. I didn’t feel so alone. I had “a guide.” “Alright God, what are you trying to teach me?” I asked. But I already knew. I may feel like I could lose control at any moment but you know what, I was never the one in control to begin with. God is in control of my life. I just have to loosen my grip on the steering wheel and let Him do the driving. And like the little green van, God is my guide. He goes before me, directing my steps (Deuteronomy 31:7). I don’t know what lies ahead, but He has already shaped my future.
When I finally make it to my math class we were working on the kind of problems that take up a whole sheet of paper to come up with one answer. I get so frustrated when I get one of these problems wrong and have to start all over again. It is usually because of one little mistake I made in the very beginning of working the problem, like I forgot to carry down a negative sign or something. I used to think God’s will was like that. What if I make a mistake now, at the beginning of the page? Will I totally miss out on God’s plan for my future? But I’m starting to think differently. I’ve already made a lot of mistakes, but God hasn’t given up on me yet. Maybe there is “an easy way and a hard way” but somehow He will get me to where He wants me to go. My goal is to be obedient even though I don’t know what’s next. To keep my eyes fixed on Him rather than where I am going. Even when it’s raining. :)
“But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.”
-Psalm 141:8
-CD :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Lion and the Stream
I find it funny that I helped create this blog and have yet to actually "blog." It's been almost 6 months, and nothing. I wrote the preface, and then updated it...but no posts. But today, is the day.
So I have this book...a collection of C.S. Lewis excerpts...and I've had it for a good while now. From time to time I crack it open and read a passage or two.
Each one is rich.
Mad rich.
However, my favorite has yet to remain the very first excerpt in the book. It's called "The Lion and The Stream." It's very symbolic. It's almost like your reading an exposition of his thoughts in visual form.
Please prepare to understand this. I'll let you read before I give a commentary. I like to think most things should hit you first, and heal you after.
Pray for light.
Here we go...
______________________
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm DYING of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I- could I- would you mind going away while I do?," said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at it's motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will you promise not to--do anything to me, if I do come?," said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"DO you eat girls?," she said.
I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!," said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
____________________
It's natural for us to want the resurrection without the grave...the gain without the pain...to drink from the stream without looking in the Face of the Lion.
I wish all the time that I could be in shape without going through the ridiculous pain of getting there. But that's just not how it works. So I swallow sadness.
Moving on...
Christ stumbled up a hill carrying a cross - a heavy cross - to the place where he would be stripped naked and hung for the world to see by nails in his hands and feet. Prior to that, he was beat in the town square until he was physically not human.
He took the fall, for His future glory. He chose humiliation over glory, so that he would be glorified in the end, and so that men of every nation and ethnicity could come drink from the Spring of Life.
He calls us to do the same. To lay down our lives...to bow our heads and drink before the Lion...submitting to death, that we might have life. He calls us to give in and give up...to sell out and cash in, because He is the great reward. He beckons us to walk the sand and snow, the desert and the storm, to reach the crystal tides of life.
In the book of Joshua, we see that the armies of the Israelites were commanded by the Lord at one time to lap water from the streams like a dog, drinking for life, on hands and knees and all. They were not supposed to simply kneel on one knee, while watching the banks for danger. It was all in, desperate for strength and life.
The truth with we Christians: we're thirsty. We're weak, and desperate for strength, desperate for water. Sadly, too often not desperate enough. In our fallen and selfish ways, we often can't stand the thought of our kingdom being destroyed, so would rather thirst to death. If we can't drink from the One stream, however, we will search for another. We search for a new stream, and never find one. Every other one is a just a broken cistern, as the Lord says in Isaiah - like a trench we dig that becomes stagnant and dry.
We want the joy of knowing Christ without the pain of the Holy Spirit's renovation in our hearts and lives, because we know these temples are in need of a thorough gutting...ripping out the walls and the pillars that hold us so strong.
These temples are home to pagan gods and idols. Their rotten and dusty, and the Holy Spirit doesn't like it. He means business, building from the ground up.
But we work on preserving our kingdoms and the cities of our hearts without end. These things we've built took so much work...so much time.
The desires and sins we've worked toward are so precious to us so often.
In the narrative, it's Jill's LIFE she's fighting to keep. She asks the Lion so sincerely to look away while she drinks from the stream.
But if only she were to lay down, bow her head, and drink, she would understand just how thirsty she was. She would begin to sip, and then sip some more, and finally find that her face is completely plunged into the stream because the water is so good. She wouldn't want to look up. She wouldn't even think about it. She would just drink. And drink. And drink. And the Lion would devour her, and she wouldn't even care...because she would find that the water is the water of Life.
So will we lay it down? Will we give it all, letting everything we've ever known become His life, as we trade ours for His? We will carry our cross? Will we lay down our earthly crowns and desires that he would be enthroned on our worship? Will we let the tower fall, and replace the foundation with Christ?
Give it all to the One who is Life. He has given His so that you could know him...so that you could drink and be satisfied beyond all measure. His love is perfect.
Drink all you want! He's got it covered!
SSD
So I have this book...a collection of C.S. Lewis excerpts...and I've had it for a good while now. From time to time I crack it open and read a passage or two.
Each one is rich.
Mad rich.
However, my favorite has yet to remain the very first excerpt in the book. It's called "The Lion and The Stream." It's very symbolic. It's almost like your reading an exposition of his thoughts in visual form.
Please prepare to understand this. I'll let you read before I give a commentary. I like to think most things should hit you first, and heal you after.
Pray for light.
Here we go...
______________________
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm DYING of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I- could I- would you mind going away while I do?," said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at it's motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will you promise not to--do anything to me, if I do come?," said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"DO you eat girls?," she said.
I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!," said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
____________________
It's natural for us to want the resurrection without the grave...the gain without the pain...to drink from the stream without looking in the Face of the Lion.
I wish all the time that I could be in shape without going through the ridiculous pain of getting there. But that's just not how it works. So I swallow sadness.
Moving on...
Christ stumbled up a hill carrying a cross - a heavy cross - to the place where he would be stripped naked and hung for the world to see by nails in his hands and feet. Prior to that, he was beat in the town square until he was physically not human.
He took the fall, for His future glory. He chose humiliation over glory, so that he would be glorified in the end, and so that men of every nation and ethnicity could come drink from the Spring of Life.
He calls us to do the same. To lay down our lives...to bow our heads and drink before the Lion...submitting to death, that we might have life. He calls us to give in and give up...to sell out and cash in, because He is the great reward. He beckons us to walk the sand and snow, the desert and the storm, to reach the crystal tides of life.
In the book of Joshua, we see that the armies of the Israelites were commanded by the Lord at one time to lap water from the streams like a dog, drinking for life, on hands and knees and all. They were not supposed to simply kneel on one knee, while watching the banks for danger. It was all in, desperate for strength and life.
The truth with we Christians: we're thirsty. We're weak, and desperate for strength, desperate for water. Sadly, too often not desperate enough. In our fallen and selfish ways, we often can't stand the thought of our kingdom being destroyed, so would rather thirst to death. If we can't drink from the One stream, however, we will search for another. We search for a new stream, and never find one. Every other one is a just a broken cistern, as the Lord says in Isaiah - like a trench we dig that becomes stagnant and dry.
We want the joy of knowing Christ without the pain of the Holy Spirit's renovation in our hearts and lives, because we know these temples are in need of a thorough gutting...ripping out the walls and the pillars that hold us so strong.
These temples are home to pagan gods and idols. Their rotten and dusty, and the Holy Spirit doesn't like it. He means business, building from the ground up.
But we work on preserving our kingdoms and the cities of our hearts without end. These things we've built took so much work...so much time.
The desires and sins we've worked toward are so precious to us so often.
In the narrative, it's Jill's LIFE she's fighting to keep. She asks the Lion so sincerely to look away while she drinks from the stream.
But if only she were to lay down, bow her head, and drink, she would understand just how thirsty she was. She would begin to sip, and then sip some more, and finally find that her face is completely plunged into the stream because the water is so good. She wouldn't want to look up. She wouldn't even think about it. She would just drink. And drink. And drink. And the Lion would devour her, and she wouldn't even care...because she would find that the water is the water of Life.
So will we lay it down? Will we give it all, letting everything we've ever known become His life, as we trade ours for His? We will carry our cross? Will we lay down our earthly crowns and desires that he would be enthroned on our worship? Will we let the tower fall, and replace the foundation with Christ?
Give it all to the One who is Life. He has given His so that you could know him...so that you could drink and be satisfied beyond all measure. His love is perfect.
Drink all you want! He's got it covered!
SSD
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