Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Intimacy with God’

Teaching to the Flesh or Preaching to the Spirit?

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Can you tell the difference?

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. NIV 2 Tim 4:2-3

Can you tell when men teach to tickle your ears and to appeal to your flesh and when preachers preach the Word of God?

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. NIV Heb 4:12

Chances are, if you are having your ears tickled and your flesh fed (and you are enjoying it) and the teaching focuses on this world and this life (and the pride of man and focusing on self) rather than eternal things, the Kingdom of God, your sacrifice and self denial, your sin and your repentance, your complete crucifying of the old man and by faith living a holy and pleasing and acceptable life for the glory of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then there is not a lot I can say or do because what I am saying to you is a Spiritual message and you enjoy ‘flesh teaching’ rather than the ‘Spirit preaching’.  Only the Spirit of God can penetrate and enlighten our hearts but He is a gentleman and will not force Himself upon us especially if we block our ears to anything that interferes with our self justified and self centre lifestyle.

It seems to me, that when the Spirit is absent, men have to resort to preaching to the flesh in men and use all sorts of public speaking tricks to get results (ie: worldly results).

Conversely, when the Spirit is present, preachers preach prophetically in the power of the Spirit and this speaks to the spirit in men resulting in conviction and repentance, revival and salvation and the Word produces fruit that will last (a great harvest for the Kingdom).

I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV 2 Cor 10:2-5

What troubles me…

The ‘people of God’ being disempowered and distracted and still living for self and this world and buying into all the faulty (and ‘nice’ looking and sounding) teaching that feeds the flesh rather than the spirit.  May the reader be enlightened and have understanding.

I am sorry, I was going to go in depth about this but the Lord has told me to move on from this topic.  There are plenty of resources and articles and messages on the internet to study over.  The Lord bless you and wake your spirit, Steve.

Read Full Post »

The Terror of the Lord and the Glory of His Majesty

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2009| 1 Comment »

I was surprised to find that in the NKJV it mentions the terror of the Lord (even in the New Testiment).  In other versions it was ‘the dread’ or ‘the fear’ of the Lord.  Also, I am surprised that Isaiah, when prophesising the things to come (how the Lord is going to shake this world) that He uses in the same breath ‘the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty’.

Isa 2:6-21
6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways.  They are soothsayers like the Philistines and they are pleased with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land is also full of silver and gold and there is no end to their treasures.  Their land is also full of horses and there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands (that which their own fingers have made). 9 People bow down, *and each man humbles himself, therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up — and it shall be brought low —  13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; 14 upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15 upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; 16 upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops. 17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low.  The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, 18 but the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.
20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold (which they made, each for himself to worship) to the moles and bats, 21 to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.  (NKJV)

*v9 ie: they bow and humble themselves to their idols not to the Lord.

2 Cor 5:11
11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men… (NKJV)

May the Lord bring us understanding and revelation of the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty.

Read Full Post »

Shaken not Stirred

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Heb 12:28-29
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. (NKJV)

And what is the therefore there for? (I sound like Derrick Prince)  Let’s look at a couple of previous verses…

Heb 12:25-27
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. (NKJV)

We (mankind) are once more going to be shaken (and heaven also) and the things that can be shaken will be removed and the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Praise the Lord we have a Kingdom that cannot be shaken if we hold fast to the Lord and we serve Him acceptably with reverent and godly fear.

And the stirred bit in the ‘Shaken not Stirred’ title pun is we won’t be stirred (or worried) because our complete trust and confidence are in the Lord and because we fear God more than we fear man or circumstances.

And if we don’t have complete trust and confidence are in the Lord and we don’t fear God more than we fear man or circumstances we will repent of our sinful, unbelieving heart and trust the Lord with our whole heart.

Praise His Holy Name, Amen

Read Full Post »

Slaves of God

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I am seeking for one who will wait and watch
For my beckoning hand, my eye
Who will work in my manner the work I give
And the work I give will not pass by


And ALL the joy that is brought to Me
When one such as this I can find
A man who will do ALL of My will
Who is set to study His Master’s mind


I am but a slave, I have no freedom of my own
I cannot choose the smallest thing, nor even my way
I am a slave kept to do the bidding of my Master
He calls me night and day


When I was a servant I could claim wages
Freedom sometimes anyway
But I was bought , blood was the price my Master paid for me
And I am now His slave and evermore will be


He takes me here, he takes me there, He tells me what to do
I just obey, that is all, and I trust Him too

Poem from K.P. Yohannan’s Message – The Fear of the Lord – Part 1

Relevent Verses:

Rom 6:22
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (NKJV)

1 Peter 1:18-19
You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (NKJV)

John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.“ (NKJV)

Read Full Post »

The Fear of the Lord is Recession Proof

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Ps 34:9
9 Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. (NIV)

Enough said? 🙂

Read Full Post »

Christ’s Call: Radical Obedience by K.P. Yohannan

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Watch this, it will change your life…

Read Full Post »

Something’s Missing – The Fear of the Lord

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

What is wrong with us Christian folk?  Why are we being tripped over and over by the same old things?  Why is there no growth in our lives?  Why is there no committment to holiness?  Why is there no increase in holiness?  Why aren’t we going from glory to glory, and from victory to victory?

Something is stirring in my spirit.  I believe it is important.  We are missing something. I believe we are neglecting the complete character of God.  Maybe we have no knowledge of the complete character of God.  Perhaps we have heard about the love of God and our knowledge of the Father has stopped there.

But there are other sides to our Lord.  Our Lord, He is Awesome and He is Mighty, He is Fearsome and He is Just and He hates sin.  As we come up to this time of Easter consider this, our sin caused His Son to die on that cross and if the Father hated sin before His Son was nailed and crucified on a cross how do you think He feels about sin now.  You see, our sin killed His Son.  The Lord hates sin and He hates it when we sin! 

Oh Lord, we have such a feeble understanding of your Majesty and your Power and your Might and your Magnificance, else we wouldn’t carry on the way that we do, give us new understanding of your full character, powerfully give us new revelation of your Awesomeness!  Oh Lord, if only we could get a glimse of His Might and Majesty, our self centred, self feeding lives would be stripped bare.

If only we would fear Him!

Yes reverently fear Him!

You see, if we ‘only’ see a loving God the cross does not make a whole lot of sense.  It’s like the cross is just an added extra to the Christian faith.  The cross is the centre of the Christian faith! The fearsomeness of God and the wrath of God, was poured out upon His Son so that the unrighteous might become righteous, so that we might LIVE!  Hell makes no sense if we just have a loving God.  The end times in Revelation makes no sense if we ‘just’ have a loving God.

But how do we balance, on the one hand, a God that loves us deeply and we are His children and He is our Abba, Father, and we (can) have His Spirit within us (and the intimacy that brings) and on the other hand, a fearful reverence for a Holy and Awesome God?

Let us have a look at some misconceptions about the fear of the Lord…

Misconception No 1:
The fear of the Lord is not for the New Testament Church

Acts 9:31
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)

Jer 31:33-34, 32:39-40
33 “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (NIV)
32:39-40
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. (NIV)

Misconception No. 2:
Jesus never had the fear of the Lord

Heb 5:7-8
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (NKJV)

Isa 11:1-3
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)

Misconception No.3:
3) Jesus never preached about the fear of the Lord

Luke 12:4-5
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (NIV)

Misconception No.4:
4) There is no fear of the Lord in Heaven

Rev 14:6-7
Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (NIV)

Rev 15:2-4
…They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvellous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (NIV)

Rev 19:1-8
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (NIV)

Lord, may we love you and may we also fear you.  Do whatever is necessary to instill in us a reverent fear of you, in Jesus name, Amen

To be continued…

Read Full Post »

An Audience of One

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

How much of what I do (what we do) is for an Audience of One?

I think it is good and healthy to examine yourself and your motives daily.  That is, why do I do the things that I do?  Why do I say the things that I say?  Am I trying to score some points for myself (somehow) by building myself up (sometimes at someone elses expense).

Pride can dominate our motives (I know this within myself).  Seeking the recognition of people can dominate our motives (again, I know this within myself).

How much of our day is for an Audience of One?  How much is done purely for our Lord?

Now I’m not suggesting a works based salvation or doing stuff for God to earn your way into Heaven.  But what is simply done for God out of a response to a faith based relationship in our Heavenly Father and what is done for the ‘pride of self’ or the ‘recognition of man’.

What drives my heart and what drives your heart?

If I test my motives from time to time, I know my motives, sometimes, are impure and selfish and prideful.  So this is a healthy exercise.  Perhaps when you examine the motives of your heart you may find they are very skewed.  Repentence may be necessary.

I think from time to time, the Lord wants to give us this new heart but there are all these obstacles, all these crutches in my life, in our lives, that have not been broken.  Our motives are wrong.  We rely on ourselves.  Pride rather than humility dominates our lives.

There is a verse, just before the flood, that describes the heart condition of the majority of the people, I think about it from time to time…

Gen 6:5-6
5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (NIV)

Before we were born again the inclination of our hearts was evil.  Even if we don’t think that, God thinks that.  After we are truly born again, God gives us a new heart…

Ezek 36:25-27
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (NIV)

What does this mean – a new heart.  Are we perfect – no!  Are we never, ever going to do anything wrong – no!  It means God has given us His heart and the natural inclination of our hearts is no longer evil, the (super)natural inclination of our hearts is now good in the eyes of the Lord.

God does something the law, working externally, could never do and that is to change man from  the inside out, to give him (us) new hearts and a new Spirit.

So, are we grieving this new heart away?  Or, have we ever received this new heart?  How are the motives of our heart?  Are our motives pure or selfish?

Are we living for a Audience of One?

Read Full Post »

Party, Party, Party! – Living from One Buzz to the Next

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

What is your drug of choice?

A Christian blog seems, kind of, not the place to be talking about such things – doesn’t it?  Let me put this another way, how do you medicate your soul?  What do you do to sooth the pain of your loneliness, rejection, disconnectedness, inadequacy, inner longing for love, anxiety, suffering?

It seems, especially younger people, try to go from one temporary high to the next.  Whether your drug or choice is illegal, or whether it is alcohol or sex, or continuous partying, or spending, or however else you get your hit, it is a focussing on yourself to make you feel better.

The Bible is very wise about such things.  First off, it says we all have a knowledge of God built into our hearts it’s just that some of us choose to ignore that knowledge because we are in rebellion against Him – God cramps our style.

Secondly, the Bible says that we will never truly be happy unless we die to ourselves.  That is, we take the focus off ourselves and we serve God and serve others.

Thirdly, God can give us what is missing in our lives.  This world cannot ever satisfy the inner longings of our beings.  Only God can make us whole.  Only God can fill us with an inexpressible joy and completeness in our souls.

The invitation is always there.  God is a very gracious God.  He does not force us to come to Him.  He has made a way for us to come to Him and that is through His son Jesus.  Jesus bore the wrath and judgement of God for our sins on the cross.  If you are willing, God can open your eyes, right now, to this truth.

Repent, turn away from your sins, accept Jesus into your heart, be born again, and start living for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Your soul will never be thirsty again.

Read Full Post »

Question & Answer Session with Paul Washer

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

My previous post was ‘10 Indictments against the Modern Church in America‘ – a sermon by Paul Washer.  It is a very important message for our time.  I think it is also important to understand where this fellow (Paul Washer) is coming from, what he is made up of, and what better way than a question and answer session where he answers ‘off the cuff’.  What better way to find out (a little) about what makes this man tick, what consumes his thinking, what opinions he has, what are his opinions based upon etc, etc.  Here is a question and answer session with Paul Washer, enjoy…

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »