|
Home
Archive
May
April
March
Comments
and/or Questions
|
Monday, May 26,
2008
God
Is
John 4:23-24 But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (24) God is
a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. (KJV)
We have all seen pictures and
paintings of how man sees God and try’s to portray Him, mostly based on a
physical interpretation. Many people claim they are worshipping God, which
is carried out in many different ways, sometimes in songs or hymns, or
other times I have seen people look to the ceiling and wave their arms
thinking that is a form of worship. The fact is that God is a Spirit; a
totally different realm than the one we are accustomed to, something
mankind cannot comprehend on his own, but rather needs a personal
revelation in order understand God. Worshipping God is not some song and
dance as many think, but rather in order to truly worship or reverence Him
it has to be done in deed, or in other words it has to become a way of life
in order to have fellowship with Him. Not only is God true to us in His
word and promises, but He expects us to be true to Him as well, serving Him
in love with the right motive of the heart. While many depict our Lord
according to their own understanding, and compare God to man’s standards of
how things are accomplished, God’s ways are so much higher and better than
ours, something few experience because of their lack of trust in Him. Jesus
Christ was a true worshipper of God because He walked according to the
Spirit of Christ which led and guided Him on His path of life and brought a
message of truth to a fallen mankind, thus the reason for all the
opposition.
Isaiah 55:8-11 For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (9)
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (10) For as the rain cometh
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater: (11) So shall my word be that goeth forth
out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
(KJV)
God’s thoughts, His ways, His
timing, is so much higher and better than ours, now the question is how
many will be still long enough to hear His voice and then act on what He is
asking, even if it means patiently waiting as well? While the Spirit is
willing and is at peace, it is our flesh and its impatient nature that says
we need to act now, or with many they think their prayers were not answered
because the results didn’t happen the way they thought it should. With many
others they follow a predetermined path that is based more on their outward
sight than their spiritual insight, thus keeping God in a denominational
box and limiting Him. In order to walk in the Spirit you have to start
thinking in the Spirit, a realm that is so much higher than ours and
totally different and contrary to the carnal way of thinking. How much more
could God work through His people and give them the confidence and
assurance that they are one of His, if only they would let Him? We have all
prayed about certain things in our life and were absolutely sure that we
couldn’t live without them, so when it didn’t manifest the way we thought
it would we think we are failures. Was it so much you were a failure, or
maybe that thing you were requesting wasn’t really what you needed or
wasn’t beneficial to your walk, but rather would have been more of a
detriment. As one matures in life they realize that there is a big
difference between what they want and what they truly need, something the
Lord knows and knew before the foundation of the world when He chose a
place for us in His body of believers. Now the questions is, will you trust
in the Lord with all your heart and not lean to your own understanding,
letting His peace rule in all your decisions and not the outward appearance
of things?
Galatians 5:16-18 This I say
then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
(17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would. (18) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not
under the law. (KJV)
Just because you were born
again and had a personal experience with the Lord that brought you peace
doesn’t mean you are on easy street, rather it is just the beginning of a
brand new way of life. While the ways of man are limited by the flesh and
its way of thinking the Spirit of God is unlimited and without any
boundaries. Now it is a matter of renewing your mind on a daily basis so
that you can see more and more into the spiritual realm and allow God to do
a work in you that no other man can do. We have the mind of Christ so that
we are no longer under the law of sin and death, but rather under a law of
faith which allows us access into the realm of the Spirit which is
unlimited and unending to those that continue in it. While the disciples of
our Lord were limited in their thinking and told Him they would have to go
back to town and get provisions, it was the Spirit of Christ within Jesus
of Nazareth that trusted that loaves of bread and a few fish would suffice.
While some questioned our Lord concerning His timing and why He didn’t show
up in time to save Lazarus, in the end God had a perfect plan and
demonstrated His power and love through Jesus of Nazareth, so that not only
did Lazarus resurrect from the dead, but it brought life to some of the
others that were there and witnessed it as well. So what are you holding to
as truth today, will you let God be true and hold His word above and beyond
what man says or are you leaning more to your own understanding and
doubting His word? The Spirit and the flesh are totally contrary one to the
other, like a tug-a-war, only you have to decide for yourself which one you
will hold to.
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13)
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. (KJV)
Do you spend time daily in
prayer and in the word of God so that you can let Him renew your mind and
receive the things of His realm? God does not take spiritual things and
give them to carnal people, because it is foolish to them. However He does
take spiritual things and compare or interpret it with spiritual people who
are willing to walk in the Spirit and hold Him to be true, worshipping Him
in spirit and in truth. There are many that claim to be of God and speaking
on His behalf, that operate according to the natural man and its way of
thinking, and may even have big followings also. But remember, that which
is highly esteemed among mankind, in others words popular people pleasing
doctrines, are an abomination in the sight of God. And what may have
started out with good intentions is nothing more than the blind leading the
blind into an eternal ditch.
Psalms 92:4-6 For thou, LORD,
hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
(5) O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. (6) A
brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. (KJV)
A brutish man is referring to
a stupid one, someone who thinks they know better than our Lord. Anytime we
decide to lean to our own understanding we limit God as well. Have you ever
had a small child contradict something you knew to be true, no matter what
you said they thought they knew better? Now compare that with the Lord, in
other words the creation telling the Creator He doesn’t know what He is
talking about, or you know a better way, that would fall under the category
of brutish.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that
wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint. (KJV)
Are you tired of walking in
circles or like on a treadmill, lots of effort but you end up in the same
place? Or maybe you are bound and determined to have things your way no
matter what the Lord thinks, then you wonder why your walk with Him is
stale or at a standstill. In order to walk in the Spirit you need to think
in the realm of the Spirit and be willing and obedient to what the Lord is
asking despite what the outward would dictate, or how foolish it may seem
to the many that hold to popular opinions and doctrines of man. God’s ways
and thoughts are so much higher than ours with victory guaranteed before
hand, isn’t it time you mount up and start looking above for your answer?
|
