The plague of the Pharisees, in olden times, was that they embraced a doctrine that was devoid of love. It was not the teachings of the Pharisees that Jesus had a quarrel with, rather it was their hardened heart and their darken spirit. It was because of their hardness of heart that Jesus often took occasion to confront them.
It was religion that put Jesus on the cross, religion without the indwelling Spirit. A hardened spirit with the word of truth may actually be worse than a blaspheming pagan kneeling before a fetish!
We are only safe when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and only when our minds are indwelt by that loving Fire that came at Pentecost. For the Holy Spirit is not a luxury, not something added now and again to produce a “super-type” of Christian once in a generation.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is for every child of God! His vital necessity to fill and indwell His people is more than a languid hope…It is the key to showing the love of Jesus to a broken world!
In Jesus name…Amen.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Mind-Blindness
Over the years I have met many people I would consider intellectuals. Many of these people when it came to spirituality were able to discuss it from the outside looking in, like a stranger peering into someone’s living room window. It is very possible for an intellectual person to be so blinded that nothing spiritual ever touches him/her personally.
A person can also read the Bible and be able to quote the Psalms and the gospels like he’s beating a drum, and still miss the message of Jesus Christ. The bottom line is it comes down to either obedience or inward blindness. You can know the doctrine of justification by faith…and be blind inwardly. For it is not the body of truth that enlightens; it is the Spirit of Truth who enlightens.
If you are willing to obey Jesus Christ, He will illuminate your spirit. He will inwardly enlighten you. The truth you have known intellectually will now be known to you spiritually. Power will begin to flow up and out of you…and you will find yourself changed, marvelously changed!
Luke 6:46 (Amplified Bible)
46 Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?
A person can also read the Bible and be able to quote the Psalms and the gospels like he’s beating a drum, and still miss the message of Jesus Christ. The bottom line is it comes down to either obedience or inward blindness. You can know the doctrine of justification by faith…and be blind inwardly. For it is not the body of truth that enlightens; it is the Spirit of Truth who enlightens.
If you are willing to obey Jesus Christ, He will illuminate your spirit. He will inwardly enlighten you. The truth you have known intellectually will now be known to you spiritually. Power will begin to flow up and out of you…and you will find yourself changed, marvelously changed!
Luke 6:46 (Amplified Bible)
46 Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Something Wonderful!
It has been almost three months since I last put up a blog entry, and even though it has been awhile, my relationship with the Lord continues to grow everyday! I must say these last couple months have been very interesting to say the least. Many times the Lord lets us experience some things that most people do not want to see or feel. It is the type of experience that puts you right in the ugly lap of hurting-humanity. It is from this unique vantage point we experience the visceral struggle of the human race as it contends with the harsh weight and reality of circumstances. Without the Lord Jesus Christ these burdens would grind on your dignity and flesh until there was nothing left but a cynical soulless skeleton. I praise God that he is mindful of something so insignificant as myself! Yet through this HE has told me to be aware of those who seem insignificant to the vast majority of Americans. Sometimes it is only through humbling experiences- that we are humbled. In these days, when church’s are building bigger and bigger edifices and Christians are getting fat on their own pompous self-styled spirituality, I really wonder what God thinks of today’s Christian and today church? I try not to linger too long on this subject because dwelling on such things only leads to judgmental thinking and attitudes, and Lord knows I have enough of my own issues to contend with!
In closing, I praise God for supplying all our needs! I would also encourage everyone to contact your friends and loved ones that you have not heard from in awhile…For they just may need to hear your voice!
Below is a video that makes me so grateful that God rescued me from certain death and showed me HIS true nature so that I could know HIM.
In Jesus Christ,
mark
In closing, I praise God for supplying all our needs! I would also encourage everyone to contact your friends and loved ones that you have not heard from in awhile…For they just may need to hear your voice!
Below is a video that makes me so grateful that God rescued me from certain death and showed me HIS true nature so that I could know HIM.
In Jesus Christ,
mark
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