The Heart of Paul

What a picture Paul presents of a man sold out for God; who was “all out” to do the will of God; who wanted to do all that he could for the people of God; who was determined to reach the lost at any cost! He would willingly expend himself that others might be saved, helped and strengthened!

What a heart for God he had! This was a man who could declare without reservation to his friends in Caesarea who would have spared him, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13).

Think about that! He said, “I am ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!” As Christians, we all ought to be able to say that! You might want to ask yourself, “Can I say that?”

Today, many Western believers are looking for the catching away of the Church to save them out of all persecution, while multitudes of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other nations are rejoicing to suffer prison, torture and even death for the name of Jesus. They have already experienced persecution every bit as intense as anything that will occur during the “Great Tribulation.”

The picture painted in the New Testament is clear: when Christians suffer for the sake of Christ, it is cause to rejoice and be glad and to leap for joy, for great is their reward in heaven!

Counted Worthy to Suffer Shame for His Name

Acts 5:40-42. …And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

The Early Church knew something about suffering for the sake of Christ that the Western Church knows little or nothing about.

However, there are hundreds of thousands of believers around the world in nations like China, North Korea, Sudan, India and Indonesia—to name only a few—who know firsthand what it means to endure persecution for the cause of Christ and who consider it a great honor to do so.

We could learn something from them.

Like the apostles in this account from the book of Acts, they rejoice that they are “counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

There is a reward in heaven for this kind of suffering that far exceeds anything that you could think or imagine.

Suffering for the Sake of His Body

Col 1:24. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…  

2 Tim 2:10. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

Often as Christians we suffer for the sake of Christ unknowingly and without realizing what a great reward is ours!

Whenever you endure labor, suffering, hardship or inconvenience on behalf of the truth of the gospel or the Body of Christ (which includes both those who are saved and those who will be saved as a result of your labor and efforts), you are enduring “suffering for the sake of Christ” for which there is a great reward!!

Paul brings this truth out in 2 Cor 11:23-28 where he tells us that “for the sake of those who are chosen,” he was beaten, shipwrecked, flogged, and imprisoned; labored abundantly; and endured hardship, frequent journeys, sleepless nights, cold, hunger, thirst, exposure, dangers on land and sea, dangers from unbelievers, dangers from false believers, and intense concern for the welfare of his spiritual children.

All of this qualifies as “suffering for the sake of Christ,” and it is given to us as a gift of God’s grace on His behalf to do so!

Suffering for His Sake

Phil 1:29. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…

Although He is ever present with us and in us by His Spirit, physically speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ has been in heaven ever since He ascended back unto the Father. (Acts 1:9; Colossians 3:1; Heb 1:3).

What does the scripture mean then when it says that it has been granted to you on the behalf of Christ to suffer for His sake?

Jesus said that whatever you do to one of the least of His brothers, you do it unto Him. (Matt 25:40). He so closely identifies with those who put their faith in Him that He calls them “His Body.” (1 Cor 12:27).

When He appeared to Saul (who later became Paul) on the Damascus Road, referring to the fact that Saul had been persecuting the Jewish followers of Jesus, chasing them as far as foreign cities, shutting them up in prison, punishing them, and putting them to death,  Jesus poignantly asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 26:14).

That is why the Apostle Paul later wrote to the Colossians, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…” (Col 1:24). 

And to Timothy, his son in the faith, he said, “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.” (2 Tim 2:10).

Suffering on the behalf of Christ is suffering endured on the behalf of His Body on earth—both for the sake of those who are saved as well as though who will be saved through the faithful witness of the servants of Christ.

Suffering for His Name

Phil 1:29. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake…

The kind of suffering that has been “given” to us to endure for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ is persecution and hardship on behalf of the gospel.

From the time that Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, was saved, the Lord began to speak of how much Paul “must suffer for [His] name’s sake.” Acts 9:16.

We get some insight into the kinds of things that we might suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ from Phil 1:30. There Paul tells the Philippians that they were enduring the same kind of conflict which he did. What kind of conflict was that?

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 tells us:

Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

The Word of God tells us that it is an honor and a joy to suffer such things for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Sufferings of Christ

Phil 1:29. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake…

Paul here is talking about a type of suffering from which we are not redeemed. While Jesus bore our sufferings, we are given the privilege of bearing His.

We’re not talking about the kind of suffering that comes through the curse of the law as listed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Those are “our sufferings” from which we have been redeemed and include such things as defeat, discouragement, sickness, disease, poverty, fear, terror, and lack of vision and direction for your life, to mention only a few! When the Lord Jesus Christ became a curse for us according to Gal 3:13, He suffered these things for our sakes.

But here, Paul told the Philippians that it had been given to them to suffer for the sake of Christ! In the original language, the word “given” in this verse conveys the idea of the free, unmerited favor of God. In other words, Paul is saying that as a matter of God’s grace it had been given to the Philippians to suffer for the sake of Christ!

Phil 1:29 in the New Revised Standard Version reads this way: “For He has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for Him as well.”

The Early Church understood this. When Peter and the other apostles were flogged and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus, “they went on their way from the presence of the Jewish Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Acts 5:40-41.

He Bore Your Suffering, Pt 2

Gal 3:13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)…

The curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 are “our sufferings.” Those are the sufferings that the Lord Jesus bore on our behalf at Calvary.

That’s why Isaiah 53:4-5 reads:

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Those were our griefs and sorrows that Jesus bore. And what He bore, we need not bear.

And yet, Paul could speak of another kind of suffering from which we have not been redeemed—the sufferings of Christ! (Philippians 1:29).

He bore our sufferings that we might bear His!

 

He Bore Your Suffering, Pt 1

Gal 3:13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)…

The curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 are what Christ redeemed us from when He suffered and died in our place.

God the Father performed a supernatural exchange when Jesus bore our sins on the cross. (1 Peter 2:24). Although Jesus had never sinned, He was made to be sin for us, so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Christ.

Jesus actually came under the curse that we were under so that the Father could remove it off of us and in its place, bless us with every possible blessing that He has in heavenly places in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:3).

And all we need to do to receive this wonderful salvation is to ask Jesus to be the Lord of our life! (Romans 10:9-10).

When Jesus suffered the curse of the law on our behalf, those were our sufferings that He bore, not His. We were the ones who sinned, not He. We were the ones who transgressed the law, not He. And we were the ones who deserved to inherit the curse of the law, not He.

Thank God, Jesus died for us!

Suffering

Gal 3:13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)…

Suffering is not a popular topic, but it’s in the Bible, and suffering abounds all around us, whether we like it or not.

The problem is compounded because people are confused about suffering. They don’t realize that there is a difference between “our sufferings” and the “sufferings of Christ.”

From one type of suffering we’re redeemed; from the other we’re not.
 
If you want to look at the kind of suffering that we’ve been redeemed from, read Deuteronomy 28:15-68. These are “our sufferings,” also known as the “curse of the law.” These are the curses that have come upon humanity in its fallen state because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23).

Included in that list of curses are things such as defeat, discouragement, confusion, every kind of sickness and disease, poverty, failed investments, broken homes, love loss in marriage, losing your children to the world, fear, terror, hunger, nakedness, the lack of all things, hopelessness and lack of vision and direction for your life—among other things.

But Jesus fulfilled the law for us and redeemed us from the curse of the law through His death on the cross! (Romans 8:3-4; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13). We don’t have to live under those things any more. We don’t have to submit to them or allow them to operate in our lives.

We’re free from the curse of the law in Jesus’ Name!

 

The Prayer of Consecration, Pt 2

Luke 22:42 …not My will, but Thine, be done.

When George Mueller started his ministry to orphans, he began with only two children, but because he was faithful and had the plan of God, that ministry succeeded and by the end of his life, he was caring for about 2,500 children! When you get the plan of God, it will prosper and have good success.

Now, Bro. Hagin prayed the prayer of consecration about starting RHEMA for eighteen months. He tried to get the Lord to have someone else do it. He even suggested the name of someone else. He told the Lord, “I’ll get behind him. Let him do it.” But the Lord didn’t want that other person to do it. He wanted Bro. Hagin to do it.

And then after Bro. Hagin started RHEMA, I think that there were times that he wished someone else would do it. He said that he would have greatly preferred to stay out on the road and continue doing crusades. He loved that kind of ministry and throughout his life he continued to love that ministry, but he was consecrated to the will of God.

Bro. Hagin said that you have to seek the Lord concerning His plan for your ministry. In the course of praying the prayer of consecration and talking to the Lord about different aspects of your life and ministry, you may tell Him, “if it be Thy will,” because you don’t exactly know what the will of God is in those matters.

But as you continue to seek the Lord, He will fill you with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Colossians 1:9), and give you assurance about what to do.

When He does, you will prosper and have good success because you have the plan of God.

 

The Prayer of Consecration, Pt 1

Luke 22:42 …not My will, but Thine, be done.

I was listening to a message of Bro. Hagin’s in which he was talking about the prayer of consecration and dedication. He mentioned George Mueller and how Mueller prayed the same prayer, twice a day, for thirty days. Mueller felt that the Lord was dealing with him about starting an orphanage but he wasn’t quite sure that it was the Lord’s will.

Bro. Hagin said the same thing happened to Him when the Lord began to deal with Him about starting RHEMA. He didn’t want to do it. He tried to talk the Lord out of it. Even after he found out what the Lord wanted him to do in some areas of ministry, sometimes he would suggest to the Lord that someone else could do it.

He said that, particularly with regard to the ministry, you have to pray the prayer of dedication and consecration to the Lord. Even Jesus prayed the prayer of consecration three times in the garden of Gethsemane.

Now, that’s an interesting thought! Why did Jesus have to pray the prayer of consecration three times? It’s because, although Jesus never sinned, nevertheless He came in the likeness of sinful flesh and the flesh wants to do what it wants to do—not what God wants to do. Even Jesus had to deal with the flesh.

That’s why Paul said that he kept his body under, meaning that he had learned how to allow his spirit man to dominate the outward man, the flesh.

Well, Mueller prayed the prayer of consecration for thirty days and he said that every time he prayed that prayer, he would write down what his impressions were and after thirty days of praying that way, he was fully convinced that God wanted him to start the children’s home!

It pays to seek God and get His plan!

Two Psalms

On a day when I was experiencing distress and confusion, the words of Psalm 61:2 rose up in my heart: “Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I…”

So I began by faith to speak out those words. It seemed to me as though I was doing it  entirely “in the natural,” without any anointing at all.

However, as I did, the unction to speak by inspiration of the Holy Spirit came upon me, and I began to speak to myself in a psalm. Remember—words that you speak by inspiration of the Holy Spirit may or may not rhyme, but they will edify you nevertheless.

The words that came to me that day through the spirit of prophecy truly blessed and encouraged me, and lifted me high above the enemy into a place of victory. The words that I spoke went something like this:

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Jesus is that Rock and He is higher than I.

His wisdom is far above mine. His righteousness is far above mine. His holiness is far above mine. That Rock is my righteousness!

On that Rock I stand, far above the adversary, out of reach of his hand. He cannot reach me there—far above his thoughts and strategies.

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Jesus is the Rock that is higher than I.

And then another psalm came through which the Lord spoke this to me:

Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, standing on the Rock, far above the clouds of the enemy’s confusion, you see everything clearly from there.

Don’t look down into the fog, but look unto Me, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and as you do, the fog will dissipate, and you’ll see everything clearly in the light of the only begotten Son.

Amen!

A Spiritual Song

A psalm, hymn or spiritual song that you receive from the Holy Spirit may or may not rhyme and it may or may not contain the actual words of Scripture, but it will always be in line with Scripture.

In our Bible school, we have prayer school a few times each week. During one particular session, a strong anointing came upon me, and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit I received a spiritual song that went something like this:

Let go of the natural. Take hold of the spiritual. Step over into that realm. That’s where the healings are. That’s where the miracles are. That’s where the works of Jesus are—the things that I want you to do and say.

Let go of the natural. Take hold of the spiritual. Step over into it.

Over in that realm, there is victory at every level and in every sphere, and when the adversary draws nigh, just look him in the eye, and say victory is mine, saith the Lord!

Step over into the flow. Step over into the flow. Step over into the flow of the Holy Ghost!

It was powerful because it was anointed by the Holy Spirit and it released great joy and victory into the meeting. We danced and shouted and went about 20 minutes over time, but it didn’t seem like it at all!!!

Thank God for the Holy Ghost!

Start Out in the Flesh, End Up in the Spirit Pt 3

Ephesians 5:18-19. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

Another way to “start out in the flesh and end up in the Spirit” when it comes to speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is to simply open the Bible to the Book of Psalms and begin reading to yourself out loud.

Find a psalm that ministers to your heart. Begin to read it to yourself out loud. Make it your prayer unto the Lord. The Holy Spirit who inspired the written Word of God is the same One who inspires us to speak words of edification, exhortation and comfort by His anointing.

Reading the Word of God out loud to yourself “tunes” your heart to the heart of God. It helps you learn to recognize the voice of the Spirit of God.

You will find that as you say and pray the psalms out loud like this, the Holy Spirit will inspire you as to what to say about your life and situation. This lifts you into that “higher realm” of the Spirit in which you begin to speak by His anointing.

The results are powerful. You will be strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in your inner man!

Start Out in the Flesh, End Up in the Spirit Pt 2

Ephesians 5:18-19. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

Remember that a psalm is simply a recital of what God has done, is doing and will do in your life, mingled with prayers of petition, praise, thanksgiving and worship.

One reason why speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs blesses you is because the Lord says to do it. It’s scriptural to talk of all God’s wondrous works! (Ps 105:2; 145:5).

Another reason is that, as you step out in faith and begin to speak to yourself about what God has done, is doing and will do in your life, the anointing will come upon you and you’ll begin to speak by inspiration words with which the Holy Spirit will supernaturally edify, exhort and comfort you! (1 Corinthians 14:3).

This inspiration to “declare His doings” (Is. 12:4) by the unction of the Holy Spirit can come as you are magnifying the Lord and edifying yourself in other tongues.

But it can also come as you “start out in the flesh” by simply choosing as an act of your will to begin to speak to yourself about what God has done, is doing and will do in your life.

Step out in faith and begin to drink from the river of the Holy Ghost on the inside of you by speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. You won’t do it perfectly at first, but over time, you’ll learn how to yield to the Holy Spirit, and His anointing will come and bring you into a place of greater authority and victory!

Start Out in the Flesh, End Up in the Spirit Pt 1

Ephesians 5:18-19. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

When I was a student many years ago at Rhema, I would hear Bro. Hagin talk frequently about speaking to himself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. He strongly encouraged us to make it our practice too, in order to maintain a Spirit-filled life.

Often,  he would wake up in the middle of the night and speak to himself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs for an hour or two, and sometimes nearly all night long. Particularly in times of crisis, he derived great comfort and strength from this type of meditation.

But I didn’t “get it”!

You see, I thought that you had to have some kind of dramatic, spectacular experience in order to be able to speak to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I thought that it was probably because Bro. Hagin was so spiritual that he was able to do this.

But then one day the Holy Spirit showed me something that really helped me in this regard. I had come across some statements by Smith Wigglesworth, the great “Apostle of Faith,” to the effect that “if the Holy Ghost doesn’t move me, I move the Holy Ghost,” and that he would sometimes “start out in the flesh and end up in the Spirit”!

Then I “got it”!

That’s when I saw that you can start out speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs totally in the “flesh” simply by an act of your will, and end up speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit words that will edify, exhort and comfort you through the spirit of prophecy!

As Paul told Timothy, you need to “stir up the gift of God which is in you…” (2 Tim 1:6). It may not be spectacular, but it is supernatural!

Drinking in the Water of the Word

Ephesians 5:25-26. …Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word…

Ps 1:2-3. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…

Meditate upon the Word of God. Read, read and re-read passages in the Word of God to which your heart is drawn.

As you do, you will begin to drink from the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Rev 22:1). The life of God is in the Word of God. (John 1:4).

As the Spirit of God opens up the Word of God to you and gives you revelation, the written Word is transformed into living water. It’s as though the Holy Spirit “liquefies” the Word and you begin to drink it deep down into your spirit as you feed and read and meditate upon it.

This is how you are transformed into the image of the glory of the Lord, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord! (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Speaking to Yourself in Psalms is Meditating

Ephesians 5:18-20. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Joshua 1:8. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Really, speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is a form of meditation. The Bible promises that those who meditate on the Word of God and act on it will make their way prosperous and have good success.

One of the best ways to meditate is to speak to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, by reciting to yourself what God has done, is doing and will do in your life.

How do you know what God will do? He will do whatever He said in His Word He will do!

“Declare His doings” (Is. 12:4) and “talk of all His wondrous works” (Ps 105:2)! As you do His Word will come to pass in your life!

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Ephesians 5:18-20. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

One way to “drink” of the Holy Spirit is by allowing the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly. You allow the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly by speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

A psalm is simply a recital of what God has done, is doing and will do in your life, mingled with prayers of petition, praise, thanksgiving and worship.

A hymn is a song of worship and praise unto the Lord that you begin to sing to Him out of your heart. A spiritual song is a song about some revelation that the Holy Spirit has given to you from the Word of God.

As you talk or sing to yourself about what God has done, is doing and will do in your life, the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you begin to speak by inspiration of the Spirit.

It’s actually the gift of prophecy in manifestation because prophecy is simply speaking words of edification, exhortation and comfort by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. (1 Corinthians 14:3).

As you “declare His doings” (Isaiah 12:4) and “talk of all His wondrous works” (Ps 105:2), it causes you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and it is wonderful beyond words!

Be Filled Speaking, Pt 2

Ephesians 5:18-19. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and his letter to the Colossians are called “sister epistles” because they share much in common. Paul states many of the same truths in both epistles only in slightly different words.

This is very helpful, for as he expresses the same truth with different words it allows us to see that truth in a different light.

So it is with Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16. In the passage from Ephesians, Paul tells us to be filled with the Spirit speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

In the passage from Colossians, he tells us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Do you see that there is an “equation” between those two passages that helps to unlock the secret of staying filled with the Spirit? “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” is simply another way of saying “be filled with the Spirit”!

As you speak to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, you allow the Word of Christ to dwell in richly and that causes you to be filled to overflowing with the Spirit of God!

Be Filled Speaking, Pt 1

Ephesians 5:18-19. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…

Paul is making a comparison here between the natural man being filled with wine and the spiritual man being filled with the Holy Spirit.

How do you become filled with the Spirit? The same way you become drunk with wine—by drinking.

How do you “drink” spiritually? By speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs!

Develop in Spiritual Things

John 7:37-39a. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit…

Now Jesus said that if we thirst, we should come unto Him and drink, speaking of the Holy Spirit. 

We begin our spiritual life “drinking.” We come to Jesus and receive Him. And we  progress in our spiritual life as we continue to “drink.” As babes in Christ, we desire the pure milk of the Word that we may grow thereby. (1 Peter 2:2).

Just like natural infants, spiritual “infants” know how to “drink” in a measure.

As a child, it took time for you to learn how to hold a cup and drink for yourself. The ability to drink didn’t come automatically and you didn’t learn overnight. You made many mistakes.  You learned little by little.

Likewise, as we feed on the Word of God and learn the ways of the Spirit, gradually we learn how to drink more deeply of the Spirit of God.
 
You have to learn how to “drink” of the Spirit. In the process you’ll make mistakes. But as you continue to exercise yourself in the things of God, eventually the ability to drink spiritually will develop in you and you’ll find that you know how to drink deeply of the Word and of the Spirit regardless of what kind of tests and trials you may be going through.

As you do, you will drink in revelation from the Word of God and life from the Spirit of God, and enjoy great spiritual refreshing as you do!

Drink!

John 7:37. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

1 Corinthians 12:13b. …and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Babies aren’t born knowing how to drink.

They begin nursing and gradually learn to take a bottle. After a while, they start using a special cup with a spout that they can drink from without spilling. When the day finally comes that you take the lid off the cup, even then, they often get more on them than in them!

Spiritually, it’s the same way.

When we’re first born again, as the scripture says, as newborn babes, we desire the pure milk of the Word that we may grow thereby. (1 Peter 2:2). We know in a measure how to drink of God’s Spirit and of God’s Word, but we can continue to grow in spiritual things so that little by little we learn how to continually “drink” and stay filled with the Word and with the Spirit!

“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink”, Jesus said.

The Water of Life

John 7:37-39a. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive…

In Scripture, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are both likened unto water for a reason. There are certain properties that the Word and the Holy Spirit have in common with water.

In Ephesians 5:26, Paul talks about “the washing of water by the word.” In John 3:5, Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Water in that passage refers to the Word of God. In John 4:14 and John 7:38, the Holy Spirit is compared to a well of water and to rivers of living water. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, it says that all believers have been made to drink of one Spirit. And in Revelation 22:1, we see proceeding out from the throne of God and of the Lamb in heaven a river of the water of life.

Water refreshes. Water revives. Water cleanses. Water gives life.

Spiritually, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit working together do all these things as well!

The Earnest of Our Inheritance

Ephesians 1:13-14. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

The magnitude of our salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ becomes apparent as we meditate upon how perfect and pure is heaven and how fallen and corrupted is the earth.

We are now born of His Spirit, citizens of heaven, seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God knows that as we live in this alien environment on earth, like astronauts on a space walk, we must carry our own “atmosphere” with us.

The Lord Jesus has poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit upon us as the down payment and guarantee of our heavenly inheritance. As we walk in communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, His own life and power are made available to us, to enable us to live victoriously here on earth.

He has made available to us through the Holy Spirit more than enough power to destroy and obliterate every kind of weakness or infirmity with which the devil would like to afflict us!

We Are Weak But He is Strong!

Acts 1:8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…(NKJV)

Rom 8:26. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. (ESV).

Yesterday, we read that the word “weakness” in Romans 8:26 can refer to a “state of incapacity, weakness, or lack of power; or to a bodily ailment, sickness, disease, or infirmity; or a physical inability or weakness…[or] to a quality of character such as weakness, lack of insight, timidity or a feeling of inadequacy.” (The Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament).

Think about it! God the Holy Spirit is full of power. When He comes upon you, He brings power and He wants you to have power!

There is no weakness or infirmity in Him. Likewise there is no weakness or infirmity in heaven. It is not God’s will that we go through this life riddled with infirmities, weakness, timidity, feelings of inadequacy, or sickness and incapacity in our physical bodies or minds or emotions. God has none of that in heaven. And there is none of that in Him. It is completely alien to the Holy Spirit! 

Although we have a “great high priest” in the Lord Jesus Christ who has compassion for us in our infirmities and weaknesses, He Himself has no infirmity or weakness in Him. In His Infinite and Almighty Being, God has no weakness whatsoever! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Power and Might. You are His child! You are His temple! He inhabits you! He indwells you! He has absolutely no infirmities or weaknesses! He has none of that in His Being!

And in Romans 8:26, He has declared His firm resolve to help you in your weaknesses and infirmities by infusing you with His very own power and life as you pray in tongues!

Praying in tongues releases the power of God into your life to destroy every work of the enemy and every kind of infirmity with which he would try to afflict you.

The Spirit Helps Us in Our Weaknesses, Pt 2

Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament says that the word translated “weaknesses” in our text refers to “a state of incapacity, weakness, or lack of power; or to a bodily ailment, sickness, disease, or infirmity; a physical inability or weakness…[or] to a quality of character such as weakness, lack of insight, timidity, or a feeling of inadequacy.”

This covers every weakness, frailty and infirmity known to man! And God wants to help us with all of them! Thank God for the Holy Spirit! What a wonderful Helper, Counselor and Comforter He is!

In all these weaknesses and infirmities, the wonderful Holy Spirit will help you as you yield to His power and anointing through the precious gift of praying in other tongues.

The Spirit Helps Us in Our Weaknesses, Pt 1

Romans 8:26. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

This scripture brings out one of the most wonderful truths about the gift of speaking in tongues. Through this gift, the Holy Spirit Himself helps us in our weakness.

The kind of “weaknesses” referred to in our text can be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines them as “weakness and frailty of the body; feebleness of health; sickness, feebleness of the soul; the lack of sufficient strength and capacity needed to understand a thing; to do things great and glorious; to restrain corrupt desires; or to bear trials and troubles.”

Think about it. Have you ever lacked the capacity to understand something in your life – whether past, present or future? Have you ever had a longing in your heart to do something great and glorious for God but didn’t know how? Have you ever had to deal with the flesh (and we all have!) in order to restrain corrupt desires? Have you ever had to go through trials and troubles and needed strength to bear up under them?

Thank God, the Holy Spirit will help you in them!

Praying Through, Pt 5

Colossians 4:12. Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

The enemy will use thoughts, circumstances, other people and anything else he can to pressure you in order to move you out of the place of victory and rest.

“Praying through” involves spending time in the Word and prayer until you are strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in your inner man on a daily basis.

Sometimes people “pray through” and experience the manifested presence of God. They have a glorious time in prayer. The mistake they often make is that they think that these are unusual experiences, not often to be repeated.

The truth is that we constantly need a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. We ought to “pray through” daily so that we walk in the consciousness of His presence.

And we also need seasons of prayer where we spend extended time in His presence, having intimate communion with Him, and receiving from Him the grace and revelation that we need for our life and ministry.

Praying Through, Pt 4

Colossians 4:12. Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

Concerning “praying through” for ourselves, on the one hand, you could say that we’re “already through,” in the sense that the Spirit of God is in us and we are in Him.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will never leave us nor forsake us. Through one Spirit we have access unto the Father and we can come boldly into His presence at any time we wish.

It has been said, and rightly so, that we are to “live through,” that is, we should live conscious of His presence continually.

On the other hand, while we’re growing up spiritually, often for one reason or another, we get sidetracked. Through the pressures of daily life, we allow ourselves to get pulled so far into the natural and into our own problems, fears and circumstances, that—although the Lord has not left us—nevertheless, we lose the sense of His presence.

These are times when the enemy and our own thoughts seem to engulf us. We get “bogged down” in unbelief!

That’s when it pays to know how to “dig in” and to “pray through” in order to lay hold of the victory and liberty that belongs to you in Christ!

Praying Through, Pt 3

Colossians 4:12. Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

Epaphras was a man who knew how to “pray through.”

In other words, Epaphras knew how to pray for his brothers and sisters in Christ until he “got the job done.” He didn’t quit until he “nailed it.”

Paul prayed strenuously for the Galatians “until Christ was formed in them.” (Gal 4:19).

This kind of prayer for others requires diligence. It involves some effort. It requires persistence. But it pays rich dividends!

Lives are transformed and destinies are changed through the persistent prayers of people who know how to “pray through”!