RESPONDING TO THE SEARCHLIGHT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have (Luke 8:16-18). It has been said by many that the serial killers, the pedophiles and mass murderers have some of the hardest of hearts. I dont necessarily agree that they had hard hearts, I just think that many of them were genuinely lost and didnt know their left hand from their right. I am under the belief that the hardest hearts are not those in the world, but those who sit in the front pews of many of our churches! In the above verses of scriptures, Jesus reveals a truth that we as believers (especially in this last hour of time) must comes to terms with and embrace in our personal lives. Jesus makes it clear that no one who lights a candle is lighting it to hide the light, but rather to bring the light. Jesus just finished describing the Word of God as seed that the sower went out to sow and the effects that it would have on the different types of soils (hearts) that it fell on (Luke 8:1-15). Now, He was no longer speaking about the Word being seed thats sown into the heart, Hes now speaking of the Word as LIGHT THAT WOULD EXPOSE (search) THE HEART, For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad (Luke 8:16). Jesus is revealing that when the Word of God comes in truth, its working/operation will not only heal us, comforts us or encourages us, but as Light, its primary purpose will be to expose whats deeply within us. Jesus further says, that there is NOTHING that is HIDDEN within our hearts that will not come to light once we are exposed to the truth of His Word. Some of us over the years have grown accustomed to our backslid-den and compromising ways. We have some how created new standards as believers. We feel we can harbor grudges, hate people, slander and gossip behind their backs, resist the voice of the Holy Spirit and still be safe. We clearly and blatantly reject the accountability and personal responsibility that the scriptures place on us and quickly cop out with one of the most popular doctrines of devils, Nobodys perfect. While it is true that no one of us are perfect, do we somehow think that that exempts us from being obedient? Although no one is perfect God does require everyone to be obedient! Let us be honest for one second. Our children are not perfect, but we still expect them to listen to us and obey what we ask. Doesnt your boss expect you to be on time for work and to make sure you perform your job according to description? Will we habitually turn a deaf ear to their blatant disrespect and dishonor just because they are not perfect? Then why beloved does this standard always change when it comes to the Lord? I will say this in the love of God, we may have tampered with the standard/requirement of Biblical obedience within our own minds (and in some of our pulpits), but regardless of what WE THINK, the standard still remains. GOD STILL REQUIRES OBEDIENCE (Luke 14:26-35; 1 Pet 1:14-16)! Sadly, many have become comfortable in the mess theyve gotten ourselves into and all of that sinful junk has settled comfortably into the fabric of our hearts. We treat people whatever way we want to, steal, cuss people out and walk proudly like weve done no wrong. This reveals a heart that is so hard, it no longer recognizes how wrong it is. But beloved, because the Lord loves us passionately and relentlessly, He will NOT allow us to stay like this without at least attempting to pull us out of it! Its at these times, the Lord begins to revisit those areas we have tucked so comfortably away in the dark rooms of our hearts. He sends His Word (His light) to us in truth to challenge us where we have become so complacent with. As the Lord divinely sends His Word, everything we have been hiding in those caverns our hearts are suddenly revealed and exposed to us. Nevertheless, the exposure of our hearts is only the primary part of our healing and deliverance.The most vital part of this equation is, how we respond to the search Light of the Holy Spirit? This will determine everything. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have (Luke 8:18). This is a severe warning that comes directly from the mouth of the Lord. He admonishes us, that when His Word comes and exposes our darkness, we must be careful of HOW WE RESPOND TO IT. Some will take it lightly and write off Gods instruction as legalism, religious and any other thing they can use to stop them from really having to confront their own heart. Others will become angry and take Gods loving challenges as attacks and become offended and harbor more hurt, more bitterness and more hatred. They will run from the search light of Gods presence blaming everyone else for their situation but miss the blessed opportunity to see themselves, repent and be healed. Dearly beloved, we cannot think that we will remain the same after weve been confronted by the search Light of the Holy Spirit. Jesus warns us, Take heed therefore HOW ye hear In other words, there must be a certain carefulness/godly fear that accompanys our responses to the things He (the Holy Spirit) clearly reveals to us. If we respond in humility and in truth, the Lord promises to take those things which are contrary to Him from our hearts and GIVE us MORE of HIM. BUT, if we choose to harden ourselves against the light of His Word, He says even that which we appear to have will be taken. In other words, even the little that we do have that is good in our hearts will become contaminated by the hardening and cementing of our hearts. As believers we must know in this hour, WHENEVER WE RESIST THE CLEAR WARNINGS OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, OUR HEARTS WILL BECOME HARDER TO HEAR HIS WARNINGS THE NEXT TIME. If we are genuinely serious about the Lord, we must honestly ask Him to search our hearts. When He does, we must also ask Him to give us humble/honest hearts to address the things He reveals to us. We are NOT safe as believers while we habitually/knowingly harbor unclean things within our hearts. We can plead the blood of Jesus, rebuke the devil and speak in tongues to our tongues fall out, but if we arent ready to respect and honor God by doing what He clearly asks of us, do you truly think that a devils going to respect/honor our rebuke? Lord ever search our hearts and give us grace to address and come clean with the stuff that you expose that still lives in us. In Jesus name, amen!
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 13:17:30 +0000
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