THERE IS REST IN THE GOSPEL Christ “IN” us “THR us “AS” us! Books authored by Christians run the risk of man being the center of their messages or man centered. They address mans needs with most of their teaching centered on God as man’s need-meter. These authors lead us to believe that we are the center of the universe but once you begin to understand and have revelation of who Jesus is, you will know that Jesus is the center. I can speak from experience that I was taught that I Tommy Hawk is the center of the universe. You hurt me or you did something that I didn’t like and I will cut you off and I will not forgive you. It was all about me. We wouldn’t ever think or speak it out loud, but we can live and speak as if God is here for us. I was taught God is here to bless you, make you rich, fight the Devil and life would be a bowl of cherries. God has to respond to your faith because I am naming and claiming it. If I just do the right things God is obligated to bless me. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm” (Ephesians 1:31) Isn’t it amazing when you are in error as I was that you can read over this scripture and totally miss or reject what it says? Was it God’s intent to bless us? Absolutely and as a matter of fact according to the above scripture He has (Past Tense) already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4a).” That is amazing that He chose us had a purpose for us before time began. Now the next question I had for many years was; what is my purpose? You may be reading this right now and have the same question. The Lord is much more interested in your fellowship than He is your service. He paid a great price to open the door that we could have fellowship with Him. “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee” Acts 26:16. In Paul’s vision, this was not an emotion that he forgot about in a hour or a day, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him. The Lord spoke to him in effect, your whole life is to be overmastered by ME: you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but MINE. “I have chosen him.” When we are born again, we all have visions. If we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained. It is not sufficient, that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. The Lord is much more interested in your fellowship than He is your service. He paid a great price to open the door that we could have fellowship with Him. I remember in the woods one day, the Lord spoke to me, “The Devil is not after your marriage, children, finances, or even your ministry primarily, he wants to steal this time that you spend with me each day. If he (Satan) can steal that, everything else falls to him like lined up dominos.” Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus. Acts 26:16 is immensely commanding....‘‘to make thee a minister and a witness.” There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a person not to a cause or a ministry. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing else, he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 01:10:47 +0000
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