You cant stay faithful on your o By Scott Wilson When Jesus leaves his disciples after the resurrection, he has to talk them out of being worried. I don’t blame them. I can imagine how they must have felt. They’ve been back and forth between the best and worst of emotions, first losing the man who was supposed to be the fulfillment of their greatest hope, then without much warning, getting him back. I’m imagining they were thinking, “Okay Jesus. Now what?” To which he replies, I’m leaving. “You can’t follow me now, but you can follow me later.” (John 13:36) Can you imagine? Talk about confusion and fear. Sometimes I think we feel like this, as Christians. We meet Jesus and have a powerful, life-changing encounter with Him. Then, since we can’t go to Heaven yet, we figure we should just hold on and do our best to be faithful to the things Jesus has asked us to do (even if we aren’t totally sure what that is). It can feel scary, tiring and confusing. But what if we’re missing the best part of the Gospel? Listen to what Jesus tells his disciples when he leaves them behind to prepare their eternal home. He says, I am going to send you a friend, a helper, an advocate, a counselor — one who will help you stay faithful to me. He never expected the disciples to have the power to stay faithful on their own. He never expects them to be holding on, waiting for their chance to go to Heaven. He doesn’t expect that from us either. He is calling us and inviting us and asking us to receive the Holy Spirit and begin ushering in the Kingdom of Heaven, right now. “On earth as it is in Heaven” is literally the Lord’s prayer. We can’t do any of this without the spirit of God in our lives. The Spirit will reveal the depths of Jesus’ love for you. When you receive the power of the spirit of God in your life, you suddenly experience the breadth and depth of his love for you. There is no greater feeling of peace, contentment or joy. All the lies you’ve believed about yourself fade away. The truth is ushered in. Suddenly, you’re capable of things you never realized you were capable of and you can minister in ways you were never able to minister before because no hurt, fear or insecurity is holding you back. You’re resting in the safety of his love for you. The Spirit does this. When you know God, you have access to this, all day, every day. The Spirit will teach you about Jesus in ways no one else can teach you. It’s one thing to read the scriptures like you read a textbook. It’s something else entirely to read them and ask the Spirit of God to illuminate them for you, to make the words alive and awake in a way they are distinctly and perfectly applicable in your life. One gives you facts about God, the other gives your access to the intimate places in God’s heart. What is more powerful and life-giving — knowing facts about a person, or knowing their essence and their soul? Which makes for a more intimate relationship? The spirit gives you access to this kind of intimacy with God, all the time. Listen to how Paul says it in 1 Cor. 2:9-12: But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,nor the heart of man imagined,what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. The Spirit will open your eyes to the truth about yourself. The Spirit of God knows you intimately. He made you, after all, so he knows the truth about you, and can separate the truth from the lies. If you’re willing to listen to him, to respond to His critique, and to be obedient, you will grow and change and become more like Him. He can show you the evil in your heart. He can open your eyes to your sin and compromise. He can peel back the layers of selfishness and pride you don’t even realize are still there, and he can whisper to you the things that would please Jesus. Meanwhile, He holds you in the grip of God’s grace. Are you trying to be “stay faithful” without Him? Is it working?
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 14:11:27 +0000
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