At first, when I read these two passages, I became convinced that when I wanted more of God in my life, that I should not expect anything, that I was expected to remain minimal, cool, and collected.
Here is one of the passages that really got my attention:
"Are you seeking great things for yourself? Not seeking to be a great one, but seeking great things from God for yourself. God wants you in a closer relationship to Himself than receiving His gifts, He wants you to get to know Him. A great thing is accidental, it comes and goes. God never gives us anything accidental. There is nothing easier than getting into a right relationship with God except when it is not God Whom you want but only what He gives."
I cannot be a great one, I cannot be anything beyond Christ Himself is in me.
The problem in seeking great things is that they are not great enough! Jesus Christ is everything to the believer, salvation, redemption, sanctification, wisdom. . .
The bigger problem in seeking great thing is that WE HAVE THEM ALREADY!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" (Ephesians 1:3)
and
"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" (2 Peter 1:1-3)
Take another look at those two verses! "Blessed with all spiritual blessings"; "things that pertain unto life and godliness" Ladies and Gentlemen of the Body of Christ, we already have all things, all blessings.
Read also the promise in Galatians:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
"Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23)
You need love? The Holy Spirit supplies it!
You need joy? The Holy Spirit gives birth to it! All I have to do is believe it; He conceives it, He achieves it, and thus we receive it.
Then how do we respond to Chambers' caution?:
"If you have only come the length of asking God for things, you have never come to the first strand of abandonment, you have become a Christian from a standpoint of your own. "I did ask God for the Holy Spirit, but He did not give me the rest and the peace I expected." Instantly God puts His finger on the reason – you are not seeking the Lord at all, you are seeking something for yourself."
On the contrary, we are supposed to ask God for things! We are supposed to ask Him for everything!
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
"Freely give" -- freely give, freely, give, free! With Christ! The problem for some people is that they try to get all things from some other source. We receive all these things through Christ! Christ cannot play second to any need because He is the sole source of these needs!
Also, the fact that someone asks for the Holy Spirit in order to get peace betrays a great misunderstanding of who the Holy Spirit is!
He is our peace! We cannot divorce our peace from Christ, from the Holy Spirit. God is Love; He is our Love! We cannot talk about God loving us as if they are two separate events! He is Love -- this in no way cheapens His intense passionate caring for you and me! It enhances it!
So, why settle for one fruit of the Spirit? All the nine fruits are treated as a composite whole!
In effect, we ask for one thing and do not receive because of unbelief, unbelief because we are misinformed. It's already in us by the Holy Spirit, but we do not access it any other way but by faith!
God is not just satisfied with giving us peace, He gives us Himself, for He is our peace, and He lives and dwells in us to give out this Peace, with all the other fruits!
Therefore, Jesus called for us to abide in Him and receive all that He has freely given us!
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
Hallelujah!
No comments:
Post a Comment