It seems to me . . .
by Bob Beanblossom
March 2016
It seems to me that we need to assess our lives now and then to see where we have come from and how the journey is progressing toward where we want to go. It is a journey more than a trip–we spend more time on indistinct paths than super highways.
Our relationship with God thru the grace of Jesus Christ and the personal leadership of the Holy Spirit should be the benchmark, the anchor point for our lives.
Rev. Reuben Torrey explains it this way: our goal in seeking to get more out of the Holy Spirit is so that we will be available for the Holy Spirit to get more out of us.
My quest is an attempt to acquire a growing understanding of the God who created us, who saves us from eternal damnation through our acceptance of the sacrifice of His righteous Son, and who fills us with His presence as the Spirit of God. The goal is relational, leading to worship and service by way of a maturing relationship with Him rather than simply intellectual knowledge.
Yet, we must accept that out God is ineffable. There is in each Christian a crossover point where rational knowledge must yield to faith—not in fairy tales, but informed faith conformed to His revealed Word: the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. As we grow in Christian maturity, our knowledge of his Word drives increasing faith that in turn drives our curious inquiry into the depths of His creation to flesh-out our knowledge. This further fuels a cycle that may be immeasurably heightened rather than ended when we meet Him face-to-face according to my pastor, Rev. Freeman Weems. What a thought!
If you are going to join me on this journey through some of the other papers in this series, you will find one very serious disclaimer: an understanding, at any level, of our God is impossible to the unsaved. What is available is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit—that unsettling feeling or knowledge that you are in direct opposition to your Creator. If you are interested, find a Bible and look up Ephesians 4:18. The solution is available immediately if you but react to the urging of the Holy Spirit, confess your utter and complete sinful condition, and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. In your Bible, again, look up John 3:16. This may be a familiar passage to you. Go back and start with verse 1, reading thru verse 21. You find the story of one just like you and the solution that Jesus had for him. Be aware that this shouldn’t be taken lightly. We are talking about decisions that will have eternal consequences.
It follows, then, that spiritual growth, that is, an ever-improving relationship with God, comes not from the intellectual exercise of reading or meditating, from superficial Bible reading to meet goals of action (‘read your Bible thru in . . .’ or even memorizing Scripture as an end rather than a means of), or even listening to the best of sermons as a passive observer. Instead, it comes from a conscious casting off of conflicting activities and pursuing God in an integrated, inseparable, undefinable combination of prayer, fasting, worship, Bible study, and gathering of related or background information to ‘flesh-out’ the word, assuming an attitude of openness to the leadership of the Spirit. The Word of God is indeed sufficient unto itself as the complete source of God’s revealed Word for us. But, that is not at all the same as saying that we are sufficient. God has given us a world full of resources from which to learn, and has provided us with access to His granting of discernment to select, and wisdom to use those resources. I am amazed at folk who quote current religious writers continually while denying the veracity or usefulness of information from writers and archaeology contemporary with the Scripture. This is a logical contradiction.
Tozer, distinguished between “Bible taught” (an intellectual endeavor) or “Spirit taught” (the truths of God hidden in our hearts where the Holy Spirit is free to illuminate our understanding). The first produces a shallow ‘Sunday’s Child’ that is subject to the waves and winds of opinion while the latter produces those Christians who repel the world and delight their Father in Heaven. These Christians are not among the most popular people, in or out of church.
Risking being misunderstood by the religious, it comes down to this: it is not the letter of the text but the Spirit in the text, and ultimately in each of us individually, that sets the Christian apart, that sanctifies.
I have posted these essays in no particular order. If you are still with me, browse at your pace. Feel quite free to disagree with me, just be sure that your position is consistent with the Word—not a ‘proof verse’ or two, but whatever source you use, use in complete context. If unclear, follow the trail until you find clarification, for “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Still, remember that faith and patience are an integral part of drawing closer to God. Our attitude is vital. Paul, in Ephesians 4;1, identifies himself as “the prisoner of the Lord . . .” This is a good model for us.