At a recent funeral and also a wedding I attended last weekend, I saw many people I hadn’t seen in a long time, many who have known me to be in better health. When friends would attempt to speak to me and ask a question, they were not able to hear my response because of my faint, monotone, slow speech. I’m sure this is uncomfortable for them since it’s difficult to carry on a conversation with me without an interpreter (usually a family member). They seem to question whether I can hear them; so they talk louder. My indiscernible voice is misleading!! Many times, people feel so awkward that they politely excuse themselves and walk away. What is frustrating is that I do desire to communicate and joke with them (although my timing is off). I know exactly what I want to say but because of my articulation, complicated by excess saliva, my words come out slow and unintelligible and are interrupted between pauses for spitting. Unless a person is willing to patiently take the time, get close enough to hear me and make an effort to understand what I am saying; my words would simply be lost and unable to be shared.   These reoccurring situations in public are greatly discouraging for me.  

God has helped me to see that this was the same way that I have treated Him. He showed me that even though I may have wanted to hear a word from him, I was unwilling to draw near to hear His voice in my spirit man. He showed me how often I would choose to give in to the needs of my body and emotions without having an ear to listen to what the Spirit was saying to my greatest need. Or how I would let my mind wander drifting away to think about selfish and earthly things instead of patiently waiting to listen to the one whom has the words of life. Other times, I have been too busy, preoccupied, in too big of a hurry to accomplish something “important” for God but was really just being self-occupied, not willing to take the time to worship Him through my spirit man.  The Holy Spirit began ministering to me the verse; Jn. 4:24 “God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” The reason we must worship the Lord in spirit is because that is the only part of us that can commune with Him. Trusting in sight, our eyes will not bring us into the presence of God because they are blinded to the spirit (Jn 12:40).

We need our ears and eyes to have the scales removed from them so that we can truly worship God. We need the Spirits illumination. This only happens when we die to our self life (our flesh) and live by faith in Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Gal 2:20. 

The Holy Spirit is the life-giving Spirit; we need to remain in a heart posture of communion in our spirit to meet Christ throughout our day. When we live outside of the “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17) we live “the life of the flesh which is in the blood” (Lev 17:11) (self effort, self works) but when we choose to live the life of the spirit we are choosing to live our life in Christ’s finished work blood (Jn 19:30) (Christ’s effort, Christ’s work). We can only live this spirit-filled life through Christ. Help us Lord to open the eyes and ears of our hearts to know who we really are through Your Word, and Your Spirit. 

Life is very short compared to eternity; this is why we must not waste any opportunity we have to live in this life by His Spirit and in His power. We have to ask Jesus to help us see beyond our immediate situation. There are some things in life that are more important than what you are facing now – understanding that God loves you and has a plan for your life, a deeper purpose than just to suffer. He won’t waste your sufferings, they are precious to Him, but He wants you to look beyond your pain and into His promises for you. God is not a man that would lie, His Word is true, and He only asks us to believe it by faith. We must believe without seeing and be patient until what we believe for manifests from the spiritual realm to the physical. If I had not believed that God had a plan for my life, I would have been so bitter and negative. But I have a dream, we all should have dreams. When our dreams match up with Gods word we can be confidently assured they will come to pass. Abraham was a man of faith but he had to step outside of his tent and take a look at all the stars of God’s promises before he began his journey of faith. God’s promises to Abraham gave him the capacity to dream for something beyond what he could perceive with his natural senses. 

Abraham heard from God through his Spirit not his flesh, trusting God to lead him to the Promised Land. When we are in Gods presence hearing from Him you will know where you are going, and then with your eyes fixed on this hope, all the bumps in the road will not affect you. When you go through hard times, the Spirit will quicken you to remember Gods promises to you. You will be able to stand strong against overwhelming tribulations because you know Jesus will never leave or forsake you; and has already overcome the world for you Jn 16:33. God speaks to us today through his Son Jesus who is the Word and through His Spirit; to anyone that is available with spiritual ears to hear. Mk 7:16. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.