- araratchurch
- Oct 31, 2023
- 4 min read
“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, So, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.”
Psalms 73:17-24 NKJV
This week we have discussed being mindful of the Lord (being always reverent).
We have discussed the fact that sin caused a chasm between us and God so that we could no longer be directed from our heart.
However, through the work of Jesus Christ, we were cleansed from our sins, putting us back into fellowship with the Lord.
As well, our Lord became the way through which the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, could indwell us. And as such, we can now have the mind of Christ and be directed Heart to heart.
We have also discussed the fact that even spirit-filled Christians, don’t always consistently walk according to the Spirit.
Now, even though we have been given wonderful access to God through the Holy Spirit, if we stay distracted by everything else going on in our lives, never taking time to attend to His voice, then we will not be walking in alignment with His will and purposes.
The Lord, speaking through the psalmist, gives this instruction:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.”
Psalms 32:8-10 NKJV
Yes, the Lord is willing to lead us and guide us. Indeed, He went to the farthest extent to restore us to fellowship with Himself so that we could be guided from His heart, and not just by His commands.
However, if we are not willing to submit to the yoke of Jesus Christ (the Holy Spirit of God), and refuse to follow His leading, then we may well end up being destroyed along with those who profess nothing in terms of salvation, or being filled with the Spirit.
Jesus had been observing the religious leaders who made a great ceremony of their praying. The Lord remarked that they did what they did so that other people would notice what they were doing. He then instructed His disciples to operate differently.
“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
Matthew 6:6 NKJV
Now, of course, the Lord’s main point here was that they should have a true relationship with the Lord, not just a pretense of a relationship with Him for others to see (and admire). But, for our purposes, I want us to consider His instruction to “shut your door.”
Obviously, we can’t always find a secluded place to pray, although that is probably the most ideal scenario for our praying. But, we can close the “door” of our attention. We can close out circumstances, our lust, our troubles, our drama, etc., and enter into the quiet place, the secret place of God.
Face it, getting alone and shutting an actual door so that we are not having interaction with anybody or anything else, will still not serve to put us in that place of complete fellowship with the Lord if the door of our mind is open to everything else.
In our opening Scripture we see the psalmist finding the answer to an urgent crisis by going into God’s sanctuary.
You see, the psalmist was embittered by the fact that he saw wicked people seemingly “getting by,” while he was suffering. In the sanctuary of the Lord, he was able to look past his present suffering and bitterness, to see that the end of the wicked is destruction, whereas, he was being guided in this life by the Lord, and after this life, would be taken to a glorious eternity.
Now, I imagine the psalmist was referencing literally going into the house of God. But, that which brings us peace in our heart and our mind, comes from BECOMING the house of God, letting Him fill us with His Spirit while we are closing everything else out.
Given, life happens. And it is true that we must attend to the needs and operations of our living. However, we must not fail to take the time to make sure that we are not forfeiting our fellowship with the Lord by always attending to everything else in the world, other than His voice.
Remember, if we will trust in the Lord and attend to His voice, if we will always be mindful of Him, He will guide us in this life and be with us even in death.
“For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death.”
Psalms 48:14 NKJV
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Oct 27, 2023
- 4 min read
“Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
II Corinthians 3:12-18 NKJV
Earlier this week we discussed how Jesus told His disciples that they could have perfect union with the Father through Him (and only through Him).
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
John 15:4-6 NKJV
In that same discourse, the Lord shared with the disciples that He was now dealing with them as friends. Now He was clearly telling them what He was going to do.
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 NKJV
Yet, as we discussed yesterday, there were still things that they would not be able to understand until the Holy Spirit was given.
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”
John 16:12-13 NLT
Imagine, not only can we understand the things of God (by way of the Holy Spirit), we can delve deeply into His thoughts and purposes.
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-12, 16 NLT
We are no longer alienated from the Lord’s heart; we can now share His very thoughts! We have His mind!
Look at the way the Amplified Bible puts 1 Corinthians 2:16.
“For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].”
1 Corinthians 2:16 AMP
As well, we can pray in alignment with the will of God.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see the apostle Paul likening having the Holy Spirit in us, to a veil being removed.
As you may remember, we have discussed the fact that the children of Israel were afraid to look at Moses after he had been with the Lord because of the glow coming from his face.
We now have no need to fear harm from the glory of God. He has redeemed us and given us His very Spirit. And, His Spirit affirms to us that we are His children.
“For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”
Romans 8:16-17a NLT
As His own children, we no longer need to have a veil separating us from Him.
Since ancient times, wedding traditions of many cultures have included the lifting of the veil off the bride’s face as she entered into the union of marriage with her groom. The removing of her veil indicated that she is now entering into an intimate relationship in which she will have perfect union with her groom.
Child of God, the work of Jesus Christ made a way for us to have a perfect union with our Lord. The veil has been lifted. We no longer can just know ABOUT Him; we can truly know Him. Yes, we can truly know His heart!
Peace to you.
Jesus coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Oct 27, 2023
- 4 min read
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
Matthew 11:27-30 NKJV
The cross of Jesus Christ is what made our redemption possible. Yes, He died our death so that we could be restored to fellowship with God and live His new life.
Now, as we have been discussing, through Sin, man was lost, he was no longer capable of being led from his own heart by the heart of God.
Redemption made it possible for the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in us so that we could live the resurrected life of Jesus Christ.
Now, John the baptist spoke of the fact that Jesus would offer a baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11 NKJV
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as being a good gift from the Father.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!””
Luke 11:13 NKJV
As well, Jesus spoke of the gift of the Spirit on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:37-39 NKJV
John’s commentary on this event informs that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit Who would come when Jesus was glorified (when He returned to the Father).
As the time drew near for our Lord to be offered up, He began to speak to the disciples about what would happen after He was gone.
Indeed, Jesus told them that His going away was necessary for them to be able to receive the Helper, the Holy Spirit of God.
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
John 16:5-7 NKJV
Jesus explained to the disciples that the things they could not currently understand would be clarified to them by the Holy Spirit.
““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:12-15 NKJV
In fact, before His ascension, Jesus instructed the disciples to wait in the city of Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
“Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.””
Luke 24:46-49 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see Jesus inviting us to come under His yoke; and that in doing so, we would be taught by Him.
Indeed, the yoke of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit of God, the wonderful gift made possible for us to receive through the work of Jesus Christ.
We no longer have to live disconnected from the heart of God. Now the Holy Spirit of God can speak directly to our hearts, telling us everything we need to know.
We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!