Monday, January 31, 2022

WHAT DID PASTOR PREACH ON THIS MORNING?

 

How Much Can You Remember? 

Holy Spirit Reminds Us, Teaches Us and Gives Us Peace

John 14  Part 6





On any given Sunday, while driving home from church, how much do you
remember of your pastor’s awesome sermon? I am not a good a good auditory learner so by the time I’m half way home I’ve forgotten at least 80 to 90%. The disciples spent three years learning directly from Jesus and He knew that between not really understanding all He said, and His complete understanding of people, they forgot most of what He said too. But everything Jesus said and did was very important for the future of mankind and He had the remedy ready. These two verses so clearly proclaim the promise. Holy Spirit would not just remind us of what Jesus said, but would teach us all things.

John 14:25   “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

26   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Holy Spirit communicates with us in so many different ways. Look at this list; I’m sure you probably can add to it, so please add by commenting on the blog.

https://americanbible.org/


Ø He opens our heart level understanding of the Bible as we read it daily.

Ø He inspires people to say things that touch our hearts, especially spouses and others close to us.

Ø He orchestrates the circumstances of our lives to teach us important life lessons and works all things together for our good.

Ø We hear pastors and teachers and often there is something that sticks.

Ø He brings conviction of sin so that we can repent quickly and get back on track.

Ø Anointed worship teams use music that so often speaks to the heart.

Ø He anoints people to proclaim prophetic words and all the other manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit.

Just think about every word in the Bible. Every word from every author was inspired by Holy Spirit to teach us how to live, to teach us the lessons of the legacy of people and events from Genesis through Revelation. It’s incomprehensibly amazing to ponder how much Holy Spirit is involved in our lives every day.


The Lord had another important thing to accomplish in speaking to the disciples and to us. These next two verses reflect the Lord’s desire for us to have peace because of the things He said.

John 14:27   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 16:33   These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Some of us don’t remember specifics very well. Are you like me, the Christian that can rarely quote chapter and verse without looking it up? The Lord knows that if we are left to our limited brain power we will forget the specific things He said that we need for every situation. Not knowing what to do or what to say in situations can cause us to be fearful, worried, not at peace. Thankfully, we are not limited by our finite brains; Holy Spirit is always right there to bring what we need to remembrance or to impart the wisdom and grace we need to handle it. That makes me, and I hope you, want to shout Hallelujah. Thank God for John 14:26.

https://www.crosswalk.com/
This brings us to an important aspect of hearing, of listening to however Holy Spirit is communicating with us.

Romans 10:17   So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.



That hearing may be a scripture, but when it is, that’s spiritual hearing, that “the verse seemed to leap off the page,” is what this verse refers to. Yes, we can stand on every promise, every word in the Bible as we should, however, sometimes without that breath of the Spirit bringing a personal revelation, quoting scripture can be a presumptuous wish, not a prayer of faith. Presumption tries to put mind over matter. A prayer of faith has the expectation of God’s intervention in the situation. It’s when that ink on the page (or words on whichever phone Bible app you’re using) becomes alive; the Logos word becomes a Rhema word, in your inner man. When our hearts and mind are in tune with Holy Spirit, in sync with God’s heartbeat, we receive this faith that comes from such hearing. There is never any doubt when you know you have heard from God. Please be careful, however, concerning major decisions, there is wisdom in getting sound council from your pastor or other church leaders who know you and you trust.



God intends for us to have peace, to be at peace, all the time. The word peace occurs 397 times in the Bible. The concept of peace is greatly misconstrued in most people’s understanding. Peace is not the absence of war, of fighting, destruction killing or adversity. The peace the Lord is talking about is an inner peace; it’s something we can experience even in the midst of the most horrible of circumstances. Let’s look at this verse again,

John 14:27   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

This peace we see is a gift from God. In almost every epistle, Paul wrote that he prays the phrase, “grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” for the churches. Paul and Silas had so much peace that they sang and worshipped the Lord in a horrible jail cell in the middle of the night. The Lord caused the earth to quake; He broke off the chains and opened all the prison doors in response. In the midst of horrible circumstance they had nothing to worry about and acted in faith – real faith that came from Holy Spirit. Turn the sound up and watch this short video, you'll taste HIS peace.


Are you catching the message about What Makes Jesus Tick? Jesus set the example of hearing from God and walking in obedience, empowered by the Spirit do whatever the Father led Him to do or say. Walking in the Spirit is our key to living without fear for the Lord said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Such a level of communication with God is our source for wisdom and grace to go through all the stuff of life, just as Jesus did. We will only accomplish all God has called us to if we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1   Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Holy Spirit works overtime to help us exchange the works of the flesh for the gifts of the Spirit. Look up Galatians 5:19-24 to see the difference spelled out. Oh, the freedom to be experienced as we lay aside those weights of the flesh and receive the fruit of the Spirit. Another thing that Makes Jesus Tick is for us to be at peace, and full of those fruits so that we can run that race to the finish line successfully.

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Holy Spirit to be in our hearts, that we can receive the Baptism of Holy Spirit and be saturated with Him. Help us to listen to the reminders, teachings and direction provided by that Presence. May our hearts always be in sync with Your’s. In Jesus Name we ask for Your guidance.  Amen


Thursday, January 6, 2022

PEACE OF MIND AND HEART

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD = 

 PEACE OF MIND AND HEART

John 14  Part 5

 Union with the Father and the Son is Newness of Life


John 14:19-24 describes the perhaps the biggest “WOW!” in the entire Bible. They describe the intertwined connections between Jesus, the Father and the people who, motivated by love, obediently follow HIM. Jesus has such a heart level understanding of the Father’s heart, and a love for the Father, that it is the motivation for everything HE says and does. We can grow in that as we grow in the same understanding of God’s heart. It’s not a pipe dream; it’s not bondage to legalism; it’s newness of life that is filled with eternal peace, joy and love for God and people.

 John 14:19 starts out with a great promise, one every Christ follower will cherish with thankfulness:

John 14:19   After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.

Whenever we think of our own salvation, we realize that we are only alive because Jesus is alive. Say it out loud, “I am alive because HE is alive.” This new life is filled with hope, purpose, assurance and reason to confidently press on through every obstacle of life. There is no doubt I would not have lived to see the age of 22 had I not gotten saved when I was 20.

Think of the implications of this reality as they apply to how we live. The benefit

of this new life requires us to turn around, turn from the life we lived before and to surrender the sins that the Lord shows us are not according to His standard (the Bible) for our life. We don’t come under a set of rules and regulations that are a continual burden we can’t carry. Instead we begin a life led by the Holy Spirit. Following His lead becomes an integral part of who we are. God supplies the Grace and power to enable true repentance at the heart level followed by that same grace and supernatural power to obey every direction He leads us in. All we need do is choose to yield to that leading only. When we see the goodness and love of God at that level, we change; we begin to exchange our old nature for God’s character developing in us. I met Jesus 50 years ago and I still rejoice in increasing levels of freedom from those things that are not according to God’s standard for my life. This process so wonderfully shows us What Makes Jesus Tick.

The next verse takes us a step further into grasping the intellectually incomprehensible connections within the Godhead and with other believers. Don’t try to figure it out, just accept it all by faith and knowing the Bible is absolute Truth and we live in “that day.”


Look at it this way:

Ø Jesus is The Father

Ø The heart of every believer is in Jesus

Ø Jesus is in the heart of every believer

The cost for the second two bullet points is nothing to be taken lightly or for granted. It’s only by the blood of Jesus, the Father’s sacrifice of His Son and His resurrection from that death for us, that we can enter into this eternal relationship with the King of the Universe. The first part of the next verse describes the metric to evaluate if we are walking in this absolutely amazing reality of relationship with Jesus and the Father.

John 14: 21   The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father…” [AMP]

And, as we saw in the previous blog, John 14 part 4, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER

John 14: 15   “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.  [AMP]

Remember, this was not a stern, unexplained “Because I said so!” These verses demonstrate how much God wants a close, loving relationship with people. The Lord so simply and specifically tells us what our part is in making this happen. Even young children can grasp it. Good parents and good leaders need to follow this example. Let’s break down verse 21 into 3 phrases.

1)   “The person who has My commandments”

2 Timothy 2:15   Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. [AMP]

Do you read your Bible daily? Not just read it like reading the headlines on some news website, but prayerfully finding nuggets of truth to take to heart? Do you sense the Lord showing you something to share with others as you think about what you’re reading? Or, here’s the kicker, is that point in the Sunday service when the pastor starts to preach your signal to sit back, relax and perhaps allow yourself to doze off a bit?

2)    And keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me

How do your spouse, children and perhaps grand children know you really love them? We have to learn their love language in order to communicate our love for them in a way they understand. (You can learn more on this at https://www.verywellmind.com/can-the-five-love-languages-help-your-relationship-4783538. )  I think God speaks and understands all five love languages and obedience to the Word of God is part of each one.

1.     Words of affirmation

2.     Quality time

3.     Physical touch

4.     Acts of service

5.     Receiving gifts

The second part of verse 21 makes me want to shout Hallelujah, especially this Christmas season,

3)   and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].

Doesn’t the Christmas story make Jesus real to you? The whole story of the life of Jesus should never become so familiar to us that we take any event in it for granted. It’s all revelation of God’s heart, it all describes What Makes Jesus Tick. There is much more to understand and experience about the Manifest Presence of God and for that I refer you to the writings of Walter Beutler. (see https://wadetaylor.org/manifest-presence-of-god-2/  There is a lot there; it’s all “better felt than telt.” )


My life was so drastically changed on 12/17/1971 when I first experienced the supernatural manifest presence. I met Jesus in a eal and unmistakable, supernatural way. I knew in an instant that  Jesus is the King of the universe, that includes of me, and that the Bible is absolute truth. Addiction to HIS Presence replaces all other dependencies and fills life with the joy of the Lord. God will continually reveal Himself to us and our lifelong love affair with Him grows and motivates us to be more and more like HIM. Our union with the Father and the Son is truly our source of peace of mind and heart in all circumstances. Thank God for this newness of life.

Prayer:   Lord, please stir our hearts to love YOU more. Give us unending grace and strength to live this wonderful life of obedience to our LOVING KING AND SAVIOR JESUS. Let YOUR love flow through us and touch the lives of the people we come in contact with. Amen.

 

WHAT DID PASTOR PREACH ON THIS MORNING?

  How Much Can You Remember?  Holy Spirit Reminds Us, Teaches Us and Gives Us Peace John 14  Part 6 On any given Sunday, while driving hom...