Who do you think you are?

The Father's testimony

"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved." John 5:31-34

"As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" Matthew 3:16,17

Jesus lived from the Father's testimony about him. Even Jesus did not depend on his own testimony about himself, nor the testimony of godly men concerning him. The only testimony that he considered valid was the testimony of the Father concerning him. Jesus, therefore, lived by faith in the testimony of the Father. After his baptism, Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted. The devil challenged the testimony Jesus had from the Father saying, "If you are the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus, however, trusted in the Father's testimony about him.

A new identity

The apostle Paul lived by faith in his new identity in Christ. He regarded his old identity that was based on his education, his heritage, his intellect, his zeal, and his self-righteousness as "rubbish" compared to knowing Christ and finding his identity in Him (Philippians 3:4-11). Paul lived from the reality of his new identity in Christ saying, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Key motivation

Just as Paul lived from the spiritual reality of his new identity in Christ, so he appealed to the Church to live their lives according to the testimony from heaven and the spiritual truth of their new identity in Christ. Paul understood that the believers' key motivation to live godly lives was to believe and live according to their new identity in Christ.

In his letter to the saints in Colosse, Paul writes,

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with hm in glory." Colossians 3:1-4

Paul appeals to the truth of what Christ has done, is doing and will do. He reminds the Church that they have been raised with Christ (past), that they live with Him in God (present) and that they will be found in Him when He returns (future). Consequently, Paul exhorts the Church to put off her old identity and behaviour and to live in her new identity as "God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved" (Colossians 3:12).

Over and over again in his letters to the Church, Paul reminds the believers about their new identity in Christ in order to move them to live godly lives. He reminds the believers that they are not their own anymore and that they are the temple of the Holy Spirit as the key motivation to avoid sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 8:12-16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1). He explains how believers belong to one another as the Body of Christ as the key motivation to serve one another (Romans 12:4,5). Paul reminds the believers that they are no longer darkness but light in the Lord and so should live as children of light because that is their new identity in Christ (Ephesians 5:8-14).

Life of faith

We see, therefore, that the life of faith is about living in the truth of what God says about us - the Father's testimony about us - because of what Christ has done, is doing and will do. Those who live in the truth of their new identity in Christ will put off the old and put on the new. They will live as God's people who belong to Him and to one another because they know that they are sons of God and that they are the Body of Christ. 

Living according to identity

What attitude or behaviour needs to change in your life if you truly believe the following testimony about your new identity in Christ?

• You are a new creation in Christ, created in Him to do good works. 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:10
• Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19,20
• You are a member of the Body of Christ. 1 Cor 12:27
• You are holy. Col 3:12
• You are light. Eph 5:8-12
• You are a citizen of heaven. Phil 3:20

These are just a few of the wonderful truths that apply to the believer. Faith in the truth of who we are in Christ should motivate us to live according to our new lives in Christ.  

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

How do I discover my gifts?

There is no unemployment in the Kingdom of God. God has given each member of the Church "gifts according to the grace given us" (Romans 12:6). That means that God has graced each one of us to serve each another in different ways. The question is, "What gifts have I received and what am I supposed to do with them?"

The purpose of the gifts

"Freely you have received, freely give!" Matthew 10:8

Firstly we must understand that God's gifts are freely given to us. We cannot earn them. 

Secondly we must understand that the gifts God gives us are not meant to be self-serving but are given to serve others. In view of what God has done for us (His mercy), God calls us to no longer live for ourselves but for God and others. This change of attitude comes about as we change the way we think about our lives and consider what God desires. The pattern of the world is self-centredness and self-gratification but the way of the Kingdom is other-consciousness and living for the benefit of others. As the believer lives a life of dying to self and living for God, s/he lives as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1-3). 

Thirdly we must understand that God gives us gifts to be used in our lives and not only in the context of the Church organisation or meeting! Too often Christians live as unemployed people because they apparently haven't found their ministry in the Church. That is a very limited view of why God gives His children gifts! Jesus empowered His disciples to demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the world by their freely giving what they had received (see Matthew 10:8; Acts 3:1-10; 6:1-8).

Paul writes,

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere." Romans 12:6-9

We must learn to use our gifts as the Church and not just in the Church. As God's people, God has gifted us to demonstrate God's love by prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, being generous, leading, showing mercy and simply loving others. All these gifts should be used in the context of the Church meeting/organisation/organism as well as in the world.

How do I discover my gifts?

Look at what you already enjoy doing.

There are all sorts of complicated questionnaires one can answer to discover one's gifts. However, it really isn't that complicated. Here are a few easy questions to ask yourself to realise what you already have received.

How do you like to serve others most?

Do you like doing them a favour? (serve)

Do you like to encourage them verbally? (prophesy)

Do you like helping people to know something? (teach)

Do you like to give people gifts? (be generous)

Do you like to influence people positively? (lead)

Do you like giving to the needy? (show mercy)

Do you like to be a shoulder to cry on? (be compassionate)

Do you like being creative to bless others? (cook, create, paint, play music etc)

Do you like to keep things in order? (administrate)

Do you like to bring people and facts together? (manage)

And so on...

Look at what you do that produces positive results (good fruit).

Have a look at what you do that blesses others and even ask others what they think you are good at!

If something costs you a lot of effort and stress to produce, it probably isn't one of your gifts.

What book of the Bible do you find yourself in mostly?

I have found that we are drawn to the gifting we carry. Our worship leaders hang around the Psalms, our prophets hang around the prophets and I tend to hang around the apostle Paul. Whose life in the Bible do you admire most? Ok, apart from Jesus?

Eagerly desire the gifts

God wants us to desire more gifts so that we can demonstrate His love in more ways. The primary motivation to desire the gifts of God must be love and the desire to use the gifts for the benefit of others. 

Use what you have

As you use the little you think you have, God will give you more to steward. It's a Kingdom principle (Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Cor. 9:6).

I encourage you to realise the gifts you have received and to use them diligently to bless others within the Church and in the world. Realise God's greater purpose for giving you His gifts and freely give what you have freely received.

Are you building godly strongholds?

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Every thought that one receives, owns, relies on, defends and acts upon is a stronghold. The Greek word that we translate as stronghold (ochuroma) describes a castle, fortress, fastness; anything which one relies on; arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent.

Negative and positive strongholds

A stronghold is either negative or positive, a lie or truth. Whatever thought a person chooses to accept or receive, own or possess, rely or depend on, protect or defend and act upon is a stronghold in that person's life whether it is a lie or the truth.

Source of strongholds

Our thinking is formed by various sources of information. These include,

• Information from others (parents, friends, colleagues, media, literature, teachers, psychologists, etc.)
• Information derived from experience.
• Information derived from circumstances.
• Information from God.
• Information from Satan.

Whatever information we trust as the truth, we will accept, receive, own, rely on, defend and act on.

Deceptive assumptions

For example if a friend walks in the room and is unresponsive to you, you begin to think all sorts of things and have to choose what you think is true. If you choose to believe that the friend is upset with you, you accept that as the truth, you receive it, own it, depend on it and eventually defend it. Consequently this belief or assumption is the truth for you until disproved. However, every subsequent information or observed behaviour will be used to justify the belief and thus strengthen the stronghold. If the stronghold is further strengthened by faulty assumptions, you can become so convinced that you are right that even when the friend genuinely tries to convince you that he is not upset with you but had a headache, you still won't believe him. You have built a stronghold that you are now even defending! The initial information you received has been turned into a negative stronghold that is based on a lie - a false perception and subsequent false assumption strengthened to become a stronghold.

A battle of the mind

A battle is going on for our minds. Satan wants us to build ungodly strongholds whereas God wants us to build godly strongholds. Much of our thinking needs to be changed so that we live godly lives. That is why the apostle Paul urges believers to have their minds renewed in order to be Christ-like (Rom. 12:2).

Ungodly strongholds

Strongholds that are built on lies are ungodly fortresses that need to be torn down and replaced with the truth of God. Ungodly strongholds are exposed when we accept and receive the word of God as the truth. The writer to the Hebrews describes the word of God as "living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:12,13). In other words, the word of God exposes whether our thinking is in accordance with the truth or not.

Exposing lies

Ungodly thinking must be replaced by godly thinking before it becomes a stronghold that governs one's life. Paul says we must "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ." The believer must keep his thinking in check and always identify negative thinking in the light of God's word. Failure to do so allows ungodly thinking to poison one's mind and establish itself as a fortress is one's life! That is why Peter says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1  Peter 5:8,9). The lies of the enemy are presented to us as truth. Words that have been said to us by our parents, teachers, psychologists and the like are not always the truth! We must recognise that not all information presented to us is the truth! If we accept every bit of information offered to us, we are certain to build strongholds based on lies as well as on the truth. The only way to identify what is true and false is to trust the word of God as absolute truth, accept it, receive it, own it, depend on it and defend it. Only then can one expose ungodly information that is contrary to God's word.

Truth or counterfeit?

A friend of mine works for a bank and has the job of identifiying counterfeit money and training people to differentiate between true and false bank notes. He explained that in order to identify the counterfeit notes, one must study the authentic notes and know everything possible about them. Only then can one expose the counterfeit notes. Similarly the believer can only expose the lies of the enemy that are presented as truth by knowing the real truth - the word of God.

Building godly strongholds

In order to build godly strongholds so as to be Christ-like, I believe the following principles are necessary for every believer:

A desire to be Christ-like.

Unless you believe that God's will for your life is to be like Jesus, you won't work on changing the way you think. The word of God is clear that it is indeed God's will for every believer to live as Jesus did on earth and that every believer has been joined to Christ to be like Him and to do the work He did whilst on earth (see Rom. 8:29; John 14:9-12; 1 John 2:6; 1 Cor. 11:1). Christ-likeness is commanded for "it is written: 'be holy, because I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:16).

A recognition that there is the possibility of having ungodly strongholds in one's life!

It is a humbling thing to admit that not everything one has built one's life on is necessarily the truth! Opening oneself to God's correction is choosing to submit to Him and His word. God's thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) and so God doesn't seek to improve the way we think but replace our thinking with His thoughts. We are transformed by the renewing of our thinking and not the improvement of our thinking!

A trust in God's word as absolute truth.

Unless you trust God's word as absolute truth you will struggle to submit to it and allow it to renew your thinking. God's word is not one among equals. It is absolute truth. It is an offense to the post-modern worldview that accepts everything as truth. You will be labelled as narrow-minded and as a fundamentalist. Belief in, and submission to God's word sets you apart from the world as you become the revelation of truth in the flesh (see John 17:17,18). The believer can only be holy as he or she lives God's Holy Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A renewing of the mind

A renewing of the mind will only come about as the believer accepts God's word as the truth, receives it, owns it, depends on it and defends it. The believer that truly allows God to renew his mind and build godly strongholds in his life will act accordingly. Living according to the truth is what sets us free from ungodly thinking and behaviour. Just hearing God's word will not renew our thinking. The believer must accept it, receive it, own it, rely on it, defend it and act on it before it becomes a transforming belief. Jesus says, "If you hold to my teaching...you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31,32). Belief without action is simply opinion or as James puts it, "Faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26).

How to build godly strongholds

Once the believer accepts the above principles s/he will be ready to receive the truth in order to break down ungodly strongholds and replace them with godly strongholds. I believe every disciple of Christ should be a student of the Word of God on a daily basis - not just to aquire knowledge about the Bible but to encounter God's transforming presence and power as s/he allows God to renew his/her thinking. God desires to reveal Himself to His children to renew them from glory to glory (see 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:16)! Christ is formed in us as we build godly strongholds. Here are some steps that have helped me live in Christ-likeness:

• Ask God to give you spiritual revelation, understanding, knowledge and wisdom before reading His word. The Holy Spirit reveals the deep things of God and will use God's word to expose and demolish ungodly strongholds (See 1 Cor. 2; John 16:14).

• Honour the word of God as absolute truth and read it with humility, allowing God to correct your thinking and build godly thinking (See 1 Thess. 2:13). Your attitude toward the word of God will determine how you receive it (see Matthew 13:1-23)!

• Read the word of God slowly and with understanding. The word of God is "living and active" and works in those who believe (Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:13). Read to gain understanding but also to receive revelation of God. Expect God to speak to you through His word.

• Pay attention to anything the Holy Spirit highlights as you read. As you read the Bible the Holy Spirit may show you something new or exciting or simply profound. When you notice something in particluar, write it down and meditate on it. God wants to impress His word on you. Let it dwell in you as you think about it, pray it and keep it in your heart.

• Take thoughts captive. When you read God's word and you realise that you think differently about God or yourself etc, confess the ungodly thought and replace it with God's truth. Reject the lie and receive the truth! For example, you may think that God doesn't love you because you believe the information your negative circumstances are shouting at you. When you read Romans 8:35-39 that tells you that "nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" you must choose to replace the ungodly thoughts with the truth. Having received the truth and replaced the lie, you must own the truth and make it yours. Then you can rely on that truth and defend it whenever the enemy tries to convince you otherwise!

• Meditate on and memorise the word of God! Reflecting on God's word is important for it to become part of you. Memorising scripture is helpful if you have spiritual understanding of the verse or verses. Simply having the scripture in your brain without understanding it is not much use. The word must move from your thinking to your heart, from your soul into your spirit.
• Act on the Truth! If you really trust God's word to be the truth you will be convinced that it is the truth. Consequently you will act on what you believe and are convinced about.When we don't act on God's word we don't really believe it is the truth. Obedience and submission to God's word are the evidence of genuine faith.

I encourage you to saturate yourself with the truth and to build godly strongholds as you accept, receive, own, rely on, defend and act on God's word. Then you will be a living epistle, set apart by the truth and living in Christ-likeness and freedom.

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Is the Church superstitious?

Definition

I define superstition as, "deriving truth from the created."

Superstition

Many people are superstitious. Whether they look at the stars to determine the truth (horoscopes) or believe they will have a bad day because they saw a black cat, they use circumstances and creation as a means to determine truth. Anything from fortune cookies to shapes in the clouds are interpreted as being of significance for the superstitious person.

Message from God?

The principle of looking to the natural, created realm for truth is prevalent in the Church. Believers don't go to fortune tellers but instead run to prophets for a word from God. Believers interpret their circumstances as God's message to them. Every dream and every "strange" occurrence is somehow a message from God.

Dependence on the created

Undoubtedly God can communicate to His people in any way He chooses but the believer must be careful not to depend on the created rather than on the Creator. Those who trust created things more than God are practising idolatry. The apostle Paul writes,

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator." Romans 1:25

Led by God

The born again believer who has been born of the Spirit has been given the Holy Spirit to lead him and guide him.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13

"...those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Romans 8:14

God has given us His Spirit so that we can hear from God and do His will. It is by the Spirit of God that God communicates to His people. That is why Paul prays that the Colossians would receive spiritual wisdom and understanding in order to do the will of God (Col. 1:9,10).

What about God's prophets?

Someone might argue that God used the natural to speak to His prophets. For example, God asked Jeremiah,

"What do you see?" Jer. 1:11,13

However, they fail to realise that God's prophets walked closely to God and were already hearing His voice when He told them to look at the natural to confirm God's Word!

Listen to God!

Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice" John 10:27

The primary reason Christians look to the natural realm to hear God is because they are not spending time with God and learning to hear His voice out of an intimate relationship with Him. Consequently they don't know God and depend on people, circumstances and the natural realm to determine truth! Clearly this can lead to deception and being completely misled by unspiritual people and the enemy!

Depend on God!


God wants His people to depend on Him and not on creation. The natural realm points to God so that we seek Him first (see Rom. 1:19-23). The principle of looking to God as our Source is so important to Him that Jesus even rebuked the teachers of the Law for depending on the Word more than on God (see John 5:39,40)! God's Word must lead us into an encounter with the living God - the Author!

The believer must learn to be led by the Holy Spirit. Clearly we will only know God's voice if we grow in our knowledge of Him by spending time with Him, by reading His Word and praying.


Spiritual revelation

Ask the Lord for spiritual revelation and understanding as you read His Word, and expect God to speak to you (see 1 Cor. 2:9-14; Matthew 13:11,12). Meditate on what the Holy Spirit highlights to you and allow the Lord to show you the deeper things of God.

How to listen to God

"You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken from them." Matthew 13:11,12 (NLT)

God speaks!

In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read what is known as the "Schema" which says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."

God commands His people to pay attention! The Lord speaks and He calls His children to listen. Jesus says,

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

Jesus says, "proceeds" and not "proceeded"! God continues to speak to the believer and so the believer must continue to listen.

The apostle Paul in his introduction to spiritual gifts explains that God is not a "mute idol" but that He is the living God who continues to communicate with His people in many different ways (see 1 Cor. 12-14).

Why does God speak to us?

There are many reasons why God speaks to us, but from Matthew 13 we see that Jesus wants believers to know "the secrets of heaven" (vs 11) and to have this knowledge "in abundance" (vs 12) so that they "might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn" so that God "would heal them" (vs 15). Jesus says that those who truly listen will produce "a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown" (vs 23). In the context we see that Jesus is talking about receiving spiritual revelation of the Kingdom so that it grows in our lives and influences our lives through and through (see also Matthew 13:31-33).

Hearing or listening?

There is a difference between hearing and truly listening. To hear is to perceive but to listen is to understand and respond. Many believers hear God speaking to them through the Bible, through sermons, through the Church, etc. but are stunted in their spiritual growth. Christians attend conferences and hear the most amazing sermons but still remain "babes in Christ." Why is that?

The reason that many believers are not growing spiritually and not coming to wholeness in Christ is primarily because they are not truly listening to God!

Luke gives us even more insight to what it means to truly listen to God:

"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." Luke 8:15

A true listener hears, understands, retains and perseveres so that a crop is produced! If we want to produce a crop then we will need to listen to God.

How do we truly listen?

1. Ask - ask the Lord to give you ears to hear! (Is. 55:6; 1 Cor. 2:9-14)
2. Be alert - be attentive to God speaking to you throughout your day and night (dreams)
3. Position yourself to hear - read the Bible, listen to sermons, etc
4. Have an open heart - listen to receive and understand
5. Have a teachable spirit - allow God to challenge and change your thinking (Isaiah 55:8)
6. Remember what God says to you - retain and meditate on what God has said to you by praying it over your life and repeating it (Psalm 1:2; 119:15)
7. Apply God's Word to your life - act on what God says to you by faith
8. Persevere - continue to act on God's Word to you even if you don't see immediate results
9. Expect a crop - believe you will receive what God has spoken to you
   

How do you train your listening skills?

I have discovered that those who struggle to listen in the natural also struggle to listen to God! Use your everyday relationships to train your listening skills. Here are a few tips:

1. Don't do all the talking - "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak" James 1:19


2. Pay attention - don't think about other things or what you are going to say next whilst you are "listening"


3. Ask questions - make sure you really understand what the other person is communicating to you. Don't assume you know what the person is saying and where the person is going with what s/he is saying.


4. Repeat what you have understood to the person speaking to you. Don't say "aha" or the like when you haven't understood or to be polite whilst your mind is somewhere else. It's dishonest and not "owning up" to not knowing something is pride.


5. After your conversation, check what you can still remember of what the other person told you.

Practice in the natural what you want to grow in spiritually!

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Rev. 3:22

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Who are you comparing yourself to?

"When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." 2 Cor. 10:12

The apostle Paul's words are a sobering reminder that our fellow Christians are not the plumb line by which we are to measure our walk with God. What is "in", popular and the latest fashion can be dangerously misleading if we allow these to become the standard by which we test our faith. Rather, Paul says,

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Cor. 13:5

What is the test? John writes,

"Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6

Those who live from the Spirit, compare themselves to Jesus and seek to live like Him, regardless of whether others are doing the same. In fact, God rewards our secret obedience because we believe in Him and don't depend on the recognition of man (see Matthew 6:1-21).

The treasure that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 6 is the reward for living for God's pleasure rather than the approval of man. When we face our Lord on that great day when all of creation will be judged and the Lord asks us each, individually,

"What did you do on earth to love others and please me?"

we will realise that there is no place for an answer like, "our church didn't have a ministry for the poor" or "our church didn't have any outreaches" etc..

God wants to answer, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!" Matthew 25:21

Let's not compare ourselves to one another and be foolish but rather "understand what the Lord's will is" (Eph. 5:17) and do it. If your relationship and your obedience to God is dependent on how you see others walk with God then you will probably only be as close to God and obedient to God as those around you. If, however, you compare yourself to Jesus and seek to live as He did on earth, you will store up for yourself lasting treasures in heaven and be revived as you live for God and serve Him only!

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How to receive spiritual revelation

Many Christians faithfully go to church meetings, pray and read the Word of God but are not growing in their knowledge of God and their relationship with Him. Why is that?

Attitude

I believe one of the greatest hindrances to spiritual growth can be one's attitude toward the Word of God. God wants His children to know Him and to receive spiritual revelation of Him but the believer cannot receive that revelation unless he has the right attitude toward God and His Word.

The Word of God

John's gospel opens with the profound statement that,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." John 1:1,2

Jesus is described as the Word of God. He is the revelation of the truth and therefore states,

"I am the truth..." John 14:6

3 Attitudes

What we will see is that it is man's response to the Truth that determines his growth in the Lord. There are three attitudes we can have toward the Word of God. The first is "I know better." The second is "I know already." The third is "I want to know."

These three attitudes are demonstrated by the way people responded to Jesus.

Superior Level

The attitude of "I know better" is rooted in pride and manifests itself in a judgmental attitude toward the Truth. We see this attitude primarily with the teachers of the law who judged Jesus based on their "superior" knowledge. Jesus rebuked the teachers of the law and said,

"You judge by human standards." John 8:15

The "I know better" attitude places itself above the Word and judges it according to human wisdom. This attitude only accepts what it can understand rationally and questions everything that doesn't seem logical. This attitude rejects the Truth!

The fruit of this attitude is often a critical and argumentative behaviour that scrutinizes the Truth until it is finally rejected because it doesn't fit in the judge's theological box. James says,

"When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it." James 4:11

Similarly, when we judge God's Word we don't receive it.

Same Level

The "I already know" attitude can be seen by the way many responded to Jesus with a familiar spirit. When Jesus came to His hometown "He did not do many miracles there" (Matthew 13:53-58) because the people who knew Jesus placed him on their level and were familiar with him. They did not honour Jesus as the Son of God and so they did not receive from Him. They placed themselves on the same level as the Word.

The "I already know" attitude is manifested when people don't bother reading or listening to the Word because they have read it already and they think they "know" what it says. This familiar spirit veils spiritual revelation and prevents the Holy Spirit from enlightening the heart and mind.

It is very common for believers to hear or read the Word of God and immediately compare it to what they already know, thereby missing the new and fresh insight God wants to give that person. In small groups, this results in everyone sharing their perspective on a shared Word with the result that what was shared is actually not received.

Submission Level

The "I want to know" level comes under the Word and submits to Him. This attitude allows the Word of God to do His work in the believer because he receives the Word as the Truth, unreservedly! Only then can the Word conceive something in our lives.

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12,13

The believer must learn to simply receive. The seed that goes straight to the heart will bear lasting fruit.

"Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." Mark 4:20

Those who receive the Word and submit their minds and hearts to it give room for the Holy Spirit to bring spiritual revelation, wisdom and understanding to the believer (see 1 Cor. 2:10-14) that brings change and growth in the believer's life.

I want to encourage you to check your attitude toward God and His Word. Ask the Lord for spiritual revelation as you read His Word. Learn to be like a child and simply believe what God says to you and reveals to you. It will change your life!

"We also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." 1 Thess. 2:13

How to live by the Spirit

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with one another, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." Galatians 5:16-18

Every believer has an earthly nature and a heavenly nature. Paul says in Col. 3:5;

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature."

Why should we put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature? Paul says that in response to the fact that every believer has been joined to Christ and is seated in the heavenly realms with Him (Eph. 2:6). Further he says,

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Col. 3:1-3

Death to self

In what way has the believer died? Paul says,

"And he (Christ) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Cor. 5:15

The death we have died is a death to self and a death to living for our own selfish desires.

Now that we are born again as a new creation in Christ with a heavenly nature, we are called to live according to our new nature and no longer live according to our old, selfish and self-centred nature.

We are to move from self-consciousness to God-consciousness.

Self-consciousness vs God-consciousness

Self-consciousness means we are primarily concerned with ourselves and what our selfish nature desires. God-consciousness means we are primarily aware of God and what He desires. Living in response to our selfish nature is idolatry. Living in response to God is to fear God - to honour God and respond to His presence.

The fear of the Lord

Believers who live in "the fear of the Lord" are people who carry an awareness of God's presence in them, with them and around them wherever they are. Because of their God-consciousness, they are sensitive to what grieves Him. They don't live their lives according to principles and rules but rather out of relationship with the Father who dwells in them and with them by His Spirit.

When the believer begins to change his behaviour and desires because of God he begins to live according to the Spirit of God or "by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16).

Our choice

We have a choice. Either we choose to live according to what we want or what God wants. Either we behave according to our old, selfish nature or we behave according to our new nature in Christ.

"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Romans 8:12-14

Sons of God live according to what God desires.

Why do so many Christians struggle to put the earthly nature to death?

One of the main reasons is that we try to overcome the flesh in our own strength. We try to put a stop to the behaviour that is according to our selfish and sinful desires by prohibiting certain behaviour or actions. The problem with that is that we bring ourselves under law and consequently we break the self-made law because we cannot keep the law.

"..the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." Romans 8:7

Romans chapter 7 describes this "law of sin and death" that we cannot overcome in our own strength. That is why Paul says we must "put to death the misdeeds of the body" by the Spirit.

How do we do that?

We need to replace our sinful desires by becoming more aware of God's presence - God-consciousness. If I am faced with a situation where my flesh desires what is contrary to what I know is God's will, I don't try to stop the flesh but simply direct my attention to God: "on things above" (Col. 3:1-3). The more I become aware of God's loving presence, the less I want to do my own thing. The more God-conscious I become, the more I see how ugly my selfish desires are and the Spirit begins to change my desires from wanting to please myself to wanting to please my Father.

How do I know if I am living by the Spirit?

It's very simple. Since the believer's life is "now hidden with Christ in God" and he is joined to God, the normal state of every believer should be "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22,23). The fruit of the Spirit is the nature of God and so when the believer dwells or abides in God, he abides in the heavenly nature. Because God dwells in us and we in Him, it is our right to remain in Him and in our heavenly nature. The world, the flesh and the Devil want to "draw us out" of our new and now, normal, heavenly state. We must choose to remain in God and not allow anything to "move us out" of our heavenly nature. When we allow anything to disrupt our new nature, we are not living according to the Spirit.

Peace

For example, let's take "peace." Since I am joined to Christ who is my Peace (Eph. 2:14) and who is the Prince of Peace, I expect to be in a constant state of peace if I am abiding in Him or living by the Spirit.

"..the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." Romans 8:6

As soon as my peace is unsettled, I immediately check what is the cause of the disturbance. It is my right to abide in peace, since I am joined to Peace. If it is disturbed, I must check what the cause is. I immediately ask the Holy Spirit what is going on.

Peace disturbers

Some common disturbances are:

• Sin - if I disobey the Lord and grieve Him, I lose my peace. The Holy Spirit will always expose anything I am doing or have done that has grieved Him - not to condemn me but to bring me back to absolute intimacy with Him (see James 1:5).


• Attacks of the Enemy - if I cannot pinpoint why I don't have peace, it usually is the enemy trying to oppress me. The enemy tends to be vague but the Holy Spirit is clear. If I am being oppressed, I simply take authority over the feelings and reclaim my right to live in peace.


• Lies of the Enemy. Sometimes I can receive communication that I misinterpret or is simply not true. These thoughts can disturb my peace because I am believing a lie. The lie must be exposed and made obedient to what I know is the truth (see 2 Cor. 10:3-5).


• Worry. Worrying comes from not trusting God. When I am tempted to worry, I direct my attention to God and reflect on His ability to do immeasurably more than I can ask or think (Eph. 3:20) and I remind myself that God's grace is sufficient for me in every circumstance. God knows!

Living by the Spirit is living in God

John says the same when he writes,

"God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16

I want to encourage you to spend time simply reflecting on the truth that you are in God and God is in you (1 John 4:15). Become aware of His presence in you and with you. Acknowledge God's presence wherever you are, especially when you are likely to be tempted or are being tempted to "move out" of the Spirit (see Proverbs 3:6).

"Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.....Let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal. 5:16,25

Are you a witness?

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:1-3

Jesus' parting words to His disciples were, "You will be my witnesses.." (Acts 1:8).

A witness is one who has "seen and heard" first-hand, and so the disciples chose another witness to replace Judas - "one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." (Acts 1:21,22)

Advocates or witnesses?

A witness is not an advocate. A witness speaks of what he has seen and heard; an advocate defends what he has heard about - he relates second-hand information. A witness relates first-hand information. We are called to be witnesses and not advocates.

Our struggle

I believe the reason many believers struggle with being a witness and witnessing to the lost is because they have not seen and heard. Many believers defend their knowledge about Christ (advocates) instead of relating whom they personally know (witnesses).

Compelled

Standing accused before the "rulers and elders of the people," Peter and John say in their defence, "we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:8, 20).

Does that mean that only those who were with Jesus were truly witnesses?

Spiritual encounter

Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9:3-9). Having seen and heard Jesus, Saul became a messenger, a witness of what he had seen and heard. Paul's testimony was his spiritual encounter with Jesus and it was this testimony that he related before the crowd in Acts 22 and before King Agrippa in Acts 26. Paul testified to what he had seen and heard.

Spiritual revelation

In his letters to the churches, the apostle Paul consistently prays for the Church to receive spiritual revelation of God so that the Church will know Him personally.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Eph. 1:17

I want to know!

The apostle Paul lived to increasingly know Jesus. He knew that the more he could know Christ, the more Christ would be revealed in his life.

"I want to know Christ." Phil. 3:10

It is as we grow in our knowledge of Jesus that we will manifest His life and speak of Him. How can we speak of whom we do not know?

"It is written, 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know..." 2 Cor. 4:13,14

To believe in Jesus is to know Him.

Grow in the knowledge of God

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.." Col. 1:9,10

Seek the Lord today and become a witness of what you see and hear as you fellowship with Him!

What are you waiting for?

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." 1 Cor. 2:13

The Holy Spirit wants to give the believer spiritual revelation and understanding of what he has received.

The apostle Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with an amazing statement,

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Eph. 1:3

What have we received?

We have received Christ. Jesus is the Father's Gift to us. Those who believe in Christ Jesus are immersed into Him so that the believer becomes one with Him. Having received Christ, the believer is blessed with everything that is included in Jesus - every spiritual blessing.

"...for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Gal. 3:27

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God." 1 John 4:15

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ." Col. 2:9,10

The believer has therefore received the fullness of God in Christ.

For this reason, Paul doesn't pray that the Ephesians would receive more but that they would receive spiritual revelation of what they had already received.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know..." Eph. 1:17,18

The Christian life is not about waiting for more from God but increasingly realising what one has received in Christ.

God wants us "to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:18,19).

We are filled as we realise and grasp what we have received in Christ.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you have received and be built up and encouraged in your faith today. You have received!

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

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Do you love me?

This morning as I spent time in God's presence and worshipped Him, acknowledging and confessing His greatness and love, I was arrested as I believe the Lord asked me,

"Do you love me?"

A little surprised by the question, I began to reflect on the question. As I did so, I was reminded of the same question posed by Jesus to Peter in John 21:15-17.

"Do you truly love me?" Jesus asks. Like Peter I was quick to answer, "Yes, of course I love you!" but I realised that Jesus was after something.

God wants my whole heart!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart.." it says in Matthew 22:37 and the Lord reprimands those who worship Him without their hearts: "These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" Matthew 15:8.

To worship God is to love Him.

God wants my heart and not just my confession of truth. He wants my emotions! "..draw near to God with a sincere heart.." Hebrews 10:22

To worship God is to worship God in spirit and in truth, by His Spirit and with a sincere heart, full of love for Him (see John 4:22-24).

Could it be that believers have suppressed emotions for fear of lack of "self-control," thinking that it is spiritual not to express emotions?

When Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5, he is talking about the evidence manifested by those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh or old nature. "Self-control" is listed as one of the manifestations. In the context, it is clear that Paul is talking about the believer's control over the old nature (the lust of the flesh and self-centredness) and not about controlling one's emotions! Believers confuse self-control with being composed and orderly. How tragic!

If God lavishes His love on us, why shouldn't we lavish our love on Him?
Are we not to imitate Him?
(See John 13:1; 1 John 3:1; Rom. 5:5; Eph. 3:14-19; 5:1)

"We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). I believe the quality of our love for God is proportional to the love we receive from Him (See Eph. 5:1).

Our hearts are softened as we reflect on God's love for us and we trust in Him. Unbelief and hardness of heart go hand in hand just as faith and love go hand in hand (See Heb. 4:7).

How is your heart today? Is it hard and distant or soft and near?

Draw near to God with a sincere heart and tell Him how much you love Him and what He means to you! Allow God to touch your emotions and don't be afraid of what He does to your heart! Keep your focus on Him and avoid introspection but let Him in!

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Can gifts of the Spirit be imparted?

It seems to me that many believers have the idea that God gives people certain gifts that they are at liberty to impart to others. Believers then flock to men and women with a dynamic ministry, hoping to receive some gift they did not have before. Certainly we can benefit from the manifestation of the Spirit's work through one another, but can gifts of the Spirit be imparted?

What does Scripture say?

• Every believer receives the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus. Eph. 1:13,14


• Every believer receives every spiritual blessing in Christ because the fullness of Christ lives in him. Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; 1 Cor. 1:4-7


• The believer lives in the Giver and the Giver lives in him. 1 John 4:15


• Jesus, the Giver, by His Spirit, distributes gifts as HE determines. 1 Cor. 12:11; Eph. 4:7


• The manifestation of different gifts through different believers is the revelation of the work of the Giver through us. Rom. 12:6

What about Timothy?

"..stir into flame the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Tim. 1:6,7 (KJV)

• 
  
  Timothy received the gift of the Holy Spirit when Paul laid his hands on him and not a particular spiritual gift (see Acts 8:18 & 19:6). The context shows us that Paul is referring to the stirring up of the spirit of love, power and of self-control - all manifestations of the Holy Spirit in Timothy. 2 Tim. 1:6,7; Gal. 5:22

What about Paul?

"For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me." Rom. 1:11,12

• Paul is saying that he longs to see the Church in Rome to encourage them with his faith. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Paul's life was to strengthen and build up the Body of Christ wherever he went. Eph. 3:2; Col. 2:2


• Note that the word translated "impart" here means "to share". Paul shared his gifts with the Church to encourage the Body in their faith.

So, in answer to, "Can gifts of the Spirit be imparted?" I would say, NO. What we can do, however, is encourage one another in our faith to trust God to manifest His Spirit through us as we make ourselves available for "the master's use." Even now I am using my gifts to encourage you to believe that you have received fullness in Christ and that God will use you to be an encouragement to the Body of Christ as you use your gifts to serve others.

Don't run after what you think you are lacking - use what is in your hand and eagerly desire a greater manifestation of the Giver in you!

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