"For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are." Hebrews 4:12........."I like to open my Bible and pray, 'Lord God, let the words leap off the page into my soul, make them vivid, powerful, and fresh to my heart.' " Charles Spurgeon
A friend recently shared the response of someone he had ministered to and the words of wisdom and spiritual insight spoken to them. They told him that his words had really "hit the spot." He said his reply to her was that he was very glad that she was in the spot where the Father could speak and minister to her. Thinking on that great response, I thought of an add on: that we would be in a place where He is able to "hit" all the spots in our hearts and spirits that He longs to minister to, and bring healing and wholeness. Hebrews 4:12 is so wondrously true, yet how many of us have really experienced that truth in our relationship with Him? How deeply are His word and Spirit able to penetrate into our lives and hearts? What is it that keeps it from being so?
Moving targets are hard to hit. Our flesh is expert in being just that when it comes to the probing, cleansing, freeing word of the Father. It finds endless ways to avoid Him. Pursuits of pleasure. Accumulation of goods. Unending forms of escapism. Busyness, and yes, even "ministry" pursuits done in His name. Anything that can keep us from being perfectly still before Him, allowing Him to search us and "see if there be any hurtful (wicked) way within us." David asked the Father to do just that. When did we last do so?
Have you ever tried to hold a cat that didn't want to be held? Near impossible is it not? This is exactly how we can be with Him. When His Holy Spirit starts closing in on us, and what is the truth about us, our squirming, like the cats, grows more and more frantic. There are areas of our lives where we don't wish to know the truth, where we prefer the lie, the delusion. That's far more comfortable.....and much safer for our flesh. We don't want our true motives exposed. Motives that seem so noble on the surface, but at root are centered on ourselves. We can see that in so many of our prayers. Yet how many of them will have ourselves as the main beneficiary if He should answer as we want? How many peoples lives and life situations do we intercede for that in being answered will in the end make our lives better. Difficult mates, children, congregants coming to Christ, surrendering all, being delivered, will result in our lives being made less difficult, and a lot more content, and in ministry, successful. We can pray and seek for many wonderful things with so many impure motives. Yet we can go on deceiving ourselves about it all so long as we keep moving....squirming....avoiding.
We won't be doing this forever though. Sooner or later, He will pin us down on it all. For all of our sake, I hope its sooner....on this side of eternity, rather than later, when we stand before Him, and everything becomes known. Everything exposed.........May His word never cease to "hit the spot" in you and me. Giving life to us, and crushing death within us. Exposed but whole. Exposed but free.
Blessings,
Moving targets are hard to hit. Our flesh is expert in being just that when it comes to the probing, cleansing, freeing word of the Father. It finds endless ways to avoid Him. Pursuits of pleasure. Accumulation of goods. Unending forms of escapism. Busyness, and yes, even "ministry" pursuits done in His name. Anything that can keep us from being perfectly still before Him, allowing Him to search us and "see if there be any hurtful (wicked) way within us." David asked the Father to do just that. When did we last do so?
Have you ever tried to hold a cat that didn't want to be held? Near impossible is it not? This is exactly how we can be with Him. When His Holy Spirit starts closing in on us, and what is the truth about us, our squirming, like the cats, grows more and more frantic. There are areas of our lives where we don't wish to know the truth, where we prefer the lie, the delusion. That's far more comfortable.....and much safer for our flesh. We don't want our true motives exposed. Motives that seem so noble on the surface, but at root are centered on ourselves. We can see that in so many of our prayers. Yet how many of them will have ourselves as the main beneficiary if He should answer as we want? How many peoples lives and life situations do we intercede for that in being answered will in the end make our lives better. Difficult mates, children, congregants coming to Christ, surrendering all, being delivered, will result in our lives being made less difficult, and a lot more content, and in ministry, successful. We can pray and seek for many wonderful things with so many impure motives. Yet we can go on deceiving ourselves about it all so long as we keep moving....squirming....avoiding.
We won't be doing this forever though. Sooner or later, He will pin us down on it all. For all of our sake, I hope its sooner....on this side of eternity, rather than later, when we stand before Him, and everything becomes known. Everything exposed.........May His word never cease to "hit the spot" in you and me. Giving life to us, and crushing death within us. Exposed but whole. Exposed but free.
Blessings,
Pastor O
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