Loving Jesus

Every believer will tell you that he loves Jesus--in fact, there is a biblical curse on everyone who doesn't. But how do you know that you love Jesus? You will love the brethren and your brother whom you can see. Anyone who looks down or despises his brother or hates him cannot love Jesus. If we love the Lord we will love the Word. We will also have a burden for souls.

To know Him is to love Him and our love grows as we grow in Christ. Our goal is to fall in love with Jesus. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Obedience is the key and the test. Loving Jesus without knowing Him would be mere sentimentality and that is not the goal. Loving Jesus is the ultimate response to knowing Him. We must turn our knowledge about Him to knowledge of Him by applying the Word and being a doer of the Word.  As Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly"this goal is ours to aim for.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing The Holy Spirit

Knowing the Holy Spirit is not an academic issue, or up to one's mental gymnastics or acumen, or facts to be memorized. One can ace the seminary course on the subject and still not know Him. And to not know Him is to not know God the Father or Jesus. God gives us discernment of spirits and tells us to test the spirits. Only with experience do we learn not to grieve the Spirit or to quench His fire.

He is the conviction, the enabler, the teacher, the guide and comforter (we can sense His illuminating power every time we read the Word). Are you sensitive to when the Spirit is speaking to your heart? Some Christians readily go from talking about something the Spirit blesses to a worldly subject. Like Jesus rebuked Peter telling him that he minded earthly things. If we would rather talk about our favorite football team than things spiritual or about Jesus, we must scarcely know the Holy Spirit, though there is a time and place for this.

In sum, knowing the Spirit cannot be taught; but it is learned by experiencing Him. Like God's love--once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on!

Finally, it is not how much you know about the Spirit, but whether you experience Him and have this experiential knowledge. A little knowledge of God is better than a whole lot about Him. We must grow in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ through the Spirit through His gifts and fruit. As we learn to be led by the Holy Spirit we know Him better.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Limited Healing?

In the Western world, we first go to the doctor when we are ill and our security depends on our health insurance. But in the third world, they are forced to believe in God for miracles because there are no medical doctors. They have revivals in Nigeria and Argentina, for instance, where people instantly get healed of whatever ails them (teeth replaced, limbs restored, weight loss, eyes healed, leprosy cleansed, etc.). I have heard of instances where the dead are raised (in the name of Jesus, of course).

There is a tendency to be skeptical and incredulous, as it doesn't seem plausible to some. This is not wrong per se, but God rewards faith. Jesus said, "Nothing shall be impossible unto you." Also, he said, "Be it done unto you according to your faith." And, "If you ask anything believing..." He also said that we shall do greater things. You can't limit God or put Him in a box.

"By His stripes we are healed," said Isaiah and Peter. "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." (Is. 53:4) I've heard it said that the reason we don't see more miracles in the Western world is that we have HMOs. Asa was guilty of seeking the help of physicians instead of seeking the Lord for healing. God is no man's debtor and doesn't have to heal us, he may choose to leave us with a cross to bear like Paul's thorn in the flesh. Ps. 103 says that He heals all our diseases. There is no disease that God cannot heal.

However, Paul and Peter couldn't heal everyone. Look at Joni Eareckson Tada, the quadriplegic who isn't healed, yet God has used her to His glory. These cases are for God' will and glory. One reason we don't get healed is that we are concealing some sin. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins one to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed..." There is also a place for the anointing of oil (James 5:14).

To say that God is only interested in our spirit is nonsense. 3 John 2 says, "Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul."  Soli Deo Gloria!