God expects a level of intimacy with Him far beyond what the natural mind understands. In the early days of the church, this level was common. As Christianity transitioned from relationship to religion, being led by the Spirit became less of a day-to-day experience, replaced by formal statements of belief. These statements, embodying the church’s purposes, can be a good starting point for the new believer, but fall short of the organic connection that should characterize a mature believer. Perhaps we can gain the best scriptural picture of this ideal, but obtainable relationship, in the last 24 hours before Jesus’ crucifixion.
As Jesus was preparing for this ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane, he invited Peter, James and John to “Stay here and watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38b, NKJV) He still makes that invitation today. As the three let tiredness and boredom get the best of the them, Jesus asked, “Could you not watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37b, NKJV).
A little later He says, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough. The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mark 14:41b, NKJV) There is a time for everything, and that time often has discernable limits. When interruptions occur, it may be time for action, rather than contemplation.
A little earlier in the evening, Jesus elaborated upon what intimacy with Him means. “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7, NKJV) Contrary to what we have been taught, he is not talking about Bible study and memorization, two good and edifying activities. In the Greek, “words” is the plural of rhema, associated with a now word of God. It is prophetic, discerned by the Spirit and not calculated by the mind. Don’t confuse rhema with logos, the written word of scripture. True rhema never contradicts logos.
Jesus wants us to pick up words from Him, just by enjoying time together. Sometimes those times may be silent, but as in a good marriage, a silent time of intimacy is still a treat. We learn to define our desires by the words He gives us. We can follow Jesus, just as Jesus followed the Father.
Jesus prays “that they all may be one, as You Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17: 21, NKJV) This is one of those scriptures that seems too good to be true, but since Jesus said it; we all need to open ourselves to its fulfillment in our lives. If we don’t, our witness tends to fall flat. We can knock on every door in town and talk to every stranger we meet about our holy book, but if we’re not experiencing that closeness to God that the Bible points to, we are under-representing Him. Spiritual words from God trump mental understanding all the time.
Let’s not settle for purpose when His Spirit craves to lead.
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
i believe that Purpose Driven simply means not to waste time with things that haven nothing to do with God's will for my life. i don't get caught up in semantics.
__________________ "I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for me..." -Isaiah 63:7
If one is Spirit-led, they will be purpose-driven. I just think what the guy is saying is that we should not get the cart before the horse, because there are a lot of people who are purpose-driven who are not very Spirit-led.
But both are important.
We do not have to have one without the other.
__________________ Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912 !!!!
If one is Spirit-led, they will be purpose-driven. I just think what the guy is saying is that we should not get the cart before the horse, because there are a lot of people who are purpose-driven who are not very Spirit-led.
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Please post in my To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. thread. The more senselessly random, the better.
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Please post in my To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. thread. The more senselessly random, the better.
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