Believer or Receiver?

It’s one thing to KNOW ABOUT Jesus, the Bible, etc.

It’s another thing to KNOW Jesus.

There are 4 references in the book of Acts where there were believers who needed to become receivers. The Apostles saw to it that this was to be granted to them. Some had been taught well, others not so completely.

Acts 2:1-4. Acts 5:14-17. Acts 10:44-48. Acts 19:1-6.

Few can be as forthright about this subject as was the late David Wilkerson.

John 17:3 NKJV. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” It is vital! We may know about God, but we cannot know Him without the Holy Spirit.

That’s the dynamo of Christian living. But He is hardly mentioned in many churches, and He is taken for granted – based upon a “conversion” experience or some ceremony at the beginning of one’s entry into an institutional church. People think that being in a church makes one a Christian. But being in a church will not bring this about any more than putting your Chevy into a garage will turn it into a Rolls Royce! There has to be a deep heart desire first of all!

Paul also prays, according to Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV. “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

And he prays more! Ephesians 3:14-19.  “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

What says the Lord Jesus? He tells us to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking! Luke 11:1-13 NKJV. The reader can look up the whole chapter. I will quote only verses 9-13. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Clearly this is a very important thing, to receive the Holy Spirit. We cannot make the “blessed assumption” that we are in Christ and Christ in us. All of our self righteousness is as filthy rags before God, and our religious practices which someone has told us are how we are saved are equally as useless. These provide false security. We must have the Holy Spirit!

The time is late. Let us go to God’s word, not the doctrines, commandments, and the teachings of men! The importance of Christ’s teaching on the necessity of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus nears His final journey to the cross, found in His “last will and testament” in John 13 through 17. I would direct the reader to pray over and ponder these words and His great high priestly prayer.

May the fellowship, peace, and power of the Lord be with you, as you walk according to His Way and as you seek Him with your whole heart. He will not disappoint!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Love According To Jesus Christ

Here’s What I think He would say:

“Love one another as I have loved you. This is not a suggestion; it is My commandment. This means to love not only those who will reciprocate in kind, but bless those who curse, revile, and hate you. Their minds, hearts, and lives are in a great prison of darkness where you must shine My light. If you have no other resources or strength, unchain them by devoting yourself to prayer for them. Never pay back evil for evil, but rather bless and do not curse. You will be blessed as you reap the harvest of the seeds of love and blessing you have sown. To love and to bless is the most ‘creative’ work there is in thought, word, and deed. Abundant will be the fruit of such seeds planted, and rich the heavenly reward.”

How Will They Know?

Daily Open Windows /September 15, 2023 Email

By T. Austin-Sparks from: “That They May All Be One, Even As We Are One“

Prefacing Thoughts from yours truly… “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34,35.

This is not an anything goes sort of worldly “love.” Nor is it, I love you because you love me. It is love extended to the unlovely, those who will not love you back, and those who despitefully use you and say all manner of evil against you for the sake of the Lord and the Gospel…

It takes the Holy Spirit! So Jesus tells us, to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking… If anyone does not love others whom he or she can see, then – asks St. John – how can he or she love God whom he or she cannot see? That’s why Christian Community is so important, so that we do not become self deceived in our own solitariness and independent spirit, which breeds self righteousness. “Church” is where the rubber meets the road.

A ponderable for the day. Read on:

~Begin TAS quote~

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them… Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:9,10 NLT)

“He loved them unto the uttermost.” And I think in that statement, there is the most wonderful thing that ever came into this world. Jesus had had a lot of trouble with those men. They had often misunderstood Him. They had often disappointed Him. They were really a very poor lot of men…. He knew what a poor lot of men they were, but He loved them unto the uttermost. That is the first thing about this love. It is not offended by our failures. He does not withdraw His love because we make mistakes. We may often disappoint Him, we may often fail Him, we may often grieve His heart, but He goes on loving us. He loves us unto the uttermost, right to the end. He is not offended by our failures. That is a very different kind of love from our love. This is God’s love in Christ….

You know, it is so easy to talk about love, to pretend to love, to use the language of love, to sing hymns about love, and it can all be sentimental; perhaps we all know people who have told us that they love us, but very often they are the very people who have hurt us most. Now, the love of Jesus was not sentimental, it was practical. He did not go in with His disciples and say, ‘Brothers, I do love you very much.’ He showed that He loved them by what He did for them. It was not sentimental love, it was practical love. And this is the love with which He loved them unto the uttermost…. These things which characterize the love of Christ for His own ought to characterize us in love for others. That is why the Holy Spirit has come. So that as He loved us to the uttermost, so ought we to love one another.

~End TAS Quote~

[This email is from the Austin-Sparks.Net Daily Open Windows message list. Daily Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.We encourage you to forward this message to others by clicking on the forwarding link below. In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks’ wishes that what was freely received should be freely given and not sold for profit, and that his messages be reproduced word for word, we ask if you choose to share these messages with others, to please respect his wishes and offer them freely – free of any changes, free of any charge (except necessary distribution costs) and with this statement included.]

Come Follow Me

Some say that Jesus does not speak to us today. If Jesus were to speak directly to our hearts, I think He would say something like this…

Come, follow Me. My commandments are not burdensome. My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Learn of Me.

Live and walk according to My Holy Spirit, the “Word in the word”, for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. I have prayed that you are sanctified in the Truth. My word is truth.

Those who keep My commandments love Me.

Those who are My disciples love one another as I have loved you.

And if you abide in My teaching revealed in My holy Word, then you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Whom I have made free through My cross is free indeed – from the devil, the world, and the flesh. You died in Me, through My cross, and are no longer bound to darkness and sin. Live from that Resurrection reality by faith, and do not suppress this truth in unrighteous living!

Devote yourself to prayer and to My Word, for you are My temple, My house of prayer where I dwell through My Holy Spirit. Let Me thus lead you in the Way everlasting.

Let no one talk you out of what I have shown you, for the enemy seeks to rob you – through their unbelief – of the joy, power over darkness and deception, and freedom of your salvation. Abide in Me. Whoever abides in Me, the Vine, will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Against these there is no Law.

Outfoxing the Foxes

“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Songs 2:15 (KJV)

Tender grapes are fruit in its developing stages (as are the blossoms or blooms spoken of in other Bible translations), if you let the symbolism reveal itself. Specifically the fruit of the Spirit. And from where does this fruit come within the follower of Christ Jesus, except from abiding in the vine, abiding in Him?

The little foxes might be the little overlooked and subtle things whose demonic or humanistic mandate is to destroy the connection between Vine and branches. Thus the little foxes must be seen and recognized for what they are, taken, seized, and eliminated from the vineyard.

Much of entertainment couched as humor these days does this. It demoralizes traditional values and godly roles by making respectable people and godly wisdom appear as something to be laughed at and mocked. Characters in these shows are presented as buffoons to be made fun of (especially dads, elders, and other authority figures in general). And they are rated as “safe” for kids to watch. Certainly there may be no bad language or vulgar displays, but the message of disrespect that is sent makes its way into little minds through the disarming feature of so called humor.

There are other subtle trends as well that have crept into the vineyard of families, the churches, and society in general. Can you think of other “little foxes” that you have observed, or that you have uncovered in your own life, which were spoiling your connection to the Vine? We should always be very diligently on guard and prayerful, asking for God’s discernment and wisdom in recognizing what the little foxes look like and how to get them out of the vineyard.