2005-11-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am led this morning to write about what our forgiveness frees the Holy Spirit to do in our lives. This question is actually brought up in MT 5: 44-46. "But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven. He makes His sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that!" We can't live as others live; we must be more loving [civilized] than that. Remember, "Be holy because I am holy" [1 PET 1: 16; LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2]?
We must think about what this actually means as it transforms our thoughts, decisions, and actions. What can help illuminate our understanding and point out the holy partnership that God intends for man and the Holy Spirit is AC 1: 8, "But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for Me in Jerusalem, in all of Judah and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Think about it. If one is not making the decision to be faithful to Christ and repent of his sins, how can he be able to discern Christ's command to love his enemies and the ones hard to love for whatever reason? Remember 1 COR 2: 14, "Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis." Another way of describing this truth is to think of our soul and body as a circle diagram. We begin with to openings, a wide one at the bottom of the circle in which the devil's evil enters and a narrow one at the top of the circle in which the Holy Spirit's goodness and wisdom enters. As we mature as believers, the bottom opening gradually closes, denying the evil access to our souls. At the same time the top one opens gradually for greater and greater leadership by the Holy Spirit of our lives. I suspect if we were to carry this circle diagram metaphor further, we might assume that at the time God decides we are ready for glorification [attaining a resurrection body and being taken up to the Father in heaven], the top opening is open as far as God built it to go and the bottom opening is firmly and permanently closed.
Going back to AC 1: 8, we can see a picture of the Holy Spirit fitting us to be witnesses to the truth of the Gospel. It is no accident that the word in Greek for "witness" is similar to the English one, "martyr." A martyr is one willing to lay down his life for what he believes. We should never get far from Christ's own words JN 15: 12-13, "My command is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them." How can we escape from the words of our Lord, Who made them so with His own death on the cross for us?
Some will trample on our love, just as some trample on the love the Lord Jesus has for them. When He died on the cross, He didn't just do that for some people and not others. He did it for all people. The sad part is that many people will reject him and mock His name. And yet there will be others who will walk away from their sinfulness and proclaim Christ as their Lord and Savior. Taking a practical "how-to" approach, Paul wrote about what the Holy Spirit frees us to do in dealing with the thorny issue of our enemies in RO 12: 14, 17, 19-21 and 13: 8. "Ask God to bless those who persecute you-yes, ask Him to bless not to curse...If some one has done you wrong, do not replay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good...Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the Scripture [DT 32: 35] says, 'I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.' Instead, as the Scripture [PR 25: 21-22] says, 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will make him burn with shame.' Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good"...Be under obligation to no one-the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obey the Law."
In this way, Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount, has given us both theoretical and practical approaches to His commands. As much as we try to understand everything, we actually can't. I suspect that has something to do with what we aren't told about heaven and that we will learn more when and if we enter it. But we are given enough for what we can and should be doing here on earth. We must never forget that while we were still enemies of Christ, He gave His life on the cross, so that we can be saved and become His friends [JN 3: 16; RO 5: 9-11]. The power of the Holy Spirit should never be underestimated. When He joins with our human spirits [RO 8: 14-16], that power is transferred to us in accordance with God's wishes, so that we can obey a difficult command like "love your enemies; pray for those who persecute you." Moreover, the blessing of God's wisdom and His righteousness is brought to truly believing mankind.
PRAYER: O Lord, each day that we spend in Your word and on our knees in prayer, we come to realize our great need for Your Spirit's influence on our lives. The bottom line, Dear Abba, is that we can't lead righteous lives that take us on that hard path to heaven without Him. PR 26: 2 helps us to better understand the protection You give us and the courage to pray for those who are troubling our lives. "Curses cannot hurt you, unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light." As we delve into the Scriptures, we cannot miss how consistent Your teaching has been throughout mankind's time with them. We do not learn easily, so You repeat Your teaching in various contexts and times when we are willing to hear and absorb what You are saying to us. There are a number of ways we can tell that the Scriptures are divinely inspired. You have crafted them, so that the believer will always be hungry for more. You have made them so that we may return over and over again to the same Scripture-each time learning something new. You have fashioned them to be applicable to any time in mankind's history-past, present, for future. You have created them, so that in Your perfect time, we will learn exactly what You want us to learn in order to carry out Your purpose. The stories You tell in them and the lessons those stories have for us will serve us well for eternity to learn. How can I not stand in awe of this magnificent achievement on Your part? Moreover, how can I not stand in awe of You? With the gracious and generous heart that You have, You transfer power to us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. This is not power to rule over earth, but power to do what is right to share the legacy of Your Kingdom with our Lord Jesus. This is not power to do evil, but power to experience You through our obedience, share Your truth with others, and to join You in the work of helping to bring others back to You along with ourselves. Yes, Dearest Father, this is the holy partnership that You have forged with us to conquer evil and share a blissful and eternal fellowship with You. We thank, worship, and praise You forever! In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I have been led to summarize what we have learned in MT 5: 28-48 and to begin a new segment "Topics in MT 6." I have often said that God blessed Peter and me when He brought us to our present congregation. We can't learn how to be better people alone, so God brought us to a place where we are surrounded by others who, by their example, are our "teachers." PR 27: 17, "People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron." It is my hope that each of you is in such a congregation, or that you if not, you will search for and find such a wonderful group of believers. The bottom line is finding a congregation that puts God at its center by shaping everything it does around His word. Then Christ can be in leadership, not a human being. PR 27: 18 also sheds light on this truth. "Take care of a fig tree and you will have figs to eat. A servant who takes care of his Master will be honored." We can take care of Jesus Christ by obeying His commands, putting Him first in our lives, and giving Him the worship, thanks, and praise He so richly deserves for giving us the opportunity to be saved. In searching for the right congregation, we should look not only for it to shape its activities around the Scriptures, but also for it to offer plenty of opportunities for nourishing worship, good Bible studies, a willingness to send out missionaries to spread God's word, and opportunities to grow through service to others. This is how we can close the bottom of the circle to the adversary's evil and open the top of the circle to greater and greater leadership of our lives through the Holy Spirit. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" [JS 24: 15]. Be blessed as You meditate on what has been written here.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn