2024-03-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Up to now, the Holy Spirit has had me writing on the levels of faith: Level 1 Measure of Faith; Level 2 Word of God; Level 3 Prayer; Level 4 Fasting. Today, I’m commanded to write about Level 5 Impartation. All of these levels are parts of the transformation that God affects when He calls a person to faith. Because God has no evil in Him, the Father has decided to call people who begin to understand their need for Him to be in their lives. The steps one takes have to do with accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He will come to understand FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. What this means is through giving us His grace [EPH 2: 8-10], His unmerited favor, a person comes to accept Christ, God’s gift, and is transformed to do good deeds God has already prepared. By God’s grace and Christ’s atoning sacrifice of His physical life, we are saved, eternally forgiven, and justified. Our part of this New Covenant is to gradually expunge sins (even subtle ones) by confessing them to God and stopping whatever the sin is.
Having shared this information about transformation, let’s look at how this happens, which is Level 5: Impartation. The latter word is the noun that goes along with these verbs: to impart, send, transmit, teach, communicate, pass on, convey, relate, recount, present, testify, write about, and dramatize--all with accuracy. Once mature faith is attained, one realizes that it is God’s will that we don’t keep the truth of the Gospel of Christ (and His teaching) to ourselves. PS 96: 3, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” IS 12: 4, “And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted.’” MT 28: 19-20, [Christ’s words] “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you to the very end of the age.” RO 1: 16, “For I [Paul] am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.” 1 PET 3: 15, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
We must understand that no matter what the circumstances, there are two truths: God always gets His way, and He is wiser than we could ever be. IS 46: 9-10, “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” IS 55: 8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heaven are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Understand this expression of God’s will: IS 55: 3-4a, “Give ear and come to Me, listen, tat you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See I have made him a witness to the peoples…” I purposely chose OT Scripture here, so that we might understand that what is expressed in the NT is a continuation of God’s amazing consistency in the Bible.
Now to the impartation itself: I’m a believer that if we are going to give our testimony to another (either publicly or privately) we should take the time to find out where that person(s) is (are) on their faith walk and if his (their) permission is granted. Forcing people to listen won’t work, especially if it’s too soon or against their will. Taking time to pray with God first and get His opinion, if possible, makes a lot of sense. I worked for an organization, “In Search of Shalom” where seekers could “chat in” on computer chats in real time from all over the world. Using my God-given knowledge of the Scriptures to answer their questions prompted some of them to begin the process of transformation. Others rejected it. I believe that God pursues us and wants us to be in a close and ever-maturing relationship with Him.
God will select which skill sets a person has. When I was learning the story of Esther at the age of 4, I was asked to play her in an age-appropriate presentation in the synagogue my family was attending. Later, I was asked to play her as an adult. We were learning about anti-Semitism as children, because the Holocaust had happened only a few years before. It was discussed at almost every service we attended. As I grew up and became increasingly unfulfilled by traditional Conservative Judaism, I was reminded that we lost many people in our family in that awful and cruel act of violence. Until 9 years ago, when I began doing genealogical research, I hadn’t known their names. Now I do.
The lessons of the Holocaust are being pushed aside by what is going on with Israel right now. But when the Father decided that I should know that Jesus is my Messiah and later when He called me to the ministry, my life was completely transformed. The hopelessness that I felt all through my childhood has been replaced by His grace in transforming me to not only a believer in Jesus Christ, but also a follower of Him. I’m always going to be "gob-smacked" that He suffered and gave His life on the cross for me and every potential and real believer [JN 3: 16]! This in no way erases the lessons of the Holocaust, the Pogroms of Eastern Europe, or any kind of Islamophobia. There are too many ignorant people in this world who refuse to learn them. God has said that He will separate the sheep from the goats [MT 25: 32]. We can take comfort in that and know He loves those who love Him.
PRAYER: O Most Holy Father, we know that You are present in our lives and that You love us. You impart Your wisdom through Christ in us, Who helps us to access the fountain of Your wisdom. Since “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ [RO 10: 17], the way is opened for anyone You choose to be transformed to a life that includes the hope of the resurrection. We pray that as many people as possible can make this journey successfully and that the promise of REV 21: 4 will come true as soon as possible. We thank and praise You for the blessings You give us every day, including hope for the future, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: According to the Scriptures, God sees us as his beloved children with whom He wants to have a close relationship. He sees our true spiritual identity beyond our outward appearance and flaws. We are precious in His sight. God chose us to be part of His Kingdom and family because He wants and loves us. As believers, we are children of God, and therefore, part of a royal family. God hears our prayers, sees our heart’s desires, struggles, pain, frustrations, and heartaches [1 PET 2:9]. Remember, He chose us first [JN 15: 16]. How God sees us is next week’s subject. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15 © Lynn Johnson 2024. All Rights Reserved
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