What Happens When You Seek All God Has to Offer
By R.T. Kendall
Charles Carrin
Jack Taylor
Word Spirit Power will help us bring about a remarriage of the Word and the Spirit in today's Church. Word + Spirit = Power
Many believe that signs and wonders were ended when the the Book of Revelation was penned, but the truth is we don't experience the signs and wonders because we have separated the Scriptures from the power of God. To preach the Gospel without the power of God behind it we are merely teaching words. This coming together of Scripture with the power of God's Spirit is what gave strength and meaning to Peter's preaching on the Day of Pentecost. God's power is what lies behind the miraculous and it is the irresistible force behind preaching.
Today many Christians are like the Sadducees, we are ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God. We must daily read and study the Bible so that when we have need of its guidance and wisdom the Holy Spirit can bring it our mind. The Bible is a record of God's integrity. And it is through God's name that signs and wonders were done proclaiming the truth of His Word. Even the hymns of today are powerless because there is no theology that we sing unlike those of Issac Watts and Charles Wesley. When we come to Christianity with the attitude of "What's in it for me?" we are missing the point. The Cross appeased God's wrath at our sinfulness. God owes us nothing! We must humble ourselves before God and thank Him for what He has already given us.
To return to what God has intended us to be we must pursue "the Third Person of the Trinity, Holy Spirit" It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can truly be aware of God's presence in our lives. The Holy Spirit was sent by God to unify the Church and to enable us to accomplish the purpose God has created us, as the Church, for. But somewhere along the way we seemed to lose our awareness of the Spirit's presence and began viewing Him with fear and doubt.
To experience true spiritual renewal we must recover the original purpose of the Holy Spirit. Today's Church "lacks the heart and power to recover the glory of the church of Acts," instead it is under a cloud of oppression struggling to survive. This is the time when we should return to God and the Bible - a time of spiritual awakening.
The religious world uses terms that divide and exclude, but God wants us to be inclusive. As Christians we can have disagreements but we must not become disagreeable so that by our very words and actions we cause others to close eyes and ears to God!
If we refuse the Spirit we are refusing God and we are refusing Jesus as they are one. To be in God we must be in the Spirit, we must trust Him as we trust the Father and the Son. When the Spirit came on those first believers of the early Church they were filled with a boldness they had not previously had. But this was not an offering to only the first believers, but to believers today as well. We must allow the Spirit to provide us with the power by revealing the meaning of God's Word to us His Children!
We must not allow our ego or pride to hinder the Spirit. We must crucify our ego so that we don't handicap the Spirit's work in our lives and limit our effectiveness both within and without the Church. We must not allow the legalism of doctrine to cause us to reject the both the Spirit and the works of the Spirit. It is only when the Spirit become real to the individual believer "that religion is replaced with authentic spirituality and power."
Word Spirit Power takes an interesting look at the Church and what is wrong with it. Are you willing to to accept the gift that has been given to the Church and to the Kingdom?
I received a copy of this book from Chosen a division of Baker Books for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments.
~ Blooming with Books