It's no longer I that liveth

I've been awake these last few wee-hours of the morning repeating this line in my head over and over, "It's no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me." I finally, finally get it. I mean, not just head-knowledge-belief it, but heart-soul-spirit-feel it.

As I read through the bible with this frame of mind, it all makes sense. I've been fighting this battle, saved and trying to still work my own good works, trying to figure out how to live in the Holy Spirit.

And now I see, it's not the Holy Spirit that helps me to live, He does it for me.  The bible says that we are God's workmanship- His masterpiece- created in the Messiah for good works which God before ordained for us to walk in.  So often, when I read that verse, my mind would conjure up images of me being transformed so that I could do good works.  It was still about me. The truth is, Christ is in me. He has become me. I have decreased- not in some pious, "oh I'm so holy and such a great servant" way, but truly decreased because He has overcome sin- my very flesh. I no longer have to strive to be holy.  The Spirit of God has the power to live through me if I am willing to be the vessel.  We are not co-captains of this bodily ship. Either I am at the wheel, or He is.  He doesn't want to just help me steer the ship. If we think we are being "assisted", then we have it twisted (because what we are really saying is that we are assisting Christ, right?).  The truth is, He does it all.  It's no longer I- no longer me attempting to control, no longer me moving and working and living, no longer me striving, but Christ. Christ alone working through me.

How can words possibly explain so great a promise and reality?

What I learned from skipping Christmas

 I am really, really glad we decided to do a low-key Christmas this year.  It was truly a relaxed, hassle-free holiday for once, especially since we were able to avoid all the chaos of the stores.

We were able to steer clear of most of the commercial holiday gimmicks (especially since we don't watch television), and no one seemed to miss going sans-trees and holiday decor. (Although, I still do have a fake strand of evergreen above the kitchen windows- it's been there for a year.)  I've read so many posts on Facebook, blogs, and other places in which people exclaim that they are so stressed out.  And, from my current prospective, I have to say that most of that stress is self-done.  I feel we choose to put so much on ourselves around the holiday seasons- we want it to look and feel a certain way, and we think we have to have so many gifts under the tree, and the family meal has to go just perfect and....

Then there's the depression that sets in when you cannot afford to buy very many gifts for your children, and the pretty Christmas picture you have in your mind does not unfold as you wish it would. I know what that's like, I've been there as well.  But, more and more lately, our family has been looking at other families around the world and seeing that, even at our poorest, we are incredibly rich.  

We complain about not having this or that gadget or toy, or not having the best gifts under the tree, or there not being ham at the Christmas Eve dinner (finger pointing at my husband here, ha!) .... and we're so caught up in what we want, what we desire, and things we think we need... when in reality, it's all a cherry on top. I suppose this is one of the big negatives of living in America where wealth is taken for granted and called "poverty", where people who have a big screen television and expensive gadgets complain about not having enough food on the table. I don't think we understand how completely ridiculous that sounds to someone in Lesotho, South Africa where our friend, Nkutu, lives.

Our perspective is extremely skewed, and we call our selfish desires our "rights", and we think we deserve every little thing we desire while people who work harderthan us, live tougher than us, and see things no human being should ever see struggle just to get food on the table. 

Believe me, I'm preaching to myself as much as anyone else.

And, maybe it sounds like I can say this stuff now because we're doing good financially, but that hasn't always been the case.  And, while the main reason we're doing well financially is because of the grace of God, another reason is because we've learned our lesson in managing money, don't buy anything we can't pay with in cash, and try to keep a savings stored up.  However, all of that is just MONEY and it can be gone in a second.. and someday it will.  (Seriously, all China has to do is cash in on all the debt we owe them, and the people of the United States are going to find that they won't be able to afford a loaf of bread!)

For all the folks talking about the "Christmas Spirit", I really hope they aren't talking about the Spirit of Christ... because that's not what I see this time of year (for the most part). What I see is a spirit of materialism, people concerned about what they are getting, what to get for other people, who got something better than they did.....  and depressed when the "Christmas Spirit" doesn't hit us like we hoped, and we can't smile through the season because the season is a hassle and a hoax and is making us go broke and our kids hardly appreciate the things we spent good money on.

Know what I mean?

I'm not saying we can't have nice things, but man... so often we make life about those "nice things".  This morning, I was looking at my face in the  mirror, noticing the subtle changes that aging brings, and I actually felt okay with that.  It's just a face, it's just skin, it's just a vessel. It's not me... it's just the vessel that contains me.

Lord, I don't want to be so obsessed with how I look, what I have, and my own status in life that I miss the point of it all.  It's not about any of that, yet we spend so much of our time- waste so much of our time- obsessing over it all.

These last half-dozen years of my life have been very interesting to say the least. I had everything stripped away from me, and I had everything "returned" (so to speak) and more. For me, who I was, my identity, was tied to my stuff- the appearance of things, how it looked, how I looked, what I had.  It was very humbling to have that all taken from me. Very. 

I didn't write a lot on my blog in those days, and when I did, I didn't go into much detail about that part of our lives. It was embarrassing. I didn't want anyone to know that we hardly had two pennies to rub together, and were always in danger of losing our business and our home.   But, through all of that, God taught me that it's just stuff.  And I learned to give, even when I had little to give (whether it was of my money, time, effort, strength, love..).  I learned to take joy in those "simple" things, which, in reality, are the big things.

But it's so easy to forget those lessons.

This month has been absolutely amazing as we have leaned on the Lord to show us what to do, how to bless others, how to be vessels of His love. I keep having to remind myself- it is not about  me.  It's easy for me to get caught up in my wants, feelings, plans.... and to ignore God's desires, His will, His hopes for me.

We started out this month with plans not to "do Christmas", and yet I feel that we have "done" Christmas more than ever.  It has been so refreshing to set aside the materialism, the rush and the mental stress of it all, and just focus on Christ.   It's been so great have so many opportunities to teach our children about giving, real giving.  Giving to people who can't afford to return the favor, who won't be able to repay your kindness.  I'm talking about the kind of giving that is not a "gift exchange", but the kind of giving that is as Christ's example- giving to those who truly need and will never ever be able to repay you.  I mean, if we're going to celebrate Christmas, isn't that what it's REALLY all about?

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8]

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  [Romans 5:6] 

That is what it's about, isn't it? That's what life is about.  Sometimes I picture Christ dying for those who had stoned Him, scorned Him, betrayed Him- dying for those who hate Him, blaspheme Him, use His name in vain.  Dying for those who justify sin and love wrong-doing.  Dying... dying for the murderer, the child-abuser, the rapist.  Not just the "good" people, but those society deems bad and horrible and disgusting as well.

This is the kind of love we are called to have. To love the unlovable, not just those we like.  To give, to extend ourselves to the fullest extent.  To think of others, to serve others, above ourselves.

This was the lesson God was desperately trying to teach me when  our friends were living with us, yet I kept thinking about myself, my own feelings, and justifying myself by society's standards.  Afterall, as people kept telling me, hadn't we gone "above and beyond" in inviting a family of six into our home for a month? 

But Christ calls us to go beyond what "good people" do, to stretch ourselves, to give until it hurts.  And, in doing that, there really is no room for this mindset that Imust have, I will have, I deserve....

Like I said, I feel that, in "skipping" Christmas, I have had the best Christmas of all.  I've appreciated my family more than ever, I've enjoyed giving more than ever, I've seen the Holy Spirit move more than ever (not that He wasn't moving before, I just didn't see it).

The Power of the Spirit

Some time ago, my husband borrowed the book, The Power of the Spirit (by William Law, edited by Dave Hunt) from our good friend Terry. Brandon raved that it was one of the best books he had ever read, that it had opened his eyes to the truth of the Holy Spirit so many people miss or forget. I intended to read it, but you know how it is.... life gets in the way!

With my hubby out of town, I decided now would be a perfect time to devour it.  With no one to talk to as the household winds down, I can definitely find time to snuggle into my covers with a good book.

If this was my copy, I would have underlined every single word in the first chapter (and likely the second too, but I haven't read it yet.)

Allow me to share some of the (many) points that stuck out to me.  If I were you, I would consider buying my own copy, right now.

"The Spirit of the triune God, breathed into Adam at his creation, was that alone which made him a holy creature in the image and likeness of God. A new birth of this Spirit of God in man is as necessary to make fallen man alive again unto God as it was to make Adam at first in the image and likeness of God.  And a constant flow of this divine life by the Spirit is as necessary to man's continuance in his redeemed state as light and moisture are to the continued life of a plant. A religion that is not wholly built upon this supernatural ground, but which stands to any degree upon human powers, reasonings, and conclusions, has not so much as the shadow of truth in it. Such religion leaves man with mere empty forms and images that can no more restore divine life in his soul than an idol of clay or wood could create another Adam. True Christianity is nothing but the continual dependence upon God through Christ for all life, light, and virtue; and the false religion of Satan is to seek that goodness from any other source."

I should return to a note from the foreword of this book so you can capture a glimpse of who William Law, the man who wrote those words above, truly was.

I have found there were two William Laws: the one who wrote that classic The Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, but who at that stage did not know more than a Christ to be imitated rather than the the Christ imparted; and for that reason John Wesley always had a negative opinion of Law, because Wesley only knew him as the author of that legalistic book in Wesley';s unenlightened and Holy Club days.  But then Law tells many times in his other writings how he later met with the works of Jacob Boehme, the cobbler of Gorlitz, Germany. Through Boehme the midday sun of God's revelation in Christ shone into Law; and while Boehme, as an illiterate shoemaker, could not put his inner insights into coherent German (and his translators into English have the same difficulty), William Law could and did reproduce the essence of Boehme in Law's matchless Spirit of Love and Spirit of Prayer.  [Norman P. Grubb]

I can see why The Power of the Spirit was so passionately written.  When one turns from a legalist sort of life to the power of the Holy Spirit, there is a drastic change within the heart, mind, and soul. As a former legalist, I always struggled with this "freedom in Christ" the bible spoke of. I didn't feel free. If I was free from sin, why did I feel like I was still bound by something else?

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1

I wonder if Law felt the same before he came in contact with Boehme.

I love the point Law makes here:

All goodness comes from God just as surely as all life comes from God. The highest angel has no more of his own that he can offer unto God than the poorest creature upon earth. Were an angel to imagine that the smallest degree of wisdom, goodness, or excellence came from or belonged to himself, his place in heaven would be lost as surely as Lucifer lost his. But songs of praise to their heavenly Father are the angels' ravishing delight, because they never cease to acknowledge God as the source of all good in themselves and in the whole creation. This is the one religion of heaven, and nothing else is the truth of religion upon earth.

This part stings a bit:

Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted with it- yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon Him. For delight in matters of Scripture can be nothing but the carnal emotion of a fallen Adam-nature unless this delight finds its source in the inspiration of God as He quickens His own life and nature within the heart.

Wow. Yes. Been there. And I bet William Law had too. For twenty years of my life, the bible was little more than inspirational words and good instruction mingled with fear and horror over what would happen if I couldn't "get it right".  And even still, there are times when I read the bible apart from the Holy Spirit, and while I can take joy in certain verses, I can now tell the difference when it is the Spirit quickening my soul or when it's just my carnal mind taking delight in "a good book".

Law seems to return to the basic, but important truth, that God is the creator of all things.  Each of his points in the first chapter return to this truth- He is the maker.

It is as great rebellion against God to think that your will may ever rightly differ from His as it would be to boast in His universe that you have not received the power of willing from Him.  You are therefore to consider yourself as a being that has no other business in the world but to be that which God requires you to be; to have no desires, to seek no self-ends, but to fill that place and act that part which the divine pleasure has ordained. To think that you are your own, or at your own disposal, is as absurd as to think that you created yourself. It is as plain and necessary a first principle to believe that you are thus God's, and are to act and suffer all in a thankful resignation to His pleasure, as to believe that in Him you "live and move and have your being."

I can just hear the scoffing and see the cringing by those who believe that Christians are a bunch of people who need someone to "control them".  I'm sure there are even a few Christians cringing at these comments.  But they are truth. Law expands on this, and I'd love to share the whole chapter here (but I'm pretty sure that's illegal...)

Here is a great free resource (so I'm told). I've skimmed it. It is based on Law's book, The Power of the Spirit.  Click here to go to the PDF.


With love,
Mandy

The Truth is This (Bob Williford)

Our friend, Bob Williford, posts regularly on his Facebook Group called the Fence Post Digest.  His messages are always timely, and always seem to line up exactly with what I'm currently studying.  (Amazing how that happens!)  In keeping with the Truth and Holy Spirit theme I have been thinking upon lately, I hope this post encourages you as it did me.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6.

"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth..” John 17:15,16 .

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” John 16:12-15.

Jesus says of himself, “I am

1. The Way
2. The Truth
3. The Life
4. NOT of this World

Jesus says of us, “They are not of the world…”
Jesus asks of the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth…..”
Of the Holy Spirit Jesus says,

1. Is the Spirit of Truth
2. Will guide in all truth
3. Will glorify Jesus
4. Will disclose the heart of Christ to the us

There are 6 most important things to take note of here:

1. Jesus is not of this world
2. His disciples (Believers) are not of this world
3. Jesus is Truth
4. The Holy Spirit will guide the Believer in ALL Truth
5. The Holy Spirit will disclose the Heart of Christ to the Believer
6. The Father will purify (sanctify) the Believer in Truth

Because of Christ, the Believer is not of this world. The Holy Spirit empowers us in the discipline of Christ and to complete the transformation of the change wrought in His Son, the Father purifies us in the Truth. There is absolutely no achievement in holiness that is possible because of attainment of man. We are completely dependent upon the Holy Spirit in these matters.

Jesus is Lord
bw

Holy Spirit: Teacher of Truth

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. - John 14:26

I've been studying verse by verse through Hebrews lately.  I admit, Hebrews was once one of my least favorite books of the New Testament, along with Revelations, because I had such a hard time understanding huge chunks of it. Not long ago, I began delving deeper into both of these books longing for understanding and wisdom so I might better understand God's truths.  I am glad to report Hebrews is becoming one of my favorite books of the New Testament thanks to the Spirit's grace in giving me the understanding I asked for.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2)

As I read through it, I am filled with such deep adoration for God. It's hard to explain, really.  This giddiness just swells within me, and I literally feel like dancing.  It's too much for this little body to contain so it often pours out in songs of praise and joy- some which are made up on the spot, others which have been unintentionally memorized.

I would say, what I love about the Hebrews letter most is that it helps me understand the Old Testament better.  Here's another confession. I once tried to steer clear of the Old Testament.  Before I "came to Christ", I was a bible reader. I have been reading my bible since I learned to read but, of course, much of it was such a mystery to me because God had yet to lift the veil from my eyes. The OT seemed out-dated, so I didn't read it unless it was part of our group study, and even then, I did so with lackluster efforts. (Now I love it!! I did not understood how it pointed to Christ. I really was so clueless!)

After I submitted my life to Christ, I mainly focused on the New Testament. Even though I had been reading my bible nearly all my life, I had read it through a filter where much of the Scripture had been twisted.  I had put my trust in men to interpret it for me and, well, many of them had steered me wrong.

The amazing thing about walking in Christ is that the Holy Spirit becomes your teacher.  I begged God to remove my "filter" and wash away the false ideas and teachings I had accumulated over my lifetime and to fill me with His Truth as I read the bible with new eyes (and as a new creation in Christ).

That was five years ago, and I am still amazed by God's Word.  It seems this education takes a lifetime, and God is always revealing more and more to those who honestly seek Him and ask of Him!  While I love to listen to bold and biblical preachers and read articles and blogs written by those who walk in the faith, their words can never compare to the simple reading of the bible.  Does God open my eyes to things in His Word through others? Sure! Does He use others to convict me or encourage me? Most definitely! But it is actually those moments when I am alone with His Word that I am taught, convicted, and encouraged the most.

John 16:13 states, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [...]" How wonderful is that? What a blessing! What a gift!

Spurgeon, in his sermon The Holy Ghost- The Great Teacher, said, "There is no college for holy education like that of the blessed Spirit, for He is an ever-present tutor, to whom we have only to bend the knee, and He is at our side, the great expositor of Truth."

He definitely echos my own thoughts in this sermon... and I'd like to leave a larger excerpt with you:

This is none other than God, and this God is none other than a person. This person is "he, the Spirit," the "Spirit of truth;" not an influence or an emanation, but actually a person. "when the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth." Now, we wish you to look at this guide to consider how adapted he is to us.

In the first place, he is infallible; he knows everything and cannot lead us astray. If I pin my sleeve to another man's coat, he may lead me part of the way rightly, but by-and-bye he will go wrong himself, and I shall be led astray with him; but if I give myself to the Holy Ghost and ask his guidance, there is no fear of my wandering.

Again, we rejoice in this Spirit because he is ever-present. We fall into a difficulty sometimes; we say, "Oh, if I could take this to my minister, he would explain it; but I live so far off, and am not able to see him." That perplexes us, and we turn the text round and round and cannot make anything out of it. We look at the commentators. We take down pious Thomas Scott, and, as usual he says nothing about it if it be a dark passage. Then we go to holy Matthew Henry, and if it is an easy Scripture, he is sure to explain it; but if it is a text hard to be understood, it is likely enough, of course, left in his own gloom; and even Dr. Gill himself, the most consistent of commentators, when he comes to a hard passage, manifestly avoids it in some degree. But when we have no commentator or minister, we have still the Holy Spirit; and let me tell you a little secret: whenever you cannot understand a text, open your Bible, bend your knee, and pray over that text; and if it does not split into atoms and open itself, try again. If prayer does not explain it, it is one of the things God did not intend you to know, and you may be content to be ignorant of it. Prayer is the key that openeth the cabinets of mystery. Prayer and faith are sacred picklocks that can open secrets, and obtain great treasures. There is no college for holy education like that of the blessed Spirit, for he is an ever-present tutor, to whom we have only to bend the knee, and he is at our side, the great expositor of truth.

But there is one thing about the suitability of this guide which is remarkable. I do not know whether it has struck you—the Holy Spirit can "guide us into a truth." Now, man can guide us to a truth, but it is only the Holy Spirit who can "guide us into a truth." "When he, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he shall guide you into"—mark that word—"all truth." Now, for instance, it is a long while before you can lead some people to election; but when you have made them see its correctness, you have not led them "into" it. You may show them that it is plainly stated in Scripture, but they will turn away and hate it. You take them to another great truth, but they have been brought up in a different fashion, and though they cannot answer your arguments, they say, "The man is right, perhaps," and they whisper—but so low that conscience itself cannot hear—"but it is so contrary to my prejudices, that I cannot receive it." After you have led them to the truth, and they see it is true, how hard it is to lead them into it! There are many of my hearers who are brought to the truth of their depravity, but they are not brought into it, and made to feel it. Some of you are brought to know the truth that God keeps us from day to day; but you rarely get into it, so as to live in continual dependence upon God the Holy Ghost, and draw fresh supplies from him. The thing is—to get inside it. A Christian should do with truth as a snail does with his shell—live inside it, as well as carry it on his back, and bear it perpetually about with him. The Holy Ghost, it is said, shall lead us into all truth. You may be brought to a chamber where there is an abundance of gold and silver, but you will be no richer unless you effect an entrance. It is the Spirit's work to unbar the two leaved gates, and bring us into a truth, so that we may get inside it, and, as dear old Rowland Hill said, "Not only hold the truth, but have the truth hold us."

[Read the whole sermon here.]

Sermons of the Holy Spirit

"The Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm. Some people get enthusiasm and think they have got the Holy Spirit." (A.W. Tozer)

"The Holy Spirit never enters a man and lets him live like the rest of the World." (A.W. Tozer)

These are for my own purpose, as my husband and I are currently studying the person of the Holy Spirit.  I have chosen a few classic sermons, some to listen to and some to print and read.  You may also find these useful, encouraging, convicting, and informative.  I love listening to A.W. Tozer. While his preaching is bold and clear, he is also easy to listen to and often adds tidbits of humor.  I wish we had more Tozers and Spurgeons today!

Listen to the Holy Spirit Series:

A.W. Tozer, Who is the Holy Spirit & How can we know Him?
A.W. Tozer, The Holy Spirit: Let Him Come In
A.W. Tozer, The Signs of the Pentecost Today.
A.W. Tozer, What Difference Does the Holy Spirit Make?
A.W. Tozer, The Path & Power to Usefulness

Read Spurgeon's sermons on the Holy Spirit:

Grieving the Holy Spirit
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit's Intecession
The Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit's Chief Office