Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

The Fruit of the Ruach (Spirit) Is His Work – Not Ours

Featured

Posted by in Spiritual

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11 Then [YeHoVaH] said, “Let the land sprout grass, green plants yielding seed, fruit trees making fruit, each according to its species with seed in it, upon the land.” And it happened so. 12 The land brought forth grass, green plants yielding seed, each according to its species, and trees making fruit with the seed in it, each according to its species. And [YeHoVaH]  saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:11-12, TLV; the bracketed words are my emphasis

3 to console those who mourn in Zion,
to give them beauty for ashes,
    the oil of joy for mourning,
    the garment of praise
        for the spirit of heaviness,
    that they might be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of [YeHoVaH],
    that He may be glorified. – Isaiah 61:3, TLV; the bracketed word is my emphasis

 3 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some seeds fell by the road; and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil. They sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched; and because they had no roots, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and choked them out. 8 But others fell on good soil and were producing fruit. They yielded a crop—some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

23 “Now the one sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands. He indeed bears fruit, yielding a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.” – Matthew 13:3-9 and 23, TLV

22 But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23, TLV

The gifts of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), which are given to born again, saved, justified, Spirit-filled, and being sanctified Yeshua believers, empower them for service – they (the spiritual gifts) give Yeshua’s believers spiritual Power that enables them to do ministry work. Without a doubt, YeHoVaH makes it clear in Genesis chapter one that the service Yeshua’s believers are called to do is symbolized by YeHoVaH’s planted, cultivated, and harvested seed that makes fruit according to its species. For sure, some of the ministry works Yeshua’s believers are called to do are as follows:  function as evangelists, participate in missionary activities, minister to the needy, teach Bible classes, and so forth.   

Again, in Genesis chapter one, YeHoVaH says that every fruit tree makes “fruit, each according to its species with seed in it,” and Yeshua says that a tree is known by its fruit – either good or bad (see Luke 6:43-45). What the Father and the Son say about fruit-bearing trees are why it important for Yeshua’s believers to understand that it is the Work of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) that empowers them with spiritual gifts that make it possible for them to function as evangelists, participate in missionary activities, minister to the needy, teach Bible classes, and so on. Furthermore, it is the Work of the Ruach HaKodesh that yields the following fruit in Yeshua’s believers: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Recently, some Christians commented on my Facebook posting about evangelism being the central work of Yeshua’s believers that evangelism isn’t the chief work believers are called to do. These Christians either claimed that love or worship is the principal work of Yeshua’s believers. I responded by telling them that neither godly Love nor godly Worship is WORK. I added that godly Love is a FRUIT of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirt), and I declared that this kind of Love originally/initially comes from a SEED humans did not plant, did not cultivate, and did not harvest.  

The Divine Truth, where each Yeshua believer is concerned, is that it is Yeshua who Plants a SEED in “good soil” (every born again and saved spirit that hears the sown Word and understands It). After Yeshua plants the SEED, it is Yeshua’s Ruach HaKodesh who cultivates that SEED until it matures – grows into a tree of righteousness, which spiritually means that each Yeshua believer is spiritually being transformed into the image of Yeshua who is symbolized as the Vine or the Tree from which spiritually mature/healthy branches (believers) not only sprout but also bear much fruit (see John 15:1-3).

Once there is fruit on a tree of righteousness, it is the Lord’s Ruach HaKodesh who harvests that fruit from each branch – gathers the fruit which has a seed within it. Spiritually speaking, Yeshua’s fruit-bearing believers won’t initially be gathered until the time of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Nevertheless, the spiritual point here is that the fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh is every Yeshua believer’s transformed spirit, and the harvest is that of saved, justified, Spirit-filled,  and sanctified living souls – both the living souls who are dead and alive in Yeshua. Put differently, Yeshua’s believers on earth who bear much fruit only do so because of the Ruach HaKodesh’s progressive Work that is happening in their spirits (good soils). This ongoing sanctification Work of the Ruach HaKodesh results in the spirits (good soils) of Yeshua’s believers yielding, again and again, much fruit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. They continue to bear fruit until they have been transformed into Yeshua and become overcomers who are ready to receive their glorified bodies.

Secondly, where the kind of godly Worship YeHoVaH expects is concerned, this kind of worship is done in Spirit and in Truth (see John 4:24). Without a doubt, the Spirit part of godly Worship refers to the Work of the Ruach HaKodesh. He stirs within good soils the holy desire to celebrate YeHoVaH, as well as the holy desires to rejoice in YeHoVaH and to give thanks to YeHoVaH. This worship of YeHoVaH in Spirit happens after the Ruach HaKodesh awakens in the spirits of Yeshua’s believers a spiritual awareness of YeHoVaH’s Glory, Beauty, and Power. Moreover, this worship of YeHoVaH in Spirit also happens after the Ruach HaKodesh opens the spiritual eyes of understanding within Yeshua’s believers and then empowers their spirits so that they are able to show YeHoVaH how much they comprehend and appreciate everything – all the Godhead’s treasures – YeHoVaH has made available to them through His Son, Yeshua. Again, the spirits of Yeshua’s believers only pertains to the born again, saved, justified, Spirit-filled, and being sanctified spirits that hear the sown Word and understand It.

Now, as far as the Truth part of godly Worship is concerned, this part also refers to the Work of the Ruach HaKodesh because He is the only One who knows all of YeHoVaH’s Truths, as well as knows ALL truths. Only the Ruach HaKodesh can teach, explain, inform, and reveal YeHoVaH’s Scriptural Truths, and only the Ruach HaKodesh can teach, explain, inform, and reveal YeHoVaH’s Scriptural Truths to Yeshua’s born again, saved, justified, Spirit-filled, and being sanctified (transformed) believers’ spirits. Since human interpretations and opinions do not create the atmosphere in which YeHoVaH-exalting worship takes place, this Divine Truth is why the said believers’ godly worship in Truth not only must be informed and conformed by the Ruach HaKodesh’s Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding of YeHoVaH’s Scriptural Truths but also must be founded, embedded, and focused on the Ruach HaKodesh’s Scriptural Revelations of the Truths about YeHoVaH and Yeshua. In other words, the spirits of Yeshua’s believers who are worshipping YeHoVaH in Truth can not do so if their worship is based on the traditions of men or on erroneous human interpretations or opinions about YeHoVaH’s Scriptural Truths.

So again, godly Love and godly Worship are the Works of the Ruach HaKodesh – not our works. Furthermore, the uncomfortable Divine Truth is that we do the work of an evangelist, and all the other ministerial services we are called to do, because we love YeHoVaH and Yeshua enough to want to obey their Commands, as well as love YeHoVaH enough to desire to Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. However, we must realize that we only can do the work of an evangelist; love YeHoVaH, Yeshua, and our fellow human beings; or worship YeHoVaH in Spirit and in Truth when the Ruach HaKodesh’s Work makes it possible for us to have the spiritual power, will, fruit, and gifts to do so. Shalom . . . .  

When His Holy Spirit Leaves

Featured

Posted by in Devotional

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew you out of My mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have made myself wealthy, and I need nothing.’ But you do not know that you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may dress yourself and so the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. – Revelation 3:16-18, TLV

None of us who claims to be Yeshua’s Disciples will want YeHoVaH to cancel our right to be in His Presence. However, the truth of the matter is that there are far too many carnal Yeshuaians who want a relationship with Yeshua on their terms instead of on His terms. These carnal Yeshuaians are today’s Laodiceans – individuals who serve the Yeshua of their own making.

Yehovah says that He will spew these carnal Yeshuaians out of His Mouth. In other words, the Holy Spirit (the Presence of YeHoVaH) will leave them the second they miss the Rapture.

The Laodicean believers who end up being left on Earth while the true Bride of Overcomers is in Heaven need to know that the Holy Spirit left some of them because their unbelief caused them to leave YeHoVaH – they departed from the Truth and became apostates. The Holy Spirit left other Laodicean believers because they loved the world and the things of the world – had one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of YeHoVaH.

Let the true Bride of Yeshua pray for everyone who does not know and has not accepted the Lord. Let the true Bride of Yeshua also pray that YeHoVaH will open the eyes of the Laodiceans’ understanding so that those believers who currently are fence straddlers might become Overcomers who prepare and watch for their Bridegroom. Shalom.

Keep it real … Live it out … Watch it work!

The Second Anniversary of an Untimely Farewell

02 Thursday May 2019

Posted by in Heartbreak, Poetry, Tribute

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today is the second anniversary of the day my oldest son died. What I say in my mini-memoir, Untimely Farewells, about that melancholy May 2 is that I was feeling apprehensive. So:

“…I thought that if I went for a walk that it would calm me. It didn’t. As soon as I started walking, I burst into tears. While wailing, I suddenly blurted out a desperate plea.

“Father,” I sobbed, “please take me, instead of my son. I have lived a relatively long life. He is too young to die. Plus, he needs to be here for his sons and his new grandson. They surely will suffer immensely, if Ade were to die. They can do without me, but not their dad. Please, Father, let Ade live, if that is Your Will. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”

I prayed similar prayers during that twenty or thirty-minute walk, as well as throughout that day. Still, my uneasiness continued to intensify; so much so, that by six o’clock in the evening I felt too sick to be around my family — my younger son, his wife, and their children — so I went to bed.

By now, my entire body seemed to know that Ade was dying. That was why all I wanted to do was to escape that unbearable truth by sleeping my hurt away. I had not been asleep all that long before Tarik was sitting next to me on my bed, shaking me, and begging me to “wake up.” He repeated his plea. “Please wake up, Mom. You have to wake up, now.” It was 7:50 p.m., my time.

Awake but a bit fuzzy, I asked Tarik, “Why do I need to wake up,” and before he could say “Ade is gone, Mom,” I already knew it. I immediately started crying, while simultaneously trying to push Tarik away and asking, aloud, “Why, God, why?” However, Tarik wouldn’t let me pull away from him. We cried together in each other’s arms.” (pp. 172-173)

That day, I joined a club that mothers everywhere hope they will never have to join. I became a permanent member of the Mothers Who Have Lost a Child club. What I also say in my mini-memoir is it is unfortunate that “…even though I eventually could rejoice with God that Ade was no longer suffering pain, I couldn’t avoid grieving his loss” (p. 182).

Two years later, I am still grieving the loss of my son, Olumuyiwa Ade Keen. Even though I am not, nor have I ever been, paralyzed by a deep-seated depression, I do feel sad at times, even more so on days like today.

Many grief experts have come up with their own list of things a grieving person can do that supposedly will help him or her deal with the anniversary of a loved one’s death, but the truth is nothing and no human being can get me through today. Only the Holy Spirit can comfort me while helping me deal with Ade’s death, and He is doing just that. Thank You, Holy Spirit!

I wrote the following poem in August of 2017. It is about the anguish and sadness losing Ade has made me feel. I originally posted this poem on August 13, 2017, in one of my WordPress blog articles. At that time, I noted that this poem was from my “Deep-Rooted Disposition” manuscript. “Moody Woman” is now the title of that same manuscript. Once again, here is my poem:

Raining Nonstop in My Heart
  
  
 Human life comes with no magical number –  
 Threescore years and ten not guaranteed to
 Everyone into whom the Breath of Life is breathed,
 Putting within all living souls an eternal soul –
 An endless spiritual dimension of humanity.
  
 Yet long-life promise Command is figurative –
 At best, most days are long in Promised Lands
 But years are far shorter than the psalmist’s seventy 
 Briefer still for countless parents’ beloved sons
 Or daughters they received from Indian Giver:
 Grief’s irate criticism of living souls’ Creator.
  
 Heartache cosigns divers pejorative expressions –
 Death makes them intensely strange bedfellows;
 Thankfully, God’s Love covers a multitude of mindsets
 Dead set on using finger pointing to hide the pain
 That mentally fighting noxious emotional wounds   
 Deepens as human nature ignores Spirit’s Healing.
  
 Child-loss pain is without equal, unlike none other –
 Uniquely categorized since it betters bereavements’
 Other types, triggering rawest ever-conceived anger that
 Wages war against the unfairness of it all, hardening
 Hearts reluctant to see collateral beauty around them
 Uninterrupted by undying love that sets off joy and hope.
  
 Domino effect doesn’t just signify a future disaster – 
 It illustrates how love that is in the middle of all life
 Is hearts’ forever falling domino concurrently connecting
 By coupling each toppled one to grief, pain, suffering,
 Loss, or varied other ripples, including death, as they
 Form rings around unending love’s collateral beauty.
  
 Even so, diabetes monkey wrenched my life –  
 This pre-existing condition snuffed out
 Olumuyiwa’s candle short of my often prayed for
 Long-life plan for my eldest son whose
 Given name means: ‘God provides this.’
  
 I’m sure Ade, denoting ‘my crown,’ will get his –
 For my strong soldier fought the hardest battles;
 Still my heart misses its vital piece needed to fix these
 Throbbing, flip-flopping, pounding, skipping beat 
 Irregular rhythms’ agonizingly irksome hiccups.
  
 They’re from regularly reran videos of his life –
 He’s infant, teen, adult; optimist then pessimist;
 He’s laughing, speaking, leaving, returning, then dying 
 In my head’s wirelessly streamed detailed scenes 
 Of jubilation and desolation that wear me down.
  
 Every interlude between reruns baits my fear –
 Cruel taunts make me believe I have begun to
 Forget the strong-willed, handsome, animated part
 Of me that died, living now only in memories
 Daydreams summon instantly without delay.
  
 Losing Olumuyiwa unlocked soulish floodgates –
 Now it’s heavily raining nonstop in my old heart,
 Wet monsoons from an overflowing waterlogged soul;
 Life is surreal like I’m imprisoned and dying in 
 The center of a floating no locks, no bars vast 
 Airless gravity-defying water designed bubble. 
  
 Losing Olumuyiwa aftereffect is canyon in heart –
 This too wide to close gap prevents me from ever
 Being same person, since grief has no expiration date –
 Just a myriad of sadness and hopelessness tides
 That confirm uncomfortable truth: he’s not here.
  

This second anniversary of Ade’s death is very significant. Thanks to Father God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, I have done something, which on May 2, 2017, I didn’t think it would have ever been possible. I have survived two whole years without my oldest son, who was and still is someone as enormously important to me as life itself.

Run to Win – Don’t Get Disqualified

07 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by in Spiritual

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Believers Four-Person Relay Team

 

24 Don’t you know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one wins the prize? So then, run to win! 25 Now every athlete in training submits himself to strict discipline, and he does it just to win a laurel wreath that will soon wither away. But we do it to win a crown that will last forever. 26 Accordingly, I don’t run aimlessly but straight for the finish line; I don’t shadow-box but try to make every punch count. 27 I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that, after proclaiming the Good News to others, I myself will not be disqualified. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, CJB

 

 

 

While we must run the race that Father God has set before us, we also must be careful not to get ahead of ourselves. We must wait until the Holy Spirit has given us the baton, or we will be disqualified if we run our leg of the relay without it.

Once we have received the baton, that is when we sprint. However, let us make sure that we are sprinting in our lane, as well as dashing straight toward the finish line, for we will not receive our rewards—the Promises of God that have been saved up for His overcoming saints—any other way. In other words, we also must run to win!

 

Selah . . . pause and calmly think about that. Shalom . . . . .

We Didn’t Choose Christ

01 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in Devotional

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 15_5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5, ESV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…. ~ John 15:16, ESV

 

 

In the Jewish culture, students (disciples) traditionally choose their own Rabbis (teachers). However, Christ reverses that tradition. He does the choosing. This reversal of Jewish tradition is typical of God’s Economy—His sovereign Plan for mankind. For example, God’s Kingdom is revolutionary primarily because it is an upside down Kingdom in which the first becomes the last, or the last becomes the first; the leader becomes the servant, or the servant becomes the leader; and so forth.

Now although most of today’s college or university students can choose their postsecondary schools, professors and majors, believers in Christ still do not choose Him. They also do not choose their calling(s).

Because of His finished Work on the Cross, Christ gets to choose who gets to abide in Him. In other words, the Vine selects who He wants to be His Branches. The uncomfortable truth for many of today’s believers to swallow is that we are not called to work in Christ’s Vineyard, because of a feeling within us, or because others believe God wants us to be preachers, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and etcetera. 

The bottom line is that Father God ordains us so that we can work for Christ in His Vineyard. Then too, even though the Lord is our true Vine, it is the Holy Spirit who is our true Husbandman. As branches, whatever we do or say that glorifies God comes from the Vine—comes from Christ via the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. This Divine Truth is why we have to allow the Life of the Vine (Holy Spirit) to flow through us so that we can produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit prunes and cleanses our lives, via Living Water and Fire or His Practical Sanctification Process, this is the reason why He (Life of the Vine) and Christ (the Vine) expect us to bear much fruit.

As moral free agents, we can choose not to follow the purpose Father God has for us—we can refuse to respond to the Vine’s Divine Call and the Husbandman’s Divine Care—but to do so will cause us to forfeit our fruit-bearing position in the Vine—to be deprived of our service privilege. The point here is that the only way we will be able to produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is to answer the Vine’s Divine Call and then yield to the Husbandman’s Divine Care. Shalom. 

 

~ from my soon-to-be-published manuscript – Keeping It Real: Daily Renewing the Mind

It’s ALL About Kingdom of God Living

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Spiritual

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kingdom of God Living

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all  these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~ Matthew 6:31-33,     ESV

 

“Church” attenders have become so good at manipulating their learned churchy-ology (so good at playing “church”) and so good at regurgitating their pastors and/or ministers’ theology—a theology that often is minus the Theos (God; the Creator)—that these churchgoers completely have missed or are missing their purpose for living. “Church” attenders were not created just to become believers in Christ Jesus, and they were not created just so they can get into Heaven. They also were not created just to preach the Gospel—to evangelize and disciple the whole world.

First and foremost, God has created human beings for His Glory (see Isaiah 43:7; 1 Peter 4:11). His Glory is the beauty and excellence of His diverse holiness or countless perfections. His Glory also is the revelation and manifestation of His Character or all that He has and all that He is.

Put differently, God has created every human being for one purpose—to glorify Him. The problem is that so many believers are running around—like chickens with their heads cut off—“trying” to figure out what their purpose is for living, when the Word of God makes it clear that humanity was created to display or manifest—to reflect—God’s Character (His Glory), and to do so 24/7 – 365 days of the year. 

Once again, we all have been created for one purpose—for God’s Glory; to glorify God. Now glorify means: to magnify, praise and worship God; to accredit honor to God; and to acknowledge Him (His total being, attributes/characteristics, and deeds). Therefore, for us to glorify God, we must desire what He desires for us.

Scriptures tell us that God desires that we accept and confess His Son as our Lord and Savior, that we fully love Him (the Father) with the God-kind of love He has put inside us; that we absolutely love Him with our whole being; that we totally obey Him, and that we are utterly faithful to Him, as demonstrated by our God-kind of faith in Him. We also glorify God when we genuinely praise Him and truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (His Word is that Truth), when we publicly acknowledge His Glory and value His Glory above the glory of all created things/beings, and when we openly make His Glory known to others—make God recognizable to others; show others what God is like. Lastly, we glorify God when we bring Him honor (please Him) through everything we say, do and think.

The only way we can fulfill this purpose—the glorifying God purpose—is through the aid of God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not in us just to take up space (to live/dwell in us). He is in us to fill us with everything God’s Grace has made available to us so that we who are in Christ Jesus can glorify God just like our Lord glorified His Father. It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to take those of us (we believers) who are born again, saved, and filled with Him into the Kingdom of God where He (the Holy Spirit) disciples (teaches/trains) ALL of us on Kingdom of God living—teaches us everything we need to know about the knowledge of God so that our individual “new life/new creation” keeps glorifying God until His Kingdom in all of us is brought to its fullness.

We never were created just so that we can live comfortable lives—have comfortable jobs, comfortable paychecks (or comfortable bank accounts/savings), comfortable homes, comfortable friends, and/or comfortable churches or ministries. If we are born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will know that it no longer is about us living our own lives the way we want, because our lives now belong to Christ Jesus. We no longer can live as we please, because Christ Jesus has committed our lives to Kingdom of God living. In the Kingdom of God, only Christ Jesus is Lord—not our pastors, bishops, elders, and so forth; not our earthly parents; not our godly family members and godly friends, not our positions and titles, not our money, not even we ourselves.

The Kingdom of God’s King of kings and Lord of lords has commanded us to live our lives in the Kingdom of God for the Glory of God. If we have not surrendered or are not surrendering our lives to Christ Jesus’ Lordship and Kingdom of God living, then we have been blinded by the blind Kingdom killers—our learned churchy-ology and accepted theology that is minus the Theos.

Selah (calmly pause and think about that) . . . .  A word to the wise should be sufficient.

The “Salt” of the Earth

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Devotional

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salt of the Earth

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ~ Matthew 5:13, ESV

 

 

Being someone else’s moral compass is not an easy mission. As the salt of the earth (keepers of moral values, holy and righteous doers), whether we believers in Christ like it or not, we are other people’s spiritual guides for morally appropriate behavior.

The truth is that we neither can be the moral preservation of a society nor a true moral compass, when we are relying on our own strength and wisdom. Trusting our own flesh to give us strength and our own minds to give us wisdom—while we are trying to be the salt of the earth—only means we do not have the Power of God flowing through us. What is frightening about this scenario is that we risk losing ALL credibility, when we fall from Grace while attempting to serve others in the abovementioned carnal condition.

The bottom line is that—as witnesses for Christ—our salt needs to cause individuals to thirst after both the eternal life Giver and His Living Water and Fire. When our salt loses its savor (our saltiness, tang, spiciness, integrity)—when we lose our influence because of our fall from Grace—it is very possible that the people we are meant to influence on Earth either will reject the eternal life Giver or stumble and lose their own salty quality. In other words, the moment our salt loses its savor will be the same moment our witness loses its credibility. Put differently, the moment our witness is compromised will be the very moment our salt becomes worthless.

Without our tang (salty savor or integrity), we cannot affect any person’s thirst. Without our savor, we cannot have any seasoned with salt speech that is pure and has the proper gravitas—that which preserves (keeps) others from the enemy’s corruption. Without our integrity, we cannot point any person to Christ. For these reasons, we have to stay connected to the source of our salt, who is the Holy Spirit. Only God’s Holy Spirit is able to renew and/or replenish our saltiness. 

What we each need to ask ourselves are these questions: Has my lost savor stopped me from thirsting after the Living Water? Have other individuals’ thirst for the Living Water—that I need to be influencing—stopped because of my lost savor?  Shalom.

Keep it real…Live it out…Watch it work!

 

~ from my manuscript: Keeping It Real: Daily Renewing the Mind

Former…Latter Rains

21 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Poetry

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Latter and Former Rains

Be glad, people of Tziyon!
rejoice in Adonai your God!
For he is giving you
the right amount of rain in the fall,
he makes the rain come down for you,
the fall and spring rains — this is what he does first.
Then the floors will be full of grain
and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil. ~ Joel 2:23-24, CJB

 

 

 

First Jew then Gentile

Then JewGentile, FormerLatter, oneness season is

First month’s outpouring—LatterFormer

Rains Refreshing, Restoring, Renewing

Overflowing Lands, Nations, Souls doubly

Bearing fruit—Multiplying.

First month’s downpour—Former plus Latter

Rains Reclaiming, Renaming, Remembering

Combining Latter with Former, becoming FormerLatter,

Clothing then unifying promises of:  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s God—

Rains reaping what man has not sown—

End-Time Harvest.

 

Day of Pentecost was not so…just a glimpse…

Now, YoungOld—MaleFemale–MenservantsMaidservants

JewGentile 

Same spirit then as now, yet FULLER;

AlphaOmega—FormerLatter—beginningend, endbeginning—

Promised new thing manifestation.

 

Best is last:  Kingdom principle.

FormerLatter pours and

Greater anointing, wisdom, zeal—

Greater dreams, faith, hope—

Greater gifts, visions, visitations follow—

Greater end-time latter rain than former.

FormerLatter:  New wine in new skins for eleventh hour.

 

~ from Montage of Poetic Imaginations (composed in 2001; edited 2014)

Are There Really Only Five LOVE Languages?

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by in Spiritual

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Languages of Love

When We Practice Real Love

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. ~ 1 John 3:18-24, MSG

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. ~ Ephesians 5:25, MSG

 

There are many how-to books on understanding and expressing our love for our spouse, our children, our friends, our parents, our coworkers, and so forth. Perhaps the most popular how-to book on understanding and expressing our love for others, at least according to many Christians, is New York Times bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate (1992, 1995). Note: This blog entry is not a review of his book!

Now while this blogger will agree that Chapman touches on something very true in his book, and while this blogger will admit that he does give some realistic ways of putting in action the five basic love languages that he describes, this blogger also has to say that Chapman’s book has many limitations. The one limitation that sticks in this blogger’s craw is that Chapman implies that there are only five basic love languages. On the contrary, love that is God’s Agápe Love will speak to believers in many languages (read David Powlison’s Love Speaks Many Languages Fluently—a book review of Chapman’s The Five Love Languages…). 

Powlison’s critique is lovingly brutal. Unfortunately, Powlison has to be. Moreover, this blogger agrees with Powlison’s title to his review. The God kind of Love (Agápe Love) truly does speak fluently in many languages.

Without doubt God’s Agápe Love is so much more than giving the people we love compliments—Words of Affirmation. His Love is so much more than us spending time doing things with the people we love—Quality Time. The God kind of Love is so much more than us making sure that the people we love receive gifts on their birthday, anniversary, graduation, wedding, or any other special occasions for gifts, and God’s Love is so much more than us just giving ourselves as a gift to the people we love—Receiving Gifts. Then too, God’s Love is so much more than us doing what would bless others that we normally aren’t doing for them—Acts of Service. Lastly, God’s Agápe Love is so much more than us sitting close to the people we love, or hugging them, or holding hands with them, or gently touching them—Physical Touch. Again, while Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch truly are basic love languages, Chapman has left out so many other necessary basic love languages.

There is no way that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator God did not foreknow that the human beings He would create not only would come in all shapes, sizes, and colors but also would possess different temperaments, personalities, desires, interests, experiences, and so forth. That’s why there can be no doubt that He absolutely decided before creating mankind all the basic Love languages His children would need, before He put His Agápe Love inside them. That is why God’s Agápe Love includes, but is not limited to, the following basic Love languages: self-sacrifice, long-sufferance, kindness, compassion, love, devotion, sensitivity, friendliness, generosity, cheerfulness, tenderness, gentleness, likability, self-control, praise, good wishes, tributes, support, service, helpfulness, cooperation, forgiveness, mercy, grace, blessings, nobility, accountability, redemption, hopefulness, trustworthiness, honesty, dependability, consistency, holiness, righteousness, decency, goodness, agreeableness, hopefulness, faith, optimism, acceptance, willingness, fairness, confidence, boldness, strength, steadfastness, endlessness, ongoingness, and so forth. Without mentioning all of these Love languages, as well as those not stated here that definitely are included in God’s Agápe Love, Chapman’s book just comes off as a long informative essay on how husbands and wives should scratch their mates’ backs in order to get their mates to scratch their backs too.

Additionally, even though Chapman’s five love languages are touted as some kind of magical cure for the husbands and wives who aren’t being loved the way they want to be or expected to be, his book only tends to point out the lustful worldly side of human love instead of the pure spiritual side of God’s Agápe Love. Even so, the funny thing is that Chapman really hasn’t said anything that is unknown.

Put differently, Chapman isn’t sharing any secret to the only kind of love that lasts (Agápe Love), because everything he mentions in The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate God has mentioned first in His Holy Bible. In fact, readers only have to look, for example, at God’s Golden Rule and see that Chapman has no corner on the market, when it comes to expressing how people want to and even expect to be loved or treated. Furthermore, if there is any secret Chapman is revealing it is the ways people abuse the well-known principle Christ Jesus gives—the biblical principle that everyone should follow in order to obtain success in any and every kind of activity or situation. This biblical principle has come to be known as the Golden Rule. The Lord says:

Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get. ~ Matthew 7:12, MSG

In other words, in the Golden Rule, the Lord is confirming that hidden within the human nature is our instinct to want to treat people better so that they will treat us better. Moreover, the Lord indicates that, without exception, this Golden Rule (principle) applies to every single human situation, including all romantic relationships. However, in the last part of verse 12 and the two verses that follow, the Lord lets us know just why most of us fail to behave according to what we instinctively know is right. Christ Jesus says:

…Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get. Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. ~ Matthew 7:12b-14, MSG

In another English translation, we read:

…This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. ~ Matthew 7:12b-14, NLT

The bottom line is that the Golden Rule embodies the entire Holy Bible’s teaching on the holy and righteous way we should live. However, according to what Christ Jesus says before Matthew 7:12, in particular, what He says in verses 1-5 and 7-11, and what He says after verse 12, specifically verses 13-14, there can be no doubt that without the help of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift inside of ONLY born-again believers in Christ Jesus, none of us can keep the Law or what the prophets of God teach/reveal about holy and right living, no matter if God’s Law is in our conscience. For as Christ Jesus says, the path that leads to life, or the Golden Rule path, is not an easy path to take or an easy path to stay on, once it is chosen. That’s why so few of us actually carry out the Golden Rule.

The harsh truth is that it is much easier to ignore others and live an inconsistent life, which for many of us means choosing to travel the wide path that leads to a life that has us choosing to point out specks in the lives of other people, even though we know that we have logs in our own life. For the few of us who find and choose Christ Jesus’ narrow Golden Rule path, some of us often fall off this path, whenever our mind tells us it is okay to forget about the Golden Rule, and we listen to our mind’s voice instead of to the still small voice within our spirits (hearts). As a result of our disobedience, we too will choose to point out the speck that is in the lives of other people, even though we know that we have a log in our own life.  

Concerning Chapman’s reason why many people fail to carry out the Golden Rule, Powlison says:

Obviously, the most basic violations of the Golden Rule occur when we simply mistreat others, doing and saying malicious things we’d hate to have done and said to us. But perhaps the most common misunderstanding of the Golden Rule is that even in attempting to love others we do what we would want. It’s a less heinous form of self-centeredness, more clumsy and ignorant than hateful. Such clumsiness and ignorance is the problem that 5LL, at its best, actually addresses. (Though Chapman makes the further claim that a person will mistreat other people—violate them, act hatefully—because others, out of ignorance of the right love language, haven’t loved that person and filled his tank of needs….) ~ The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Fall 2002, p. 3

However, Powlison adds the following criticism about Chapman’s book:

The 5LL model fails the class ‘Human Nature 101.’ Like all secular interpretations of human psychology (even when lightly Christianized), it makes some good observations and offers some half-decent advice (of the sort that self-effort can sometimes follow). But it doesn’t really understand human psychology. That basic misunderstanding has systematic distorting and misleading effects. Fallenness not only brings ignorance about how best to love others; it brings a perverse unwillingness and inability to love. It ingrains the perception that our lusts are in fact needs, empty places inside where others have disappointed us. The empty emotional tank construct is congenial to our fallen instincts, not transformative. It leaves what we instinctively want as an unquestionable good that must somehow be fulfilled. It not only leaves fundamental self-interest unchallenged, it plays to self-interest. Chapman gives tax collectors, gentiles, and sinners something they can do on their own that might work to make them happier. The case studies end with, ‘My love tank has never felt so full and I’ve never been happier.’ It sounds more like opiates for the masses than The Revolution needed to bring in the kingdom of solid joys and lasting treasures. Chapman’s model is premised on a give-to-get economy: ‘I will give to fill your love tank. But in the back of my mind I’m always considering whether and when I’ll get my own tank filled.’(p. 5)

So then, not only is the Holy Bible the original love languages’ source that not only provides many more love languages than the 5 Chapman mentions but also the Holy Bible is the original source in which the secret to the true kind of love that lasts (Agápe Love) is found, as not one of Chapman’s 5 love languages is sufficient in and of itself. Then too, the Holy Bible is the only book that has been the bestselling book for ages, selling an estimated 6 billion copies in various translations!

Since God’s Holy Bible has the 5 love languages and more, and since God via His gift of the Holy Spirit is the One who makes what the Holy Bible says about the most beneficial way to pursue God’s “good gifts” and the most beneficial way to seek how we should use our “good gifts,” once we have received them (both natural gifts and spiritual gifts, including the gift of sex and the institution of marriage), why then do so many believers in Christ Jesus “love” what Chapman has written to the point that they have recommended his book to other believers and/or have held countless book discussions about his book? What is it about Chapman’s book that has moved famous talk show personalities to have Chapman on their shows to speak to their audiences about his book? More important, what is it about Chapman’s book that moves pulpit ministers (and other Christian spiritual leaders) to use in their sermons or to teach in their Bible Study classes Chapman’s 5 love languages, as if his book were a tried and true supplement to the Word of God?

Perhaps Chapman’s book appeals to so many, because it is easy to read and understand. Maybe people “love” his book because he is telling them something they never really thought about before they read his book. However, where spiritual leaders who are doing God’s ministry work are concerned, it appears to this blogger that they prefer to use “half-decent advice” that doesn’t address in full detail the human condition, as well as doesn’t point to Christ Jesus—doesn’t explain why mankind needs a Savior. It also appears to this blogger that they prefer to use “half-decent advice” that doesn’t point to the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit.

God gives His Holy Spirit to every born again, saved, justified, and being sanctified believer for Him to reveal Divine Truths, as well as to teach, to comfort, and to guide them. Once the Holy Spirit is inside each believer, He then gives the believer God’s additional spiritual “good gifts,” which include all of the diverse wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (both natural and spiritual) that he or she needs to live a holy and righteous life on this Earth, and in the Kingdom of God.

The bottom line is human relations are difficult, especially sexually romantic relationships such as marriages. Because human relations are difficult that’s why everybody needs help (needs wisdom, needs knowledge, and needs understanding) with his or her relationship(s).

God freely offers His spiritual help and diverse wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (both natural and spiritual) to every person who has the God kind of Faith to listen to what He says. This kind of listening involves having a receptive heart (spirit). This kind of listening also involves hearing the Gospel from any or all of Christ Jesus’ called, appointed and anointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers—His spiritual human gifts that He gives to the Body of Christ.

Because there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers everywhere, no one has to wait until he or she is in an organized “church” setting before he or she can hear (or read) what God says in His Word about His Agápe Love’s diverse love languages, and the tried and true (trustworthy, dependable) way men and women should apply the wisdom inherent in His copious love languages. The main way men and women should apply the wisdom inherent in His numerous love languages is by keeping Christ Jesus’ Golden Rule. For this reason, Christians, especially spiritual leaders, always must point healthy and hurting people to the loving and caring Lord, because He positively is the only One who not only desires but also is more than able to bless every area of everyone’s life.

Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us

09 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in Spiritual

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tools of the Trade

…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. ~ Philippians 2:12b-13, NLT

What on earth does the apostle Paul mean in the above verses? Is he saying that our salvation can be lost? Is he telling us to live in a constant state of nervousness, worried that at any minute God will judge us unworthy to be His sons and daughters? Well, for some “religious” leaders, the answer to the last two questions is a resounding “yes.” However, a close examination of these verses proves that the apostle Paul is neither trying to instill fear into the Philippians’ hearts, nor is he warning them that they could lose their salvation.

In Philippians 2:12b, the apostle Paul uses the Greek word katergavzomai, which is transliterated as katergazomai. Now depending on which English translation many of us might be using, the Greek word katergavzomai often is translated in English as “work out,” “work hard,” or “carry out.”

What the Greek word katergavzomai actually means is this: To continually work at bringing something to completion or fruition. This is the definition used in Philippians 2:12b.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned definition of katergavzomai, it is clear that what the apostle Paul says to the Philippian believers also pertains to all believers. That which is applicable is this: Before the Philippians ever could demonstrate that the lifestyle they are living is the result of an unwavering and unshakable faith, they first had to focus their attention on and be profoundly concerned about working out of themselves God’s Perfect Will, which God has put inside of them.

According to the apostle Paul, the Philippian believers, and by virtue of being born again and saved, all believers in Christ, are working God’s Perfect Will out of them, when they are allowing the Holy Spirit (the Source of God’s Perfect Will or the Divine enablement in them; see Philippians 2:13) to complete for them His practical sanctification process. The Philippian believers, as well as all believers, also are working God’s Perfect Will out of them when they are obeying whatever the Holy Spirit prompts, leads, and teaches them about salvation’s ultimate goal: Christlikeness.

This understanding of believers having a Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit) inside them, who wills and is able to perform God’s Perfect Will in believers’ lives, not only is evident from what the apostle writes in Philippians 2:13, but also by chapter three of Philippians the apostle Paul obviously is referring to the Holy Spirit being that Source of God’s Perfect Will (that Divine enablement), which God Himself has put inside every believer. Paul writes:

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. ~ Philippians 3:13-14, NLT

There can be no doubt that by the time the apostle Paul writes the above verses he has come to the conclusion that the only way he truly will know Christ Jesus and the power of His resurrection is by focusing his attention on and being profoundly concerned about (submissive and obedient to) the Holy Spirit’s practical sanctification process. In fact, the apostle Paul is confirming that by focusing on the goal of Christlikeness, and obediently pressing and reaching for that goal, he has learned the meaning of the “fear” and “trembling” he speaks about in Philippians 2:12b (ASV, ESV, KJV, NIV, etc.).

This “fear” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers being so devoted to and respectful of God that they consciously choose to be totally submissive and voluntarily obedient to His Perfect Will. Put differently, in Philippians 2:12b, the “fear” apostle Paul speaks about is believers’ confidence (faith) in and awe (deep reverence) for the God who both designed and implements the plan of salvation, with all of its gifts and blessings.

Additionally, this “trembling” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers having a humble attitude. They are putting no trust or confidence in their own ability and power. This “trembling” also means that believers intentionally are being seriously cautious; they continually are looking out for every kind of temptation that so easily could ensnare them, while they are pursuing the goal of Christlikeness. In other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, believers’ humble attitude plus their healthy reverence for and devotion to God (the “fear” that keeps them shying away from any and everything that might offend God or discredit His name, and Christ’s name) are the motivating forces behind them obediently and faithfully carrying out their salvation to its ultimate conclusion, which is Christlikeness.

As a matter of fact, the apostle makes several references to this kind of “fear” and “trembling”—this obedience and submission that leads to being faithful to God’s Perfect Will. Perhaps the best Scriptures that explain what the apostle’s “fear” and “trembling” mean are verses 1-2 of Romans 12. In these verses, the apostle Paul is saying that when believers truly respect and revere God, then that’s when they are fulfilling their “reasonable service,” which is to be obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will. This “reasonable service” (being obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will) not only means that believers are being changed from the inside out, desiring only to do what God wants, but also means that believers are agreeing with God that what He wants is moral, pleasing, and achievable.

For the record, the original Source of believers’ salvation is Father God, and He has seen fit to place His Perfect Will inside each one of His sons and daughters by giving each one His Holy Spirit—the Source of the spiritual power, spiritual gifts, and practical sanctification in every believer. In other words, the Source of every believer’s will (desire or determination) is Almighty God, and He brings every believer’s will into harmonious agreement with His Perfect Will by allowing His Holy Spirit to work in each believer “…the desire and the power to do what pleases…” Almighty God (Philippians 2:13b, NLT).

For God’s Perfect Will to become every believer’s will (every believer’s conscious and natural choice), each believer must work out his or her own salvation. This working out of the Source God has put into every believer is accomplished when each believer repeatedly goes to that Source (the Holy Spirit)—when every believer continuously relies on the Holy Spirit’s power, authority, promptings, leadings, teachings, and so forth.

It is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to bring back to every child of God’s remembrance the Word of God he or she has been feeding on throughout his or her Christian life. It also is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to renew every child of God’s heart and soul so that he or she can come into Father God’s presence and worship Him in the “spirit” of awe and reverence—worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!

The Holy Spirit only can achieve His jobs when each believer has focused his or her attention on and has become profoundly concerned about working out of himself/herself God’s Perfect Will for his or her life. When what is inside a believer can be seen outside of him or her, that would mean this believer is doing the Perfect Will of God—demonstrating to others that the lifestyle he or she is living is the genuine result of an unwavering and unshakable faith. In essence, the believer would be demonstrating to others how much like Christ he or she has become!

The bottom line is this: Contrary to popular opinion, the ultimate goal of every believer is not to make it into Heaven. The ultimate goal of God’s salvation plan is to have every single one of His sons and daughters achieve Christlikeness. Once again, the only way to achieve this goal is through the work of the Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit and His practical sanctification process), which changes believers from the inside out.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, believers are able to work out of them God’s Perfect Will for them—they are able to work out of them everything God has worked into their human spirits/hearts so that others will see the evidence (manifestation) of God’s saving Grace and His Holy Spirit’s sanctified work that are going on inside believers. More important, believers will know that their labor, the working of God’s Perfect Will out of them, will not be in vain, for they are promised that “…God, who began the good work within [them], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6, NLT; the bracketed word is this blogger’s emphasis).