How Will I Know? - Oswald Chambers

Today’s devotion is a very good one. As I was reading it, something Oswald said there could be mistaken easily, so I decided to blog on the subject.

Oswald said: "We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step"

I had a hard time understanding why we do not grow into a spiritual relationship  step by step since we are called to grow spiritually. But, Holiness and a spiritual relationship with God are two doctrines that could stump us when we read such blatant statement like Oswald’s. The reason being those two doctrines cannot be concocted by us no matter how hard we work at becoming holy or to have a spiritual relationship with God. They are infused in us by God’s grace and we either have them or not.

What Oswald is saying here is that we can either be spiritual or not. The best way I can explain the difference between spiritual relationship and spiritual growth are like, a woman is either pregnant or not, but she cannot be a little bit pregnant. Now, throughout the pregnancy the baby keeps growing and even more when he or she is out of the womb.

It does not matter how long you have been a Christian, but your lack of spiritual understanding which you acquire solely through the Holy Spirit, comes from unbelief and the fact that the Holy Spirit is not finding a dwelling through you to work out this life. The Holy Spirit need complete control if He is to infuse this life in us. The more you understand spiritual things, the more the Lordship of the Spirit is accepted by you, hence why He can reveal God’s word to you.

You should read 1 John chapter 1 and 2 and ponder on the word of God there. 1John 1:6 said "If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth". John was talking to Christians, these people were not unbelievers. As Christians we like tossing those big words around like the Christians John was writing to. But you cannot say you have a relationship with God, while you are walking in spiritual darkness. So, how do you know you are walking in darkness? There are many ways I can describe it, but the very first test that we should do is to see how well we understand spiritual truths and I am not referring to your own interpretation of God’s but what you are taught by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual darkness comes from not being obedient to God’s word, and there is unbelief in your heart. It is that simple

Oswald is right, one simple detour we miss out on the whole thing especially if we never recover from our detours. But one simple move to obey, all of the sudden heaven opens up and you realize you are being taught things that you have no idea what to do with.

I am going to keep it short but I will write more about this subject later.

How Will I Know?

10

10

2013

Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’ —Matthew 11:25

We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.

All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, “I suppose I will understand these things someday!” You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the “wise and prudent.” “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17)

Believing the Truth Does Not Make It True

Time To Put A Context To It

To put my writing into context one must understand what my ministry is about. Prior to entering in the wilderness with God, I heard the call of God and He wanted to send me. God calls us in different ways. But, there is another call by God that is so personal and beautiful that it puts you for a while in a state of awe and you feel you are living life kind of suspended for a while.  After I heard my call, my heart could not come down to earth and all I could sing is this song by Daniel O'Donnell of 2004 and the title of the song is "here I am Lord."  At the end of this post, I will provide the lyrics for you. I was not sure what to do with the call and I was one of those people, God restrained me right away. So, even if I wanted to move ahead on my own, I would not have been able to. 2 years have passed I enrolled in an evangelism training. Through it, God overwhelmed my heart with the darkness that existed right there in a small corner of Toronto. Because I was spending weeks amongst people involved in Evangelism, I thought it was a great opportunity to tell them about my calling. Needless to say that most people were surprised that I did not set sail and "go."  While I was urged to be obedient to the call, I was so torn inside, the wilderness was raging on in my life, and everything was falling apart. Meanwhile, God was restricting me from making what would have been the biggest mistake of my life with Him. 

Surprisingly, while I felt there was a call to go and evangelize the world, mainly the South Asia, God was at work in me working in the background and preparing me to be 'His'  first and foremost before I could go. Through the process of preparation that lasted years I found out so much more. Yes, I needed to learn evangelism, I needed to learn God's Word, I needed to learn to be broken by Him, so that my will would be His first before handing it back to me. While there is a whole list that I needed to learn from Him, most of all, I needed to understand His standards. Through the wilderness, the vision took shape and my identity and spiritual life in Him have catapulted to an unimaginable level. It turns out God was raising me to be a prayer warrior. A real one. But the true vision did not take shape until 2012. More than seven years after I heard the call. 

While my spiritual maturity in Him, and the knowledge and boldness I have received from being with Him could be beneficial to anyone with a heart set on living for Him, my true calling is to reach those who do not understand that believing the truth does not make it true, Satan believes the truth as well. Most of these people are very active in the Church and a lot of them are in leadership positions. These people are so hard to reach and they make it their mission to resist any changes you call them to. They have accumulated just enough Christianity to become Satan's personal favorites. Beside the stubbornness of their hearts two major things they  also have in common is that they do not want to go to Christ to be changed and they are all carnal. They are the perfect picture of the reverse of John 6:65 meaning they have no willingness to go to Him to be transformed. There is lots of frustration in this ministry, the only thing that keeps you going is knowing who God is and He is able to do the impossible. So you keep praying and keep calling for changes.

 Through my training, and also my daily walk with Him, God has given me wisdom and discernment to unmask these Christians no matter how many masks they are wearing, their gender, rank etc. Make no mistake this is hard ministry. God has to teach you humility which is painful to learn from Him. I am not sure how to explain the other major component of this ministry. It is something you possess in your heart, where you automatically know certain insights you have on someone has to remain confidential. It is funny, because God does not have to tell you not to say anything about it. The other thing I find out is that God keeps you on a need to know basis. 

PRAY: Father God I pray that my brothers and sisters would learn to serve you wherever they are.  I pray you would pour out Your Spirit Lord on those sitting in the pews that are blind, my heart's  desire is for them to see you. I pray hearts would be softened and people would respond to your invitation to  "come to me!" 

Here is the lyric of the song I mentioned in the post

Here I Am Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky

I have heard my people cry

All who dwell in dark and sin

My hand will save.

I who made the stars and night

I will make the darkness bright

Who will bear my light to them

Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord

Is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord

If you lead me

I will hold your people in my heart.

I the Lord of snow and rain

I have borne my people's pain

I have wept for love of them

They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone

Fill their hearts with love alone

I will speak my word to them

Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord

Is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord

If you lead me

I will hold your people in my heart.

I will hold your people in my heart...

CHRIST, OUR BALM OF GILEAD & THE PHYSICIAN FOR OUR SINS

DEVOTION

Jeremiah 8:21-22

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;I mourn,and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

Jeremiah’s soul and spirit felt crushed, heavy and wounded for his people, he was mourning for them. Their concept of sin was deplorable. His heavy heart also came from the fact that he knew God personally and he knew God was the only remedy for his people. But, no one could get through them, so they were like a patient with a sickness who is given medicine to recover but because of pride, stubbornness, and self-righteousness, refused.

Like us in the twenty first century, these people also saw their sin as "a pimple" or a simple "flaw" because their consciences were shut down. When we know God intimately, sins become abhorrent to us. Small or big, need not matter because all we can see is filth and wickedness. We know and live daily with the same attitude of the prophet Isaiah when he said in chapter 6:5 “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”

When we are full of sin, meaning we have been accumulating them with no holy repentance in the heart and we are living with no conviction from the Holy Spirit, everything we do is polluted. Even the simplest decision in our life is polluted because our mind is not able to think clearly since our mental faculty is depraves. We chose earthly things without realizing we are not Spirit led.

Christ is the appointed remedy, the balm of Gilead and the physician for our sins. Are you allowing Him to move freely in your life? You ask how you can do that? Then humble yourself under His mighty hands in dependence faith and obedience. Make it a point to go with Him once and for all.

PRAY: Teach us Savior how to recover from anaemic Christianity and from making this life about us. Take away our blindness and open the eyes of our hearts in exchange so that we can see You the invisible God. There is such greatness in you, empowers us to find the strength to grab onto you while there is still time. We love you Savior and Redeemer!

In His Love & Service,

M.J. Andre

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