Relationship and Revelation
You know the law, the written word. You know of the works of Jesus Christ, and have received salvation by faith. You know Him as your king, as Your righteousness, as your divine creator, as your perfect sacrifice on the cross, but do you know Him as your friend. Do you praise from afar, or do you worship seeking to drawn near to Him...
A person can read all of the literature in the world, including the bible; memorize thousands of pages of history, or theology, but still not know the lord. We can only know Him by His Spirit. God is spirit, that means there is a spiritual element that cannot be ignored if one is to know Him intimately. There is a spiritual element to His Word revealed by His Holy Spirit that goes beyond words on a page. A willingness to have a relationship on His terms is required though, as well as sacrifice. We sacrifice our ways for His ways. We sacrifice our ways of thinking and reasoning and accept His. We begin taking on His way of thinking, and forsaking ours. We begin to manifest the personality of Jesus (The Fruit of the Spirit) as we are led of His Spirit in our hearts. The key is a willingness to have a relationship on His terms. It can be unsettling stepping out on faith, relinquishing control, and simply believing without understanding the particulars of it. But if you trust Him enough to stick with Him no matter what, even when you don't understand... He will give you understanding. Faith in Him must come first. Even though you may feel like you're out on a limb, even when it feels like your grouping around on the floor in the dark, even when it feels like the world has you backed into a corner, even if the respected religious, or the church turns against you.... even when it feels like you're all alone and even the Lord has abandoned you, will you still have faith in Him. Will you still trust Him that you can stand on His Word. Are you willing to go doubting nothing, believing simply because He said so?
The Fruit of the Spirit has to be born in your spirit. In order for something to be born in your spirit, a seed must be sown. And the seed is sown through intimacy. The Fruit of the Spirit is birthed through intimacy with Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. When we've entered into this intimate, covenant relationship the Lord will begin to reveal His mind to you. He will begin to reveal His heart. The spiritual element to scripture comes alive, and revelation is born. The world is looked at from a new perspective....
Genesis 18
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Abraham had an intimate covenant relationship with the Lord. And the Lord revealed His mind to Abraham. Not only in word, but in experiences and circumstance. I'm sure that everyone out there understands that sometimes no matter how much you love someone, or how close you are to them, there are things about yourself that you can't reveal to them in words. Either they would only understand in part, or they wouldn't understand what you were trying to say at all. The only way they could possibly understand what's on your heart or what you're trying to say is if they had the same experiences as you. I wonder if Abraham realized how much God revealed to Him about the future in their relationship. For example in Genesis 15 God reveals to Abraham the future concerning his seed.... That his seed would be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and would serve and be afflicted, but brought out after four-hundred years. He spoke of the coming judgment of the surrounding nations as well. Before that in Genesis 14:17-20, Abraham is introduced to Melchizedek, a priest-king of righteousness and peace and servant of the most high God. Melchizedek came bearing bread and wine, and Abraham gave him tithes of all. This was a shadow of things to come, for the law (which tithing was part of) was not given yet. In Genesis 18 Abraham intercedes for Sodom before the Lord in the midst of two angels. To me this is clearly a type of ark, and a shadow of things to come. Think of Moses interceding for Israel before the Lord dwelling between the two angels on top of the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. The Lord even revealed His heart to Abraham concerning the new covenant to come in Genesis 22:1-19. A shadow of the future sacrificing of the Heavenly Father's own son.
When the Pharisees came tempting Jesus in asking him "which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus answered by summing up the two tablets of stone, the ten commandments into two commandments...
Matthew 22
37 Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.
The Pharisees should have known these commandments...Jesus didn't give them anything new. These commandments had already been given to them by Moses.
Deuteronomy 6
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord our God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deuteronomy 10
12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Deuteronomy 10
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Because Moses walked in intimate covenant relationship with God, he understood that the commandments where meant to be written on the heart....but the people were proud and rebellious. They didn't have the spiritual eyes and ears to receive the law into their hearts. Neither could the people discern the heart or mind of the Lord without a prophet to be intimate with the Lord for them. Even to this day under the New Covenant of grace, there are those that receive salvation, but stop right there. Rather than enter into intimacy with the Lord, because of the sacrifice and faith that is required, they would rather keep their distance. A nation was birthed out of intimacy between Abraham and the Lord. Moses received revelation from the Lord, even about the coming of Jesus Christ, through intimacy with God. The apostles didn't have the bibles and literature that we have today. They preached, taught, and birthed spiritual sons and daughters through intimacy with the Lord. Through knowing Him. I believe that we all are capable of doing the same if we just follow the examples put before us. We all can walk in relationship and intimacy, knowing the Lord through the Holy Ghost. I believe there is just so much that the Lord wants to reveal to us...if we would only just trust Him. I believe the Lord will even reveal things about Himself that may not necessarily be in His written word, but understand that these things will never, ever, ever contradict His Word.
John 20
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
John 21
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
Amen.
Blessings to all.
A person can read all of the literature in the world, including the bible; memorize thousands of pages of history, or theology, but still not know the lord. We can only know Him by His Spirit. God is spirit, that means there is a spiritual element that cannot be ignored if one is to know Him intimately. There is a spiritual element to His Word revealed by His Holy Spirit that goes beyond words on a page. A willingness to have a relationship on His terms is required though, as well as sacrifice. We sacrifice our ways for His ways. We sacrifice our ways of thinking and reasoning and accept His. We begin taking on His way of thinking, and forsaking ours. We begin to manifest the personality of Jesus (The Fruit of the Spirit) as we are led of His Spirit in our hearts. The key is a willingness to have a relationship on His terms. It can be unsettling stepping out on faith, relinquishing control, and simply believing without understanding the particulars of it. But if you trust Him enough to stick with Him no matter what, even when you don't understand... He will give you understanding. Faith in Him must come first. Even though you may feel like you're out on a limb, even when it feels like your grouping around on the floor in the dark, even when it feels like the world has you backed into a corner, even if the respected religious, or the church turns against you.... even when it feels like you're all alone and even the Lord has abandoned you, will you still have faith in Him. Will you still trust Him that you can stand on His Word. Are you willing to go doubting nothing, believing simply because He said so?
The Fruit of the Spirit has to be born in your spirit. In order for something to be born in your spirit, a seed must be sown. And the seed is sown through intimacy. The Fruit of the Spirit is birthed through intimacy with Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. When we've entered into this intimate, covenant relationship the Lord will begin to reveal His mind to you. He will begin to reveal His heart. The spiritual element to scripture comes alive, and revelation is born. The world is looked at from a new perspective....
Genesis 18
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Abraham had an intimate covenant relationship with the Lord. And the Lord revealed His mind to Abraham. Not only in word, but in experiences and circumstance. I'm sure that everyone out there understands that sometimes no matter how much you love someone, or how close you are to them, there are things about yourself that you can't reveal to them in words. Either they would only understand in part, or they wouldn't understand what you were trying to say at all. The only way they could possibly understand what's on your heart or what you're trying to say is if they had the same experiences as you. I wonder if Abraham realized how much God revealed to Him about the future in their relationship. For example in Genesis 15 God reveals to Abraham the future concerning his seed.... That his seed would be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and would serve and be afflicted, but brought out after four-hundred years. He spoke of the coming judgment of the surrounding nations as well. Before that in Genesis 14:17-20, Abraham is introduced to Melchizedek, a priest-king of righteousness and peace and servant of the most high God. Melchizedek came bearing bread and wine, and Abraham gave him tithes of all. This was a shadow of things to come, for the law (which tithing was part of) was not given yet. In Genesis 18 Abraham intercedes for Sodom before the Lord in the midst of two angels. To me this is clearly a type of ark, and a shadow of things to come. Think of Moses interceding for Israel before the Lord dwelling between the two angels on top of the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. The Lord even revealed His heart to Abraham concerning the new covenant to come in Genesis 22:1-19. A shadow of the future sacrificing of the Heavenly Father's own son.
When the Pharisees came tempting Jesus in asking him "which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus answered by summing up the two tablets of stone, the ten commandments into two commandments...
Matthew 22
37 Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.
The Pharisees should have known these commandments...Jesus didn't give them anything new. These commandments had already been given to them by Moses.
Deuteronomy 6
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord our God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deuteronomy 10
12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Deuteronomy 10
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Because Moses walked in intimate covenant relationship with God, he understood that the commandments where meant to be written on the heart....but the people were proud and rebellious. They didn't have the spiritual eyes and ears to receive the law into their hearts. Neither could the people discern the heart or mind of the Lord without a prophet to be intimate with the Lord for them. Even to this day under the New Covenant of grace, there are those that receive salvation, but stop right there. Rather than enter into intimacy with the Lord, because of the sacrifice and faith that is required, they would rather keep their distance. A nation was birthed out of intimacy between Abraham and the Lord. Moses received revelation from the Lord, even about the coming of Jesus Christ, through intimacy with God. The apostles didn't have the bibles and literature that we have today. They preached, taught, and birthed spiritual sons and daughters through intimacy with the Lord. Through knowing Him. I believe that we all are capable of doing the same if we just follow the examples put before us. We all can walk in relationship and intimacy, knowing the Lord through the Holy Ghost. I believe there is just so much that the Lord wants to reveal to us...if we would only just trust Him. I believe the Lord will even reveal things about Himself that may not necessarily be in His written word, but understand that these things will never, ever, ever contradict His Word.
John 20
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
John 21
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
Amen.
Blessings to all.