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| "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock." Mt. 7:24-25 |
Volume One Number One |
July 12, 1998 |
"WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TO YOU?"
In his book "They Found The Secret," V. Redmond Edman tells of a Christian man named Walter Wilson who discovered an amazing truth. Doctor Wilson, known by most as a solid Christian, shared his faith on a regular basis, lead a morally pure life, was diligent in studying the Scripture and even taught and preached the Word to others. But after years of striving to serve the Lord he became discouraged by the lack of fruit in his life. The results didn’t seem to match his output.
One day a French missionary came to stay at Doctor Wilson’s house. They took up a conversation that would be the seed that radically changed his life.
"What is the Holy Spirit to you?", inquired this servant of God.
Dr. Wilson’s answer was: ‘He is one of the Persons of the Godhead…a teacher, a guide; the third person of the Trinity.’
The missionary pointed out to Dr. Wilson ‘You haven’t answered my question. I didn’t ask you who He was, I asked what is He to you?’
Dr. Wilson, surprised and saddened by what was about to come out of his mouth, replied honestly, ‘He is nothing to me. I have no contact with Him, no personal relationship, and could get along quite well without Him.’
His friend could only reply, ‘It is because of this that your life is so fruitless even though your efforts so great. If you will seek personally to know the Holy Spirit He will transform your life.’"
Weeks later Dr. James Gray, preacher and later Moody Bible Institute president "happened" to be in town and Dr. Wilson went by to hear him speak. The topic? Romans 12:1
"Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God---this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1 (NIV)
"I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of (all) the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies---presenting all your members and faculties---as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable ( rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." Romans 12:1 (Amplified)
That night Dr. Gray not only preached a sermon that would change the life of Dr. Wilson, but all the lives that he would change as a result of his discovery.
"Have you noticed," Dr. Gray stated, "that this verse does not tell us to whom we should give our bodies? It is not the Lord Jesus Who asks for it. He has His own body. It is not the Father Who asks for it. He remains upon His throne. Another has come to earth without a body. God could have made a body for Him as He did for Jesus, but He did not do so. God gives you the privilege and the indescribable honor of presenting your bodies to the Holy Spirit, to be His dwelling place on earth."
After the sermon Dr. Wilson returned home and went straight to his room. Filled with hope and at the same time a contrite heart he kneeled down and prayed to the Holy Spirit: "My Lord, I have mistreated You all my Christian life. I have treated you like a servant. When I wanted You I called for You; when I was about to engage in some work I beckoned You to come and help me perform my task. I have kept you in the place of a servant. I have sought to use You only as a willing servant to help me in my self-appointed and chosen work. I shall do so no more. Just now I give You this body of mine; from my head to my feet, I give it to You. I give you my hands, my limbs, my eyes and lips, my brain; all that I am within and without You, I hand over to You for You to live in it the life that You please. You may send this body to Africa, or lay it in a bed with cancer. You may blind the eyes, or send me with Your message to Tibet. You may take this body to the Eskimos, or send it to a hospital with pneumonia. It is your body from this moment on. Help yourself to it. Thank You, my Lord, I believe You have accepted it, for in Romans twelve and one You said ‘acceptable unto God’".
"I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Romans 12:1 (NAS)
Suddenly everyone Dr. Wilson ran into seemed to have a hunger to know God. And His effort was "effortless" because the Spirit was doing the leading and the talking. Boundless energy and fruitfulness were a result of Dr. Wilson letting the Spirit use his body.
Major W. Ian Thomas could relate with Dr. Wilson. He became a Christian at 15 years old and immediately set out to "save the world". Much of his time was spent preaching, teaching, traveling and praying. However, after many years of striving and straining he saw very few results. As he wrote in His own words, "" became very depressed, because I really loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart; I wanted to be made a blessing to my fellow men. But I discovered that forever doubling and redoubling my efforts in order to win souls accomplished nothing. Rushing here and dashing there, taking part in this campaign, taking part in that campaign, preaching in the morning, preaching in the evening, talking to the Bible class, witnessing to this one, counseling with another, did nothing. Nothing to change the utter barrenness, the emptiness, the uselessness of my activity. I tried to make up with noise what I lacked in effectiveness and power."
"Thus by age nineteen, I had been reduced to a state of complete exhaustion spiritually, until I felt that there was no point in going on."
In a night spent in the Word and prayer God decided to help out this exhausted soldier. What he wrote explains it best. "It just came from every area of God’s word, and very kindly and very lovingly the Lord seemed to make it plain to me that night, through my tears of bitterness. You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for Me, on My behalf, the life that I have been waiting for seven years to live through you. You have been busy trying to do for Me all that only I can do through you."
Major Thomas found the same thrill that Dr. Wilson found. Bearing fruit is effortless. It is God’s job to do the work in us and through us. We just need to be a vessel.
The lesson taught throughout Scripture is that when we live, when we are the one controlling our life, we are miserable. On the contrary, when we allow the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever present God to live in us, to guide and control us, life has purpose and meaning, and there is a peace that only He can bring. Perhaps you have read many books on how to live the Spirit-filled life. Those books changed your life as you read, but now you have "slipped" back into the normal, self-powered life. Maybe you sit where you are frustrated and in despair as your life remain fruitless despite great efforts to please and serve God. Maybe you are tired of hearing about the Spirit-filled life, having found it to be all theory, yet non-practical—something you only read about in books.
The Holy Spirit is a person. He has feelings. Have you ever talked to Him? Do you have a relationship with Him? Perhaps that can be your first step. Talk to Him. Let this be the beginning of an eternal friendship.
The Holy Spirit is not a slave! In my own life I have noticed that I only come to the Holy Spirit when I need something from Him. "Holy Spirit give me power as I teach this class." "Holy Spirit teach me this passage in the Bible." "Holy Spirit help me to witness to this person." He is like a waiter, there to give me what I order. Is that how you treat Him? When we stop coming to Him to satisfy our selfish needs, to do our plans, good and godly as they may be, we will start experiencing His power in our life.
"Lord, I give you my life today. It is yours. Use my eyes to see. Help my heart to feel. Use my mouth to encourage, to love, to correct, to confess. Use my arms to hug. Take my day. I have many plans, but they are just that, my plans. May your plans be done, even if they have nothing to do with mine. Wear my skin! Live through me!"
The life that God gave us was never meant to be completed and fulfilled by us. God not only wants to use us, He wants to live through us.
The Spirit-filled life is not a set of principles. It is not a formula. You cannot follow a set of rules and be assured success. It is a relationship with the Holy Spirit. And He is boss. It is listening, and responding to what He whispers to your spirit. It is being a empty vessel. And it is meant to fulfill us.
"Deep within us," writes David Roper, "is a place for God. We were made for God and without His love we ache in loneliness and emptiness."
What is the Holy Spirit to you?
Does He live through you?
Mary Alice Kelly
News for Christians (from Maranatha Christian Journal)
- Guatemalan Presbyterians Vote to Ordain Women
QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala – With no visible opposition, the National
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala joined the Nazarene and the Quaker
churches in stepping outside accepted evangelical orthodoxy in Guatemala by voting to
ordain women during it’s National Synod meeting.
- First Christian Hospital in China Since 1949
- Red Carpet For Cambodian Bible Delegation
- GMA Adopts Gospel Music Definition
According to the new definition, gospel music is "music in an style whose lyric is: substantially based upon historically orthodox Christian truth contained in or derived from the Holy Bible; and or an expression of worship of God or praise for His works; and or testimony of relationship with God through Christ; and or obviously prompted and informed by a Christian world view."
Dove Award eligibility used to be open to any album distributed through Christian bookstores. But the possibility of crossover success in mainstream pop markets has led some artists to produce albums with little or no spiritual content, or with vaguely worded songs that could be about either divine or human love.
The new criteria, GMA President Frank Breeden told the industry newsletter CCM Update, will allow GMA to "put up our guard against music that might be contradictory to Scripture. We want to make sure that ‘spiritual’ or ‘inspirational’ music in the broadest definition is not mistaken for ‘gospel’ music."
Breeden added, "I would caution people not to assume that this is a restrictive force. I hear debates saying, ‘Do you want us to put Jesus every other word?’ Of course not. What this is about is trying to tell the world and ourselves what gives us the right to exist apart from any other body of music."
105 Barnard Street
Glen Rose, Texas
897-2075
Mary and Roy Mercer, Pastors
Tuesday – Bible Study 7:00 pm – Mary Alice Kelly, teaching
Wednesday – Evening Services 7:00 pm
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- Adults – Mary Mercer, Pastor
- Teens - Kelsey Granger, Youth Pastor
- Kids Choir – Kay Scarlett
Sunday Worship Services – 10:30am and 6:pm – Mary Mercer, Pastor
Special this week: "Finances, According to Biblical Principles" in
Morning Services taught by Mike and Kay Scarlett