Jesus is Enough!

Some speak of God and Jesus Christ as if knowing Him is related to a human decision to believe. With that comes all sorts of encouragements to hang in there, to keep trusting Him, to remember who Jesus is and the proof of it. They speak of God in tentative terms and eternal life as a future reward. They also stress human effort and the will to believe, as if all of this is up to us.

While my experience sometimes belie what God says, my experience concerning faith in Christ and becoming a Christian is nothing like the above examples. My salvation experience was not about what I did. Not only that, it lines up with the Word of God.

That said, everything related to my Christian life is about what God is doing through the power of His Holy Spirit, both before and after. In searching for Him, I didn’t even realize that was what I was doing. I didn’t find Him — He found me. I was sitting in my living room reading a book on reincarnation (which I now know is not true) and suddenly became aware of Jesus. He came as light in my darkness and revealed to me what I did not know nor had been told; He is God incarnate, God in human flesh, and He came to die for my sin. This truth has never been doubted.

In that encounter, my mind and heart were changed. I knew instantly who He is. I knew why He came. Again, that has never changed. I’ve not had to fight to keep believing it. Revealed truth is unforgettable, not the same as ‘taught’ truth.

Soon after that happened, my sister told me to read John five times and Romans twice, reading until a revelation from God stopped me. Then write it down, and how it applies to me. Repeat. More than fifty years. And God has, every day of those years given me something new, or reviewed something already revealed — faithfully. To my amazement. To my joy. And Jesus said this:

… The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. (John 14:10)

If Jesus did that, what right do I have to speak as if I have any authority? Or claim that I do what He tells me? Even Jesus said that it is the One who lives in Him that does the work of God. I’ve no right nor any reason to claim any of it. Again, this is illustrated by a hand in a glove. The glove is inert and useless without the hand to animate it.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Galatians also explains the fact that the old nature, called the flesh, still tries to rule my life. God says:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16–17)

This applies only as God reveals to me what is fleshy and interfering with His Spirit. This applies this morning as we have two days before the moving van arrives and my flesh wants to quit packing and be done with it. Even run away and hide. The Spirit tells me to trust in Him to give me the strength and the attitude I need to do this as Jesus would — by listening to and relying on my Father.

PRAY: The day ahead seems too hard, yet You are the God of ‘too hard’ and tell me I can do Your will in Your strength, and with joy. Fill me with Your Spirit and enable obedience, even in this ordinary challenge. I need You all the time, and I know that You are enough!

God’s Cure for Spiritual Blindness

 

It’s possible that those who call themselves Christian have learned all they know about Christianity from a textbook, or a preacher, or what they read or imagine other than what the Bible says. Because it appeals to them, they believe it but when the events of life do not match what they have been told, they become confused and doubtful.

I’ve read that I am not to accept any conception of what I see in Christ, no matter how strongly or logically it is presented. Even that statement is contrary to “what I see” because my understanding of the identity of Jesus was not told to me or explained by humans. I was revealed by the Spirit of God and for that reason, I shake my head at anything I hear to the contrary.

Years ago, a pair of cult members came to my door and questioned my understanding of Christ with “Who taught you that?” They insisted I must have been indoctrinated by others whose idea of Jesus was not the same as theirs, and that their ‘source’ was more reliable than mine. I persisted in saying that it came from the Holy Spirit, but they had no concept of how that could happen.

Today’s reading rightly says that my understanding must be based on Scripture, yet I know people who know what the Bible says and yet seem unable to obey what they know. This makes me wonder if their knowledge was taught to them by their church rather than a personal revelation by the Spirit. When humans speak, I can believe or not — depending if what I hear suits my fancy, but when the Holy Spirit says it, I know it is true. I may forget and need to hear Him again, yet refuting contrary teaching is not a big challenge when it comes to revealed knowledge.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3–6)

Spiritual blindness is the norm. Seeing God’s truth is not. It must be revealed lest it swish over our heads. This is the reason that Bible reading and study are important, but even then, if I rely on my own abilities to interpret and understand without God revealing His meaning to me, then I’m in the same boat as those who are unable to see the Light.

PRAY: Jesus, I know that You were often misunderstood and Your identity was deemed a lie. I’m thankful and in awe that the day You came into my life, You opened my eyes to see that You are God in human flesh. It makes no sense to human thinking and is often called error and yet, spiritual revelation once seen is so powerful that nothing can rob me of that Light You have shone in my heart.

Thankful that God did not hide . . .

 

In the past few weeks, several television dramas include revelations where a father or a sibling or even a mother reveal themselves to their relatives. Prior to that, the family didn’t know of their existence, or thought they were dead. Sometimes the revelations were shocking and not a cause for joy.

Another much more important revelation is the Creator God revealing Himself to humanity. He did it in several ways, generally in creation, but specifically in speaking:

For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made . . . . (Romans 1:19–20)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power . . . . (Hebrews 1:1–3)

How did His OT people know it was God speaking? It must have been discernible because those who heard Him did unusual things. Noah built an ark before the weather included rain, just as God told him to do. Abram left his home and went where God told him. He believed the promise of a son, and that son was born when his wife was well past the age of bearing children. Joseph trusted God even under gross and unfair treatment and was eventually a great leaders and in a position to rescue his entire nation. The OT prophets heard God and repeated what they heard, even if it meant personal disaster.

Then God revealed Himself in a Person. He arrived as a babe, grew in wisdom and stature, made a favorable impression as a child, and revealed to the world what Almighty God is like. He was so utterly different than what the religious leaders expected that they killed Him, but He conquered death and lives forever, continuing by His Spirit to reveal God to human hearts.

This God spoke and still speaks in many ways. His people have had visions, were given prophecies, told much, and guided in many ways. They followed because they knew who was talking to them. Much of it was recorded: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

The Gospels record the life and teaching of Jesus. Acts reveals the spread of His teachings through the apostles and early church, and the epistles tell how to apply His teachings to everyday life. Revelation tells of His triumphant return and the consummation of divine revelation. Both the OT and NT were written so that those of us who were not there in the days of Noah, or Abraham, or Joseph, or David, or the prophets, or Jesus Himself, could know what God wants us to know about Himself. It was done because we would not know God otherwise:

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9–10)

As the OT says, God’s Word “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) and “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) This is echoed in the NT

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

God’s revelation of Himself shows me what is missing in my life, what needs fixing, and how to live as a person who trusts Him through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

PRAY: Jesus, I have heard first-hand from those who have had dreams and visions of You, even in these days. Most come from an historical background of hating Christianity and are now believers. Their faith is strong, standing against severe persecution and many have died rather than denounce You. This is the power of You revealing Yourself to them. Most of my vision of You is from Your Word, yet I know that if those who hate You destroyed all Bibles, You are able to sustain Your people with whatever we need to remain faithful to You. You are totally faithful to us — and I stand in awe of You.

PONDER: The wonder of God, holy and powerful and unseen, yet revealing Himself to mere mortals, and not only that, to mere mortals who all sin and fall short of His glory. Be thankful, oh, be thankful.

 

 

Know spiritual truth?

1 Corinthians 2

My devotional book does not have an entry for Leap Year so today I selected an article floating around social media that sounds good. The title is “One minute after a believer dies” and it is followed by six points and Scripture references.

When I read it, I thought the points sounded true, but the references are shaky, taken out of context and most of them do not say what the points claim they say. One response called this article “fake news” and others warned Christians to be careful of what they were reading.

Yet why do these points sound true? Biblically, some knowledge comes by ‘experience’ such as when the disciples witnessed the life of Christ and knew He was a real person. However, some of what Jesus said was a mystery. They needed to understand, but their knowledge came by only ‘revelation’ — which is much more difficult to define. On this topic, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:6–13, italics mine)

Sometimes I have what is called ‘senior moments’ when the name of a person or a word drops out of my mind. No matter how hard I try, it will not come to me. That is what it is like to be in the dark about spiritual matters. A person might realize there is something to know, or have a vague idea, but the reality of it seems to be blocked. Revelation is something like that ah-ha moment when I remember the name!

Regarding spiritual matters, those realities do not come to mind the same way. The problem is not that they are blocked as much as the ‘receptor’ isn’t working. The human spirit without Christ is what the Bible calls ‘dead’ — not cold and inert dead but separated from the things of God and we cannot ‘get’ our heads around them. We might be aware something is there but at best can only guess what it is. Sin does this. Sin is that determination to do life my way — but that approach messes with understanding or even seeing God’s way. I needed God to reveal it to me.

Paul explains further:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

This explains why revelation is needed and how it happens. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I was a sinner in need of salvation and gave me His gift of faith and eternal life. This happened because Jesus Christ entered my life — an entrance so powerful that He gave me His mind as well as His life to energize my dead spirit and make it alive.

The result? The ability to think God’s thoughts, which is utterly amazing. Sinful me might try to figure out what the Bible says and means without relying on God to show me. It might lead to stuff like this list of what happens when we die. The Spirit may be revealing that some of this is true, but the sinful flesh tries to find proof-texts rather than simply believing what God has revealed by faith.

I KNOW that I will be with Jesus the moment I die. How do I know? I cannot explain it; I just know. These verses might miss the mark in proving it, but the entire biblical message used by the Spirit assures all God’s people of things that experience cannot reveal, and human knowledge cannot grasp. For that, I need Jesus and the gift of faith.