Dear friends, greetings in the blessed Name of our Lord Jesus. I trust that your soul and self are prospering in the Lord. We’re saints blessed with the Holy Spirit who empowers us and assures us. He’s also our deposit guaranteeing our salvation in our Heavenly Father’s Presence (Ephesians 1:14). The Holy Spirit is our mentor and our counselor (John 14:16, John 16:7). However, we have to ensure that we don’t put Him to sleep in us. To be ablaze for the glory of God in this life and in our Father’s eternal Presence requires us to keep in step with the Holy Spirit.
I’d like for us to turn to 2 Timothy 1:6-7 where the Apostle Paul is instructing his disciple Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God which is in you….” I’m not going to get technical with the corresponding Greek wordings, but suffice it to say that Paul is instructing Timothy to stay in-tune with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, the Apostle Paul instructs us not to “put out (or quench) the Holy Spirit’s fire.” The fire and zeal that the Holy Spirit imbues us with can be easily quenched if we stop listening to Him (Ephesians 4:30). One sure-fire way of grieving the Holy Spirit is to treat prophecies with contempt. For example, if the Holy Spirit had told us that Lord was coming today, would we believe Him, or would we look out the window and say “nah, it’s still raining out there. I guess no sunshine today”. To be ablaze for Gods’ glory means that we’re ready in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
The Holy Spirit doesn’t merely make us spiritual and transform us into the image of Christ (Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18), but He makes us friends of God (James 2:23, Genesis 5:24). If we’re content with merely being saved and sanctified, then we’re missing out on a fascinating adventure with God, that’ll make an African safari seem boring. When Abraham argued with God like He was his friend (Genesis 18), it was because he had the courage from the Holy Spirit. When Moses stood in God’s Presence and spoke face to Face (Exodus 33:11, Numbers 12:8), it was because of God’s power in him. When uneducated, poor fishermen spoke boldly before a crowd and testified about Jesus, it was because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Those that heard them realized that these men were with Jesus (Acts 4:13). If the Apostle Paul though bitten by a deadly rattle snake on Malta was unhurt, it was because of the power of the Holy Spirit within (Acts 28:3-4). The Lord Jesus received Divine power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, walk on water, and be resurrected, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove (Luke 3:22).
If a short, hunch backed rabbi could shake the Roman world, destroy Satan, and conquer hell, you and I should be able to do much more (John 14:12). I doubt that the Lord Jesus was a 7 feet tall giant. Here’s a brief description of Him according to Josephus – “The Slavonic copy of Josephus’s Capture of Jerusalem, contains the following description of a man wanted by Pontius Pilate for claiming that he was the King of the Jews: “a man of simply appearance, mature age, dark skin, small stature, three cubits high, hunchbacked with a long face, long nose, and meeting eyebrows…with scanty hair with a parting in the middle of his head, after the manner of the Nazarites, and with an undeveloped beard (Quoted in Knight & Lomas, 1996, p. 230).” This description is curiously like that of Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla: “…a man small in size, bald-headed…with eyebrows meeting, rather hook-nosed…” (v. 3) – Source : http://udumakalu.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/was-jesus-christ-short-black-and-ugly-son-of-god/.
Dear friends, I’m quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any amongst you that don’t know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.
Comments