Spirit of the Lord
Spirit of the Lord
The congregation is singing quite well this morning I thought
to myself, as I bellowed out the words to that praise chorus “Everlasting God”;
the Sanctuary was about our normal Sunday morning crowd of about three or four
hundred, so yes, I didn’t have to worry about people thinking about the old guy
making an “awful” noise to the Lord.
Being a retired Pastor, I always expect the Holy Spirit to
show up, and perhaps in my expectancy it is easy for me to feel the presence of
the Lord. It has been that way since
joining almost a year ago. We have a
church that allows the Pastor to preach the word, and many times it is what one
may call “the state of the community”, and I like that because I know that all
the problems we are having in our nation, and in the world will only be made
easier with the yoke of Jesus.
Mt. 11: 28—30 tells us about it… v.28)” Come
to Me all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest”… v.29)
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls”… v.30) “For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light.”
Christians should gather together in worship as their local
church, (the people are the church), expecting the Holy Spirit to overflow, get
a knot in your throat, and wipe a tear from the eye, as the children’s choir
gives a sample of their upcoming concert.
On the other hand, the choir gives a special selected hymn, perhaps
there is a “special music” when one of the members sings out a wonderful song, or
plays an instrument; sometimes there are mistakes but your heart hears a flawless recital
to the glory of God. It is all made
possible by the Holy Spirit.
Sunday last, the preacher gave his sermon “Where the Spirit
of the Lord Is,” and it comes from 2Cor. 3:4—18, and verse 17… “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
We study the Old Testament, the letter of the Law, and we study the New
Testament (covenant of Grace), and the covenant of Grace is our salvation in
Christ Jesus.
If we just wake up one
Sunday morning and decide that today I am going to be a Christian, start
attending a church, baptized, and even became involved in some of the groups, I
would simply ask, “was you actually broken of heart and the measure of faith that
you may first believe; was that ignited by the Holy Spirit? Nevertheless, if we were not drawn by the
Spirit of the Lord in all humility and brokenness of heart; we may want to
consider a real sincere self-examination. Several areas of such
an examination would require the utmost integrity, control, and commitment to
the faith.
Over the years, I have
learned to look at motive; what motivates someone’s decision? Regardless of what the genre is prompting a
decision, why do I choose what I choose?
A multitude of people have studied that simple question, with measurable
failure, nonetheless, it has to be a decision instigated by the Holy Spirit.;
it takes Him to get there.
What has been found (clinical studies) the human is motivated
very strongly by money, sexual appetite, power, and last by God the Holy
Spirit. The popularity of liberalism,
which has gained in popular thought, has actually become a tool of the
enemy. The hearts of God’s people need, by
necessity, to stay focused on the Savior, not other appetites of the human nature nor political correctness.
Christian liberalism, has lost its first
love, compromised the Word of God, and put, what God calls sin front and center
of the various church denominations. Focus has turned to the progressive world, and not the Savior, they thought and decided to
follow the way of the world, and like water, the path of less resistance; what,
do they suggest that Christianity and God, needs to keep up with the
progressiveness of the world? Only two
answers to that question; God has always been, is now, and forever will be, he
changes not,
Christianity needs the conviction of the Spirit, to follow Jesus,
if you are making decisions, no matter how small or large, the first requisite should
be to invoke God and God’s will through the Holy Spirit. If Christianity continues to go in the
direction of the world we will not go to church and be overwhelmed by the
Spirit of the Lord, there will be neither peace nor liberty, without the Spirit
of the Lord.
When was the last time you truly experienced the Spirit of
the Lord?
Thank you for reading my post today.
R.S.Helms
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