After watching an expose on the so-called revivalist, preacher, healer Todd Bentley the other night (see last post), I found myself contemplating the idea of true spirituality, and concluding that if the Christian Church truly understood it, charlatans like Todd Bently, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Peter Popoff, T.D. Jakes, Joel Olsteen and the like wouldn't have a ministry (please understand that I am not judging these individuals, only the false things that they say and do in the name of our Heavenly Father).
For years I've heard Christians saying, "I can't worship in a church where I don't feel the Spirit." They have relegated their spirituality to being determined by their feelings, falsely assuming that if they don't feel the Spirit moving, He must not be there. What HOGWASH! First of all feelings are subjective, which means that they change from one situation to another, and are therefore not reliable to base any important decision upon. Second, Christians should instead use as their rule of life and faith, something that is objective, or unchanging like God's Word the Bible. For, through it God has given to us... "all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue," (2 Peter 1:3 NKJV).
God, says in His unchanging word: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36: 27 NKJV), and "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD'"(Ezekiel 37:14 NKJV). Furthermore it says in the Gospel of St. John 14: 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." It goes on to state similarly in these scriptures; Romans 8: 9 "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him," Romans 8: 11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you," 1 Corinthians 3: 16 "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you," 1 Corinthians 6: 19 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" 2 Timothy 2: 14 "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure, which has been entrusted to you."
Friends, the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity and therefore He is omnipresent (everywhere at once). Beyond this fact, as Christians, we are assured in His word that He dwells or lives within us. Consequently, whether or not you feel the Holy Spirit, He is there! Thanks be to God! And for those who say, "I know He's there, but because of all of the dry, dead religious tradition He can't operate." More HOGWASH! Who do we think we are that we could even suggest the notion that any man, by way of what he does could control or hinder the work of God? This type of belief elevates man to the place of having more power or authority than God, and that my friend is blasphemy. God has promised His children that whenever they gather to worship Him (notice I said 'worship Him' and not 'feel close to Him by the repetitious singing of contemporary christian music and positive life message'), He will be there [see Matthew 18:20].
So, beloved I tell you this, if you are not experiencing God, it's your own fault, you're looking in the wrong way and in the wrong areas. To experience a real relationship with God and understand True Spirituality, you first must have a right heart (see Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8). Secondly, we must be actively looking for God in the proper ways... "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV). Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk has explained it this way: 'Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that spirituality is a separate department of life, the penthouse of our existence. But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms of our being. Someone will say, "I come alive when I listen to music," or "I come to life when I garden," or "I come alive when I play golf." Wherever we come alive, this is the area in which we are spiritual. And then we can say, "I know at least how one is spiritual in that area." To be vital, awake, aware, in all areas of our lives, is the task that is never accomplished, but it remains the goal.' In other words, instead of looking for our spirituality in certain places or things, we need to learn to recognize God in every moment, and in everything. Meister Eckhart once said... "To grasp God in all things---this is the sign of your new birth." Amen!
In closing; I admonish you all to never let anyone tell you that God is here or that God isn't there, or that the only way to really worship God is by attending a church that is alive with the working of the Holy Spirit. God is everywhere. His Holy Spirit is also everywhere, and His purposes and plans are always in operation, and cannot in any ways be hindered by man (see Matthew 24:23; Mark 13:21; Ephesians 1:3; 2:6, 10, 13; Colossians 2:10).
God's blessing's to you all,
+Ernest
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