The Advent Part 52
When the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit begin in a heart or in a congregation, it shakes the foundations of the person or the place, because a new life is beginning therein. When the Holy Spirit is poured out, it is by no means a subtle thing, it is by no means a subdued event, it is something that so drastically and dramatically changes a person, and even an entire congregation of believers, that the reality thereof is evident to one and all.
During the last post we discussed the great and notable day of the Lord within the context of the last days, when the judgments of God would begin upon the earth because of the prophecy to which Peter the Apostle referred to concerning the Holy Spirit.
In light of what the Word tells us concerning these last days, one can readily see just how important, necessary, and relevant the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are. If darkness continues to grow, yet light remains at the same level never growing in its brightness to combat the escalating darkness, eventually what was once a bright beacon will become a flickering candle. It is undeniable that the world as we know it is growing progressively darker, and as such we need more of the light of truth, we need more of the power of the Holy Spirit just to stand our ground against the forces of darkness.
The Word of God is truth undiluted, it is the light unto our path, the light that shines in our hearts, the light that acts as a bright beacon in this world of darkness and despair, and as such we must know the Word, live the Word, and preach the Word. We can understand the Word of God by its letter, but wherever the need arises the Holy Spirit also gives us understanding that we might perceive the spirit thereof as well.
I will be the first to admit there are difficult passages within the Word of God, there are passages that are not readily understood, and many of these difficult passages are in regards to the end times, and are found in no small part in the book of Revelation as well. Whenever we happen upon a difficult passage, we have the tendency to do one of three things: we either gloss over it, unwilling to take the time to pray and seek understanding, we get stuck on it going no further in our search for truth, or we receive it in our hearts as it is written knowing that when He sees fit God will open our eyes to the deeper meaning of the text.
What many in our modern day, fast paced society fail to understand is that prayer and the reading and understanding of the Word of God go hand in hand. When a verse, a text, or a passage is not readily understood, we must go before the Father with prayer and supplication and patiently wait on Him to illuminate our minds, and bring understanding to what we have read. The Bible is sacred, it is the Word of God, and it was given to be understood by those who desire to know it and live it, who desire to press in, and go deeper, who are not content with a cursory read, but who desire to know the fullness of what God desired to convey.
Proverbs 13:13, He who despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.”
Too often we treat the Word of God lightly, with carelessness and frivolity, absent the requisite reverence, considering it to be more of an accessory on Sunday morning, than the inspired Word of God which is able to save, and feed our hungry souls. It is to our own detriment and even outright shame, that we don’t assign the much deserved and warranted value to the Word of God, and that is remains so low on our list of priorities.
James 1:21-22, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
If we are willing to receive the answers it gives us, without attempting to inject our own ideas, or preconceived notions into the mix, the Word of God has the answer to every question we might have concerning the spiritual, our role while we are in these husks of flesh, what the future holds for this rock, what the times and the seasons we are living in will look like shortly, and a myriad of other things. The Word of God is not short on answers, but sometimes the answers we receive are not to our liking and so we attempt to sidestep or reinterpret that which the Word clearly lays out.
Our duty as children of God is to receive with meekness the implanted word, and once we receive the word we must become doers thereof. We are not told to second guess the Word, we are not told to question the Word, we are not told to doubt the Word, we are not told to find substitutes and surrogates for the Word, we are told to receive it, and do it. Yes, the word of God must be lived out in our daily lives, it must produce change and transformation in us, and the fruits thereof must be clearly visible, lest we be hearers only deceiving ourselves that this is all that God requires.
Beyond knowing what the future holds, beyond understanding the book of Revelation, beyond rightly defining what the seven seals, the seven bowls and the seven trumpets are, we must first and foremost live the word of God, be doers of the word and not hearers only because only by being a doer of the word can God use us, only by being a doer of the word can the power of God reside in us, and only by being a doer of the word will we be blessed in what we do.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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