The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 119

The Gifts Part 24

Healings continued...

For those of you that wrote in, no I did not write yesterday’s post out of anger, or with a sense of resignation. I am neither angry, nor am I resigned, if anything I am frustrated, troubled and distressed due to the fact that the household of faith is not anywhere near ready for what is about to descend upon the world.

We are seeing the signs of the end times throughout the earth, as well as within the church, yet we still pacify ourselves with the thought that we will not be here for any of these things as though the Bible were written for someone other than the children of God. We have developed these instant conscience soothers, we have developed these deceptive mechanisms to which we return time and again and in doing so remain static, unaffected, indifferent, lethargic and lukewarm.

We don’t see the need to prepare for anything, because we’ve been taught we won’t be here any more when the going gets tough, we don’t see the need to live righteous lives because we’ve been taught that God will accept us just the way we are and welcome us into His eternal kingdom heavy laden with sin, we don’t see the need to grow in God because we’ve been taught that no matter how much we grow and mature there are certain things that God just doesn’t do any more, and so we resign ourselves to our present spirituality believing there is nothing more.

‘Well, at least we have wealth, at least we have influence, at least we wield a semblance of political power, it could be worse I guess.’

Unfortunately, gold and silver cannot make ignorance flee, nor can it clear the conscience loaded down with sin, and our imagined influence and political power is a fleeting thing at best, wherein every four years we are courted, flattered, lied to and duped so long as one political party or another has need of our vote.

All the things that we so readily put our trust in are temporary and passing, yet we cling to them with a death grip because we never really attained the eternal things, the priceless things which God offers His children. That money that is so greedily preached from many a pulpit cannot enrich a soul with spiritual gifts, nor can it purchase a new life in God. The new car, or the new house, or the new boat we are told are the supreme expressions of God’s love and favor, are nothing more than trinkets when compared with that which God has reserved exclusively for His children. In the kingdom of God there are things far more precious than gold or silver, and they are of lasting worth, not something that can be stolen or rusted or burned to the ground.

I realize some of you think that I’m beating a dead horse, that I’ve talked about these things too often and too passionately, but I cannot be silent for fear that I will have to answer before a living and just God for my silence.

It only takes a glimpse, an instant of understanding as to what God has for His children, as to what God freely offers them to make the things of this world lose their luster and be seen for what they truly are. As believers, as children of God, as followers of Christ we were meant for more, and this is the one thing that I’ve been attempting to get across these past few days. We were meant for more, yet we are not living up to our potential or to God’s expectation of us for that matter, because we’ve been distracted by worthless things and temporal vanities that are as substantive as a morning fog before the sun disperses it.

We were bought with a price, something more precious than all the gold and all the silver on this rock, we were bought with the precious blood of the holy Son of God, and as such we must purify our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and be born again through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Childish things are for children, and once we are grown we are called upon to lay aside childish things, childish doctrines, childish teachings, childish suppositions, and mature in the word of God, in the knowledge of God and in the power of God.

1 Peter 1:17-19, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, yet we settle for less than all of Him. Nowadays, we can no longer say ‘silver and gold I do not have’ but neither can we say to a lame man, ‘rise up and walk.’

I tell you this dear friend, it’s not worth the tradeoff. We’ve been duped, we’ve been taken, we’ve been deceived, we’ve been bamboozled, we’ve traded something priceless and precious and infinitely more valuable for worthless baubles which might be pleasing to the eye but have no impact on the soul.

Rather than repent in sackcloth and ash however, we revel in our foolishness, we draw attention to our hypocrisy, we celebrate our indifference, and we openly mock those who would desire more from God than material possessions.

The sifting is near, and all that can be shaken will be shaken, and I fear fewer than we can ever imagine will remain standing when all is said and done. For God to use the church, He must first purify and purge the church so that what remains might be beautiful in His sight, something precious and righteous and holy and pure, something that He can use for the glory of His wondrous name.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.