Above all, guard your heart....
Let's look at two HUGE issues facing Christian people today:
Holy Spirit Baptism and Lust. I will pause here for everyone to take a deep breath and to steady themselves. OK. READY?
1. Holy Spirit Baptism As someone born into the Methodist church, and sprinkled into the fellowship of believers in 1957 I can promise I had much catching up to do in this regard when I discovered the possibilities of gifts and manifestations of the Holy Ghost in the spring of 1978. (math students, I was 22 years old, and in a close encounter of the God kind, I told the Lord that I was totally incapable of living a "Christian" life and if He wanted me to do so, He would have to give me the power to do it. To make a long story short, He did exactly that.
There are many doctrinal discussions and theories about whether or not it is necessary to speak in tongues to be "Spirit filled". Many Pentecostals insist that you must speak in tongues or you didn't receive it (or Him as it were). I always say you don't have to speak in tongues, you GET TO.
Here is the key, as I see it. Speaking in tongues is an exercise of faith that involves bypassing your understanding (and thus your mind) and speaking out of your spirit man. To do so requires a level of submission and trust that supercedes any previous experience you have ever had. The flow of living water from within should be beyond human understanding and communication skills, as the awesomeness of God is so far beyond description. Trust me on this one. If you think the essence of an unlimited, all powerful God can fit in your tiny human noggin you are kidding yourself. So relax, check your submission level, take a deep breath, and say, "Holy Spirit, Speak through me".
Speaking in tongues is not the point.....Where is your heart? Out of that overflow will come a sound with which you will be amazed. We usually get this one backwards.
2. Lust Before you SuperChristians start to bark, let me say that as humans walking around in our earth suits, nobody is perfect and nobody is sinless. Lust is a very real thing. That new car, that boat, that diamond ring, that big house, all these things appeal to all of us. When someone else has it, it is a perfectly normal thing to want it yourself. Let's go one step deeper (or darker).
Sex
There, I said it.
Alright, buckle your seat belts. Here we go. What causes lust? Pornography? Scantily dressed men or women? Improper physical or emotional contact? Flirting? I say these things are not the cause of lust, but are manifestations of a lustful heart. The condition of your heart causes you to look at that R rated movie, to pick up that magazine, to flirt or even be unfaithful or lacivious. If we would fill our hearts with good things, and take into captivity any wild imaginations or thoughts, and call upon the Lord to wash us clean with the water of His Word, we would see a difference in how these things manifest in our lives. Try it this week and see what happens in your heart.
Because out of your heart flow the issues of life.
In the flow...
JACK
