…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
This very same power is available for me! Why do I have such a hard time getting this revelation?
…the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…
This final word is the key: believe. This exceedingly great power is available for us who believe – who believe in Him, in all He’s done, and in the fact that He will do it all for us. Believe. It’s so simple, or should be. Why, good grief! You’d think I would figure it out in my heart as well as my head that if this same all-powerful God gave His only son for me then I am important enough that, having expended so much power already on the “hard stuff,” He will be pleased when I give Him opportunity to share more.
It is clear that He looks for the times when I trust Him and open the door so He can, “…show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (II Chron 16:9) I love that portion of Scripture. In the New King James the verse reads, “For the eyes of the lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
My heart is loyal to my God. I may fail in the area of consistency, but I love Him and I will (I choose) to be faithful to Him. So He tells me in His Word – more than once – that His will, His choice, is to bless me… To bless ME! I hear Him speak it to my spirit over and over. I see Him in action time and time again. So why is it hard to remember that His will is to bless me? Why can it sometimes be so hard to believe that I am worthy of those blessings?
Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.
This verse leapt out at me years ago, showing me responsibilities I’d not known I had. No longer could I merely sit in my nice, comfy pew and listen to the minister. No indeed, I must also share with that minister. Share what? I must share in all good things.
This means money, yes. It is rare for me to let the bucket pass untouched when the offering is being taken up for a guest minister – because I have a command from God to share in all good things, and money is a good thing.
I also had a self-appointed ministry for several years. Rather, I should say it was a God-appointed ministry. Any time a guest filled our pulpit I made a point of sending a thank you note soon afterwards. More than once, word got back to me that my simple notes had blessed the recipient and I knew I was, indeed, doing God’s work.
But guest ministers play only a small part in teaching me the Word. Few will ever speak into my life like my own pastor will, and here lies my greatest responsibility. Yes, my offerings help pay his salary, but this is only a tiny part of what I owe him. I owe him a share in all good things. I owe him my prayers. I owe him words of encouragement. I owe him whatever good gift God suggests I give him, be it an apple pie, cash, or a new car… (Okay, so at this point I only wish I could give him a new car.)
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Yes, He does!
The notes in my study Bible point out that the one being used for noble purposes has no right to consider himself any better than the one being used for common purposes, because both are made from the same lump of clay. I see it the other way, too. I, who am made for common use, have no right to consider myself less than he who is made for noble use. Truly, this is something God has spoken to me many times through the years – which means, of course, that I need to be reminded.
I’ve seen people who were made for noble use, and being used nobly, thought themselves even better than the use to which they were put. So many years spent active in the music ministry gave me more occasion than most to see how ego affects the clay; I’ve seen people actually leave a church because they felt their talents weren’t being shown off as much as they should be. This type of thing makes me ill.
It is in the nature of man to exalt himself. I know this, because I deal with the tendency on a personal level much too often. I look at other people doing certain things and think, “I could be doing that; I’m good enough! Why can’t I be allowed to do it just once so that I can show the world I’m able?” Wrong motivation!
It took a lot of years for me to accept the fact that I was made for common use…and to prefer the fact that I am. When ego is set aside and the truth is out, it becomes apparent that I wouldn’t want to be a vase sitting on a shelf, only rarely filled with flowers and placed at the center of the table. I would rather be the tea pitcher, always on the table, at the center of things, appreciated on a daily basis…almost taken for granted even…by the whole family. In my own mind, before coming to this Scripture, I have compared myself to a ball bearing – something no one sees, but that is essential to keep the mechanism running smoothly. How much better would it be if we all would simply accept ourselves as God has made us, accept our positions as He has placed us, and be what He has called us to be today – freely and fully – without trying to see how we might use today’s position as a stepping stone to the future, without regret or recrimination? Oh, what we could accomplish in this world!
For those who are according to the flesh and controlled by its unholy desires, set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh. But those who are according to the Spirit and [controlled by the desires] of the Spirit, set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the (Holy) Spirit.
I see several things in this verse. First, I see that we all fall in one of the two camps – either we set our minds on and seek those things of the flesh or we set our minds on and seek those things of the Spirit. Most of us would likely leap to say we seek the things of the Spirit, but when faced with the Holy Spirit’s unyielding truth I’m not so sure. I know that, as much as I hate to admit it, I find it far too easy to waffle back towards things of the flesh. Spirit may win more often than flesh, but flesh is still in the game (or war, actually).
Too…
…set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit.
Set their minds…
This phrasing is very firm, very active. You set a nail in wood – it requires a hammer. You set a table – it requires deliberation. You allow concrete to set – it requires a commitment of time. Whenever the verb “set” is used, there is a commitment of certain resources. Whenever the verb “set” is used, there is the expenditure of effort and the result of that effort is that something remains as it has been set. If I truly set my mind on those things that gratify the Holy Spirit, I am making a conscious effort that does not allow my mind to wander, does not permit foreign thoughts and questions to enter.
Seek those things…
I am also to seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. Here, too, effort is required! To seek anything requires action, an active outpouring of energies. Because He commands me to do it, I do know that what I’m seeking can be found, praise God! Hm… It also requires a set mind to actively seek something; seeking requires concentration. It requires truly thinking about a thing and where it might be found, and seeking in that location. You don’t seek for a dog in a mouse hole because the dog obviously wouldn’t fit in such a place. Likewise, you don’t seek that which would gratify the Holy Spirit in places that only the flesh would find fitting.
Gratify the Holy Spirit…
Looking at the word gratify in the dictionary is truly eye-opening. “Gratify – v. to afford pleasure to; indulge; humor” I love this! So if I live in accordance with the Spirit… Oh! “in accordance with” means “in agreement with” – so if I live in agreement with the Spirit, then what gratifies the Spirit will gratify me as well!
Okay, so if I live in accordance (in agreement) with the Holy Spirit, then I will set my mind on and seek out those things that will gratify the Holy Spirit, and in gratifying the Holy Spirit I will bring pleasure to, indulge and humor Him. So I am not just seeking out that which the Holy Spirit requires, or even that which the Holy Spirit desires, but I am actively looking for ways in which I can please, indulge, and humor the Holy Spirit.
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering…
This astounds me every time I think about it. I cannot imagine sending one of my sons out to intentionally sacrifice his life for one who is good. I have friends and family whose children are in the military and I feel for them when their children are sent to hot zones where they might end up giving their lives. Yet God sent His only (at the time) son to this earth fully intending that He would sacrifice Himself, and not for a world of good and worthy people. God sent Jesus to give His life for a whole world of sinners…people who were bad beyond human comprehension. And not only did God send this Son out, but the Son willingly came! When I think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, I realize just how fully human He was. He was sent “in the likeness of sinful man,” but He was not sinful man because there was no sin in Him…yet He wasman. He fought all the temptations and fears I fight. At that final hour He even reached a place where He would have had God choose a different path for Him. What is the difference between me and the man He was at that time? What made the difference? Truly, I see one thing standing out above the rest. He knew WhoHe was.
This is usually the key for me too. If I can just reach that place…if I can only come to truly know – to KNOW – who I am in Christ Jesus, everything will be different. I feel like it’s a thing I’ve been reaching towards, that I fight desperately to grasp. It’s this elusive something that is out there that I know if I can only get my hands on it my life will change so dramatically I won’t recognize myself.
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Interesting. I never considered before that what you do, when you choose to sin, is present yourself (your members) TO sin – giving sin a gift, as it were. And in presenting yourself as a gift to sin, you declare that your members – you – are instruments of unrighteousness…tools to be used in unrighteous acts. When I think of it that way, it makes me shudder. It’s like when Belshazzar decided to use the holy vessels that had been taken from the temple, drinking from them at a great feast he was hosting. (Dan 5) He used these holy vessels as instruments of unrighteousness and saw the handwriting on the wall – literally – and was dead the next day. Presenting my members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness is obviously not the thing to do.
But to present myself to God as being alive from the dead! And then to present my self (my members) to Him as instruments of righteousness! Yes, this is the calling of the Christian.
It is interesting, too, the choice of words used in this verse. Yes, I take an active roll in making the presentation, in deciding whether to serve sin or God, but after that I am nothing more than an instrument either way – or at least my members (hand, tongue, mind, etc.) are nothing but instruments. As far as sin is concerned, this is horrible – slavery of the worst sort. But where God is concerned? To be an instrument in God’s hand is to be truly free! My only responsibility at that point is to do as He commands. As I do this I will automatically do what is right and my efforts will bear eternal fruit. Though the other path may be more tempting, and death to sin unappealing, nothing can compare to the glory of this!
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.
This last line is the key. “For he who has died has been freed from sin.” I was born a slave to sin and grew up letting it rule over me; it was the way of life I knew. Then I accepted Jesus – accepted His death as having paid the price required to buy, from sin, the slave that I was. In Him I too died; I died to the sin that had enslaved me. Even so, though freed by death and resurrected into new life, my flesh naturally wanted to go back to being a slave because the life of slavery was familiar, an easy life where sin ordered me around and all I had to do was follow its commands.
But I am free, called to walk in newness of life. I have free will, to follow the mandates of righteousness or to return to the habit patterns of the life I lived before. With every step I must choose and yes, choosing can be challenging. The body is dead to sin, but the memories were not purged. Flesh still ponders, on occasion, that sin brought a form of pleasure – forgetting that the pleasure it brought was to the old man, the man that no longer exists.
The new man is not pleased, but rather is pained by sin. There is no joy to be found in sin; there is only sorrow. The new man is alive to and pleased by righteousness and the freedom that comes from willfully choosing to serve God. I have been freed from sin. Why, then, would I ever choose to return to its chains?
“And it shall come to pass in the last days,” says God, “that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.”
“And it shall come to pass in the last days,” says God, “that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh…”
I do know there is more to this verse. I do know, too, that in this case the proper translation is “mankind” or “people group,” rather than the “flesh” I think about when I consider my daily walk with the Lord, but…
I think perhaps it is not such an “off” thing that the word flesh is used here…for most of us ARE too fleshy to be of continual, supernatural use to God. Flesh cannot survive where the Spirit of God is, so what happens when He pours out His Spirit on me…on my flesh? My flesh dies! It is mercy that He did not pour out His Spirit on me, the baby Christian, because I was almost all flesh then. Had flesh died in that day, there would have been only a spark left alive – that spark that came with the God so newly arrived in my heart.
Today, though, I am somewhat more mature. I have not arrived, yet there is more of Him and less of me than ever before. As He pours out His Spirit on my flesh, I feel the pain of its death, yet I also rejoice in the fact that its death leaves that much more room for the One who lives within me.
So I wonder…
Is this part of the purpose of the last days’ outpouring? The Bible speaks of a dividing line – that there will become an obvious difference between the just and the unjust, and that many who have been comfortable in the church will fall away. Is it, perhaps, that He has allowed His children plenty of time to grow and pours out His Spirit to free us for that final growth spurt?
Should God, today, pour out His Spirit upon an entire congregation – every member – those who have come to worship in spirit and truth will rejoice, enduring the pain in the knowledge that more room is being made for Christ to live big inside of them. On the other hand, those who have been playing games with God – those who wish to be counted as one of His without making Him Lord – will run screaming in pain, “cleansing” their flesh of His Spirit as one would wash acid from burning skin, pampering that flesh so it can grow again.
Or so I surmise.
Assuming my conclusions are correct, what would happen next?
“…Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.”
What a rich result of the outpouring He speaks of in the first part of this verse! Can there be a greater promise for one who is enduring such a purging as happens when He pours His Spirit out on their flesh? In the natural, when one goes through removal of flesh – say cancerous flesh – it is in hopes of at last being normal again. But this promise takes us beyond normal into… Oh…or does it?
What is “normal,” or what ought it be? What is the true standard where LIFE (God-life) is concerned? It is – would have to be according to the theologian’s Law of Beginnings – the life Adam lived before The Fall. So in pouring out His Spirit upon my flesh so that the flesh dies and His Spirit lives in me God is merely returning me to normal according to His standards!
He says He is returning for a glorious church. We know it is far from glorious now, and He needs to do a quick work if He is to bring us up to that level any time soon. But through pouring out His spirit on my flesh He can and will! He pours His Spirit out on us and a natural result of that outpouring is a greater sensitivity to Him that results in prophesies, visions and dreams, all of which are evidence that we are coming closer to that glorious state.
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I wrote the first section of this meditation years ago, and still consider it valid, but going back to “all flesh” meaning “all mankind” now brings a different thought.
One day, when Saul was hot after David’s life, God poured His Spirit out on Saul and, though he had murder in his heart, Saul began to prophesy. So it occurred to me some months back… Is the same thing happening today? How many times have we heard, in recent years, of people coming to know Jesus not as a result of a missionary’s work, but rather because Jesus visited with them in a dream or vision?
Imagine a gathering of Christian haters in which God pours His Spirit on the leader, who then begins to prophesy the Good News of Jesus Christ. How would that impact the two kingdoms-God’s and the devil’s? Is it happening today?
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Some things you learn by careful study of God’s Word, but some things you learn when God draws out the Word you have hidden in your heart and shows it to you in a different light. Just as it is when you step into a room lit only by black light and certain colors start to glow, so also, when God shines His special light on Scripture, do certain words start to glow – not in a literal sense, in this case, but in a way that was every bit as exciting for me.
I could no more tell you what the sermon was about than I could tell you what I wore a year ago today, but there I was, reading along with the minister, when those final two words set off fireworks in my spirit.
“…before Abraham was born, I AM.” Jesus is speaking here, and He is speaking in the present tense!
Suddenly “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” showed itself to mean more than I had ever imagined. “I AM the Alpha,” God says. He IS the beginning, and at the very same time He is also the Omega, the end.
So there Jesus was – is – standing before a group of religious men, boldly declaring that He was not only standing before them in that very moment, but that He was also in both the distant past and a future yet to come. He was and is in all times at once. This is terribly hard for us to understand, but the reality of the thing is that HE IS GOD!
The flash of epiphany was instantaneous, but it actually took several days for the complete truth (or as much of it as I could handle) to percolate and really infuse itself through spirit and soul. And then, almost immediately, I had opportunity to put my faith to work with what I’d learned.
We were in the midst of a potentially terrifying battle, one we had been fighting for weeks against a seemingly heartless enemy. On this particular day, I was extraordinarily ready for the battle to be over so, as I took those dozen or so steps to the mailbox, I said, “God, You are in all times at once. That means You can right now see to it that they put a letter in the mail days ago – one I will pull out of the box right now today – saying they’re dropping this thing completely and won’t bother us again.”
And He did. Right then and there the battle was over because I had come to know yet one more aspect of my omnipotent, omnipresent, heavenly Father.
This understanding has changed my prayer life completely – and my faith life too. Praying retroactive prayers doesn’t bother me a bit, for instance. Say I get a prayer request this afternoon for an event that was to occur this morning. I don’t write it off as too late; I pray! I pray, sure in the knowledge that the same God who hears my prayers this afternoon IS there for that person this morning.
Likewise, when I send or put out a prayer request (via email, for instance), I may instantly see the answer – even though I know for a fact that no one has even seen the request yet, much less prayed. I see my answer right away because the God who is with them tomorrow, hearing their prayers about the situation, is with me in the here and now at the very same time!
16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”
Matthew, Mark and Luke all share about this event, about how Jesus rebuked His disciples for trying to keep the children away. Mark and Luke both quote Jesus’ declaration that only those who have childlike faith will enter the Kingdom of God. All good students know that when the teacher repeats himself you can be sure that the information he’s giving will be on the test. So what all was Jesus saying, that God ensured it would be repeated to catch our attention?
First, any time His disciples tried to keep people from Jesus they were rebuked. Here He rebuked them and then the event was recorded repeatedly in the Gospels.
Moral: Do not stand in the way of anyone who is trying to reach Him; He does not appreciate it (and may well make an example of you for posterity’s sake).
Then He explains that the Kingdom of God belongs to those children and others like them. We cannot enter the Kingdom of God, He says, unless we have their kind of faith. This is a powerful warning. How do we heed it?
The key, of course, lies in understanding a child’s faith. A child’s faith is, in a word, absolute. The child of a normal father – even one who is only decent, rather than outstanding as a father – tends to trust his father completely. Whatever Daddy gives him he receives with confidence that it is a good thing. When Daddy holds him, he knows the world is safe. Whatever his need, he walks convinced that Daddy will fill it. That is, after all, what daddies are for.
God wants us to trust Him in just this way. He desires…demands…our absolute confidence in Him. He wants us to come before the throne of grace as boldly as any child would run to his father’s chair. He wants us to whisper in His ear, sharing as any earthly child would, telling Him about our hopes, our dreams, our needs and concerns.
He also wants us to love as freely as a child loves, throwing our arms around his neck, climbing up into His lap, playing “I love you most” with him, and in general letting Him know that He is the most important One in our whole world.
Our tendency, in today’s culture, is to rush to grow up. He says, “Come as a child.”
