From time to time I write a blog post that upsets some people, and the reason why it does is because it goes against some common theological threads. This will probably be one of those posts. I write this not to upset, but rather to get people to look at scripture rather than what they have been taught. It is usually difficult to have one’s opinion changed, but I have been through this theological change, and I encourage you to do the same. It has changed my life.
There is a common theological trend today to wait for God. You see it in many worship songs today, “waiting here for you” for example. Now I am not saying that this is wrong, but what I am saying is that we are almost taught to wait for God until we do anything. People want to hear from God before they make any changes, they want a clear sign that something is ‘God’s will for their lives’ before they act. There is even a song (which really frustrates me) called ‘Spirit fall’, which says that there is healing, power and freedom in His presence. First of all, why are we asking the Spirit to fall if He already fell at Pentecost? The other issue is that we sing that there is healing, power and freedom in His presence, which implies that there is not any outside of His presence. Now this may be true, but we have just sung that we are His, so the Spirit should fall, so that we can experience these things. If we are His, don’t we have the Spirit in us? Why do we need to wait for the Spirit to ‘fall’ before experiencing these miracles? Now you may think that I am going overboard here, but my point is that we need to understand what Jesus did for us at the cross. Jesus didn’t die so that we could go on as before, and have God occasionally intervene in our lives with His ‘will’ and see something happen, only to leave us alone again. We become a new creation when we are saved. Part us, part Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
Corinthians 1:21-22. It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
I used to wait for God, I was so concerned what God’s will was for my life that I ended up not doing anything. Realising that I already had the Holy Spirit changed my life. I was waiting for God to move so that I could act; I needed to act, so that God could move through me. This changed my entire mindset. I realised that although God may have given me specific things to do, I needed to start with the things that He has called all of us as believers to do, then He would guide me to specific areas. We’re always worried about the will of God for our lives, but God makes His will clear in scripture. If you’re not sure what you should be doing, Matthew 10:8 is a good place to start. This is what Jesus told the disciples to do. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! Go out and BE the Kingdom. When last did you do any of those? If you have to feel like you have been moved by God before you do any of these things, it may never happen. When you realise that you already have the power to do these, because you already have the Holy Spirit inside, you are free to step out and do this. When you do this, the feeling comes. Trust me, there is nothing like it. We have it back to front, we wait for God in order to see something happen, rather that use what God has given us to make something happen. If you want a revival, let’s start one!
Now please don’t get me wrong here, I don’t want a bunch of people writing me rude letters because they have misunderstood. I am not suggesting that we do this in our own strength, I am also not suggesting that we don’t need God or we shouldn’t seek Him. All I am saying is that we may already have what we’re looking for. Approaching things from the viewpoint of ‘when God pitches up’ is different to the viewpoint of ‘God is with me’. That is the change I want us to make. We have the Holy Spirit in us, we have the power of God. This is why the Bible teaches on humility, because if we truly understand this, it could go to our heads.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Richard
walking on water ministries 