Sunday, July 12, 2015
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Christian Living and Transformation
For a long time I was wondering how that happens, transformation in christian living.... Then after many years of growing in the Lord, falling a little, getting back in repentance and many corrections and trying to walk in obedience the Lord has helped me to understand the truth.
1. The first step is for the sinner to understand their place in the eyes of God (conviction of sin is itself a thing which happens with the help of the HolySpirit and by hearing the word of God)
Bible says there is no other way given to man for salvation except through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. (Acts 4:12)
That is the step when a person repents of their sin and accepts Jesus in their heart. This reconciliation to God as a child of God is the first and essential step for all following steps. Those who have not taken this step, need to do this first as without this phase, God's word cannot have any effect in our life.
2. Second step is when the word of God can start cleansing us. Accepting Jesus does not make us sin free, still there are some habits, some actions, etc. in our life which we know are not acceptable to God. The day we accept Jesus, these things don't change overnight. This is where the word of God comes to play.
Psalmist says "I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you" (Psalms 119:11). The key here is to read God's word and write it in your heart (yes commit it to memory, you don't need the verse number but the word is key). Now once this word is in your mind, the HolySpirit reminds you of this word whenever we do something which is against or opposing to His word. Again here, we need to heed this reminder and respond in obedience. If we repeatedly ignore it, "the change" cannot happen.
Remember here that Jesus overcame the temptations (Luke 4) by the word of God, he knew the verses by heart, so each time a tempting thought was brought by Satan, Jesus replied with the Word. This is the example we need to follow.
And this again is an ongoing process. "How does a young man keep his way pure ? By living according to the word of God." (Psalms 119:9) So our action of obedience is important.
3. Now as we have reconciled to God and purify ourselves daily by living according to God's word, the third step is to learn to live according to His will. Here the role of the HolySpirit cannot be stressed enough. You need the infilling of the HolySpirit to live in obedience and power.
Remember that the bible says "All scripture is God breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16) , "It is written by many authors through the inspiration of the HolySpirit" (2 Peter 1:21). So this makes the HolySpirit the author of the bible. Now in order to read and understand the bible fully, we need to hear it from the holyspirit.
Yesterday, my hubby was watching TV, there was an interview with Kamal Hasan about his new film. His wife Gowthami was talking about some of the Poems (Kavithais) written by him, then she mentioned she had the rare privilege of hearing those Poems being read by Kamal himself. She said that was special because, "He is the one who wrote it, when he reads it, the real emotions, real intentions, and gusto are clearly visible in his voice. His whole being is involved in reciting it."
This made me think, HolySpirit being the author, when we ask him to help us understand the word he will actually convey to us the intentions , emotions, and the very heart of God when each verse of the bible was penned. David wrote "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your word" (Psalms 119:18).
Now understanding the word this way will make clear to us the will of God. Will empower us and move us to live according to the will of God. Jesus said "Not my will but yours be done" (Mathew 26:42), "My food is to do the will of my father" (John 4:32).
So for this eagerly pray for God to anoint you with the HolySpirit. It is not a complex procedure, let us remember that Jesus said " If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Luke 11:13) .
And especially I always wonder at the heart of God in Acts 10, in the house of Cornelius. "While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word " (Acts 10:44) Here the household of Cornelius had gathered together, they had only accepted Jesus and got baptized , they did not know about the anointing of the HolySpirit, however as Peter was preaching the received the anointing. So God will anoint us if there is a thirst inside.
May God help us experience each of these stages and grow in Him daily.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)