October 2004

“HAVING BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT”

“Not by MIGHT, nor by power, but
by My Spirit, says the Lord!”(Zec 4:6)

Part 13

Unless we are fully assured by the Holy Spirit that our salvation experience was in no way the result of anything we did, but was the unaided act of Christ-in-us, we cannot understand that our perfection in the Spirit is also the sole achievement of Christ-in-us from the beginning to the end! It is this spiritual awareness that makes us true participants in the redemptive process of our lives. If we can see ourselves as one of a long line of railroad cars being pulled by God’s “Christ-Engine”, out of the darkness of mortality, into the Light of Eternity, we will sooner be able to trust and rest in the Resurrection Power and tender, loving care of our Savior! Being persuaded of His competence is to know perfect peace for the first time; which makes it easier to accept the changing landscape of our earthly existence while we are being transmuted from death to Life!
             The reason believers remain wed to the things of this world is that their faith is still divided betwixt heaven and earth. While we continue to believe the lie that humans are autonomous beings, we cannot flow freely with the current of God’s Purpose for our lives! Rather, we exhaust ourselves continually swimming upstream like so many stubborn salmons! But the tide of transition is going to carry us homeward despite our strongest resistance! And the closer we are drawn to the shores of God’s glory, the more we behold the radiance of His Shekinah Light which increasingly enables us to feel- and trust- His great Love! This makes it easier to yield our self-will to His Sovereign Will!
             Some believers get trapped in the undertow of their own carnal-mindedness, and drift back to the world for a season; but this does not catch the Lord by surprise. His Eternal Plan allowed for this momentary detour, and He has but to send another powerful surge of His Wisdom and Mercy and they are carried back into His safer course for their lives. While it is very painful to observe the Prodigal process, especially when it carries off someone very close to us, we must cling tenaciously to the promise in Php 1:6 (Amplified Version),

“I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that
HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU
will continue- until the Day of Jesus Christ,
right up to the time of His return- developing
that Good Work, perfecting and bringing it to
FULL COMPLETION IN YOU!”

             Sometimes we cannot feel the Fire of Faith burning within us in this dark and deadly world, but remember that only our human faith can lose its power; the Power of Christ’s Faith remains constant and consummate! Our natural faith has always been- and indeed, can only be- in natural things of this world. But as Christ begins to anoint and activate our spiritual faith, that former faith is violently shaken! The people we always trusted in, suddenly abandon or betray us. The traditions to which we have long held fast, are torn apart. The infrastructures of our social and governmental environment crumble right before our eyes; as neighbors become strangers, allies become enemies, and human fears supplant our human faith! At first blush, this appears dreadful and disheartening, but then “THE DAY DAWNS AND THE DAYSTAR ARISES IN OUR HEARTS!” (2 Pe 1:19) And as this “SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ARISES WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS,” (Mal 4:2) we begin to feel the warmth of His Life coursing through our veins! This emergence of Christ’s Faith opens our “hearing ear” to His Words of Life, whereby we are saved by His grace!
            (Ro 10:17) Since Christ’s “Faith is counted as righteousness,” (Ro 4:5) as He exercises His Faith in our everyday circumstances, that Faith grows stronger in us!
             Men of flesh hate to have their weaknesses exposed, but instead of despising this exposure, we remember that Christ tells us, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness!” (2 Cor 12:9) Even the most defiling character weakness of fleshly men will ultimately prove to be the unwitting, and unwilling accomplice to the perfecting of Christ’s strength in them! It is indeed a bitter pill for human pride to swallow as we suffer the humiliation of our nakedness apart from Christ but to God our garment of pride is invisible- just like that fabled vain, self-deceived emperor with no clothes!

[TO BE CONTINUED]