Tuesday, May 23, 2006

God is a Spirit

Jn.4:24 - God is a Spirit...
I have often wondered about just what a spirit is. I know, you all have it completely figured out, but I still wonder. Since God is everywhere we can deduce that a spirit is not material. No cells, molecules, or elements. We sometimes imagine transparent or invisible smoke. There is another realm, coincidentally call the realm of the Spirit. Now we are cells, atoms, molecules, and flesh and yet we are exhorted to "walk in the Spirit". We have diluted that and a hundred other Scriptures to mean that when we don't lie, or swear, or willfully sin we are walking in the Spirit. But an unsaved man can accomplish those things but he cannot walk in the Spirit. Then we say that if we do certain things like witness, read the Word, or go to church we are walking in the Spirit. But again, an unsaved man can do those things also, be he cannot walk in the Spirit. So what does "walking in the Spirit" mean then?
Our brains are made of atoms and molecules that make up cells that make up the gray matter that we call our brains. That is the fleshly organ. But how does the mind operate with that organ? The brain is such a magnificent creation of God that the brain itself is limited in its understanding of itself. Basically the mind is a labyrinth of billions of electrical impulses which create, store, and retrieve information. The mind can call for information from a thousand different storage places and accurately blend all of the different pieces of information to produce a single accurate thought - in a millisecond! Now where then does the personality come from? Where does morality abide? And where does the spirit reside and how does the mind and spirit interact with God's Holy Spirit? Take a deep breath and don't worry, I'm not getting mystical on you but there is a mystery and Spiritual quality to our minds that should be investigated in order to open ourselves to the full revelation of what God desires to communicate to us.
Now before we go any further, any revelation that comes from the Spirit is basically a deeper understanding, application, and unfolding of His written revelation, the Word of God. Think about it, though, as your electrons race around the bloodstream in your brain where and how does the Holy Spirit invade that domain with His divine teachings, promptings, and leadings? What an incredible and glorious process! The Holy Spirit does not exist in fleshly form, He is a Spirit. And yet He has the power and ability to input information into our physical minds. Now the depth to which the Spirit can input God's information into the physical mind of a believer depends on two basic variables. The first is how much of the Word of God has been inputted into the storage cells and how active they are in the everyday activity of the mind. The Scriptures are replete in admonishing us to "hide God's Word in our hearts". Do not expect the Holy Spirit to connect fully with a carnal mind that has placed any Word it has received into a religious compartment and only called for in a church setting. That is nothing more than a teenager who receives some history lessons in school, never thinks or studies that information outside of class, and then asks his mind to find those storage cells when he arrives at that class for a test. After the test his mind automatically places those cells back in the "of no practical use" compartment. That, my friends, is how most Christians treat God's Word.
Now we tell that teenager that don't ask God to help you on that test with information that you haven't studied, He won't help you. We are such hypocrites. We sit in a service, take out a Bible, and we ask God to help us when we haven't even read it, much less studied it. Do we believe the Holy Spirit will invade our storage cells and facilitate Spiritual lethargy and thereby reducing the worship gathering into a religious curiosity that ends with the final amen? And what is worse the preacher hasn't fasted and prayed and opened his mind to the searching illumination of the Spirit of God(just hypothetical) but offers a neatly packaged oratorical lesson complete with jokes, stories, and many times visual aids. Think about it, what does the Spirit of God have to work with in that atmosphere in order to enlighten people to God's Word? Where is the repentance producing, piercing, and penetrating work of the Spirit that should be active in a "church service"? The mind is well equipped to collect religious information and process it and even enjoy it without the help of the Holy Spirit. Do you and I desire more?
OK, the second variable that deepens the Spirits opportunity and access to our minds is how much time do we spend in prayer. It seems that the more time we spend opening and training our hearts and minds to communicate with the Father, who is a Spirit, the more our physical minds become receptor friendly to the Holy Spirit. And ladies and gentlemen, there is the battleground. Our fleshly minds and physical cells don't easily receive from God, it requires sacrificial time before Him. Sacrificial time, what is that? Let us be honest, the church by and large has lost the desire and even the vision to get on our faces before God and fast and pray - for hours. Even that description seems a little fanatical, but there were times in the Scriptures and in church history when it wasn't. The Industrial Revolution and the consumer based hedonism has all but wiped out any substantial hunger for prayer, and therein lies the obstacle to the Spirit's open door to our minds. The church no longer gathers for prayer(unless the government calls a day), and if there is a "prayer gathering" it is usually short and petition based. "A form of godliness but denying the power thereof".
With the anemic and shameful state of the average Christian's prayer life we can forget about being supernaturally invaded by the Spirit of God in our hearts and minds. The gifts of the Spirit? We'll have to invent our own and call them His. Spiritual power? We'll have to fill that vacuum with illustrations, creative and relevant speaking, expensive audio visual equipment, matching shirts, activities, cruises, golf tournaments, Monday night football fellowships, step programs, and thousands of other very clever and well done advertising techniques meant to gather large numbers of people to finance huge salaries, expanded staff positions, and wonderful debt ridden buildings which provide the forum for the above mentioned. A carousel of religious progress! If only the apostles had those things at their disposal they could have reached the world! Those were different times, you say. You are correct sir, those were very different times!
"God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth". I am just a mouthpiece, and sometimes more mouth than piece, but I desire more. More than a habitual pilgrimage to an uplifting performance using the latest technologies. No, I've seen that, it doesn't last. I desire to see the "glory of God in the face of Jesus". I desire to see how God would respond to a group of people turning off their lives for a while and seek Him with all their hearts. I desire to become aware that God's Holy Spirit is moving in my mind, knocking on doors, and leading me further into an intimate fellowship with God's Son my Savior in direct proportion to my surrendered diligence. Along with my fundamental and literal interpretation on God's Word, I desire to know and experience Him in the Spirit. I do not fully know what that means and I do not fully know what that requires.

I do know this...it requires more than I'm offering now.

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