It seems to be a secret anyway, I never hear anyone talking about it, not even from the pulpit and now that I've discovered it, I am going to let it out to the public. It's a shame to keep anything so wonderful a secret and I personally don't think God intended it to be that way but for some reason no one that I know of talks about it.
I touched on it the other morning but yesterday as I was thinking about what God had done for me I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and wonderment and love for Him. I am nothing special and when I asked to be filled with the fullness of God, I didn't think about the results of that request.
Several times now, not just once but several times I have been aware that He has taken something away that was offensive to Him and I didn't know it until it revealed itself in my daily life. For example:
Someone offended me in a very offensive way some time back and it not only did me in, it did my children in that observed it. I was hoping that I would never be confronted with the person again. BUT, I was, very recently and you know what? I was so surprised by my reaction that I haven't gotten over it yet. I greeted them with happiness and was actually glad to see them. It surprised me so much that I just have to share what being filled with the Spirit means. My feelings of horror were gone and I was able to be Christlike. It never occurred to me what being filled with God's Spirit would do in my life. I didn't do anything to deserve this except ask for God's infilling, so I know from experience that we do not earn these gifts that God wants to pour out in our lives. They are gifts. That happened to be the gift of forgiveness, and it's a wonderful gift of the Spirit.
There is another gift of the Spirit that is powerful:
I was the one that offended someone and I noticed a few days later that the peace in my heart vanished and I was overwhelmed with uneasiness and could not figure out why and so I asked God to help me and show me why my peace had vanished. Then I remembered what I had said and I had to pray for help in making it right and when I finally did, my peace returned. I was overcome with sorrow that I had hurt someone unintentionally but had really hurt someone. That is called the gift of repentance, and that is a wonderful gift also. I didn't ask for these gifts, I asked to be filled with the fullness of God and that is what I received as an answer to my prayer. Wonderful gifts of the Spirit.
Another gift of the Spirit I discovered was when I pray for the conversion of a friend or family member I thought I had to do something to straighten them out. Wrong idea. I guess I always thought it was my duty to inform them of their sins and they would respond. I guess they did respond by ignoring me and I can't say as I blame them, now that God has revealed the real way to win souls, I see how wrong I was and not only wrong but it was offensive to them. I have been impressed that love is the only way God works in our lives and in the lives of others, anything else fails and fails miserably. So I have decided to pray for them and let God do the work on their hearts and can you believe it, it really works. Being patient and letting God do His work is another gift of the Spirit. It is not our job to convict or convert, it is God's and He does His work well. The secret here is to stay out of His way by trying to do His work and let Him have full sway in their lives and in our lives.
This should not be a secret but it seems to be a real hidden item in the Christian's life and was in mine too. So let's remember if we want real happiness let God fill you with His fullness and receive these three gifts, forgiveness, repentance and love.
There is another secret that I am going to share with you tomorrow that shouldn't be a secret but as I said I haven't heard much about it if anything at all. So until tomorrow, keep seeking to be filled and you will be, I know, if He can do it for me, He can do it for anyone.
Remember the text Ephesians 3:19 "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." O, to be filled with His fullness, I am looking forward to more of His fullness each day and please don't forget to ask, we must ask if we want to receive.
Grandma Joan
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