Jesus' point (Luke 18.9-14) is that Kingdom values are
different than human values. I had a recent phone conversation with a couple
who had been to the funeral of someone who had left the Anglican Church and not
shown any outward signs of faith for many years. They were concerned that she
would probably not be part of the Heavenly Kingdom. But when the husband opened
his Bible for evening devotions before bed he read “..for my ways are not your
ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts...” It was a teaching moment. We are
judged on the attitude of our heart ‑ not on our religious accomplishments.
Righteousness is all about the grace of an intimate right relationship of love
with God.
1. THE PROBLEM
IS THAT OUR MINDS DECEIVE US
I discovered this in a very humbling way. In my prayer
time I was convinced I was having all kinds of wonderful revelations from God.
I was writing these down in a diary. After some time I realized that it was all
positive and all about me. It was really the voice of my ego – or possibly even
Satan. In addition to the obvious ‘voice of Satan’.
I did some serious academic
research and discovered that our human minds have a filtering system. This
filters out all the information we don't really need into our unconscious mind.
We don't need to be constantly reminded that the room we are in is too hot or cold,
whether we are hungry etc. This information is brought to our conscious mind
when we focus on those issues. This is good because it prevents our conscious
mind from becoming overwhelmed with information. It is however dangerous
because we also tend to filter out information that challenges us emotionally.
Terrorists are perhaps the most dramatic example of how intelligent people can
filter out contrary information and become deceived in their minds. This is why
we need to make a special effort such as the weekly self‑examination ‑ to
protect ourselves against self‑deception.
2. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES US
The Joel Reading (2.23-32) prophesies that God's
Spirit will be poured out on all people. Jesus also promised the gift of the
Holy Spirit to all believers. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the sign that
we are in a right relationship as Christians.
·
The Holy Spirit speaks through our heart ‑ our
Personal Spirit,
·
Having a spiritual life is learning to listen to what the
Holy Spirit is saying to our heart or Personal Spirit.
·
The Holy Spirit speaks to us very softly as we sing,
pray, read Scripture and meditate.
3. PAUL CHALLENGES US TO” FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, FINISH
THE RACE AND KEEP THE FAITH”
His whole ministry was a
spiritual and often physical fight to share the Good News of God’s love, forgiveness
in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He was constantly opposed and physically attacked
by the political and religious leaders of
his time. He was verbally opposed by local teachers and even his fellow
Christians. But rather than take the easy way of compromising with others and the
culture and toning down his faith message; Pau fought the good fight, finished
the race and kept the faith. The Readings challenge us to:
·
Read and discuss in Bible
Study groups what the Bible actually says - so we too can safely run the race
and keep the Faith
·
Engage in the fight against the
false teachers in our time who are changing the historic faith and robbing
people of the Good News
·
Examine our own lives under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discern how we may have been deceived in our
beliefs
·
Invite the Holy Spirit to
teach us and guide us in our daily lives
WE ALL NEED TO EXAMEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD
REGULARLY TO ENSURE WE ARE IN A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE
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