Mr. Wesley says, "When the Holy Spirit fills the heart of a believer, He feasts the soul with such peace and joy in God as to blot out the remembrance of everything that we called peace and joy before."
A man that is not a thorough friend to Christian perfection will easily puzzle others, and thereby weaken, if not destroys, any select society."
--John Wesley's last recorded utterance on Christian perfection, made in the year of his death, 1791
Jos.5:1-12
Every time I read the first verse I think to myself how foolish we are as the created beings, to think that we were and as some, still is, in rebellion against the almighty God. To fear him, yet we do not want to submit to Him, and accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
To show His love and power, God did an even greater thing when he commands the Israelite's to be circumcised, everyone that crossed the river “Jordan” (symbolising the going into Gods rest. Not only the dying of the saints, but the day every Christian can experience, victory over the bondage of sin in this life on earth). He didn’t command it when they where still safe on the other side of the Jordan but while they were on enemy territory. Even when the human flesh is at its weakest, God glorifies himself through the actions and obedience of his followers. Notice no quibbling or murmuring. They do what God commanded through His Holy Spirit. God does all this in the midst of our enemies if we obey without any presuppositions (misplaced idea of how it should work).
From the history of Israel we can see that they didn't follow the act of circumcision while they were in the wilderness. It is not ordered before they went through the Jordan but only after they entered the “Promised Land” (symbolising the Christian life) and so it is also the same with us, if we think we have arrived at the “Promised Land” we will still need to go through the process of purification while we are on our journey. So why do we then think we are any better then, that we can live in sin and at the same time say we are children of the living God? We say Jesus sanctified us (with a complete work) but we go on in our sinful state, are we not maybe playing the fool with ourselves. According to these verses we are, if we do not allow the purification process in our lives, on our journey. (Mat 5:20, Mat 7:21, Heb 12:14)
See this:
Only after obedience within the purification process could the Israelite's take part in the Passover Lamb (Jesus Christ the Passover Lamb, living in victory through Him) don't we sometime feel despondent, downhearted, unhappy and miserable about our spiritual life, may be its because we do not belief in the circumcision of sin?
At that same moment of obedience the manna (the normal Christian life of just enduring the despondent, downhearted, unhappy, miserable life) stopped and they could eat of the produce of the land (filled with the Holy Spirit and living the victorious life and not only being happy with longing therefore)
And God came among them (having full fellowship with Jesus: 1Jn 1:7).
We as Christian think we may have part of the Passover lamb but we are defiled by deliberately sinning, we want to have the spoils of the Christian life but we’re not willing to make the sacrifice, but then we still will have to be content with eating the manna. While still refusing to go through the purification, we long to have a spirit filled live but we deny the way it can become a reality for us. Through the revival among the Zulu’s God gave me the opportunity to experience this life. God intended the revival for the Zulu’s but by God’s grace some of the crumbs fell of the table and I could for the first time taste the bread of life.
I hear many people saying they are convinced God is with them and then after awhile you will hear them start talking of "this people" form "this place", see they didn't want to use those sharp knives that was prepared for the task to help us on our journey. People some times will be be a christian for years, going on well and then suddenly they’re gone, but if you look deeper you will see how they allowed this process to stop in their lives, they went through the Jordan started the purification but at some stage they stopped, the knives were getting too sharp for their taste, or its too tedious, you really don’t have to do all this, all the time you know, at some stage they take things just too spiritual, and anyway Jesus did everything already for us on the cross. They are right Jesus did do the miracle in us, but the process of cleansing is an on-going process every day.
John. 13:10 Jesus said to him, anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is clean all over. And you [My disciples] are clean, but not all of you. Interesting the word 'but' tells as about the process of continual cleansing and separates them who needs only to wash their feet from them that are doomed.
God knows each and everyone of us. He knows our good points, our weaknesses, and the worst of all, our every sin. We say: confess my sin? Never! You know why we can confess our more stubborn sins to to another upright Christian (although he should never take the place of Christ), not because he is playing god but because he is pleading together with you, to God for your every sin, now if that is not brotherly love what is. So may I leave this thought with you: Why not come to Him Jesus Christ the author of our salvation who brought us through the Jordan at the beginning of our spiritual life, and why not allow him to use the sharp knives prepared for this task, through the journey of the promised land of deliverance from sin.
Walking with God is summed up nicely by this:
A man who carries a lantern at night does not see the whole path home; the lantern lights only a single step in advance; but when that step is taken another is lighted, and so on until the end of the journey. - unknown source
God will keep you whole, all the way – but you, know this, that His promises is for you too, and that there is victory over sin, but you must take the next step.
Why not pray now and ask Him to lead you to His promised land of victory
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New Devotions
"In Christ all things are new"
16 Jan 2011
Summary of sermon by FH Stegen
1Cor 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Do we believe what God says here? When God comes into your life is all made new, and has the old passed away?
