Are you “under the influence” of God?

I love a good word picture. I especially like one that can change our lives. To set this picture up lets imagine for a moment what it would have been like to listen to the Apostle Paul as preacher. He says that he was not a great orator, but his comments sure had the ability to get a crowd worked up.

One of those moments might have been when the church in Ephesus first read the letter written to them. Paul paints a simple picture with the words, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit.” (5:18) I am guessing that it would have gotten an interesting reaction from some in the crowd. It might still today.

Now the life changing word picture I want you to see here is not about whether Christians should drink or not. I will leave that for another day. But the picture that Paul is drawing should capture your imagination of what is possible in the Spirit filled life. Leaving aside the questions of drinking in moderation, Paul is saying don’t get drunk because of where it leads your life.

The power of what he points out as is its parallel: being filled with the Spirit. He is saying how getting drunk can lead down a road you don’t want to go so a life filled with the Spirit can take you to powerful places you never thought possible. He uses the language of drinking to give us a picture of God’s invitation to “drink” more of Him. As most sins are trying to fill a need that can only be found in God, so getting drunk is trying to fill a need that can only be filled by living a life in the Spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit can take you powerful places you never thought possible.

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There is a lot of depth to this word picture but let me give you one simple outflow. Smith Wigglesworth, the plumber turned preacher, talked about this verse and pointed out that a person “under the influence” may not realize how much they are impacted by what they have drunk. He said the same is true of people who are filled with the Spirit. Let me give you a couple examples.

The fruit of the Spirit: Have you ever been around someone who is so full of the Spirit of God that they just naturally express love, joy, peace and others of the fruit of the Spirit. It is not like they are trying hard, but since they are “under the influence” of the Spirit it is the natural “fruit” of their life. Have you ever seen a fruit working hard to grow? No they are connected to the tree and that is what comes out of their life.

The gifts of the Spirit: I have been around people who are so filled with the Spirit that the gifts just naturally flow out of their life. They may say something that I realize later was very prophetic and it didn’t even seem like they noticed. They asked God to fill their lives and that filling impacted people more than they realized.

Why is this word picture have the possibility of changing your life? Because the invitation is still extended to you. You too can be “under the influence” of the Holy Spirit. No matter where you are in your journey with God, let me encourage you to carry a two word prayer with you, “Fill me.” I think we will be amazed to see what happens.

Imagine going on a walk with God

I was reading my dad’s blog this morning and he shared a wonderful story of my great-grandfather and some important lessons for us on walking with God. I asked my dad if I could share his post with you and he graciously said I could. I hope this blesses you like it blessed me. Take it away Dad:

I remember when I was a pre-teen and my grandfather used to visit us that he would love for me to join him as he went on his morning walks. Normally it was mid morning, and he was always dressed in a suit jacket (open collar), and his hat and a walking cane! This was the stylish thing to do, to carry a walking cane, and swing it with a special style!

I also liked to walk with him, because his pockets always contained candy which he would give to the neighbor kids, who would always come and talk to him. I don’t remember any of the conversations I had with him, but I was just happy that he asked me to go with him on his walks.

I was reminded of this because as we read of Enoch in the Bible not much is said of Enoch, but what is said of him says much that we could heed for a relationship with God!

Enoch we find is in the lineage drawn between “Joseph the Carpenter” (remember him?) and Adam the first man, that God created! He lived a total of 365 years which was “chicken feed” compared to his father Jared who lived 962 years, and Methuselah his son, recorded to be the oldest living person at 969 years!

But it says that “Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22) and that “he pleased God” (Hebrews 11: 5)! This is what drew me to Enoch! We all desire to walk with God and to please God, especially if the end result is the same as of Enoch, because we find that it says, when Enoch walked with God and he was not, because God took him (5:24)

We see from the beginning that God liked to walk with his people. It seems from Genesis 3, that everyday God would come and walk in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. And here he walks with Enoch! Oh how I would love to take a walk with God in the cool of the evening, or the morning! But, maybe it is possible!

We see from the beginning that God liked to walk with his people.

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I see them have some animated conversations about all the beauty that surrounded them, the things which God said “was good” when he created them, including the people! I see Enoch walking on Cloud 9 for this privilege, because Hebrews 11:5 says, ‘he pleased God’. Why does the term, “Lord of the Dance” keep popping in my head? Is it because I see children break out into impromptu moments of dance, when they are happy? Was Enoch like this when he was walking with God?

There was another thought about Enoch from Hebrews 11: 5 and 6, which I had not seen before. Verse 6 always stood apart to me, but here I see that as it follows verse 5 and it connects to the mention that Enoch pleased God. How did he do it?

Hebrews 11: 5-6 gives us the answer. By faith. Faith in what?

1. That He exists

2. That He cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

So what was Enoch doing? He believed God, and I guess he had a personal relationship with God and walked with God.

And finally I was seeing Enoch in Jude 1: 14-16 coming back with Jesus and a thousand angels in the last days… just like he was taken away! Two people had this experience of been taken away by God, without seeing death, Elijah (2 Kings Chapter 1) and Enoch in (Genesis 5). (Side note: It helps to have your name start with the letter “E” if you want to experience “translation”!!!! Just kidding.)

Yes, we can walk with God because he wants to walk with us, and yes we can please God, because all we need to know and believe is that God exists and that He cares to respond to me if I seek Him?

Three principles of moving from reactionary faith to strategic faith

Last night I was at the prayer service at my home church. Part of this service is a short devotional thought from one of the pastors. Worship director Mark Alan Schoolmeesters was sharing from the Lord’s Prayer on the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation.” I have written elsewhere on this important prayer, but Mark had a great line that really caught my attention. He said, “Are you strategic or reactionary in your faith?”

This question got me thinking and my mind spinning with the stories of faith from the Bible. Not sure all of Mark’s intention, but where it took my thinking could be revolutionary to your faith. When I think of strategic faith it is a faith based on the truth of God’s word that moves us into bold decisions to follow Jesus. Reaction “faith” reaches out to God based on the crisis at hand and sometimes may not be faith at all. Here are some principles of God’s word that can move you into more strategic faith.

Strategic faith is forward looking while reactionary faith is focused on the current crisis.

Often our faith is based on the difficulty of the moment. It may be the current temptation we are facing or the problem that seems to be overwhelming us. Abraham however had strategic faith, “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11: 10) In what areas is your relationship with God drawing you to take steps beyond your current circumstances? Caleb and Joshua called the Israelites to strategic faith even the circumstances said otherwise.

I want to move beyond today’s crisis to take steps of faith that could impact generations.

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Strategic faith is based on the promise of God and reactionary faith is based on the appearance of circumstances.

Abraham again is a great example of both sides of this story. When he had Ishmael with Hagar he was acting based on the appearance of things. Isaac however was born based on the promise of God. What are the promises of God that He has spoken to your life that should be guiding your life? Maybe you need to go back and take hold of them again.

Reactionary faith may help me out of my current difficulty, but strategic faith puts me in a situation to change the course of my life and those around me.

I am not saying that there are not times when reactionary faith is important. When we are in temptation that is the time to call out to God for help not simply wish we had prayed earlier, “Lead me not into temptation.” When we are sinking in the sea, like Peter, that is the moment to simply reach out in faith and say, “Lord save me.” The difference is we also need strategic faith that gets us out of the boat in the first place.

An easy illustration of this is to compare reactionary faith to caffeine-coffee, tea and energy drinks. When you are tired these can help you get through the day. Strategic faith is like a health lifestyle that gives you energy every day. It is not that you might not have a day where you have a bad nights sleep and drink a cup of coffee, but the healthy lifestyle gives you the energy for normal days. Crisis will come and we should react to reach out to God in faith, but may we grow in taking strategic steps of faith that change the direction of our lives. How are you going to grow in taking strategic steps of faith?