"For this reason, because I have heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to
give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the
riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable
greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his
great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this
age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave
him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV
I have learned one thing in the past few weeks that I know to be an absolute truth: When Christ touches you, He touches all of you. He becomes Lord of the whole and not just the part. You can't wrestle with the God-man and leave only a little affected. Jacob walked the rest of his life with a limp after wrestling with God and it was as it should be. It was a life long reminder of an encounter with the living God.
One of the things I learned during my time in college was that in the Hebrew world of Jesus, the "heart" was the centerpiece of a man, the whole inward part of a man, both his mind and his emotions.
As I have grown up in church, I have been taught to be somewhat skeptical of experiential faith. But wasn't early Christianity largely based on experience. I mean the men and women of those days experienced God in the flesh and not just an idea of God. The problem I have found is that people take experience too far and abuse it by constantly saying things like "God told me this" or "God told me that." While I firmly believe that God can tell us to do very specific things, I also feel that we should also check our own motives to determine who is actually doing the speaking.
But on the other hand, there are those that believe that God has revealed everything He will about Himself in Scripture alone. But if that were the case, then why would we need the Holy Spirit, who was sent to us and serves as our Counselor, to guide us on our journey with God? John addresses it when he tells us what Jesus Himself said in John 14:26.
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26 ESV
In the Christian faith (for those that may not know), experience and revelation are NOT enemies. They are grafted into the same branch, in fact, they are brothers who can't be separated from the family tree, no matter how hard some people try to keep them apart. It is our responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and to test all that we hear or read by the Scriptures. That includes me and my blog, our pastors, the men that get on TV week in and week out, and anyone else that uses the Gospel as a platform. We are to use both our "experiences" and the "revelations" the Holy Spirit gives us.
One of the things I learned during my time in college was that in the Hebrew world of Jesus, the "heart" was the centerpiece of a man, the whole inward part of a man, both his mind and his emotions.
As I have grown up in church, I have been taught to be somewhat skeptical of experiential faith. But wasn't early Christianity largely based on experience. I mean the men and women of those days experienced God in the flesh and not just an idea of God. The problem I have found is that people take experience too far and abuse it by constantly saying things like "God told me this" or "God told me that." While I firmly believe that God can tell us to do very specific things, I also feel that we should also check our own motives to determine who is actually doing the speaking.
But on the other hand, there are those that believe that God has revealed everything He will about Himself in Scripture alone. But if that were the case, then why would we need the Holy Spirit, who was sent to us and serves as our Counselor, to guide us on our journey with God? John addresses it when he tells us what Jesus Himself said in John 14:26.
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26 ESV
In the Christian faith (for those that may not know), experience and revelation are NOT enemies. They are grafted into the same branch, in fact, they are brothers who can't be separated from the family tree, no matter how hard some people try to keep them apart. It is our responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and to test all that we hear or read by the Scriptures. That includes me and my blog, our pastors, the men that get on TV week in and week out, and anyone else that uses the Gospel as a platform. We are to use both our "experiences" and the "revelations" the Holy Spirit gives us.
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