When God talks to you does it freak you out?

I'm just curious.  When God talks to you does it freak you out?  Does it take you by surprise?  Is it unusual? 

The reason I ask is I had the pleasure of a Word from God yesterday.  A bit of revelation knowledge regarding our future if you will.  Cool stuff.  I love it when that happens.  I also find it very normal which is what led to the question.

If you don't find it normal, why not?  One of the coolest things about the God we serve is that we serve a living God who wants to have a relationship with us.  One of the hallmarks of a relationship is two way communication.  That means for example me talking to God…..and God talking to me.  All perfectly normal and a somewhat regular occurrence.

Do you talk to God and feel that He never answers?  Would you like to have God talk to you?  Then let me ask you the big question.  What are you doing to build your relationship with God?

Have you asked Jesus to lead your life yet?  That is the first step.  The Bible tells us no one comes to the father except through Jesus.  So if you really want to hear from God it is pretty easy.  The first step in building the relationship is asking Jesus to lead you. 

Just have a conversation with Jesus.  Tell Him where you are at in life and what He can help you with.  "Dear Jesus…."

So what is next?  Build the relationship with God.  Get into God's Word on a daily basis and start praying (talking to God) on a daily basis.  The more He recognizes your voice the more He will reveal Himself to you by talking to you directly.  Get ready to hear from God!  :) 

Can you rule with an iron fist and still be loving?

I only ask because this is what it says about Jesus in Revelation 12.  That he will rule with an iron fist.

Revelation 12:5(NKJV)

She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 

One of the things I write about a lot is what I believe is the incorrect portrayal of Jesus.  There seems to be a portrayal, even in some main stream churches, of Jesus as being so forgiving and full of love that in the end everyone goes to heaven whether they accepted Jesus or not because  Jesus would never actually send anyone to hell because he is too loving.  :)

That he is all "kumbaya" and no "fire and brimstone", if you will.

I don't think that view is supported by Scripture and that is why I keep pointing it out.  As I've said before, I think one of the biggest problems in the church today is the watering down of the message.  Kumbaya Jesus is a big part of what I am talking about. 

And once again what bothers me most about what is being done is it doesn't follow the ministry example that Jesus Himself set.  When people chose not to follow Jesus did you see Him following them around and trying to talk them in to it?  Did you see Him weakening the message?  Did Jesus say "Tell you what, you don't really have to accept me to get in to Heaven, just try to be a good person and we'll call it even and let you in anyway?"? 

No.  Jesus accepted their free will choice and moved on.  He left the door open for them to change their mind.  He didn't wish them any ill will but He didn't waste any more of his time on them. 

In fact if you take John 17:9-10 seriously it says that once they rejected Jesus and chose the world, Jesus doesn't even pray for them anymore.  Can you imagine that? 

John 17:9-10(NKJV)

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 

And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 

So I went through all of that to bring you to this question.  Can Jesus rule with an iron fist and still be loving???   Or does one negate the other? 

Interesting question isn't it?  It is also an important question in my opinion.  Why?  Because in today's modern culture, any attempt to impose order and following of the law is described by some as acts of hate (the opposite of love).  And those who support the restoration of order are called hateful and unchristian.

So my question is, at the point that Jesus switches from loving to ruling with an iron fist, does he become hateful and unchristian too?   :)

God is…in you

God is so cool!  How many times have you heard me say that in the past?  I am down with the flu but the cool thing is that it gives me some extra time to devote to this blog post.   

I am continuing my word/phrase study on the character of God.  As you can see from the title the phrase is "in you" as in God is in you.  Now there are 137 uses of the word combination of "in you" in the Bible.  Many of them, like this one, have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

Genesis 42:16(NKJV)

Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” 

On the other hand I found 17 Scriptures that are relevant.  What is even cooler is that they come from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  As many of you know, one of my principals of Bible study is that I look for confirmation in both the OT and the NT.  In this case I got it.  :)

Ezekiel 37:14(NKJV)

I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”

Daniel 4:8-9(NKJV)

But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying: 

“Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.

Daniel 4:18(NKJV)

        “This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you.”

Daniel 5:14(NKJV)

I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 

These verses from Ezekiel and Daniel introduce the concept of the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) indwelling us.  In the OT not everybody gets this honor.  In fact in the Ezekiel passage where God is speaking, God says that He put His spirit in to someone.  That changes with the NT.  Starting with Jesus we get to ask for Jesus to come in to our lives and when we do we get the Holy Spirit in us as part of the deal.  Pretty cool!

Matthew 10:19-20(NKJV)

But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 

for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

John 5:38(NKJV)

But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 

(this one is the opposite showing that those who don't accept Jesus don't have God in them.)

John 6:53(NKJV)

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 

(another way of saying without Jesus, no God in you)

John 14:17(NKJV)

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

John 14:20(NKJV)

At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 

Romans 8:9-11(NKJV)

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 3:16(NKJV)

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 

1 Corinthians 6:19(NKJV)

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 

2 Corinthians 13:5(NKJV)

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 

Galatians 4:19(NKJV)

My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 

Ephesians 4:4-6(NKJV)

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 

one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 

one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Colossians 1:27(NKJV)

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

1 John 4:4(NKJV)

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

Now some might say "so what?".   

Here is why I think it is important. 

There are way too many Christians who feel unworthy or walk around feeling defeated.  Why is that?  I'm sure there are many reasons but I bet one of them is that people don't take this concept of God in us seriously enough.  They view it as a cool rhetorical device but they don't take it literally which I think is a mistake. 

I think it should be taken literally.  I think having God in us provides us with a tremendous advantage.  Look at the OT examples.  Did God put His Spirit in people so they could accomplish piddly little things or did God give them the ability to achieve great things? 

God has a plan for each and every one of our lives.  A great plan, not a piddly little plan.  Scripture tells us that God will give us all we need to fulfill His plan if we actually go out and do the work. 

Why don't more go out and do the work?  I believe for many they simply don't believe that they can.  They don't have the confidence.  That is where I believe taking "God in you" literally can make the difference.  With God in you, you can rely on God's confidence until you have enough of your own.    Does that make sense? 

Whatever it is you need to do to accomplish God's plan in your life, would you have more confidence if God was standing right there beside you as you did it?  Would you really be afraid to ask someone for something or propose something to somebody if God was standing right there with you? 

Well guess what, Scripture tells us that God is actually right there with us!  Physically right there in our bodies with us.  So since God is putting in all this time hanging out with us, let's make it worth His time by going out and accomplishing great things for God!

How many of us are really prepared to do this?

How many of us are really prepared to do this?

1 Peter 3:15(NKJV)

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 

How many of us are really "ready to give a defense" of why we believe in Jesus? 

As I have said before, Bible is a book of balance, etc.  This verse is a good example when compared to other verses like this one. 

Mark 13:11(NKJV)

But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 

Those two seem to be contradictory don't they?  I have always leaned to the Mark verses in this regard.  I figured God would put the words in my mouth as He saw fit.  But as I look at the Mark verse in view of the 1st Peter verse I can see that I need to modify that a bit.

1st Peter says "be ready".  Another way to day that would be "be prepared".  If we are prepared then aren't we premeditating?  Yes we are to a certain extent.  I think the way to balance this out is being prepared means having a general idea of what you would say to "give a defense". 

Here is what I mean.  I have written before that I think the single best way to witness is to share what God has actually done in our own personal lives.  I just don't think being "Billy Bible" and beating people over the head with Scriptures is an effective way to witness.  Scripture obviously has to be part of it but I think the personal witness is the most persuasive. 

With that in mind I know that when I need to "give a defense" it will tend to be through personal witness.  In other words I have an idea of the direction I will take.  But I don't have it planned out word for word like a script.  I leave it to God to pick and choose which personal experiences I share because only He knows which ones will be most effective in any given situation.

Make sense? 

Why do we neglect our gifts?

 

1 Timothy 4:14(NKJV)

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 

Why do we neglect our gifts?  I think more than anything else because it takes time and effort to not do so.  I really think it falls to the 80-20 rule like everything else.  20% of the people make the world happen while the other 80% watch the world happen.

Only 20% have the discipline and drive necessary to make things happen.  It's not that the others can't, it's that they don't bother. 

So how do we make sure we are in the 20%?  I would say first and foremost be in God's Word and actually put it to work in your life.  Then the second thing is make a decision to make it so.  Thirdly, continually thank God in your prayer life for making it so. 

Now let's go exercise those gifts! 

The measure of Christ's gift.

I've written a lot about how our rewards in Heaven are based on our service to God and I have supplied multiple Scriptures to support that.  I have also repeatedly made the distinction between salvation which is free and our rewards which are earned.  I ran across a Scripture today that I think illustrates this nicely.

Ephesians 4:7(NKJV)

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 

I believe the system of rewards in Heaven applies to Jesus as it does to the rest of us.  The reason I believe that is that God is a God of justice.  It would not be just to give someone preferential treatment. 

So let's look at the highlighted part above.  "The measure of Christ's gift".  Christ's gift to whom?    I would suggest it is referring to Christ's gift to God.  That gift in a way is the same as our gift to God.  A heartfelt and sincere desire to do the will of God in our lives, and the action to go with the desire to make it happen.   

Jesus did that by being obedient all the way to the cross.  Jesus willingly sacrificed His life in the service of God and God's plan.  Jesus did it to an extent that no other human being had done before or has done since.  And so consequently Jesus has gotten the biggest reward in Heaven.  He gets to sit at the right hand of God! 

Another part of the reward is that Jesus now gets to decide who's names get entered in the Book of eternal life.  He can offer that grace to any and all who want it.  The measure of Christ's gift is that He is the only one in the whole universe who can offer the grace of eternal life. 

And that is how each one of us came to receive salvation even though we don't deserve it.  It is the grace that Jesus can offer because of the measure of the Gift He gave to God. 

But once saved God will base our rewards in Heaven on our service to Him just as He based Jesus' rewards on the service Jesus provided to God because God is a God of justice. 

I just love the symmetry of the whole thing!

What does it mean to be sealed?

I'm not sure exactly but it seems to be some sort of honor as far as I can tell.  I think this is another set of verses that confirms my belief that we are not all treated equally in Heaven.  Take a look and then as usual I will give my take. 

Revelation 7:4-12(NKJV)

And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

    of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;      of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

    of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

    of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

    of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;     of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;      of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 

and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 

saying:      “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,     Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,     Be to our God forever and ever.     Amen.”

First let me set the stage.  John is being shown visions of Heaven by Jesus and is told to record them.  This results in the book of Revelation.  In Heaven you see God and Jesus.  Then you have the 144,000 who are "sealed" which seems to be some type of honor.  I then highlighted in green the next group that is there in Heaven with them.  "A great multitude".  Who are the great multitude? 

Revelation 7:13-17(NKJV)

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 

They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 

for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The great multitude are those who have accepted Jesus and have come out of the Tribulation.
 

Now as to my original point, this Scripture once again points to a hierarchical setup up in Heaven where not everyone is treated the same.  Why is that important?  In my opinion it is important because it goes to counter those who believe God and Jesus operate under a "socialist" system.  I believe Scripture proves otherwise. 
 

Now should we as Christians use this as an excuse to be mean to people?  Of course not.  But I do think it gives the stamp of morality to a system that mimics God's system by rewarding imitative and punishing laziness and conformity.  "On earth as it is in Heaven" as they say!