One On One #2

     We sometimes believe that our pastor, preacher or teacher "Have it all together," when nothing can be further from the truth. I don't know about other pastors, but I teach people what God is now teaching me in my own life. The same things that are plaguing other Christians, are the the same things that affect us.

     Paul wrote to Timothy in 2Timothy 1:6 (Amp), saying, "That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the ember of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the gracious Gift of God (the inner fire that is within you) by means of the laying on of my hands, with those of the elders at your ordination." 

     Paul continued in 2Tim.2:15 (Amp), saying,"Study and be eager and do your upmost to present yourself to God approve (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the Word of Truth."

     Teachers and preachers cannot teach what they don't know and they learn by doing what they hear from God and His Word. Preachers go through the same trials that the Church goes through. We seem to think that the great men and women of God, whom we read about in the Word, had a free pass from trials and temptations.  Paul was given the Greatest Revelation of the new creation from Jesus Himself, but he suffered more persecution than any other Apostle.

     We can never be complacent in this world.  Jesus warned about "Those who have the Word sown among thorns in Mark 4:23-24 (Amp). In Verse 24, Jesus warned about our "having ears to hear." saying, "Be careful what you are hearing."  We hear many excuses about why God and the Word "don't work for us" or "do the things God said it would."

,   One way I keep myself going when the turmoil and chaos of the world surrounds me, is by reading God's Word.  Jude 1:20 (Amp) says, "But you beloved, build yourselves up (founded) on your most holy faith (make progress rise like an edifice, higher and higher) praying in the Holy Spirit."

      I read Rom. 8:26(Amp), which says, "So too, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness: for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it as worthy as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance."

     And, I read 1Cor. 14:2(Amp), which says, "For one who speaks in an (unknown) tongue speaks not to men, but unto God, for no one understands or catches his meanings, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secrets truths and hidden things (not obvious to the understanding)."  This is what Jude was saying about, "building up our most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit." Remember, we're talking spirit to Spirit and face to Face and one on One with God Himself. He is revealing to us in our spirit, the answer on how and what to do in times like these.

     We sometimes become complacent and are content with just going to Heaven when we die. We have a job to do on this planet and God will show us how to get it done for His Glory. Jesus instructed His followers in Mark 4:19(Amp), saying, "Don't allow the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age creep in and choke out the Word, making it void in our lives."