Power
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July 17, 2011 |
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 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
None of the duties in the kingdom of God can be accomplished with physical power. In accomplishing the kingdom of God, we have to drive away the enemy devil and Satan with spiritual authority.
We cannot win this spiritual warfare with physical knowledge or fleshly love. We should long for the power to lead the souls in our charge into the light with love and passion. We cannot do it with our own strength, so we have to receive the power of God. What should we do to become skillful workers who are greatly used by God?
First of all, you have to arm yourself with the Word.
Arming yourself with the word is one of the most basic requisites to become a worker for God's kingdom. Unless you are armed with the Word physically and spiritually, you will have difficulties when you give counseling or advice. You might want to say something, but you can't really express it with words, or you can't really offer a suitable example.
If you cultivate your heart with the truth, you can spread God's grace to others even though you may not be able to give a systematic sermon or you lack ability as a good speaker. The Holy Spirit will teach you what to say from moment to moment. (Matthew 10:20) If you have the duty of teaching, you should not just say, "I can just cultivate my heart into spirit." You should also have well-organized base of knowledge of the Word. This way you can receive the works of the Holy Spirit more easily.
Of course, more important point is to cultivate your heart with the Word. Only light can drive away darkness. The brightness of the light will decide how much darkness it will drive away. No matter how eloquently you speak words in counseling, it cannot change the souls. Only to the extent that you have changed your heart with the truth can you lead the souls in your charge to understand the truth and change their hearts.
The reason why you haven't gone into spirit yet, although you have listened to so many messages, is because you did not long for it and you did not try through each and every moment. You received grace through the message, but you have not kept that grace to make it last. You were praying to cast off the sinful natures you realized, but soon you forgot about it. That is why you could not change to a significant extent even after a long time. Now, I hope you will make up your minds once again. Check your heart and keep the Word every day.
Secondly, you have to fill your deficiencies of the body.
A deficiency of the body happens to you physically or spiritually because you did not go through what you had to go through while you were growing up. Such deficiencies can be revealed in various areas.
Some people seriously lack willpower or determination to keep their hearts. They might lack spiritual discernment between good and evil. Or they might have an emotional deficiency preventing them from being able to sympathize or empathize with other people's emotions. They might have certain appearances, clothing, behaviors, or manner of speech that are repulsive to others. Of course, there are differences from person to person, but when the level of maturity is far below the ordinary level, we can say it is a deficiency of the body.
We cannot say all deficiencies of the body are sins, but they cause something that is not gracious in the eyes of other people. Also, these deficiencies of the body might become a big obstacle in casting away sins. If you have any of these deficiencies, you have to realize them and change them. I hope you will refine your facial expressions, attitudes, and habits in speaking, and other little things with the manner that is of the Lord.
Of course, it may not be easy to realize these things by yourself and cast them off. You may not even be aware of deficiencies you might have. Even if you are aware of them, because they have been formed and shaped since childhood, making up for them is not easy. But as you arm yourself with the Word and pray fervently, you will realize the deficiencies you have as though you were looking into a mirror. But you can also fulfill them with the power of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God when you pray fervently with earnest heart.
Thirdly, you must have perfect love.
To the extent that you arm yourself with the Word spiritually and make up for your deficiencies, you will cultivate the heart of spirit in you. And, to the extent that you cultivate the heart of spirit, your heart will be filled with spiritual love. With that love, you can fulfill your duty powerfully.
Those who possess only fleshly love do not understand the standpoints of others. They try to give others what they think is good. Also, since they give something that they feel is good, they expect a certain reaction from others, and they try to change others in a hurry. But if others do not change as they expected, they get discouraged and give up on them after trying for some time.
However, if you love them spiritually, you will not become discouraged or disheartened just because others do not change as you want. Even though they act with evil, you do not judge or condemn their behaviors. You try to understand their hearts and why they are acting the way they do. Then you can try to fulfill their needs. Even though it seems so difficult for them to change from how you ordinarily view them, you look at them with the eyes of faith and keep on helping them until they change.
No matter how much fleshly love you give someone, it counts for nothing. It has to be spiritual love that can plant faith and life in someone. Even though you may help them financially and pay attention to their stories, you cannot change anyone with fleshly love.
If you give them fleshly love, you may have some fruit for a moment, but after some time you will find there is no longer any fruit. In the case of students, fleshly love will only plant flesh and cause disoriented feelings and emotions. Therefore, I hope you will cultivate perfect spiritual love in your heart. I urge you to change the souls and plant faith in them with that love.
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