The New Life, Inc.

I think all of us have special encounters with Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our spiritual journey. I think of Paul as a great teacher in Israel. He then had the Damascus road experience and was blinded. The prophet came to him and his sight was returned, he was taken up into the heaven; he then became a great spiritual teacher in the church. These things did not happen in one year, they were spread out over many years.

Our spiritual journey is also spread out over many years. For many of us, our first experience was when we were children and faith in God and Jesus entered into our heart from our parents or our local church. A special time for some of us was when we were baptized or confirmed by our church. Sickness is also the time that some people have that special encounter with the Lord that changes the rest of their life.

I think of Billy Graham and his ministry and of the multitudes that came to his altar calls, many of whom were believers, and I wondered why they went forward? I now see why!  They were ready to make a deeper commitment. Many of them received faith as little children from their parents or in their bible school or at CD classes. There’s a time we receive faith and another time we make a commitment, another time when we serve, another time when we lay down our lives for one another.

Don’t expect more from a person then they are able to give. We are all at a different places in our spiritual growth. Because you don’t see Jesus in someone it doesn’t mean He is not there. A comment I have heard a number of times; “That church is deader then a doornail!” It might be dead to you but to someone else it might be very alive.

As we go on in our spiritual journey, something interesting happens in our thinking. We begin to think more and more like Jesus and less and less like natural man, the very foundation of our values of what is important and what is not so important becomes apparent. Most of us are very self centered before we begin our spiritual journey. It seems that self-centeredness is the first thing that has to crumble because spirituality requires that we get outside of ourselves.

We can get the idea that our spirit is the smallest part of our being because we are body soul and spirit. The body contains the soul and the soul contains the spirit; however the opposite is true. The body, even though it is so demanding is the smallest part of our being. The soul comes next and it also is very demanding because the thinking and the emotions want to be in control and can have a lot of influence on what we say and do. The soul has power and can have far reaching effect on other people; it can control and manipulate other people and events.

Our spirit is where our greatest potential is!  It is not limited to the natural realm and can expand out into the spiritual realm.  We are one man; body, soul and spirit.  I want to take a little liberty and make us into three men; a physical man, a soul man and a spiritual man. This creates a problem; our physical man wants his way; the soul man wants his way and the spiritual man just sits back and looks on. Our spiritual man is the one that could do the most for us if we allowed him to lead. The spiritual man will not force himself on you. Whatever leadership position your spirit assumes, the body and soul must relinquish it to him.

The body must realize it needs control and supervision; the soul must also realize it is not doing a very good job of being the leader and needs a higher authority over it. For some of us, our spirit is lazy and doesn’t want to take on its responsibility. We need to go to Jesus and have Him wake up our spirit and cause it to come alive and start doing its job as interface between God and our soul and body so that we can start being the spiritual man that God has created us to be.

Many of us have a problem of one kind or another with the church. Some of the complaints we hear is the music is to loud, the service is to long, the church is not spiritual enough. I am not able to use my gifts and talents, we need a new pastor and the list goes on and on. The truth is we can always find something wrong if that is what we are looking for.

The church is the living spiritual body of Christ on the earth. It is also an organization made up of laws, rules, regulations, rituals and doctrines. If you are one of those who are trying to change the church. God help you because you will need it.

Many years ago when my marriage was in serious trouble, I looked to the church for help when I should have gone to Jesus. The church was not able to help me but Jesus did. I was angry with the church. I was always grumbling about it. I guess God got sick of hearing me grumble and complain and one day He said to me; “When did faith enter into your heart?” I knew immediately! I answered; “when I was a little kid and I was sent off to church and the priest and nuns talked about God. I believed in God and Jesus from that point on” He said; “that is right the church did its job, it instilled faith in your heart. Now stop your grumbling and leave the church alone!”

There is only one body of Christ on this earth, the church. It is comprised of many different parts and names. This one church has problems because it is made up of people like you and me. We have priest and ministers that have problems because they are also like us. In spite of the fact that the church is comprised of imperfect people like you and I, and these priest and minister that sometimes fail, the church has not failed because millions of little children all around the world are having faith instilled in their hearts. Someday when they are ready to respond to God, that faith will rise up within them and they will touch the living God and it will transform their lives, even as it has transformed yours and mine.

We are adequate!

On our spiritual journey we will find the Holy Spirit stirring us up to do things we have never done before. When He does this, we need to respond in a positive way; knowing that whatever He wants us to do, He gives us everything we need to accomplish it. We are co-workers. He calls us, He anoints us and He works with us.

Whenever the Holy Spirit opens a new door or gives me the opportunity to speak, pray or do something for someone I get excited because I know that God is going to do something wonderful.  He wants you and I to be a blessing to someone and I believe that when we do that, a blessing always returns to us at some future time.

The Lord has called us to be a blessing. As we continue on in our spiritual growth, we should become a greater and greater blessing to all those around us, whether they be friend or enemy, Christian or non-Christian.

In the world we do a favor for someone expecting the favor to be returned.  In the kingdom of God we give a blessing expecting nothing in return otherwise it is not a blessing. Some individuals and families cannot be a blessing to one another, they can only do favors for one another because now you owe me.

Thank God He has taken us beyond doing favors for one another to becoming a blessing to one another.

Increasing Faith!

Keep in mind on your spiritual journer that we all see very dimly and we must keep seeking and asking.  As soon as we stop seeking and asking our spiritual growth stops.  I like to think of our spiritual a river of life.  We learn to flow with this flow of life day by day.  At times the river is very quiet and still, very restful and healing.  Other times, it becomes very turbulent and violent, there are rapids and stones.  But remember nothing stops the river.  If we get out of the river we stop moving.

 Many years ago we were out in Wisconsin and we got a call from our daughter Jeannie. She had just received a personal revelation. She said I now see that I have to start using my own faith instead of relying on yours all the time. If we want spiritual growth, we must use our faith and not rely on other people’s faith. As we travel this river of life our faith will be tested time and time again. Each test of our faith causes it to increase so we are able to have faith for more.

We are not only to use our faith, we are to stir up faith in others. People have come to me and said; “I have lost my faith!” I don’t know if you can lose your faith or not.  I know we can lose touch with our faith; we can stir up faith in others and we can instill faith in other people. One of the marks of a Christian flowing with life is we are constantly stirring up or spreading abroad , faith , hope and love. If we are doing this we are always growing spiritually and bearing good fruit. 

In our spiritual journey we will be conversing with people from many different levels. Some of them are blind and deaf to spiritual things; some of them will be spiritual babies. You will also meet some that are very religious and have no spirituality at all. If we are wise we will pray and ask for discernment to recognize the level of communication so we can have some understanding of each other.

Paul had that discernment, in one place he said; “I can only speak to you as baby’s;” in another he called them mere men; or natural men. Jesus told us to be careful who we shared our pearls with because they would get trampled in the mud.

Several times I have heard people make this comment; I am waiting for my spouse I don’t want to get ahead of my spouse in my spiritual walk. We must keep pressing on or come to a stand still. This would be like a ten year old that has a two year old brother and he decides; I am going to wait for my brother to catch up with me.

Be wise; recognize the level each person is at; have a relationship at that level. I think of a pastor I knew; he had a very structured service Sunday mornings; and a very free moving service in the evening. He was trying to meet the need of everyone; he was a wise man. Lord give us wisdom in our daily lives to communicate well with everyone.      

Who Will Go?

Somewhere along the way in your spiritual journey, the Lord wants you to invest what you have received. What do you have to invest? I don’t have the slightest idea. He has given you something to invest, and He wants your investment to multiply ten times ten.

I would encourage every one of you to ask the Lord; “what do I have to invest; and where is the best place to invest it”?  Strange as it may seem, most of us do not know where we are most gifted; we think, this is my greatest gift or this is my greatest talent! Ask the people around what they think your greatest gift and talent is and it might surprise you what they tell you.

A scripture in Hebrews Ch 5:14:  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

If you read from Hebrews 5:11 to verse 14 it is speaking to people that never grew up spiritually; they never used the gifts God gave them. Recognize what God has given you and use it.

I do this spiritual growth series because I am interested in your spiritual growth. Even more, I want you to bear a lot of fruit in other people. I want your spiritual life to affect the world around you. I know that the Holy Spirit is speaking to some of you; it is time to speak; and time to act.

The Lord is asking; “Who will go; who will I send!”

The difficult part is He doesn’t always tell us where to go or what to say until we say; Lord; here I am send me, I will be your hands and feet, I will be your voice in the wilderness.     

I Will Send My Word To Heal Them

We are made in Gods image! What an awesome thing to think about. One of the ways that we are made in His image is we have speech. The spoken word is powerful; it can create wonderful things and it can destroy. Jesus is the living Word! He was sent to save us; heal us and to set us free from the bondage of sin.

What are you doing with your words?

In our spiritual journey something wonderful should be happening; we should be changing for the better; not only that we should be changing the world around us for the better. The power to do that is in our words and actions.

Are your words bringing healing?

If they are not, then you need to pay more attention to what you are saying and how you are saying it. I am reminded of what Jesus spoke when they were going to stone the woman caught in adultery; He said; “You without sin cast the first stone” that one sentence changed everything for everyone involved. That is the same power we have in our words

How many times have you spoken quickly and then thought; I should not have said that. Did you learn anything or are you going to keep right on doing it? The peace in our homes; in our churches; our relationships is often lost because we have not learned to weigh carefully the words we speak.

We are called to follow in His footsteps; His words were to heal; our words are to heal; not to fan the fire. You might say; “Yes but what about their words that hurt me so much”. We are not responsible for what someone else is saying; we are responsible for what we say.  

He Sends His Word

The Lord said I will send my Word to heal them.  Who is The Lord sending this Word to?

 You and I!

On our spiritual journey, we must become well acquainted with the living word He sends. Why? Because this is the word you and I are to act on for the benefit of others. When we become spiritual men and women, we are to become ministers of the living word. The word does not come from us, it comes from God and we are to speak it and act on it for the benefit of others.

When we receive the word from God and do not speak it or act upon it we are in effect burying the treasure or covering the light with a basket.

James 1:22-25

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ^??natural face ^?in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, ^?he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^?the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but ^??an effectual doer, this man will be ^?blessed in ^?what he does.

You that have the Holy Spirit have no excuse; the Lord has opened our eyes and our ears; we can now hear and understand what God is saying to us. He expects us to share with others what He has freely revealed to us. We are not to bury it but invest it in the lives of others that are in need.

Acts 1:8

         but you will receive power ^?when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^?My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^?Samaria, and even to ^?the remotest part of the earth.”

We have been given the power from the Holy Spirit to witness through the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the world around us. I believe that if we want to grow and mature as spiritual men and women it is very important for us to use everything God has given us to do that work

Becoming Active Spiritually

Now we ^?have received, not the spirit of ^?the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

In order for spiritual growth to occur, we must become active in spiritual things. In the scripture above, we are to combine spiritual thoughts with spiritual words; speaking is action. We are to listen spiritually to the thoughts coming from God and do what He tells us to do. This may be more then just speaking. We may be required to do something; to be His hands and feet as well as His voice. The Lord is not requiring most of us to go to Africa or China. For the most part He is asking us to speak to one person, to reach out and touch one life.

This happened a while back; I saw a woman that was having a difficult time in church. The Holy Spirit put the thought in my mind I was to pray for her. After the service, I asked her if I could pray for her and she said yes. I asked her name and I prayed for her for healing. A couple of days went by and again the Holy Spirit told me to get acquainted with her husband. I saw him on the street and I spoke to him and asked his name and he told me. He told me the family was having some serious health problems and they were leaving in a few days. I mentioned that we were praying for his family and he thanked me. The next morning when I woke up the Holy Spirit put the thought in my mind to give him my book Out of Confusion; to sign the book for him and his wife and to write; “Expect a miracle”.

I know that some wonderful things are going to happen in this family. I don’t have to do the miracle. God will, all I had to do was listen, speak, and do. The rest is up to God. I will continue to pray for this family as long as they are in my thoughts and heart.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are very much a part of this type of ministry; the word of knowledge of what to do; the wisdom of how to do it; the discernment to recognize the thoughts that come from God. As we use these wonderful gifts, we bring into the world the power and authority of God and miracles and healing happens.

Anybody could have done these things and become a blessing. This should become a natural part of our spiritual journey.