Some mistakes just won't go away, Consider the error that tripped up the church at Galatia some 2,000 years ago. Somehow, it's still going strong today. Despite what Paul said about it, to this day a lot of teachers promote the idea that the Holy Spirit is received by the works of the law. How tragic it is that one of the greatest stumbling blocks to experiencing the fullness of God's blessing and power is a doctrine picked up in church! We hear that if we want the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, we had better clean up our act. We must get rid of every bit of impurity in order to be worthy of blessing. Although such teaching is very sincere, it is sincerely wrong. The essence of such preaching is that we must be made righteous by our own conduct and efforts, and only then might God condescend to touch us. It was this same misguided teaching that kept me from receiving God's best for so many years. Faithful but Frustrated As a child growing up in a Pentecostal church, I earnestly desired what was termed the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I went to many "tarrying meetings" and quite often accompanied my father to the Saturday night men's prayer meetings. There I would wait upon the Lord and pray that God would fill my life with His power. I dearly loved the Lord and I desired all of the power of God that I could possibly obtain. But something was getting in the way. For many years I thought some secret sin was holding me back. And it was - but not at all the kind of sin I imagined. My problem was not lust, or greed, or some all-consuming habit. My problem was self-righteousness. You may think it strange that someone so young would struggle with spiritual pride, but I did. I memorized Scripture. I could recite the books of the Bible and spell them. I could quote entire chapters of God's Word. I never went to a show. I never smoked a cigarette. I never went to dances. The church I attended taught that all of these things were sinful, so I avoided them religiously. Many times I saw the preacher's son pick up cigarette butts and smoke them, but I wouldn't do it. My other buddies in church might go to the matinee every Saturday, but I never would. I was going to be holy. Then what was so terribly wrong? God was blessing my buddies, even when they were smoking cigarette butts! Lord, You know I am more righteous than they are, I thought. I've never done any of those evil things. Why bless them and not me? I had a terrible struggle. It got worse when I heard people give testimonies of how they were waiting for the filling of the Holy Spirit. As they waited upon God, the Lord showed them the pack of cigarettes in their pocket. The moment they pulled out the cigarettes and laid them on the altar, God apparently filled them with the Holy Spirit. I was trying to earn God's blessing, but I was never good enough. It never occurred to me to just ask God in simple faith. Perhaps my problem was that I never had a pack of cigarettes in my pocket to be lain on the altar. So instead I would mentally list my sins from that week and think, Now Lord, I got mad at my brother this week. Lord, please forgive me for getting mad. Then I would wait for Him to fill me with the Spirit. But He didn't. Countless times I heard speakers say, "You know God won't fill an unclean vessel. He is the Holy Spirit. Therefore you must be a holy vessel." So I would do my best to be holy. I confessed to God everything I could think of (and even some things that I never did, just in case). I would rake over the coals of my conscience time and again. I committed and recommitted my life to God. I gave up every small, questionable activity I could find and sacrificed precious things I loved, all in a futile effort to become holy and righteous enough for God's Spirit to fill my life. I was frustrated and stifled in my walk with Christ. Finally in desperation I said, 'All right Lord, I will go to China as a missionary. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit." He didn't. I promised the Lord that I would go to China, Africa, South America, and India. Still He didn't. All that time I was endeavoring to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit by works - by becoming righteous through keeping the standards I had set up. I was trying to receive the Spirit by the works of the law. I tried every trick I knew, earnestly hungering and desiring to be filled by God and to receive His gifts. I don't know how many nights I agonized before Him, wondering why He never blessed me. I was convinced some righteous plateau had to be reached before God would bless me. I believed that the moment I could achieve that high plateau, the Holy Spirit would fill me. And yet I was troubled by what I saw happening around me. How could people come off of the street and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, stinking of booze and nicotine, and be baptized in the Holy Spirit right then and there? Yet they were. It just wasn't fair. Here I had been walking with the Lord, serving Him all the way along, and they got blessed and I didn't. I couldn't understand the discrepancies of God. It was impossible for me to harmonize the teaching I had received with what I saw happening. If only I had understood God's grace! I would not have waited all those years to receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit. As I began to read and understand the Word of God, eventually I came to the text where Paul asks, "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2). Suddenly I realized this was a rhetorical question. The obvious answer was that they had received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith. I was flabbergasted. I had never been taught such a thing. I had been trying on my own to become holy enough or righteous enough, but of course I never managed to become good enough to earn the filling of the Holy Spirit. It never occurred to me to ask in simple faith. I was sure God needed my help. That day I put aside all my self-righteous efforts and simply said, "Lord, I am going to receive from you now the gift of your Holy Spirit." And I did, at that very moment. Stupid me! I thought. I could have had this years ago if only I had known. If only I had been taught! Oh, what I lost in those lean years because of a teaching that emphasized obedience to rules and codes! We receive the indwelling, filling, and empowering of the Holy Spirit by trusting and believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, not by keeping some external code. That is why I repeat this simple yet powerful message over and over, emphasizing God's grace, love, mercy, and goodness to us undeserving sinners. Blessings for the Taking Once I began to understand the Word, I saw that it wasn't my righteousness or ability to reach some plateau of holiness that makes me worthy of God's blessing. God blesses me when I simply trust in Him for His blessings. The longer I live, the more I realize how undeserving and unworthy I am of God's touch. He wants to bless me not because I am good and holy and pure, but because that is His nature. He enjoys blessing His children. Did you know there is only one thing holding back God's blessings from your life? They're not withheld because you haven't been faithful in your devotions this week. They're not kept back because you've failed in some area of your life. Everyone fails. The only thing holding back God's blessings in your life is your own refusal to trust Him for those blessings. The blessings of God are available to anyone who simply believes Him and trusts Him for those blessings. Don't come to God on the basis of your own righteousness or goodness. You'd be a fool to want to rob the Lord of the good work He wants to do in your life! The only attitude acceptable to Him says, "I'm a failure and I don't deserve it - but please, Lord, go ahead and bless me anyway." Once I realized that the blessings of God were mine through simple faith in Him, I came to experience His blessing ever since. I have been given so much and received so much from God that it is impossible to keep track of all the blessings. I have come to a door that is never closed. When I was coming in my own righteousness, the door was closed most of the time. But now that I come to God on the basis of His love, that door is never closed. God always loves us. His love for us doesn't change from day to day. He doesn't love us more today than He loved us yesterday. God's love isn't like that. God's love for us is constant; it never varies. His love for us is not predicated upon us; it is predicated upon Him and His nature of love. God is love. He loves you and keeps loving you even when you are a rank sinner. Even when you were rebelling against Him, shaking your fist in His face and saying, "I hate you, God!" He loved you then. And He loves you now. Because God loves us, He wants to bless us. His blessings are not dependent upon our goodness, our righteousness, or our faithfulness. The blessings of God depend solely upon His desire to bless us. Our part is simply to receive and believe Him for His blessings. Remember Paul's rhetorical question? "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Did you become so righteous that God finally decided, "Well, he is righteous enough now, so I guess I will have to fill him"? No! We are no more righteous now than the first day we believed. You can't imagine the blessing and power that God is eager to impart to you if you will just believe and trust Him for it. We are so often like the foolish Galatians. Why would we be so foolish as to return to a legal relationship when we can relate to God in a love relationship? Don't be a fool and demand what you think you deserve, because you deserve death. All of us do, for all of us sin. God wants to bless you now because He loves you. God wants to bless your life, and the avenue to that blessing is your faith. You Can't Mean Me! Some of you reading this may believe that God can't possibly bless you because you have failed Him too much or because you are too weak or because you have done something terribly wrong. Perhaps you have a chronic problem with a vile temper or a wandering eye. You wonder, How can God bless me when I yell at my kids? How can God bless me when I am so rotten? How can God bless me when I am this or that? Your problem is that you are looking for a blessing on the basis of your own performance. You are trapped in the kind of thinking that says, "When I become so good and so perfect, then He can bless me." But that is so misguided! We must get it into our heads that God wants to fill our lives with the Holy Spirit the moment we say, "Lord, I really desire to have this power and I ask You to fill me." But I must warn you. It is undeniable that at precisely this point, spiritual warfare erupts. When you pray for God's filling, instantly Satan will begin to throw all kinds of lies and accusations into your mind. He will distract you. He will make you feel guilty or unworthy. "What are you doing, asking God for that?" he'll sneer. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You have no right! Look at what you are. Look what you have done. How could God possibly fill you with His Holy Spirit?" Ironically, many times Satan will use Christian people to deliver this lie. Any person on a self-righteous trip will inevitably heap blame on you. "It's your own fault, you know," he'll announce. "If only you had a little more faith. If only you were a little more spiritual. If only you were a little more like me." A little of such spiritual bombardment, and many of us decide to retract the whole thing. "Forget it, Lord," we say. God wants you to experience His love, His touch, His power, and His anointing. What a tragedy! I know I don't deserve the blessings of God, but God doesn't bless me because I deserve it. God blesses me on the basis of His love toward me and of His grace toward me in Christ Jesus. That is the basis of the blessing - not my goodness, not my righteousness, and not my perfection. If we could just get this through our tender skulls, we'd start being blessed like we can't imagine. The blessings are there. God wants to bless you. An you have to do is simply believe Him to bless you, though you know full well you don't deserve it. The blessings don't come because of your works, they come because of your belief - because you trust and believe God will bless you. Failure to grasp this truth is exactly why a lot of people have real problems in their Christian experience. "I don't know why God has blessed him he smokes cigars!" someone says. "Why, I don't do that. Yet look at all his blessings! I can't understand why God blesses people who smoke cigars." But of course, God's blessings are not predicated on smoking habits. They're only predicated upon our believing God to bless us because we are God's children. God wants to bless His people today. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him (see II Chronicles 16:9). Just turn your heart toward God, believe in His Word, and trust that He will do as He promises. Say, "Lord, bless me now." And receive it. I know that such freewheeling grace is almost an affront to us. The moment I say, "Oh, Lord, lay a real blessing on me. I really want a fantastic blessing tonight," my mind objects: What do you mean, asking God for a blessing? With what you were thinking this afternoon, how can you ask God to bless you? It is so hard for us to repudiate the idea of deserving a blessing. Simply to believe and expect God to bless us - though we have been failures and don't deserve it - is extremely difficult for us. But when we finally get over that barrier and come to expect God to bless us simply because He has promised to bless us, there is nothing that can stop His blessings from touching our lives. The Blessings of Abraham And what blessings they are! The same blessings which God promised to Abraham are ours because we are children of Abraham. Listen to just three of the promised blessings: • "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (Genesis 15:1). All these blessings, and more, are yours. Because God sees you in Christ, the righteousness of Jesus is imparted to you. That and that alone is the basis upon which God blesses you, thoroughly and completely. The gospel of grace insists that even though you don't deserve it, God wants you to experience His love, His touch, His power, and His anointing. God has given to each person a measure of faith. Exercise it, use it, and it will develop. Just simply believe, trust in the Lord, and expect God to bless you. Never forget that the blessing of God's Spirit in our lives is not granted to us because one day we became holy enough to deserve His blessing. It came to us when at last we saw the light and simply believed God to keep His Word. Our works of righteousness had nothing to do with it. God's ways haven't changed a bit. The blessing of Abraham comes to us all through simple faith in our Lord Jesus. Our part is merely to believe Him for His blessings. And, come to think of it - that's quite a blessing in itself. |