Pastor John,
I have been following a certain man’s Blogs and recently, I thought I would respond to one. Here is what I sent him. I would like to get your take on it. Thanks.
Brad
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Dear Bill,
I’ve read many of your blogs, and my heart grieves for your spiritual condition, yet rejoices that you are still seeking! I have wanted to write to you previously, to congratulate you for departing from the confused religious boundaries of the Institution of Christianity and to encourage you to seek after Jesus’ holy Spirit, with all your heart and soul. Now , this current blog has compelled me to write, at last.
RE: this excerpt from your 5th paragraph:
“Yet this, the highest and most important of all relationships we will ever have, cannot be experienced through those five basic senses. I want to see God with my eyes, hear him with my ears, inhale the aroma of his being, touch him with my hands, and taste his holy kiss. Yet none of this is possible, in this life anyway.
“YES. It IS possible, Bill. 🙂
This is unfortunate, Bill, that you have not been touched by God deeply enough to experience these things. I have. And I know others, many others, who have been blessed by the holy Ghost in ways that surpass human understanding. I have SEEN Jesus with my eyes. I know others who have, as well. I know of many who have HEARD Jesus’ words in their hearts; and His Word, His prophecy, has come to pass. I know of some who have trustworthy testimonies of actually hearing Jesus with their ears, an AUDIBLE voice, and the things He spoke were true and his prophecies came to pass. I know a man who testified recently of being in the presence of the Lord, in his own home, and he SMELLED the purity of Jesus’ very being, and after enjoying it for a few minutes, it vanished, and the familiar smell of his home returned. I know of another beautiful saint who was physically overwhelmed by the strength and power of God, and FELT His weight upon her, the loving strength of the Lord’s hand held her down in order to demonstrate to her that she needed to depend on Him for everything.
We dwell in a spiritual world, BIll, and the more you “wander” and “wonder” about how to find God, the more I fear you will be influenced by many lying and discouraging spirits. You might not ever come to know the sweet Jesus that I have known, if you continue to analyze and intellectualize your spiritual life. I want to encourage you to seek the Jesus of the Bible, and especially His holy Spirit, which is still available to ALL who repent and obey Him with a humble heart, and a thirst for the truth. His truth is simple. His ways are simple and pure, not in any way expressed in the religions of man. Jesus is closer to you right now than your own breath. Ask, seek, knock, and receive His baptism with the Spirit. You’ll know when you do. You will speak in a new language; the evidence of the seal of God upon you. And it shall remove all your doubt, and make you free.
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(shortly afterward….)
Oh well, never mind. . . he deleted our conversation from his blog comments. Cowardly and dishonest, I think.
Tell me, is there an “air of superiority” to my letter? I want to be sure my sincerity comes across genuinely and not as if I am conceited in my faith. He accused me of implying he was “a poor, poor guy who didn’t have what I had.” He perceived my letter as condescending. I guess he just doesn’t WANT my God. He just wants to “seek” God. Forever. Those who have found God and are happy about it are a put-down to his ultra-spiritual pride.
What do you think?
Brad
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Hi Brad.
Your comments were true and from the heart. And the love and light of God is in them. Don’t stop. Jesus will say, “Well done.”
At the same time, I don’t think you realize how different a person you are and how easily you can be misunderstood. I have even misunderstood you at times. If one Christian wrote to another Christian and said, as you did to Bill, “My heart grieves for your spiritual condition”, that other Christian would not see any love of God in it. He would feel attacked. Or if one Christian lamented that another Christian had, “not been touched by God deeply enough to experience these things,” the other Christian would feel insulted, not informed. And for the most part, such words in the mouths of Christians would be intended as sarcasm. But not from you, and not anyone else who has really experienced the overwhelming light of Jesus that fills us with love for God and for people.
When we speak from a heart filled with God’s love for others, it is, as you know, often misunderstood and represented as arrogant and condescending. But it is not. It is meek and it is true. We just want others to know about it, and experience it! How do we confess what Christ has done for us without leaving the wrong impression? Only God can help us with that.
Bill just does not know you, Brad. I wish he did. But I am glad that I do.
Pastor John