"And you [all], the anointing which you received from Him, it is remaining in you and you are not having a need in order that anyone may be teaching you, but rather as the anointing of Him is teaching you about everything and it is true and it is not a lie, and just as it taught you, you [all] are remaining in it."
-As we have already seen, we all, all of us who have believed in Christ, have an anointing, this special gift of God’s Spirit. And this anointing, God’s Spirit, is our constant Teacher, always present and accounted for, our very own, complementary, personal in-home Tutor, comes to our house every day - never leaves, in fact! He is with us (remains IN us!) always and forever (John 14.16), always guiding us into truth - again, that’s what He does (John 16.13). Whatever He hears, He share with us. Such that - according to John - even with all these deceiving antichrists running around we believers do not actually need anyone else to teach us about what is true. We have THE Truth-Speaker always living right here in our hearts, teaching us about everything, what is true and what isn’t, and all we really need is to (slow down long enough to) listen to what He is saying.
-I suppose a valid question for us might be then, are we hearing from Him? Are our ears tuned to the Spirit? Are we taking the time to listen? Do we even care to? The Lord does indeed seem quite intent on urging His people to listen - cf Matthew 11.15, 13.9, 13.43; Revelation 2.7 et al. But are the competing voices of the world and the flesh and the devil drowning Him out in our lives? I wonder if the volume on the 70-inch flat screen of our hi-definition lives is turned up so high that we have a hard time hearing Him? Sometimes it's simply that the Lord's blessings can make us feel less desperate for Him, and it might take a little "distress" to bring us to that point of turning and listening for His voice (cf Deuteronomy 4.30, 13.3). Some refer to Him as the "Still-Small-Voice" - and it doesn't take much to drown Him out, really.
-Rest. Solitude. Silence. Wilderness experiences - these were regular habits of our Lord when He walked on earth (Matthew 14.13; Mark 1.35, 6.31; Luke 5.16, 6.12, 9.28, John 6.15). My Bible inserts the word ‘often’. It was ongoing, constant. Regularly (daily?), our Lord was getting away - to pray, to listen, to meditate, to feast, to commune, to rest. Would we not need this just as much, if not more? The hardest part, perhaps, is simply carving out a time - and (finding) a place. A place of quiet rest.
-But the fact of the matter is, all we who have believed in Jesus have been given everything (and exactly what) we need to live a life of godliness which is pleasing to our heavenly Father (2Peter 1.3). Everything. We. Need. All of it! (Wait - do we really believe that?) Starting first and foremost with His Spirit, Who is with us forever to guide us in the way of truth and away from error and all that is false. Indeed, all the resources of heaven have been placed at our disposal, if we would only avail ourselves of them. If we will only... slow.... down..... and listen....... Shhh - what's that? Speak, Lord - your servant is listening... (1Samuel 3.10)
No comments:
Post a Comment