Post by Zac Loh on May 10, 2008 3:31:05 GMT -5
Defining The Difference …The Difference Between A Divine Work And A Human Effort
In God’s voice, is also the inherent faith of God, to do His work.
Well, you know the story about Martha and Mary. Between what Martha was doing and what Mary was doing, we know which one is the more preferable to our Lord Jesus.
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
It is obvious that it was Mary who had captured the heart and mind of Jesus …Jesus Who is the Head of the Church!
1. Obey The Holy Spirit
Once, while in prayer, I saw by my spirit of how a mother left instructions to the eldest son as to the house chores to be done and her sons knew about it. After she went away, everything went topsy-turvy. The eldest son couldn’t do anything at all because all the other brothers just went about doing their own thing. Their attention weren’t even on the eldest son. They were deafened to him.
The apostles listened to instructions of Jesus:
'In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait…
Then they returned to Jerusalem …
They all joined together constantly in prayer, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place'
(Acts 1:1; 1:4; 1:12; 2:1)
Jesus committed the Church to the Holy Spirit:
"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16: 5 -7)
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and making it known to you." (John 16:12-16)
Jesus had sent to us the Holy Spirit to lead us. The Holy Spirit is the proxy and representative of Jesus. In the Book of Acts, the prophets and teachers obeyed the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-4).
The apostle Paul obeyed the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-7).
2. Involve Prayer
a. God seldom do anything unless He had first spoken about it.
God said, `Let there be light' and light followed (Genesis 1:3). The universe followed God's command (Hebrews 11:3). In the Old Testament, God said that He will not do anything unless He first revealed it to His servants the prophets. In the New Testament, God speaks to each and every one of us (John 16:13).
b. God seldom do anything unless somebody had first prayed.
I am talking about real prayer. It is not about mere words of prayer to officiate an occasion. It is not about a mumbling prayer to get the meeting started. It is not an articulated prayer laced with religious sophistication. It is not a showmanship prayer aimed to impress.
But I am inspired by the account of a powerful prayer by Charles Grandison Finney (1792 - 1875). This prayer exemplified a person who knew God …who knew how be led by the Spirit of God. It was simple and heartfelt, yet bearing great results.
Here is an excerpt from the book `Springs in the Valley‘ (published 1997 by Zondervan) authored by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.
3. Function In A Relationship With God
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
‘and everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23b)
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3)
When you exclude the divine from the work, it is a work without God …and without His hand. Faith produces results. And love touches lives. But our human faith produces nothing, or something that is not of God. All work will be tested by fire in the day of reckoning that will determine our eternal reward (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Human love will also fail. How many times our human love has come up short …we lose our patience, endurance and humility …we became agitated and frustrated …all these are not divine love working.
It is truly a serious matter. Not a child’s play …not a fool’s game.
We have to ask ourselves …what do we want …an Ishmael who a product of the flesh and self-reliance …or an Isaac who was a product of the promise of God through faith in God? I have experienced both, and I say, ‘Certainly not Ishmael!’
We need to find out for ourselves what Jesus meant by ‘abiding in Him, who is the Vine’ and that ‘without Him we can do nothing’. It is His will that we bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be His disciples. We must abide in Him …drawing grace, wisdom and strength from Him (John 15:1-11).
In God’s voice, is also the inherent faith of God, to do His work.
Well, you know the story about Martha and Mary. Between what Martha was doing and what Mary was doing, we know which one is the more preferable to our Lord Jesus.
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
It is obvious that it was Mary who had captured the heart and mind of Jesus …Jesus Who is the Head of the Church!
1. Obey The Holy Spirit
Once, while in prayer, I saw by my spirit of how a mother left instructions to the eldest son as to the house chores to be done and her sons knew about it. After she went away, everything went topsy-turvy. The eldest son couldn’t do anything at all because all the other brothers just went about doing their own thing. Their attention weren’t even on the eldest son. They were deafened to him.
The apostles listened to instructions of Jesus:
'In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait…
Then they returned to Jerusalem …
They all joined together constantly in prayer, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place'
(Acts 1:1; 1:4; 1:12; 2:1)
Jesus committed the Church to the Holy Spirit:
"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16: 5 -7)
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and making it known to you." (John 16:12-16)
Jesus had sent to us the Holy Spirit to lead us. The Holy Spirit is the proxy and representative of Jesus. In the Book of Acts, the prophets and teachers obeyed the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-4).
The apostle Paul obeyed the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-7).
2. Involve Prayer
a. God seldom do anything unless He had first spoken about it.
God said, `Let there be light' and light followed (Genesis 1:3). The universe followed God's command (Hebrews 11:3). In the Old Testament, God said that He will not do anything unless He first revealed it to His servants the prophets. In the New Testament, God speaks to each and every one of us (John 16:13).
b. God seldom do anything unless somebody had first prayed.
I am talking about real prayer. It is not about mere words of prayer to officiate an occasion. It is not about a mumbling prayer to get the meeting started. It is not an articulated prayer laced with religious sophistication. It is not a showmanship prayer aimed to impress.
But I am inspired by the account of a powerful prayer by Charles Grandison Finney (1792 - 1875). This prayer exemplified a person who knew God …who knew how be led by the Spirit of God. It was simple and heartfelt, yet bearing great results.
Here is an excerpt from the book `Springs in the Valley‘ (published 1997 by Zondervan) authored by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.
The summer of 1853 was unusually hot and dry; pastures were scorched. There seemed likely to be a total crop failure. As the church in Oberlin the great congregation had gathered as usual. Though the sky was clear the burden of Finney’s prayer was for rain.
“We do not presume, O Lord, to dictate to thee what is best for us; yet Thou didst invite us to come to Thee as children to an earthly father and tell Thee of our wants. We want rain. Our pastures are dry. The earth is gaping open for rain. The cows are wandering about and lowing in search for water. Even the squirrels are suffering from thirst. Unless Thou givest us rain our cattle will die, and our harvest will come to naught. O Lord, send us rain, and send it now! This is an easy thing for Thee to do. Send it now, Lord, for Christ’s sake.”
In a few minutes he had to cease preaching; his voice could not be heard because of the roar and rattle of the rain!
LIFE OF FINNEY
“We do not presume, O Lord, to dictate to thee what is best for us; yet Thou didst invite us to come to Thee as children to an earthly father and tell Thee of our wants. We want rain. Our pastures are dry. The earth is gaping open for rain. The cows are wandering about and lowing in search for water. Even the squirrels are suffering from thirst. Unless Thou givest us rain our cattle will die, and our harvest will come to naught. O Lord, send us rain, and send it now! This is an easy thing for Thee to do. Send it now, Lord, for Christ’s sake.”
In a few minutes he had to cease preaching; his voice could not be heard because of the roar and rattle of the rain!
LIFE OF FINNEY
3. Function In A Relationship With God
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
‘and everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23b)
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3)
When you exclude the divine from the work, it is a work without God …and without His hand. Faith produces results. And love touches lives. But our human faith produces nothing, or something that is not of God. All work will be tested by fire in the day of reckoning that will determine our eternal reward (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Human love will also fail. How many times our human love has come up short …we lose our patience, endurance and humility …we became agitated and frustrated …all these are not divine love working.
It is truly a serious matter. Not a child’s play …not a fool’s game.
We have to ask ourselves …what do we want …an Ishmael who a product of the flesh and self-reliance …or an Isaac who was a product of the promise of God through faith in God? I have experienced both, and I say, ‘Certainly not Ishmael!’
We need to find out for ourselves what Jesus meant by ‘abiding in Him, who is the Vine’ and that ‘without Him we can do nothing’. It is His will that we bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be His disciples. We must abide in Him …drawing grace, wisdom and strength from Him (John 15:1-11).