We left off Part One with this statement:
The rubber on the road is this: Jesus said His solution was:
- “…And he said that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”[1]
- “…But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants.”
Let’s start here:
After you read the passage above about the Good Samaritan, I would say you understand the command, “…Go and do likewise.” You may be questioning whether the statement is literal or non-literal. Does this mean you must rush out and find a person who robbers set upon you, or do you simply have to pray into the situation?
The words of Jesus answer this question, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.”[2]
The next question could be, “What does this scripture mean?”
It means it is impossible to do anything without the Spirit of God in you!
You say, “I am born again, baptized, and practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
I ask, “But do you know God?”
Acts 8:9-24:
“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.”
But poor Simon was a man of flesh, and in the end, the apostles from Jerusalem revealed his true motives. Notice one thing: He was baptized and received the gifts, yet his lust for power was his downfall.
I am not suggesting that anyone reading these words is like Simon, but the above scripture exemplifies how a believer can be deceived.
Back to my question, ‘Do you know God?’
Read this scripture:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’[3]
Let us run through this together:
Here is Jesus addressing born-again, baptized, Spirit-filled believers, and He states, “…I never knew you…”
We can see that believers may have all the spiritual equipment but not use it as God intended.
You ask, “How does God intend me to use my gifts?”
God advises us to use the Spirit within us to communicate with, inform, counsel, and guide us. This list is only a tiny part of what God’s Spirit within us does. Our part is to believe this is so and, from there, to follow the Spirit’s directions.
“How do I hear what the Spirit is saying to me?” You ask.
This is the million-dollar question. And the answer is this:
Let’s start with a story.
A businessman became addicted. Over time, he lost everything and ended up a tramp sleeping on a park bench. A voice inside him said, Pull out your legal pad; I want you to write down a few things.
“Who are you?”
“I am God.”
The tramp looked around cautiously, “I don’t see you.”
“If you did, you would be fried. Believe me, I am God, and I’m inside you. Now grab your pad, and let’s get going.”
The tramp began to write what God had told him. His life turned around; he was fully restored and wrote many books about his conversations with God.[4]
I am not suggesting that you use a legal pad to communicate with God in you—although if you did, you would find it works.
The key factor is belief. As a writer, I often get up early in the morning, take out a notebook, and begin to write. I don’t have prompts or an idea of what will emerge from the end of my pencil; I write. I only write for fifteen minutes, and God inside me has created some fantastic short stories from these snippets.
Back to talk with the Spirit in us. No worthwhile activity is easy, I have found. It takes faith, action, discipline, and determination. I have a motto: ‘Pravi gradus determinate – Small determined steps.’
I don’t have a specific ‘prayer or quiet time.’ I pray or talk, which would be a more accurate expression throughout the day each day. In this way, I have grown deeply in my relationship with God and never doubted each moment of my way forward.
I have never had formal theological training or studied the Bible—I have read it many times, from Genesis to Revelation. When God said to me, ‘I alone will be your teacher,’ I believed.
If you follow the Godly ideas above, outside of a miracle, you will not immediately stop worrying. But as you grow in your daily communication with God, you will stop worrying.
I leave you with the words – ‘stop worrying and ‘start talking to God.’ And I don’t mean the ‘grocery list’ type prayers – just talking.
‘Expect Miracles.’
Love and Blessings
Peter James