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GOD DOES NOT GIVE A FRESH REVELATION, BUT HE RIVETS THE OLD ONE
Now there are some persons who make a great mistake about the influence of the Holy Spirit. A foolish man, who had fancy to preach in a certain pulpit, though in truth he was quite incapable of the duty, called upon the minister, and assured him solemnly that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he was to preach in his pulpit.
“Very well,” said the minister, “I suppose I must not doubt your assertion, but as it has not been revealed to me that I am to let you preach, you must go your way until it is.” I have heard many fanatical persons say the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them. Now that is very generally revealed nonsense.
The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told you.” The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added.
God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one.
There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived. It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again; he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth had long lain, and he points to secret chambers filled with untold riches; but he comes no more, for enough is done.
Believer! there is enough in the Bible for thee to live upon for ever. If thou shouldst outnumber the years of Methusaleh, there would be no need for a fresh revelation; if thou shouldst live till Christ should come upon the earth, there would be no necessity for the addition of a single word.
If thou shouldst go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as David said he did, into the belly of hell, still there would be enough in the Bible to comfort thee without a supplementary sentence.
But Christ says, “He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.”
Charles Spurgeon
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Aug. 20 2008 05:41 PM EDT
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This amusing but sad article was forwarded to me from TimH…thanks Tim…..
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Already in its second printing, a newly released book by one of the country’s most innovative pastors is fast-becoming a must-read for church leaders who really want to have it.
After seeing his church grow from a two-car garage worship experience to now services at 13 different campuses in six states, Craig Groeschel, founder of LifeChurch.tv, talks about a transformational agent he calls “it” in his new book It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It .
“We didn’t have a nice building. We didn’t have our own office. We didn’t have a church phone number … What did we have? We had a few people … We had enough Bibles to go around. And we had it,” Groeschel writes, describing his church start in 1996, in the first chapter of the book.
You can name today the churches that have it, churches that had it but lost it, and some that don’t have it, the LifeChurch pastor said at a recent leadership summit.
So what is it?
“The answer is ‘don’t know,'” Groeschel said as he addressed thousands of leaders at Willow Creek Community Church. “Honestly, I’m not totally sure.”
It has a lot to do with the Holy Spirit, Groeschel believes, but that’s not everything.
What he does know is that organizations that do have it possess seven qualities. They have a “laser focus,” see opportunity where others see obstacles, have a willingness to fail, are led by people who have it, and have unmistakable camaraderie, among others.
Moreover, it is not a system or model, nor is it something that can be created, copied or manufactured, he says. God makes it happen.
And when churches have it, they see transformed lives but at the same time, those churches with it attract critics, many of whom misunderstand.
When LifeChurch was expanding to multiple different locations and incorporating satellite video teaching into the services, the church drew its share of critics, some of whom felt video sites created distance between the churchgoer and pastor or that video venues directed all the attention to one pastor (on screen).
Still, while LifeChurch was growing, not every campus had it.
“All of our campuses were under the same leadership. The buildings were similar. The worship pastors were unique but had consistent styles. The kids’ curriculum never varied from campus to campus. All were experiencing exactly the same weekend teaching. But some campuses had it. And some didn’t,” Groeschel, who says it is still a growing idea, states in his book.
He illustrates this by showing that there was phenomenal growth at every LifeChurch campus except the one where Groeschel taught at live, in person.
He realized, “If you don’t have it, you can get it. If you have it, you can lose it.”
During the biggest periods of growth at LifeChurch, Groeschel had lost it, he says.
“When you do start growing, it really is easy to lose it,” he says. “It’s so easy … to start focusing on numbers and start looking at the big picture rather than focusing on some of the individual stories and neglecting your individual relationship with God.”
“Make sure you don’t fall so in love with success [that] you fall out of love with Jesus,” Groeschel warns church leaders.
Today, he says he has it.
But it wasn’t a “one-point process” to get it back. Over a period of a year, he stopped listening to other pastors’ messages and books and sought out God’s Word; and he saw starvation in another country and death, he explained.
“Some of you, it’s time to let God break your heart again,” Groeschel told leaders. “I pray you don’t sleep until you get it and fall in love with Jesus again.”
http://christianpost.com/article/20080820/some-churches-have-it-some-don-t.htm
This article is from:
Authentic Spirituality
Here is the blog address and you really should go this blog and read the comments.
http://freebelievers.com/blog-entry/authentic-spirituality
First of all, I’d like to say that I consider myself to be a “Charismatic Christian.” By that, I mean to say that I share an excitement about God that is not always visibly evident in some of the more traditional denominations. I also share the belief that the Holy Spirit is alive and moving as much today as in the New Testament. Most of my writings specifically address the Christian mindset from the perspective of Charismatic-Pentecostal because that is the background from which I come. I say that because I want to make clear that when I “call stuff out,” I am not critically standing on the outside looking in, but I am living very much on the inside. The fire with which I address certain subjects, however, does not come from my loyalty and love for a set of beliefs or a particular sect, but from a sincere love for individuals who many times are trampled to death by those beliefs.
With that in mind, I would like to address something that has bothered me all my life, but have never put into words until now. I believe that this little issue has taken its toll on thousands of genuine and honest God-seekers, and has left them feeling as though they are completely missing God. It’s time to expose one of the church’s greatest and best-kept secrets. Exposing this could set Charismatic Christianity back a thousand years. I’m about to blow a cover off this religion in a way I’ve never seen done before, so buckle your seatbelts.
My 8th grade science teacher pinned up one of those psychedelic mind-bending posters that supposedly had a picture within a picture that you could psychologically see inside, if you stared long enough and allowed your eyes to go out of focus. Those things never worked for me. I could stare for hours and I never saw anything but a bunch of squiggly lines and shapes. Supposedly this particular poster had moving dinosaurs in it. At least that’s what the first kid claimed to see as he let out a, “Wooooee, dude, I tooootally see it!” I got up close and looked till my head hurt but I still couldn’t see what he was talking about. Sure enough, one by one, people started to see the moving dinosaurs. Everyone was laughing and talking about it. There was energy and excitement as people coahed friends on how to look in just the right way to “experience” it with them. One by one you could hear people getting a “break-through” as they would finally se what everyone else was seeing. I felt ignorant, because all I saw were stupid, squiggly lines.
I quit trying about half-way through the year. I got to the point where I just ignored the poster when I came to class. Truthfully, I resented the fact that he put it up there in the first place. It was a science class. Why hang a poster with hidden dinosaurs? It didn’t make sense to me, and I found it to be a source of irritation every time another two or three people exclaimed, “I see it, I see it!!!!” I even considered lying to everyone at one point because it was only me and perhaps two other kids who were on the outs, and neither of them had a cool bone in their body.
By the end of the school year, it appeared that the majority of the school had experienced the dinosaurs and I still couldn’t see them. How embarrassing. My embarrassment was short-lived, however, because on the last day of school, the cocky old science teacher stood before the class and revealed to everyone that there were no dinosaurs in the picture. IT WAS A HOAX! He wanted to illustrate how peer pressure can easily sway others. It was amazing to see different people become angry and defensive and swear up and down that they saw moving dinosaurs. I believe those kids could have taken a lie-detector test and passed with flying colors. They fully believed that they saw dinosaurs moving!
Time and again, I have sat with sincere people who feel like they must be missing something in the God department. They tell me that they don’t understand why God hasn’t moved on them the way He has with their friends and Church mates. They are plagued with a nagging sense that they are always a few miles behind the rest of the group and regardless of how hard they try; they can’t seem to catch up. Every time there’s another testimony about God moving in someone’s life, they are reminded that they can’t hear His voice like everyone else and don’t feel the same spiritual ecstasy that their Christian counterparts continually describe and claim to have received.
Over and over, I hear people talking about “Peace that surpasses understanding” and “joy unspeakable,” as though it’s an orgasmic state of mind that truly spiritual people achieve after encountering God in a personal way. I can recall being in Bible college, watching my classmates weep and wail while lying on the floor during the worship service as though the Holy Spirit had completely taken control. They would talk about receiving a touch from God that instantly changed everything. Some couldn’t remain upright during the service because the ‘power of God was all over them.’ All the while, I felt like I did in my 8th grade class when I couldn’t see the moving dinosaurs. What am I missing here? Why doesn’t God do that to me during praise and worship? When am I going to receive a touch like that? How come I can’t hear His voice so easily? Why do I still struggle with depression? What’s wrong with me?
It began to unravel when a popular evangelist came to our Bible college. This guy was known for laying hands on people and having them “fall out” in the spirit. I was excited to receive this and nervous that I wouldn’t. After a short sermon on the power of God, this gentleman instructed us to line up side by side. He would then walk from person to person, laying hands on each one. Sure enough, they were dropping like flies. Everyone he touched turned to Jell-O and hit the floor under the power of God. I was praying a million miles a minute as he drew closer. Finally, I felt his hand on my forehead and I stood there waiting to be launched into the supernatural. I waited and waited but nothing happened. He kept praying for me but I wasn’t going down. Then he started saying things like, “Just receive it, brother,” and “Don’t hold back from God.” At that moment, I felt the eyes of everyone in the class upon me and I knew somehow it was my fault that I wasn’t receiving “the power of God.” Guess what I did. . . . I fell.
When we were in the parking lot and walking to our cars, my classmates were praising God and leaping for joy because of the incredible move of the Holy Spirit that they had just witnessed. People were talking about how awesome God was and how wonderful it was to receive a touch of His power, but I continued walking with my head down, saying, “I will never, ever do that again!” Someone asked me what it was I’d never do again and I said, “I fell on purpose.” To my amazement, every person there admitted that they had purposely fallen, as well.
I say all that to say this: For the better part of my ministry, I have attempted to take things that people say about God that are terrible and wrong and correct them. I have kept myself busy for the past ten years in an attempt to correct all the troubling misconceptions taught by the Church regarding the heart of God. Recently, however, I felt like I came to the conclusion of those bad things. I couldn’t find anything to address because I had pretty much covered it all. Then I felt the Lord strongly impress upon me that He would reveal that even all the good things said about Him are not true.
Our concept of “living in victory” has been embellished and exaggerated from generation to generation, to a point where we wouldn’t recognize the real thing if it jumped up and bit us on the nose. People talk about “freedom” as though it were a state of spiritual nirvana where nothing goes wrong and everything is blissfully perfect. I believe that in the Charismatic movement, there are thousands of people chasing dinosaurs in an effort to appear like they’re getting it when in fact, they have no real idea of what “IT” is.
I’m amazed when I hear testimonies of people in those Churches. It reminds me of “Reality Television.” The problem with “Reality Television” is that there is nothing real about it.
The editor reveals what he chooses by cutting and pasting bits and pieces. He omits certain parts and highlights others in an effort to create exactly what he’s looking for. This is what I see in modern-day Christian testimonies. They remind me of a 30-minute scripted sit-com where everything miraculously comes together in the end. The middle part that is raw and real is always mysteriously omitted so that the listener only sees the rags-to-riches part of what God did in a person’s life. “I once was lost, but now I’m found.” Nothing in the middle. That’s it. Overnight, everything changed and now there are no more struggles and strife in the Christian life, only continual happiness and fulfillment.
I think we do this because deep in our hearts we’re trying to sell Jesus to the public. We attempt to make Him out to be more than He is in an effort to spark interest. We present “life with Jesus” as though it’s a continuous mountain-top experience that comes with batteries included and a life-time guarantee. If this isn’t your personal experience with Him, something is wrong with your spirituality. Sadly, the result of this pattern of exaggeration is that people chase a carrot that is always just out of reach and then become depressed and disillusioned.
Let me be the first to say that the reason you can’t find the peace and joy and freedom that you’ve heard about is because it doesn’t exist. At least not in the way it’s been presented. The Christian life as advertised to you is a lie! The promises and claims that were made to you about Jesus were nothing but a list of sales tactics to close the deal. After all, who would reject eternal happiness and contentment? Who in their right mind would walk away from a Jesus who could make all their problems go away overnight? Who would say no to instantaneous freedom and victory? Especially when it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Rattle off a quick sinner’s prayer and you’re on your way to a life of constant adventure and roller-coaster spirituality.
I think there is something to be said for the way Jesus presented Himself 2000 years ago. He rode into the city on the back of an ass. Now that resonates with my life! I get this real and raw picture in my mind, “Life on an Ass,” and it rings true. Maybe it’s not a popular concept with the Christian world, but the fact is, life is humdrum. There are “up” days and there are “down.” There are times of purpose and times of purposelessness. There are extended times when there is clear direction and you know where you’re going and then there are times when you just sit and stare at the walls and go nowhere. Life with Jesus is not filled with a continuous vibration of exhilaration and adventure. Scripture never promised that to us.
I believe that until we are given permission to accept and embrace our humanity, we will be unable to possess values such as peace and contentment. Present-day Christianity seems to be about denying and even detesting our humanity and all in the Name of Jesus. We want nothing to do with out human-ness. It’s as though people present the Christian life as a rejection of the physical realm and an adoption of all that is spiritual. You’d think that some of us are embarrassed to have arms and legs because we think we’re supposed to float from here to there through the power of God. Anything physical or human is considered ugly by today’s Charismatic standards. The phrase, “In the flesh” has been coined in an effort to shame and silence anyone who might dare to be normal and live with both feet on the ground. If God was against living in the flesh, He wouldn’t have created flesh and inserted our spirits into it.
I believe that true spirituality is more physical than spiritual. In other words, it’s NORMAL. Today’s perception of true spirituality is equated with someone no one can relate to. I think it’s something else entirely. If a person is truly in touch with their spiritual side, they will connect and become relatable to everyone. They’ll embrace their flesh and be content with who they are while, at the same time, accepting it in others. Peace and contentment is not a point in life where you no longer experience pain and discomfort. It’s the point when you understand that you will experience pain and discomfort in this life and when you do, you know He is with you and nothing’s wrong. Many perceive any form of depression as evidence that God is not present or we are not receiving what we should from Him. I disagree. Being spiritual, in my opinion, is when an individual embraces every facet of their humanity with no apologies, knowing well that their shortcomings are not evidence of God’s absence but rather, evidence of life. True spirituality comes when we understand that in the midst of living, He will never leave us.
I am convinced that an authentic Christian life looks nothing like what most Charismatic churches promote. The picture they paint is not only unattainable but it’s impossible. I no longer believe the majority of the testimonies I hear. They’ve been edited to fit a story-line that’s proven to be a crowd-pleaser and a bestseller. Rarely does anyone merely provide an accurate account of their life because to do so would be flat-out boring. We don’t want a day-to-day Jesus; we want Super Jesus!
Additionally, I don’t believe all the hype that comes out of Florida. I’m telling you right now that all the people who profess to have experienced “the fire” in Florida are nothing but a bunch of self-conscious teens claiming to have seen the moving dinosaurs on a poster in science class. When asked to produce a shred of verifiable evidence of healings and miracles, the ring-leaders in Florida have come up empty-handed. Everything you are hearing about that “outpouring” is nothing but exaggerated rumors from people who desperately want to appear as if they got it too.
Matthew 24:24
“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.”
These rumors are spread by those who sincerely want to believe that something’s happening somewhere because when they look at their own “humdrum” life, they are filled with guilt and condemnation for not measuring up to the embellished testimonies and exagerated claimes they’ve grown up hearing in the Church.
Yes, I believe that God heals and yes, I believe the Holy Spirit is alive and well. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and I believe that God is actively speaking to His people. I consider myself to be Charismatic to the bone, but I don’t believe for one moment that these manifestations occur in the manner that we claim. The sooner we release the modern-day Christian fantasies about true spirituality and embrace normalcy, the better we’ll be.
You might be surprised to find that what you have been seeking; you already have.
Experiencing God – Part 4- Anton Bosch
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit” (1Cor 2:9,10). The things of God cannot be seen with natural eyes, heard through natural ears or perceived through natural emotions because God is a Spirit and spiritual things can only be perceived by that which is spiritual.
In the same way as a man born physically deaf cannot understand the glory of music and a person born blind cannot begin to partake of the visual beauty of God’s creation, so spiritual things cannot be perceived through the natural senses and emotions. The only way you can receive and be affected by a glorious piece of music is by hearing it. You cannot hear music with your tongue or nose and you cannot “experience” God with natural senses. Thus “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor 2:14). The natural man is the man who operates in the realm of the carnal, fleshly or soulish and in that realm, he will not encounter God. Thus the first requirement to meet with God is that man needs to move beyond the natural to the spiritual. This does not only require that he be born-again, but that he be willing to meet God on His terms.
The man who is governed by fleshly and carnal desires will not be able to meet with God as his carnality will blind him to spiritual matters. Thus the church of Laodicea was pronounced “blind” because of their worldliness (Rev 3:17); the brother filled with hatred is in darkness (1John 2:11) and the person who is not diligently pursuing Christlikeness is shortsighted and blind (2Pet 1:5-9). There have been many very wise, sensitive and perceptive people on this earth who never met God simply because they could not or would not go beyond their human faculties.
As much as God cannot be “seen” by the natural man so He can also not be revealed by natural means. You can put on the most magnificent audio and visual display, throw in some smells, vibrate the building so you can feel the motion and then dish out some snacks to taste and thus assault every one of the five natural senses but none of this can, or will, give you an “experience” of God. This is true simply because God is a Spirit and spirit cannot be heard, seen, smelt, touched or tasted. The millions of dollars that churches spend on appealing to the natural senses can not and never will give people an experience of God. People have experiences all right, but it is not God! In the context of the first two chapters of Corinthians, Paul also includes excellent oratory, human wisdom and miracles as some of the things that are not able to cross-over from that which is natural to that which is spiritual.
On the other hand there are many that are propagating many mystical ways of accessing God. These include chants, meditation, mantras, labyrinths etc. Most of these methods have existed in the church for a long time but are also very much part of Eastern religions. These are simply different ways of stirring the soul within man and also do not go beyond the natural, except in those cases where demons hijack the process.
How then do I get to meet with God?. First we have to understand that we cannot meet Him through natural means. Then we need to realize that we cannot work ourselves into a spiritual state or earn the right to meet with Him. We have access into His presence through a new and living way. That’s right – no more sacrifices, chants, endless singing, ear-splitting decibels or trying to earn the right. We have access through three things: His shed Blood, His broken Body and His high priestly ministry (Heb 10:19-21). It has all been done for us.
Don’t let people deceive you by promises that they will allow you to experience God, usher you into His presence, bring the glory of God down etc etc. We have access. It has all been done by Jesus. If we are born again, we have every right to enter directly into the holiest of all. It is complete and anything added to this will simply drag you back into the Old Testament Laws and rituals. Why then do so many promote those things? Because it makes you dependant on them to “experience God” and that is how they make their money. We need none of those things. Jesus did it all at Calvary. The way is open. Anything else is smoke and mirrors and will lead you to experience something that is not God.
So is there nothing we need to do? Yes, there is one thing. “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). That’s very easy, but also very difficult. Faith requires that I simply accept that I am able to draw near to His presence because of the complete work of the Cross. If we really believe that, then we will not need the manipulations of men or to work ourselves up to “feel” God. We will simply accept His promises that He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb 13:5).
Those who truly believe, do not need a sign, feelings or some display to prove that He is with us. “We will believe His Word in spite the absence of physical evidence of His presence, and walk with Him. As Paul said: “in him we live, and move, and have our being“ (Acts 17:28). Those who need the experiences are not approaching God by faith and He rejects those who do not come by faith. He also rejects, as thieves and robbers, any who come by some other way, except through the door – Jesus.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb 10:19-23)
Anton Bosch
anton@ifcb.net
3310 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA, 91505
Tel 818 846 5520
Michaela Teaching A Bible Lesson
I do not know who this young girl is. This picture was found on Photobucket along with the caption. I wonder if she is teaching a class from church. Maybe she is teaching her brothers and sisters at home. What I do know is that she is following the commandent of Christ to reach out to others with the Word of God. Don’t you think this is a beautiful picture, this young girl, with a Bible in her hands, speaking forth, prophesying the Word? I do.
So, what are we doing? I mean as Christians, what are we doing for Christ? We banter back and forth and go on and on defending our pet theological positions, but what is being accomplished for the kingdom of God?
Some go to church on Sundays and think they have fulfilled their religious duty for the week, and because of their attendance on that one day a week, they think are OK with God. Nothing really happens through the rest of the week. Do they read their Bibles daily, pray and submit their life to God….? What about telling others about Jesus. Witnessing is probably one the hardest things for a lukewarm Christian to do….and why is it so hard? It shouldn’t be.
When you love the Lord, you have a joy in your heart, even in trials and hardships. It should become natural for us to share this with others. The Holy Spirit gives us the words to speak and the tools necessary to do His will … so what is the difficulty here? Obedience to His Word? An uncommitted life? Unregeneration? Submission? Sin? It is probably a mixture of all these things that prevent us from going out into the world and revealing with our mouths the glory of God. But emphasis may be placed on the latter.
“Oh, but I witness by being a good Christian and living a good life”, you may say. “People can see by my example that God works in my life.” This may be the case but your good example does not get someone else saved, unless they hear the Gospel. There are many good people out their doing “good works” but this won’t save them or anyone else for that matter. Good works without faith is empty. I read about all the works of the great humanitarians and wonder what their mindset is. Do they pat themselves on the back thinking, “Chalk one up for me and the good guy in the sky”….Do we do the same? Remember our good works are like filthy rags in the sight of God. Even in best good intentions are fulled with motives that are tinged with pride and selfishness.
Lets take a look at words of Jesus right before He left this world and ascended to be at the right hand of the Father where He resides today.
Mark 16:15-16
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
According to these verses whoever does not believe will be condemned and it is our responsibility to preach the good news of what Jesus did for us so that we can have eternal life. After that believers are to be baptized and taught to obey the teachings of Jesus. Can we do this? Of course we can, Jesus tell us that He is with us till He returns.
About 3 years ago during the lecture at Bible Study our teaching leader stated, “You know that you are now being trained for your own personal ministry.” At first this went over like a lead balloon with me. I did not want to hear this, but the same statement was repeated again shortly thereafter. This time there was not a sinking feeling but instead there was a realization that the Holy Spirit was working in me. The time had come to consider what my personal ministry involved and I began to pray about it.
The plan that God has for the Christian today is not different than the believers of the first century. The command of the Great Commission is the same for all time. This command is for every believer. So, I had to ask myself… am I making anyone a disciple of Jesus? Am I teaching anyone to obey the words of the Lord Jesus Christ? What was my answer? No..not one.
As we can see from the above verses, Jesus is not talking just about missionaries who go abroad, or just pastors or ministers. He is talking about ALL believers. I know what you are thinking….I am afraid. But consider Matthew 28:18:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Then add, ” And surely I am with you always.”
As a believer you are set aside for the use of God. You have the Holy Spirit at conversion and are born again. There is a profound awareness of the Spirit which gives us the confidence that we belong to Him. Romans 8:16 says:
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
As a child of God please share the blessings and the truth that you have found in your own life. Think back and try to remember who told you about Jesus Christ….A preacher? A relative? A friend? It was someone speaking and teaching the Word of God.
So Jesus is with us. He indwells us through the Holy Spirit. He gives the words to speak, the strength to do His work, and the courage to go boldly and proclaim His glory. He is the great enabler, and I know this so very well because this mouse of a person, who has no words, who has no courage, and is usually trapped by fear, has been able to do and say things that are certainly not of or from myself.
As one who relies on Christ to empower and enable, the promise of His drawing near is sweet and amazing as He fulfills the promise, “I am with you always.”
There is a condition though….please desire to be a clean channel for the Lord to work through. Sin separates us from God and repentance draws us back to Him. Where there is unconfessed sin of yesterday there is no power for today. Until that sin is named and confessed you will have grieved the Holy Spirit and therefore you will not have any true spiritual power. While the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within the believer, it is possible that we are not always walking in the Spirit as commanded.
Too many times, formulas, or phrases weaken our prayers, and these mouthed words have no meaning. So pray ernestly, asking for forgiveness, giving praise and thanksgiving. Then come to Him with your petitions. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His power for your servanthood. Know that it is nothing of your own making that will change the lives of others. Only God has the power to change lives.
As you spread the word remember the Parable of Sower. There are four different soils that the seed, the Word, lands on. It is not your concern of what type of soil the Word lands on, but just that the seed is spread.
So what is your decision? Who can you tell about Jesus? A friend, a co-worker, a relative? God will point them out to you. He will give you the words.
Rely and trust in the Lord, and He will do the rest.
DiscernIt 
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