Blessings Available in the Life of God
“You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Ps. 16:11
In this series on the “zoe” life of God, I want to bring out the blessings available in the life of God. These blessings tangible in God’s presence, so in our personal time with God, as well as our collective time with God, we can make a draw on the power available in knowing God and His abundant life.
In order to share how God has taught me about His available power, I want to share this story. I was in a church service in another country where several churches were gathering. It was Pentecost Sunday, and I sensed a rumbling in the spiritual atmosphere. This should not be considered strange because the realm of the spirit is very real. I then heard a wind blowing, a loud rushing sound, that I heard with my natural ears. The group I was with decided it was time to leave, right during the worship time. I begged the leader to allow me to stay, but she denied my request. I had to be helped to the bus because the anointing was so strong on me, but I submitted to their authority. I have never experienced being ripped out of the presence of God like that before. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. However, God used that experience to show me how His power is available and how humanity can miss out on what God wants to do, including me. We all can miss it. Since then, I have had similar experiences, where the power of God is manifested, and the energy of God is shaking the atmosphere. That power is like electricity, vibrating like a current. This power created the world and God is the source of all life. This power resurrected Jesus from the dead. God is still here. He hasn’t left us. Whether we sense it or not, God’s power is available to us because we live in the shared life of God.
People can quench the Spirit by working from the flesh instead of from the spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Some try to tightly control a service or people, but they end up squeezing out the Spirit. Others, in a desire for freedom, can get so loose with oversight that they get into doctrinal error, replacing what is real with emotionalism, or giving into carnality. Instead of quenching the Spirit, we must learn to follow the leading of the Spirit. He knows the mind of Christ, and we can trust He knows what He is doing. Quenching the Spirit means to suppress. It is like extinguishing a fire, to put it out. It means to stifle or stop. Instead of quenching the Spirit, we should not only be open to His moving, but we need to be in pursuit of what He is doing. Let’s go after what is available in the life of God – for ourselves and for others.
Application: Let’s make sure we are yielding to both the teaching of the Word so we don’t get off into error, as well as making time available for the Spirit, so we can receive blessings from His life-giving power.