| Spiritual Growth Lesson # 9 >>> |
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Spiritual Growth
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LESSON 9of 32 |
LOVING PEOLE
"Using things and loving people, That's the way it's got to be,
Using things and loving people, Look around and you can see,
That loving things and using people only lead to misery,
Using things and loving people, That's the way it's got to be.
Using things and loving people, Brings you happiness I've found,
Using things and loving people, Not the other way around,
'Cause loving things, and using people only lead to misery,
Using things and loving people, That's the way it's got to be.
(David Hall and Archie P. Jordan)
In previous lessons, we studied about God's love for us, and our love
relationship with Him. That is the starting place, because we cannot
love others as we ought to, if we do not have a right relationship with
God.
In our last lesson, we saw the importance of self-love, so that we can
forget ourselves and reach out to others around us with the true love
of Jesus! But who are the people we are to love? Everybody! Especially
those who are a part of your "world." Your home, your school,
your working place, your next door neighbor, the postman, the grocer--the
list goes on and on.
Many times we take many of these people for granted. We have been around
them for a long time, yet have never shared Jesus Christ with them.
Perhaps we even work with them side by side, and yet have never let
the love of Jesus flow through us to touch them with the gospel of salvation.
What are people for? To use only? No, we are to love everybody with
the love of Jesus!
THE SECOND TOUCH
"And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking"
(Mark 8:24). A blind man was brought to Jesus, and those who brought
him begged Jesus to touch and heal him. That was the way Jesus normally
healed people, but Jesus is God, and He has the right to do things anyway
He chooses. Sometimes He does things different just to remind us that
He is God!
Jesus,
being every bit a gentleman in His behaviour, and not wanting to embarrass
the blind man with what He was about to do, took him by the hand and
led him out of town. Then He spit on the blind man's eyes, and putting
his hands upon him asked him what he saw. The answer was quite startling
to say the least. The man was not fully healed. He answered, "I
see men as trees, walking." How shocked the disciples of Jesus
must have been at the apparent "power failure" of Jesus. But
it is obvious that Jesus does all things for a reason--in this case,
to teach us a valuable lesson! Jesus touched the man a second time,
and he saw all men clearly. He needed a second touch.
When you and I were filled with the precious Holy Spirit of God, a beautiful
river of love began flowing from our life. We loved everybody. We wanted
to share Jesus with everybody we came in contact with. We had not memorized
many Bible verse. Perhaps we were not even sure just exactly what we
believed. But we were sure of the reality of Jesus Christ, whose love
flooded our hearts. Nobody had to ask us to witness. The compelling
force was the love of God within us.
That is the way it is supposed to be--not just in the beginning of our
walk with God, but all the time. If we have somehow lost that first
love, if we no longer see the multitudes about us as lost souls that
need Jesus, then we need a second touch--we need a fresh refilling of
the Holy Ghost!
One of the most powerful verses in the Word of God concerning our "obligation"
to witness is this one: "But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto
me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
For years I had been beating people over the heads with the second "ye
shall" in the above verse. I made witnessing an obligation and
a duty that we must perform, whether we liked it or not. No doubt with
that kind of an attitude it became to some a no more glamorous "chore"
than washing dishes or taking out the garbage! I am happy that the Lord
has opened my understanding to the true meaning of this verse.
The second "ye shall" can best be interpreted in the light
of the first "ye shall." When people are genuinely baptized
with the Holy Spirit, they shall receive power. It is the natural consequence
of the experience. It is spontaneous.
Additionally, when people are genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit,
they become witnesses--not because they are forced or assigned to--but
because it is the natural consequence of the experience. God is Holy,
God is a Spirit, and God is love. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are filled with a holy love. "...the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us"
(Romans 5:5). This love will compel us to share Jesus with others!
It is a known fact that new converts win more people to Jesus Christ
than "seasoned saints," people who have been serving the Lord
for some time. What a shame! What has gone wrong? Have we lost our first
love? As we have grown older in the Lord, have we forgotten the pit
that the Lord Jesus Christ pulled us out of? Have we lost the freshness
and the excitement of the Pentecostal experience?
This is not the way it should be. We ought to love souls.
We need the Lord to give us that second touch, so Jesus more as we get
to know Him better. Knowing Him more will result in us having a greater
burden for that we will be soul-concious. When that happens, the people
around us will cease to be moving objects only. We will see them clearly
on their journey towards hell, and we will surely want to do something
about their spiritual condition! ds
