Inspirational Stories
Reason for the Season
Concerned with what he saw as a spiritual deterioration in churches, D. L. Moody convened a special convocation. The messages he delivered during the convocation were the substance of his book, Secret Power. The book begins…
There has been much inquiry of late on the Holy Spirit. In this and other lands, thousands of persons have been giving attention to the study of this grand theme. I hope it will lead us all to pray for a greater manifestation of His power upon the whole church of God.
How much we have dishonored Him in the past! How ignorant of His grace and love and presence we have been! True, we have heard of Him and read of Him, but we have had little intelligent knowledge of His attributes, His offices, and His relations to us...
Let others reject, if they will, at their own peril, this imperishable truth. I believe, and am growing more into this belief, that divine, miraculous, creative power resides in the Holy Spirit…
Unless He attend the word in power, vain will be the attempt in preaching it. Human eloquence or persuasiveness of speech are the mere trappings of the dead. If the living Spirit be absent, the prophet may preach to the bones in the valley, but it must be the breath from heaven that will cause the slain to live…(from Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala)
The Christmas season has arrived.
Each year Christians unpack artificial trees burdened with lights and a vast array of trimmings. The manger scene, complete with the plastic Jesus, is often unpacked to the sound of familiar seasonal music. I could go on in the description, but, then, we are already experiencing these things and much, much more. But do you ever feel as though so much of the festivities seem contrived, artificial, unreal?
The Christmas season can be a problem for we Christians. It’s not the artificial symbols we see every year because symbols simply point to a greater reality. Our problem is that we get caught up in the artificiality of it all at the expense of truly celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Think about it: even for us the Christmas season is often an aggravation, not a time of quiet assurance. It’s a time filled with anxiety, pressure and obligatory shopping. The season has taken on a life of its own, disregarding the Reason for the season. In fact, the holiday itself has become the reason for the season. It’s vanity. Vain means “without meaning or likelihood of fulfillment.” Without the Living Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit in our lives, the holiday and life becomes devoid of fulfillment.
The Christian Church has reached a critical time in its existence.
If we in the Church do not begin to take seriously the reality of the God we serve; if we do not sincerely love and serve the One we call “Lord,” then we will find the Church itself becoming more and more irrelevant to the present culture. The timeless message of salvation will then be lost to generations that follow us. Change can only be made if we take Moody’s advice: acknowledge the existence of the Holy Spirit and yield to His powerful, abiding influence. If we do not yield to Him, to His guidance, to His Word, then we will be “pretend” Christians pretending the celebration of a God we know little about - if at all. We will be bones, bleaching in the sun, thinking we are alive, but spiritually dead.
God has come to earth! Think of it; meditate on that fact; let that truth fill your thoughts. God has come to earth for me and for you!
Holy Spirit of God, help us receive that message, the Person - Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior, and may our lives be forever transformed to serve Him. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
In Him,
Pastor Steve