feeling
The Lord is the only one that I can trust when it comes to some feelings. Probably the same for you. I have heard a lot of people say that feelings can't be trusted. To me, it just depends where the feelings are coming from, wisdom knows. Some have told me that I need to trust fact, not feelings, or faith and not feelings, or the Bible and not feelings. I think that we should trust all of them, reason included as being from God, if we are in right communion with Him. When we have the wrong faith, or the wrong interpretation, or the wrong facts, it takes God intervening in these situations according to our trust in Him in truth. Too many Christians believe the lies fed to them. For me, I feel confirmation when God reveals certain things to me, sometimes I will not trust the other things until I get that "feeling," or sometimes through the prophetic influence of others, or the Word, or even circumstances, something I know that it was from a godly source.
Feeling is the awareness through physical sensations. Einstein, who studied the new Testament a lot wrote that "The third state of religious experience, I will call cosmic religious feeling. How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are capable of it."
If you cannot feel the baptism with the Holy Ghost, how do you know you have received it? It is in power and it is a profound feeling that reaches to the depth of your soul. Experience is valid. Those who have never experienced it are the ones that will tell you that you do not need feelings to validate the Holy Ghost but the Bible says that "The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
For myself, I trust my feelings. I know that God has put His witness in my spirit for a reason and when He witnesses to it, I feel it. It does not go against scripture but many times it confirms new truths that He teaches me. When I was first baptized in the Holy Spirit, I learned more in an instant than I had ever learned from books or the years I spent in Bible College or sitting in the pews listening to things that I have forgotten. That subjective experience was real, it was not above scripture but I sure will put it up there along with it because it is from the same source. Nothing that experience or study or revelation has ever taught me more that seeing love in the heart of my brothers and sisters anyway, I need to see that love and not condemnation or a judgmental attitude for your brother. Then I can feel you too. It's just a shame that so many people want to hurt our feelings.
For a while, I was a spiritual anointing junky. Nothing wrong with it I guess, in fact I miss those good old days when I was so high on the Lord that I could walk around and not feel my feet. But we are to walk by faith, not by sight or feelings. These things were all right when we were exercising our spiritual muscles but as we mature, they are not so much needed or sought after.
I remember once seeing this anointed prophet of the Lord lay hands on us at a Full gospel Business men's meeting. She would take her hand and "push" the people over and over they went. I thought I did not need a push and when she touched me and pushed, I resisted. I could hardly stand up, the power was so great, i might as well just lay on the floor and stay there. I had been under the power before, nothing new but when it comes under resistance, you know it is real.
It is not a new or an additional anointing that is needed but union with Christ Jesus. I need to say it again that this union must be a together thing. The anointing on all of us is greater than the anointing on any one of us. We need to know more about the transference of anointing. Or maybe know less and do more. Can you imagine the impact when Christians everywhere finally get the idea that our anointings merging together as one will usher in the Second Coming of Christ? that merging and transferring of anointing into one will be the power that we have been waiting for, the time that we finally pack the stadiums and go out into the streets with the mere sight of us will send a mighty rushing wind? We need to stop imagining it and make it into a reality. We need to get rid of our selfish pride and start loving each other as we ought to. We need to forget about our own ministries and give it all up into one creative action. Amen?
How are you feeling today? We do not change the church, we being the church change ourselves and we become an example to others. God has given us the witness of His Holy Spirit. Do you feel it? When He touches you, it confirms the fact that He is there, it is not mere emotionalism, it is the awareness that God is revealing Himself to us. Respond to Him, seek Him out and pray to know His perfect will for you. It is a witness that proves itself in love but there are other emotions as well. God wants every part of us and that includes our emotions, the fruits of the spirit, mercy and compassion. Is He convicting you of sin? Repent of it. Does He lead you into the travail for the church? Yield to it and join with others in that sorrowful assembly. Do you feel compassion for others? Pray for them and do what you can to meet their needs. Are you humbled to the point of disgust? Look up, your redemption is nigh. Do you "feel" led to do certain things? Within reason, follow that feeling. Each of you that have been baptized in the Holy Spirit knows exactly how it felt that first time. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding.
It must be emphasized though that feelings must be turned into right actions to have any effect on the church. Our adversary the devil would like nothing more than have us take our joy into excess and counterfeit our emotions. Laughter into hysteria, dreams into delusions, love into covetness, obedience into legalism, serenity into apathy. There are many examples of charismatic excess that has been used as bad examples against us yet on the other hand, there has been too much conservative faith to have any effect. The Lord will bring us into that holy place as we listen to Him and respond to His leading.
I get the most profound spiritual feelings when I am experience new truths. It is as if
God is verifying his truth by a touch of the hand of the Holy Ghost, the greater the truth the greater the sensation. Peter told of Jesus that "Whom having not seen, you love, in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Man, you can feel that unspeakable joy and glory. You feel it enough and it is like a fresh Baptism with the Holy Ghost. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts." Has that day star arisen in your heart? If it has, you only know if you have the feeling.
[143, I Peter 1, II Peter 1, Romans 8:16]
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