Evidences of a Heart Invaded by the Holy Spirit

Why do so many people who profess Christ have no evidence of a heart invaded by the Holy Spirit? It is obvious that this is a problem. Here in Little Rock we have Christian Schools and Churches and a home schooled community filled with people who say they follow Christ but don't actually follow Christ.

I have been blessed to be studying in Titus recently and what I found in chapter 3 was convicting and beautiful at the same time. Paul tells Titus to remind the church in Crete to (among other things) be obedient, ready for every good deed, and to show consideration for all men. The reason he gives them for doing these things is breathtaking. He says this, "For we also were once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another." The next word in the passage is one of the most beautiful words in scripture because after the list of sins above (which we can all own up to) we deserve nothing but Hell (the just penalty for our sins). The next word is "but." Despite what we deserve, God's undeserved kindness and love appeared, and He saved us through Christ our rescuer! The passage goes on to say that we have been brought to life (regeneration) and are being being renewed through the Holy Spirit who has been poured on us.

When the eyes of an unbeliever are opened to see Jesus and the sacrifice He made for their sins on the cross, and they put their faith in Him, the Holy Spirit is poured on that person and their dead heart is raised to life with Christ. After this, the Holy Spirit starts renewing them. This means He starts convicting them of sins, He starts giving them a hatred for their sins and a love for righteousness, He gives them the strength to make war on their sins, and gives them a zeal for good works.

A heart invaded by the Holy Spirit is a heart that has been freed from it's slavery to sin, and is now a slave to Christ. A heart invaded by the Holy Spirit hates it's sin or has a deep desire to want to hate it's sin. Jesus does not forgive someone and leave them in their sins! Out of a deep love for them, he begins to help them rid their life of sin, a task none of us can do ourselves.

May we be a people who belong to Christ, filled with the Spirit, zealous for good deeds.

For the glory of God

Seth

The God Who Listens and Answers

Answered prayer can be one of the biggest faith builders can it not? Sometimes God answers prayers over long periods of time; sometimes he answers no; sometimes he answers way after you pray, and sometimes he answers immediately.

This weekend I was playing ultimate frisbee with some brothers and sisters in Christ from churches all over LR. After we were done, my friend Blake gave me the idea to invite people from the group to come and invite their friends to serve with us tonight at the Little Rock Juvenile Detention Center. The word went out, and I began to pray that God would bring people as He willed. Every other Sunday and one Friday night a month some people from The Bible Church have the opportunity to go and worship, hang out, and share Christ with the inmates at the d-center. This ministry is hard, awkward at times, and has some major schedule conflicts with other ministries at the church. Because of these things it is often understaffed. The more people that go, the more the gospel gets to go out in one on one conversation with the inmates. God gave me a huge desire to see this ministry extend to people outside just the local expression of the universal Church that I attend. Saturday night I was reading Hosea 1 and read this in verse 11, "And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall gather together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head..." God immediately brought to mind how Christ is the Head of the body, and how even though there are different likeminded churches across LR, and I am glad because each has unique ways God uses them all, we all have the same head and can serve together as the body. This just pushed me to pray harder for God to bring people from different churches together to join hands with us as we bring the gospel to needy kids in the d-center.

As today progressed, to be totally honest, I had given up, but God was working. A few hours before we were going to head down to the d-center, I got a text from a sister in Christ I had never met saying that she had been told about the ministry by a mutual friend and wanted to come and bring some friends! To say the least I was ecstatic! A while later I got a call from a friend who said that he couldn't come tonight but wanted to know next time we were going so he could come and bring some people.

Little did I know that tonight was the biggest group of inmates I think we have ever had. God knew that we needed some more people, and brought people who were so excited to be there and to serve. God did some amazing things tonight! I wish I could post all of the testimonies that were given of different ways God allowed the gospel to go out, and the different responses to the gospel; it was incredible. Another awesome thing was that there were three or four churches represented by the people who came. God completely answered my prayers and answered them in such a miraculous way that only He can take credit for what happened. I pray that this ministry will grow and that more and more people will come and love on and share the life transforming gospel with these precious kids.

May the revival I see happening in Little Rock continue to push people to their knees and continue to push people to be the loving hands of Christ all throughout this city.

For the glory of God

Seth

How Hard Do You Pray?

Aaron Wilson preached a sermon on Matthew 13:1-23 last night at Youth. I had heard messages on the parable of the Sower and the four soils before, but something struck me afresh as God spoke through Aaron. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be of sober spirit and to be alert because the devil prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour. Jesus paints a similar picture in Matthew 13 when he talks about how the seed (the gospel) falls on or beside the hard path (a hard heart) and how the birds that are circling above (the devil and his company) swoop down and take the seed away. God used these things to awaken me once again to the reality of the war I am in every single day. Ephesians 6:10-20 gives us a very vivid picture of this warfare about which satan loves to help us forget. It talks about how our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against "the spiritual forces of wickedness." Paul closes this great encouragement to put on the whole armor of God (so that we may stand firm against the devil) with a plea towards prayer and petition. The believers in Ephesus (and we as believers) were commanded to pray at all times in the Spirit.

Looking at these things I have come to a convicting conclusion; my prayers are too few and too weak. Satan and his company are putting a lot of effort into this warfare and a lot of times I am not even aware that I am on the battlefield. Left to myself I will be crushed by the efforts of the evil one, but by the strength that the Holy Sprit offers, I may resist him. Also, my prayers are too few and too weak for those who I know will hear the gospel or have heard it. The devil is going to fight to take away that gospel seed before it penetrates the heart and I need to be in hard prayer that God would soften the hearts of those individuals and let the gospel take root.

How am I going to try to apply this?

1. Ask God to open my eyes that I may see the battle I am in.

2. Strive to pray at all times in the spirit out of a desperate need of God for protection and strength to fight.

3. When I know I or someone else will have have the opportunity to share the gospel, I will strive to pray hard for the hearts that the seed will be falling onto that they will be soft and receptive.

4. Realize that to make time for more (and much needed) prayer, I will probably need to give up time listening to music in my car, being on twitter, facebook, xbox, etc...

Considering how hard the devil is working against the gospel and against your spiritual growth, how hard are you praying?

For the glory of God

Seth