One of my main objectives is to stir myself up in faith. I want to so stoke my faith, that I become strong in the Lord. As I stated in my last post, my faith has become somewhat stymied.
One of the greatest people I have read about in modern times is Smith Wigglesworth. In Hebrews 6:11-12, I am encouraged to follow those who inherited the promises.
11 But we do [strongly and earnestly] desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity [all the way through] in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of [your] hope until the end,
12 In order that you may not grow disinterested and become [spiritual] sluggards, but imitators, behaving as do those who through faith (by their leaning of the entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) and by practice of patient endurance and waiting are [now] inheriting the promises.
If anyone has inherited the promises as I understand them, it was Smith. My heart swoons at what it is that the Lord had done in his life!
My hearts cry use to be – wanting to see God move and seeing His presence manifest. Those were exciting times.
STRIFE AND DISAGREEMENTS:
But then you know, life got in the way. My wife and I got into disagreements. We got into major strife. By doing this I had allowed the enemy to gain a foothold.
My wife and I are now in a much better place. We love each other dearly, and care for another. The Lord has done much in our relationship.
Unfortunately, my relationships with my children are not where it could be. Nor with my extended family (brothers, and their families). Sadly, not even with my church family.
DILIGENCE:
However, I am encouraged and hopeful for what it is that God can do! I want to be a person of diligence and sincerity.
I want to realize and enjoy the full assurance and development of hope. I want to be a person of excellence in every area of my life!
There for a time I was disinterested in the things of God. I became a spiritual sluggard.
But I no longer wish to be this way. I so want to diligently follow after Jesus, and flow with the blessed Holy Spirit in same way that Smith and others like him had.
HOLY SPIRIT THE DIFFERNCE MAKER:
Smith exalts the Lord and states how glad he is that God had baptized him in the Holy Spirit. He explains what a wonderful difference it made in his life.
He further states that:
- God has not promised that as Christians we will always feel very wonderful.
- He has promised that if we stand on His Word, He will make His Word real in our lives.
- First we exercise faith, then it becomes fact.
- However, there are plenty of feelings in fact.
- God fills us with His own precious joy!
It is my desire to be intentional in making changes in my life to reflect Christ’s glory. I want my heart to be ablaze with the love of the Lord.
Furthermore, I want to have rich loving relationships with my wife, children, extended family, and my church family. With the blessed Holy Spirit as my teacher, I know I can make a difference.
The application I see to Smith’s thinking is:
- I need to locate in the Bible the promises. I need to find the Word of the Lord regarding a topic.
- I need to stand on His Word and exercise faith, by meditating on it, and confessing it.
- I need to believe that God will make His Word real in my life. Knowing that it will become a fact.
Amen!
Wigglesworth, Smith: Greater Works (Whitaker House: New Kensington, PA, 1999), p 161
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