Access heavenly help with old hymns (long)

Today this watchman asked some spiritual questions and then waited to receive answers from the words of God. But the answers came in hymns instead. They speak to our souls. O Christians, Rejoice, rejoice, lift up your voice and sing eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find None other is so loving, so good and kind!

The following hymns are selected at random, by various singers.

(1) At the Cross – from The Hymns Project (Lyric Video):   Author: Isaac Watts (1707)

https://youtu.be/WmXLJGmTLV8?si=TPlLMwOWpVW5C4s0

My favorite stanza: But drops of tears can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’tis all that I can do.

“The first two stanzas of this hymn address the same paradox that Paul wrote about in Romans: “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8 ESV) Isaac Watts shows the contrast very powerfully: “When Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man, the creature’s sin.”

The only appropriate response to the realization that such selfless sacrifice on the part of a perfect God was for the sake of the imperfect, selfish creatures we know ourselves to be is total surrender. We know we can never repay our debt of gratitude, so we sing: “Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’tis all that I can do.”” (Quoted from: https://hymnary.org/text/alas_and_did_my_savior_bleed)

(2) Amazing Grace (1779) – Traditional Hymn and Lyrics: Author: John Newton (1779)

https://youtu.be/XjcfQZtgwAI?si=2XKRCbO_H6Sfkh2b

Several factors contributed to Newton’s conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. (Quoted from: https://hymnary.org/text/amazing_grace_how_sweet_the_sound )

A grace hymn that brought me to tears: Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come: ’tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

(3) The Old Rugged Cross [Lyrics Video]:

https://youtu.be/Dwk6Aic5XBw?si=7noGSlMoE5_2T74x

George Bennard (1873-1958) wrote words and tune for his best known hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” in 1913.  The cross is seen as “the emblem of suffering and shame” in the first stanza, yet it has “a wondrous attraction” in the second and “a wondrous beauty” in the third. Why is such symbol of shame found so attractive? Because it is there that “Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.” The joy that is found in contemplating the cross is not found in the shame, but in the promise that someday the saints will exchange the labor of sanctification for the crown of life (James 1:12, Rev. 2:10). (Quoted from: https://hymnary.org/text/on_a_hill_far_away_stood_an_old_rugged )

(4) Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross (Hymn Charts with Lyrics, Contemporary):  Author: Fanny Crosby   

https://youtu.be/Xrmlv806bGM?si=e5jU3KNDMLz4aVLR

The refrain of this hymn echoes the words of the apostle Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14 ESV) The stanzas are a prayer that the Christian would always remember the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, and live faithfully in that memory. (Quoted from: https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_keep_me_near_the_cross )

My favorite refrain:

In the cross, in the cross

Be my glory ever,

Till my ransomed soul shall find

Rest beyond the river.

(5) What a Friend we have in Jesus with lyrics | new version: Author: Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1855)

https://youtu.be/YTpUQO0aryw?si=CAg9brdCm7vac8ui

As a new Christian I loved to sing this hymn with others like me. We were awed by the promise of an ideal friendship with Jesus. This is a friend who will never fail us or betray us. What more can we ask?

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer!

(6) Don Moen – As The Deer [with lyrics]:  (This a hymn for meditation. )

https://youtu.be/no9StppmvGA?si=coFiO5-sxyGkJe7T

You alone are my strength my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield…

TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS: Author: Louisa M. R. Stead (1882)

https://youtu.be/-DdgkvnsHjM?si=WRVr4cEDpmF5qtfF

I wanted to taste the sweetness of Jesus for myself too.

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,

just to trust his cleansing blood;

and in simple faith to plunge me

neath the healing, cleansing flood!

(7) BE THOU MY VISION — My Favorite Irish Hymn! : Translator: Mary E. Byrne; Versifier: Eleanor H. Hull

https://youtu.be/ihJAJA4ibEs?si=BXX5QF4wOrpvEyrO

When I was a young I longed to have a vision. This hymn immediately touched my heart. Jesus is the best vision anyone could have!

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;

be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,

both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright Sun,

O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won;

Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

still be Thou my Vision, O Ruler of all.

(8) David Phelps – He Lives from Hymnal (Official Music Video):   This rendition is new to me. It is selected as a variation to the overall more classical presentations usually at Easter.

https://youtu.be/cX8BD-h4F2I?si=HQTztQoIlUMSn1SY

This hymn impacted me significantly for decades. What matters to every Christian is Jesus still lives! He lives! He lives. So shall we all! We serve a risen Savour!

Lyrics from 1^st and last stanzas: I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today I know that He is living, whatever men may say I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer And just the time I need Him He’s always near Chorus: He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today He walks with me and talks with me Along life’s narrow way He lives, He lives, Salvation to impart You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find None other is so loving, so good and kind

(9) I Know Whom I Have Believed | Songs and Everlasting Joy: Author: D. W. Whittle (1883)

https://youtu.be/RTAxq2BqJa4?si=KPszLsHrfV8I4kw3

I always find my eyes wet with tears when I sing this hymn. I really know little about my Lord, but I know that I can entrust Him my loved ones, and that when He comes for me, I shall be ready.

The text contrasts the “I know not” stanzas with the certainty of the “I know” refrain We cannot understand God’s saving grace to us (st. 1); we cannot explain our spiritual birth (st. 2); we are unable to comprehend the work of God’s Spirit (st. 3); and we do not perceive clearly the future of our earthly lives (st. 4). But we do know by faith that God is true to his word! (quoted from: https://hymnary.org/text/i_know_not_why_gods_wondrous_grace_to_me )

1 I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me is daily shown, nor why, with mercy, Christ in love redeemed me for his own.

Refrain: But “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.”

2 I know not how this saving faith to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word wrought peace within my heart. [Refrain]

3 I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing us of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in him. [Refrain]

4 I know not when my Lord may come, at night or noon-day fair, nor if I’ll walk the vale with him, or meet him in the air. [Refrain]

(10) O To be like Thee: Author: Thomas O. Chisholm (1897)

https://youtu.be/KrYhiK2nQBg?si=8s69VIy_hORbmz0J

The author’s goal was to incorporate as many scriptures as possible. Scriptural references for this hymn are:  

• Exodus 15:11 (hymns)
• Romans 8:19 (hymns)
• Romans 8:29 (hymns)
• 1 Corinthians 11:1 (hymns)
• Philippians 1:20 (hymns)
• Philippians 2:5 (hymns)
• 1 John 3:3 (hymns)

Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love,

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

(11) How Great Thou Art: Author: Carl Gustav Boberg; Translator: Stuart K. Hine (1949)

https://youtu.be/QoN38QxAfOg?si=OTbSQu6oOlyPMAwp

Another all-time favorite hymn of mine. After I was first Spirit filled, I often wept whenever I tried to sing the chorus.

The author Stuart K. Hine was born in 1899 in Great Britain. In much of Stuart’s earlier years he and his wife were missionaries in the Western Ukraine of Russia, where they evangelized as Christian workers and singers. His most popular composition is “How Great Thou Art,” which is recognized in many polls as the number one Hymn in America.

When Christ shall come, With shouts of acclamation, And take me home, What joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow In humble adoration And there proclaim, “My God, how great Thou art!”

End Notes from this watchman:

The above hymns were chosen at random as there are too many in my memories. My best friend and I used to take a bi-lingual hymn book each and sat in her sitting room for hours just singing hymns in both languages from the first page down to as many pages as we knew. The hymn book was organized into themes. So we could pick hymns from each theme/topic. Topics include: God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the birth of Jesus, His crucifixion, salvation, resurrection, and His return and many more During the last six months of her life on earth, the hymn we often sang was “Blessed Assurance”.

Blessed Assurance – Jeremy Riddle | Worship Circle Hymns (Lyrics): Author: Fanny Crosby

https://youtu.be/sBnf-OL6Wwk?si=5VeLXxwo7TYO42KZ

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:

This is my story, this is my song,

praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,

praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect communion, perfect delight,

visions of rapture now burst on my sight.

Angels descending bring from above

echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest.

I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,

watching and waiting, looking above,

filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]

2024-05-05 (Updated)

why didn’t Jesus reply directly to their obvious questions?

Imagine the ironical scenario when Jesus said this cheerful notes, full of positive expectation and encouragement. 

TLB There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly. KJV In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

Jesus spoke these words at a time when He was preparing His disciples what to expect in the future. He knew His future. Because of His relationship with God the Father and He knew He was from heaven, He was certain of His victory at the cross and after the cross. He knew the disciples were not that prepared.

But what was the relevance to talk about heaven to His disciples? Their immediate response would be grief, anger, fear and a deep sense of rejection/abandonment and loss. Peter even told off Jesus, it should never happen to you!

AMPC Then Peter took Him aside to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You! (Matthew 16:22) NCB Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord. Such a fate must never happen to you.” (boldness and highlight added by this blogger)

Peter was a normal person. It was normal for him to think that nothing bad should ever happen to Jesus, their master and teacher and the Messiah for Israel. But Jesus immediately rebuked the spirit behind Peter’s very human thought. Peter thought, bad things could happen to anyone but not to Jesus, who was such a good and perfect man.

Good men and women from churches have been dying in younger ages than expected. Many Christians are asking, why do good Christians-ministers, preachers, and Bible teachers- die before a full age? Coming back to Peter’s thought, why should Jesus go through the horrific and humiliating suffering and death process? Surely He deserved a better “fate”. Surely Jesus should live a full age right into a century or more. He is not just anybody. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God! (Matthew 16:16)

Jesus knew peter’s thoughts, said and unsaid. He knew the other disciples (apostles and disciples) would think the same too. In John 14 Jesus first spoke of what heaven has for them. The first thing He told them was the many mansions. Imagine the vast expanse of heaven, the home of God the Father and Jesus the Son.

Imagine the ironical scenario when Jesus said this cheerful notes, full of positive expectation and encouragement. In fact He was soon going to be betrayed into the hands of the enemies who would humiliate, torture and then killed Him that same night. He would have to go through the agony in His soul praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane to the point that his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44) (Meanwhile the disciples, even the three closest friends Peter, James and John were sleeping) How can anyone remain cheerful and talk about heaven instead in such an evil night like that with the spirit of death looming overhead?

Jesus can. He knows heaven. He is from heaven. And heaven is as real if not more real to Him always, all the days of His earth life. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus told Nathanael who was brought to him by another disciple Philip, PHILLIPS “Do you believe in me,” replied Jesus, “because I said I had seen you underneath that fig-tree? You are going to see something greater than that! Believe me,” he added, “I tell you all that you will see Heaven wide open and God’s angels ascending and descending around the Son of Man!” (John 1:51)

It is a normal life for Jesus to be living in the spiritual realm. And He expected His disciples to do so. He had made it easier for them and for us by giving us the Holy Spirit. History after the cross and resurrection have proven this truth after the first pouring out of the Holy Spirit, filling all the apostles/disciples of Jesus Christ on the Pentecost Day, just as Jesus had promised. A change to Jesus’ heaven-ward perspective transformed man’s life. Thus, The apostle Paul boldly declared,

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

⁵⁵ “O^[a] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

2024-03-24

Entering the presence of God

Did I become a spiritual being through fasting (water intake only)? On the first day, with a dull headache, I was somewhat surprised. On the second day the ache left. All physical discomforts left by the third day. I had a bowl of vegetable soup on the second evening. By the third evening I had to break the fast by eating a light vegetarian broth. What did I learn?

I was out of practice. I had not done the exact Esther’s fast (three days no food or water/drink) for years. I assumed that because I have been practicing light weight intermittent fast I could handle the Esther’s fast. I was wrong. I had not prepared myself prior fasting. My body was not prepared to co-operate with my spirit as required. Of course I have no excuse. I would not encourage anyone to do the intensive fasting without prior preparation.

Most time I had to lie down and rest. Because I was doing this alone I did not have the corporate presence wherein the like-minded believers could worship, pray and read the Word together, encourage and motivate one another, allowing the Holy Spirit to move and quicken us.

Spiritually I did manage to watch/read many videos/books on the Holy Spirit, of men and women of faith who walked in the Spirit and lived in the Spirit. I have mentioned Kathryn Kuhlman and some other names in my previous blog, about teaching and testimonies on miracle healing. In addition, for the entire April, I was led to read and repeatedly watch Benny Hinn’s (and others’) ministries specifically on miracle healing, relationship with the Holy Spirit and entering into God’s presence. I copied down and checked through the many Bible verses quoted and explained. I meditated on them and asked the Holy Spirit to explain to me too.

The following are what I have received and believe in my own words.

The Holy Spirit is the One who delivers the healing to manifest in our body.

The Holy Spirit is the One. He is the Lord. It is the Spirit who gives life.

When the Holy Spirit moves, things change.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty from sickness.

The Holy Spirit is the One who change us to be more and more like Christ.

Without the work/power of the Holy Spirit, no healing can manifest/take place/be evident on the body. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The Father (God) sent the word and healed. The Son Jesus accomplished the Father’s healing order on the cross. The Holy Spirit delivers the healed manifestation to our body.

One powerful wakeup call that really makes me think hard is the statement that “when Jesus becomes more real than your disease, then you will get healed”. The key question is how real is Jesus to me? The Holy Spirit can bring me into the spiritual realm. When I am in the spiritual realm, Jesus becomes real to me. The emphasis is therefore to first seek God’s presence and not the healing. Be still. Wait upon the Lord is a bridge between the body and the spirit. This is how the Holy Spirit brings us into the spiritual realm:

Be still. “Be still and know that I am God.”

Wait upon the Lord. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”

Worship. In Spirit and in Truth.

When we do that we could experience these (quoted): have a melody in our heart, sway (a bit), become light (like a feather), spiritual tongues become precise, and Jesus becomes more real than life.

For me, It means having a close relationship with the Holy Spirit (like your closest One) with daily communion with Him, talking and asking Him as naturally as you do with your best forever friend. At the same time because He is God (the third Person in the triune God), we reverently respect and honor Him. Because he dwells in us (our body being His Temple), we live His life, joined to Him, listened to Him, submit to Him, be transformed by the renewal of our mind, living the good and perfect will of God. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, yield to Him, cooperate with Him, let Him do His work, He is able to put to death the deeds of the flesh/body (e.g. a tumor). He changes us into the glorious image of Christ (spotless/without blemish) -we being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Holy Spirit, you have the liberty to change me, bring my body into subjection, mortify the deeds of my body, so then I may become more and more like you.

Did I become a spiritual being through intensive fasting? The answer is no. We are born again to be spiritual and the Word and the Holy Spirit makes us spiritual. The fasting sharpens our sensitivity to spiritual matters, things about God. Fasting denies the body its usual attention as scheduled. Fasting breaks a vicious circle of bodily demand. I believe personally that something broke through in the spiritual realm when the body is subdued and is required to subject to the Lord Jesus, His Spirit, His name, His Word, His presence.

Some Bible verse to meditate upon:

Exodus 15:26, Psalm 107:20, Isaiah 11:2, Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 40:31, John 6:63, 2 Corinthians 3:6, John 3:5, 1 Peter 1:23, Romans 8:16, Galatians 4:4-5, Romans 8:15, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 8:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Romans 12:2, Romans 8:26, John 14:26.

kainotes, 2023-04-30

a spiritual continuum (sequel)

Dear friend, I woke one day realizing that by allowing the soul to continue to dominate in seemingly unimportant aspects of life, stagnated pools began to appear in the ever flowing river of spiritual walk.

You may ask why I bother to talk at length now about this spiritual issue? Does it really matter? After all we all live in a physical world, isn’t intellect more important to ensure a good physical and mental life?

My friend, this was what I once thought. Alas, the presumptuous thinking is wrong. Nothing is more important than the spiritual realm and the reality of the spiritual God’s relationship with a believer, who was born again by the Spirit of Christ and has become a spiritual being living in a natural world with a soul housed in a physical body.

According to the Bible I am really a spiritual beings having a soul (mind and emotion), living inside a body. I have the capacity to communicate with the spiritual God. It is already programmed in the born again spirit of mine. It is up to me to follow God’s manual (the Bible), as taught by the Holy Spirit, to access the spiritual connection, which in turn will develop my knowledge of God through a close communion-relationship with Him. The enabling of all this started with the Holy Spirit drawing me to Christ Jesus, on the day of my salvation. I was given a rebirth with a new spirit. I was given a new status of being a child of God. I was given a new position/ID as being in Christ. My new spirit is joined to the Lord, one spirit with Him.

I know all these through head knowledge, but I need to practice the walk in the Spirit, as that is the only route. During the last three months I encountered the spiritual God’s reality even more. The more I look at the physical realm out there, the more I am aware of the prompting of an urgency to be continually spiritual as a way of life. There is no option. No believer can opt out. Christians are born again to be supernaturally natural. Jesus said we are in the world but not of the world. If this is not important Jesus would not have said so in His prayer to the Father in His last prayer for His disciples before He went to the cross. (John 17:11, 16)

What is so great about being born again?

The main thing is we are born of God. We are born of His Spirit. We become a new creation. We can now call God Abba Father. We are now the citizens of the Kingdom of God. We are God’s children, co-heirs with Christ. We have the same Spirit with Jesus. Because God is our Father, we now have supernatural in our DNA! All that Jesus had done needed supernatural spiritual authority and power. Jesus said we can now do the things that He did and even bigger things.

Why do I suddenly become so adamant to point out this truth? Because, many believers may be at a cross road of decisions over urgent physical issues. We have been complacent in blissful oblivion of the spiritual reality for far too long resulting what Jesus had warned in John 10:10 about the spiritual thief coming to pass. We have each received a big “divine-preventive-care” check from our Father and never cashed it in. Now we are confronted with the real big issue and many of us do not know how to cash the check because we have never walked or have forgotten how to walk in the Spirit or live by the Spirit.

No, my friend, it is not too late to cash your check as long as it is still today. The Father is ever ready to help you. How do we exercise our supernatural nature through the spiritual gifts, as in school for the mind, and in gym for the body? That has been my journey all these years of living by the Spirit.

There are many different specialized training schools with different spiritual/supernatural practical gifting focuses and purposes. For example, divine healing, tongues and interpretations, working of signs and miracles, prophecy, visions and dreams, deliverance from oppressions, words of knowledge and words of wisdom, discerning of spirits, word and faith, and many others. However, the best teacher Jesus has recommended is the Holy Spirit Himself.

Recently I heard this important phrase,”progressive revelation”. I have long acknowledged that I could not have all the revelations even if I had attended all the Bible schools in the world. We all need the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us at each level in our walk with Him.

Because my Father is Spirit, spiritual things should be in my nature. There are many ways to commune with our Father in heaven and receive revelation. A friend reads the Bible, prays in tongue (all the time) and listens to the Father that way. I go to the attic and focus in the spirit (read the Bible, praise and worship, pray in tongue at length, and lately listen to Kenneth E Hagin’s leading his congregation in tongue), keep my mind focused on thinking of matters of God, mainly His words, and in the process the senses of my spirit would be sharpened and become more sensitive to God’s voice/words to me.

The manifestation spiritual gifts would appear in varying degrees.

Nine manifestation gifts are listed in I Corinthians 12:7–11:

Word of wisdom, Word of knowledge, Faith, Gifts of healing, Working of miracles, Prophecy, Discerning of spirits, Divers kinds of tongues, Interpretation of tongues.

Are they of any practical use when we are not in a front line ministry? Lately I have discovered that it is essential to practice them because we never know when the Lord needs to manifest them through us. An unsharpened axe is of no use when you need to cut down a tree. If your ax is dull and you don’t sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is wiser to plan ahead. (Ecclesiastes 10:10) For example, you cannot suddenly manifest a gift of healing if you have not been using it and seeing results. I am not saying there are no exceptions, and I also believe that each believer can manifest healing by faith in God’s words and promises. But often we see healing manifests when prayed for by regular users of that gift.

If all healings can be done by every believer then why is there a manifestation of a special healing gift to heal? Or a special gift of faith to heal? Or a special gift of working of miracles to heal? Let us not limit God and His works in us, no matter the ways through which the desired expectant results manifest. We can reach and heal more people when we do not limit God’s way.

The spiritual supernatural sharpening of our ability to tap into the spirit is essential. This is especially urgent and important as we note the coming to pass of God’s words, just as Jesus and His apostles had warned.

The apostle Paul advises believers our requirement to walk this life circumspectly, and the spiritual way to live.

Ephesians 5:15-21 (NKJV)

Walk in Wisdom

¹⁵ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Words from Jesus in the book of John to assure and encourage us of how we can have an assured close relationship with God through our union in the spirit:

John 1:16, 3:3, 3:5, 4:24, 6:40, 6:63, 7:38, 8:29, 14:1, 14:12, 14:20, 14:26, 15:5, 15:7, 16:13-15, 16:23, 16:33, 17:3, 17:23

The apostle Paul’s testimonies of a believer’s relationship with God and how God communes with them:

Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘for we are also His offspring.’

Acts 18:9-10 ⁹ Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

Acts 22:7, 8, 10, 18, 21, 26:14-18 The risen Jesus spoke to Paul on the way to Damascus, giving him his calling, and later in Jerusalem

Paul testified that the Gospel he received came direct from the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself. (Galatians 1:12) Total words written by Paul: 50,190 words Total words in the New Testament: 179,011 So Paul wrote 50190/179011 or 28% of the NT. Can you imagine the amount of time the Lord had spent with him, inspiring him what to write and how to write? Paul took about 14 years in preparation before he started preaching.

Paul’s writing revealed his deep knowledge of the Holy Spirit through a personal walk by the Spirit himself. One fact we know is that Paul prayed in tongue more than the whole Corinthians church combined! (1 Corinthians 14:18)! He knew how to work with the Holy Spirit, or rather, let the Spirit take charge!

In his letter to the Corinthians church, he said, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays” (1 Corinthians 14:14) He prayed in tongue to communicate with God, and in turn received in the supernatural from God, 14:2 ² “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. ⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself ⁵ I wish you all spoke with tongues¹⁵ What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”

For example, In Romans 8:1-26 alone we can find 21 mentions of the Holy Spirit, in these important doctrinal teachings about what the Holy Spirit who dwells in us accomplishes for us, and how we need to respond to the Spirit in our new life in Christ Jesus: The Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death, gives us life and peace, gives life to our mortal bodies (just as he raised Christ from the dead), bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, helps in our weaknesses, makes intersessions for us according to the will of God. We on our part need to: be led by the Spirit, walk according to the Spirit, live according to the Spirit by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit, by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

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Postscript: For those who are not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit, this is the time to get baptized now. The Pentecost Sunday will fall on 2022 June 5 this year.

A prayer to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit:

All you have to do is ask, believe, and receive! Pray, 

Father, I recognize my need for Your power to live this new life. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. By faith, I receive it right now! Thank You for baptizing me. Holy Spirit, You are welcome in my life.

Congratulations! The Lord promised that He would give the Holy Spirit to all who asked Him in faith (Luke 11:10-13). If you believe His promise, you’re filled with God’s supernatural power! 

kainotes, 2022-04-24

a spiritual continuum

How it all started:an awakening breakthrough in the spirit! (in 2009)

2009 confession: Today I made a terrible confession. “Head knowledge of the Bible was supreme to me. But, how wrong I had been.” “I had ignored the Holy Spirit completely and that means not knowing God the Spirit.” “My work in the church system was self and other humans-oriented and not God-focused. What worth were they? Not worth a penny. Not in God’s eyes.”

When I read Matthew 7:7, I realized that God indeed likes us to ask, seek and knock. The verse goes as follows:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

All we need to do is ask. If we do not know what to ask for, seek guidance from the Holy Spirit. If we do not know how to connect to the Holy Spirit, knock on the Bible door!

It has taken me a long time to reach this far.

Head knowledge of the Bible was supreme to me. But, how wrong I had been and how I had walked the wilderness path like the Israelites who did not know God in the Spirit, although they were chosen to be God’s people and were already in an organized religion.

I had ignored the Holy Spirit completely and that means not knowing God the Spirit. It also means that I had not really understood most, if not all, the Bible which I had read and re-read many times over the years. Worst of all, it means I did not really understand what Jesus taught about eternal life (which came through knowing God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit).

My work in the church system was self and other humans-oriented and not God-focused. What worth were they? Not worth a penny. Not in God’s eyes. Believe me, just read what Jesus said to the Ephesians’ Church. The Ephesians Christians were good at man-focus works, doing a lot of good labors. But Jesus reprimanded them for their not doing for the love of God. In fact they had lost their first love (of God) and still continued to do well in man’s eyes! Of course the Ephesians found this shocking. They thought they loved God. But did they? How deceptive works and results of apparent success can be.

How do we know God? God is Spirit. We can only know God through the spirit. Jesus promised in Luke 11:13, “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Yes, ask. This is the way to proceed forward.

My application: This morning I got up early and read psalms 11-20. Psalm 16 is a real comfort! I shall continue to ask, seek and knock on God’s door in the spirit, through reading and meditating on His words and praying in my spirit. Forget about serving Him unless I am clear it is a call in the spirit. I am learning to read the words to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to my spirit.

 “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” (Ps. 16:9)

P/s: By faith, I have recently learned to read chunks of the Bible in one sitting daily. Just read them. The words come alive. They speak and work wonders into me. Trust Jesus. He said His words are spirit. They are life.

15 March 2009 (pm)

Kainotes, 2021-07-13 (excerpted and unedited from the original posted on 2009-07-20). Of course at that time I was awakening in the spirit, and started to realize the reality of the spiritual realm of God and what the Bible really reveals.