Christian Pilgrims Fellowship

Blog | Pointers for the moment

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Proverbs 4:23 says, 'Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flows the springs of life'. 

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It is no coincidence that the Lord referred to the heart as the source of everything that the mouth speaks. The Lord says in Mathew 12:34: 'mouth speaks out that which fills the heart'. St Paul and St James refers to the the same in Ephesians 5:18-20 and James 1:26; 3:11 respectively. It is such a serious matter to preserve the heart pure for it is thus we can see God (Mathew 5:8). It can be kept pure only through the daily infilling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5: 18, John 7:38 and John 4:14 all point to the same conclusion! 

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Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander (gossip), malice, coarse jesting, silly talk, filthy talk, unwholesome word (Eph 4: 29, 31, 32; 5:4) is all symptom of a sick (impure) heart that would not see God and inevitably face eternal death. 

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May the Spirit find a cleansed heart to fill and fill to the brim and let the mouth overflow with thankfulness (instead of grumbling, discontentment, complaining), psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (instead of gossip and blood shed of torn reputations from gossip), singing and making melody with MY HEART to the Lord (Eph 5:18-20) for, that IS Eternal Life (John 17:3; Phil 3:8).

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Ephesians 5:19 also speaks about 'making melody to my Lord WITH MY HEART! What a deep love that is that produces such harmony from deep within!! Only possible in a love-relationship that is characteristic of a covenant relationship the grows out of KNOWING God and GOD knowing me (Song of Solomon 2:16 versus 6:3). 

Solomon knew this in theory long before. But we can have it for real, In HIM (Eph 1:4) and we can be a blessing to many!

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Older entries.

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From a recent read of a book by Zac Poonen (The Day of Small Beginnings, Ch 7, pp. 19, 3rd Ed, 2014, c Zac Poonen):

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'In early 1963 I was posted in the Naval Base at Cochin. I had been studying the Word seriously for more than two years and had developed a fairly good knowledge of it - good enough to be able to preach at meetings in the church. But I found a great lack of power in my ministry. In the church I attended, we studied the Bible, but it was like studying a history book - all intellectual! The messages I heard in the church-meetings too were heavy and boring, lacking the freshness and fire of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told the Sadducees once that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29). In my case, I knew the Scriptures - to some extent - but I certainly did not know the power of God. Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power only when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 8). But I discovered that different Christian churches taught differently on this subject. Some taught that every born-again Christian was automatically baptized in the Spirit at new birth whether he realized it or not. Others taught that one had to seek the Lord specifically for the baptism in the Spirit after being born again. I was confused. But I saw that Jesus Himself was anointed with the Spirit before He began His ministry (Acts 10:38). Then how much more I needed this! Jesus also said that everyone who believed in Him could have rivers of living water flowing out from him. But I found only a trickle flowing out from me. I realized that I was missing something. And so I decided to seek God for His power, without getting bogged down in a theological argument about the Holy Spirit. I wanted the rivers.

I visited a group of assemblies that emphasized the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to see if they could help me. They were very zealous, but I was disappointed with much that I saw in their midst. There was a lot of noise and emotionalism, but hardly any emphasis on victory over sin or Christlikeness of character (which is what the Holy Spirit came to give us primarily). Many of their pastors also seemed to be great lovers of money! One pastor asked me to keep on repeating the word "Hallelujah" if I wanted to be baptized in the Spirit! I refused to do that, since I knew that that was not the way the apostles received the baptism in the Spirit. All this was certainly not the fullness of the Spirit that I was looking for. But the counterfeit only proved to me that the genuine article must be valuable - for people make counterfeits only of valuable articles! I told God that I did NOT want what I saw in those groups, but I did want the genuine baptism in the Holy Spirit that the apostles received on the day of Pentecost. And I cried out to God every day for that.

I saw from the Scriptures that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit when He chose to be baptized in water which symbolized His choosing the way of death to the Self-life. The Lord showed me then that the Spirit-filled life was closely connected with the way of the cross. He told me that if I chose the way of the cross at all times, I would have His power upon me always too.

God filled me with His Spirit at that time. There was no physical manifestation. But I found a freshness, a liberty and a boldness in my ministry thereafter. I began to experience the gift of prophesying - to edify and encourage and challenge others (1 Corinthians 14:3). I loved Jesus more fervently and I longed to serve Him wholeheartedly. The way of the cross became precious to me. And I had a burning passion to bring others to Christ. I did not speak in tongues at that time. That came 11 years later.

What I experienced then was only a beginning. Since then I have had to be filled with the Spirit again and again and again. (We read in Acts of three times when Peter was filled with the Spirit.) A cup, a well and a river can all be full. Yet the capacity of each is different. As our capacity grows, we need to be re-filled. My capacity at that time was only that of a cup - but it was full and running over! It would grow into a river in later years' 

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