A few weeks ago I started reading a book that is changing my way of seeing the spiritual life, the name of the book is Steps to personal revival ‘Steps to a personal revival’, which speaks exclusively of the Holy Spirit.
It is worrying that in a deafening world we can not hear, clearly, the sweet and peaceful voice of the Holy Spirit.
When I came to chapter II of the book I came across a lesson that I had not studied in my daily Bible study and I would like to talk about that. You already asked yourself, why does Jesus call the church members «lukewarm»? What does this have to do with the closeness of Christians to God?
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The perpetual Word
When I was a child I remember seeing many times the picture of Jesus dressed in white touching the door of a house. An illustration of (Revelation 3:20). That picture made me wonder if I was really letting Jesus into my house or leaving it outside. Or maybe from the inside he would say, «Come in, it’s open,» but it was not something I really wanted to do. The book Steps to Personal Revival reminded me that Jesus respects my free will, does not force me to be with him. That left me pensive, sad and I asked Jesus for forgiveness for not opening the door of my heart many times and for having left it «outside with cold».
Some years ago I was thinking more seriously about the message of Laodicea’s message of Revelation 3: 14-22, when it says: (vs15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot! (vs 16) But because you’re warm, and not cold or hot, I’ll spit you out of my mouth. I am worried that as a church we are living that collective scenario. Could it be that Jesus is not being the center of our lives? Because if the world is occupying that center obviously we will be carnal that is a consequence of a «lukewarm» Christian life, because it is simple, we can not serve two masters at the same time.
Of course, everyone knows their current situation. We easily show if we are warm, hot or cold, how? Through our daily actions, our interpersonal relationships. Think about it, how do you react when a car overtakes you and gives you no signal on the road or in heavy traffic? Or how do you respond to a common and current problem? What are your words? You are patient? As the saying goes: you can not cover the sun with a finger; So if you react badly or do not control yourself, the people around you will know if Christ is the center of your life. In the end the light that is on a hill can not be hidden.
However, what is the background behind the bad deeds of who claims to be a Christian? That is, follower of Christ … something is missing, right? Yes, the Spirit of Christ. Because the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Galatians 5: 22,23).
The secret
Have you tried to lose the baptism of the Spirit daily?
When our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven He promised to give us His Holy Spirit (John 14:16), it is a promise that is latent and that we can claim daily.
My wish is that one day not too far away we will live the Pentecost that was lived in the time of the apostles (Acts 2). Today it seems impossible to live it again, but we will live it with greater intensity.
nterestingly, when we enter the baptismal tank we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but the pastor or elder does not say forever. When dying to the Self and living for Christ, it is necessary that we live in harmony with what we have accepted, the Holy Spirit. He is a person of the trinity, he is our friend, he is the Spirit of Christ, the one who leads us on the path of eternal life.
The book gives an example: «A person can be a committed church member, a church leader, pastor or diligent president and have a warm relationship with Christ. The person is so dedicated to completing numerous tasks that he neglects his personal relationship with Christ. That is the warmth that Jesus wants to take away! »
Read below. This is the scenario that the Bible shows. Find yourself.
There are three groups of Christians:
The natural man, who has no relationship with God. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The spiritual man has a true and real relationship with God. (1 Corinthians 2: 15-16)
The carnal man, who lives a divided or feigned relationship with Christ. (1 Corinthians 3: 1-4)
The saddest drama of a carnal Christian who remained lukewarm in his Christian experience, would be to have deceived himself all his life, saying that he was a follower of Christ, and when the day of judgment comes he will not be saved.
If you discovered that you are a carnal Christian, there is a way to change your situation, tirelessly asking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in your life.
