Don’t take any chances…they are too dangerous!

Harold Abrahams in chariots of fire, after losing his first race is brooding. His girlfriend tries to comfort him. She tries to point out it was one race, and he lost. He shoots back, “I don’t run to lose, I run to win, if I can’t win, I won’t run!” She shoots back, “If you don’t run, you can’t win!” 

You know folks; if we would just listen a little better when we watch movies we might be astounded at some of the great statements that are made. This was a movie about two runners, that’s all, but this statement is a profound truth about life.

Pardon my title…it is sarcastic. Obviously I believe in taking chances. Life is a risk, and if you are not willing to take chances, you will never experience living! I am not talking about gambling or trusting fate. That is careless and checking your brain at the door! Taking a risk involves evaluating all possible known outcomes, counting the cost and most importantly, having a justifiable reason for the risk.

This includes things that are not important to the world, but maybe just to you. Let me illustrate with an example that I will NEVER participate in. Sky diving. 

If you jump out of a plane not knowing what you are doing, hoping the bed sheet your holding will work…you are gambling and will lose the bet! However, if for the joy and thrill it offers, you take time to learn, understand and accept the possible outcomes, if you skydive it is a risk, that is worth it to you. For many things in life that is the process, and when it is done in a reasonable way you don’t have people experiencing tragedies like you do when dare devils just do it on the moment to be daring…hoping all will work out. 

Risk taking is a MUST for the important issues of life, not just for leisure, sport or hobby. Throughout the Scriptures those that were willing to take even a little risk, God blessed in ways they never thought He would. Just turn to Hebrews 11 and you will see a long list of risk takers.  

Of all the folks in the world, we should be the most confident to take risks! Why? We know the Person that knows all the possible out comes and we can actually seek guidance from Him as part of our decision making process. Whenever we decide to step out of our comfort zone and take a risk for the Lord – we will be surprised by what He does!

I felt led by the Lord to challenge all of you to not be afraid to take a risk when trying to glorify the Lord. No matter how small the risk may be, He can make it reap so much more than you think.

I want to encourage all of you to take whatever you have and risk it for the Lord. Remember the little the disciples had, and how the Lord used it?

Matthew 14:15–21 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered. “Bring them here,” he said. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!

Today, I saw how God took a small risk I chose to take and has blessed it more than I could have imagined. I joined Face Book in January of 2009, and decided I would mainly use it only to encourage people to get deeper into the Word of God! I began by just posting one verse and sharing a few lines of thought. The Lord prompted me to do more. I knew my time was so limited, but decided to take the risk and begin investing the time to write complete Devotionals.

In September of 2010 I posted my first Blog Devo. People could go to two sites to read it. Since then one site disallowed my Devotional, so now the one site is where people go. Before the other site took my Devotionals down, I copied how many reads I had. I wanted to see how the Lord was using it. Today I placed my latest data on my spreadsheet, and I want you to see how God has used just a little risk of time I took to glorify Himself.  

Consider, I am a nobody, just putting a Devotional blog out there. I have written 625 Devotionals…and today I passed 300,000 reads! I realize that is nothing compared to what well known people get...but I'm a nobody! Today the total was 300,961! Then I tracked where these Devotionals are being read, It blew me away!

Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand , Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zimbabwe

This Scripture is so true!

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Every little risk we take for the Lord, He will maximize. Whatever little I have accomplished in my life, for me to know that God took those Scriptures I shared and led thousands of people from so many countries…even some where the Bible is outlawed…to read and learn from His Book, I will never let the enemy make me feel that my life did not impact anyone.

Stop being afraid, take a risk for God and watch what He will do with it!

What happens if the Holy Spirit leaves me?

Judges 14:5-6 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

As we return to story of Samson we encounter a statement in verse 6 that deserves our attention so that we can understand the ministry of the 3^rd person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.

It is amazing to witness the incredible strengths of Samson, which we will deal with in more detail as we go into this story, however, take a moment to pause and if you’ve seen any video of lions in the wild or if you’ve ever been to the zoo, that allows you a close-up view of a lion, it is hard to imagine how a man could tear an animal of that power and size the way that Samson did! Why Samson did not tell his mother and father is not stated, so we will not try to answer that.

We do encounter a statement in verse 6 that would be good for us to discuss; “the spirit of the Lord came upon him.” This is the term that is used in the Old Testament to describe the interaction between the Old Testament saint and the Holy Spirit of God. It is different from the ministry and interaction Holy Spirit has with believers during the Church age. When the Holy Spirit would come upon a person the outcome would look the same as when the Holy Spirit “fills” a New Testament believer.  Basically the Holy Spirit takes control of the person and will do through them what the desire of God is. This can be anything from, as in this case, physical power to boldness in speech or willpower to resist temptation.  The difference between what happens to the Old Testament believer and to the believer today is that the Holy Spirit will not depart from a believer today; in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit could come upon and then leave at His will.

It is important that we have a thorough understanding of the wonderful blessing of the ministry of the Holy Spirit for all believers in this age. The Old Testament saint was at a great disadvantage in comparison to the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. The Old Testament saint could experience the departure of the Holy Spirit and would be left again at the mercy of the flesh. This is why David prayed the way he did in Psalm 51:

Psalm 51:10–11 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

The New Testament believer never has to fear that experience; so as you can see, my title was a deliberate ploy to get you to read. I did that because after 4 decades of ministry, I have been astounded at the number of children of God that still believe they can lose their connection to the Holy Spirit as far as relationship is concerned.  At the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit becomes one with that individual forever. The works of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life are multi-faceted and they are worth looking at them again.

At the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit is:

The Regenerator - God Creates A New Nature in you

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit

2 Pet. 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

God does not try and rework the old nature; He just discards it because it was crucified with Christ. This does not mean it is eradicated, what it means is that the old nature no longer has the right to rule you. You can yield to its control, but it no longer can command you.

The “Baptizer” – Places you into the Body of Christ

1 Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The original word simply means to place into, immerse or dip. Some have tried to make this word mean a special enduing of power. It does not mean that, nor is this a work that happens as a “second blessing” accompanied by some special sign. This is a simple but essential work. The Holy Spirit places each believer into the Body of Christ with spiritual gifts given to them individuality to use for the glory of God and the edifying of the Body of Christ.

The “Sealer” - Marked With Ownership

Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

We belong to God and the Holy Spirit is our seal of ownership. No power, no demonic being…nothing can touch us without having the permission from God first.

The “Adopter” - Placed in the Family of God

Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

We have been made a part of the family of God and are joint heirs with Christ. No longer spiritually orphaned!

The last two works are empowerments.

As the “Indweller” He Abides “IN” You forever – He empowers you to have the ability to choose to live the Christian Life.

1 Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

This work is all His, this gives every believer the ability to experience a victorious spiritual life; it does not guarantee it.

Remember we never had free will. That was lost in the garden. Adam had free will; but after the fall all humans are born with a nature that loves to sin. So free will does not exist, our will is effected by our fallen nature and desires to sin.

However, there is free choice, though before salvation it is limited. Before salvation we were “slaves to sin. Sin was our master and we most often obeyed it.

Romans 6:12–14 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Yet, we still had enough free choice to make a decision to seek for truth, and when we find it, decide how to react to it. If we choose Christ our freedom of choices expands greatly.

Now that the Holy Spirit has indwelt you, you can choose to obey the new nature He placed in you at regeneration.

This is where the last and continuous work of the Holy Spirit takes place.

He is the “Filler” and desires to control you and lead you to live righteous and obediently toward the Lord.

Just for fun when you think of the Holy Spirit filling you, how would you finish this sentence?

"It Is Not A Matter Of Me Getting More Of The Holy Spirit, 

But ____________________________________!

What does it mean to be filled?

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit

Consider what the difference is between being Drunk vs. being Filled.

When you are drunk it means you have an over abundance of alcohol in you. The outcome is the alcohol controls you.

When you are Filled, you do not get more of the Spirit, He gets more of you! The outcome is the Spirit controls you.

Difference:

Drunk – You get more of the alcohol in you.

Filled – The Holy Spirit is allowed to get more of you.

Each time you choose to obey God you are yielding to the Spirit’s control.

Each time you choose to yield your thoughts to God you are yielding to the Spirit’s control.

This is a constant battle – it is NEVER settled once and for all, we must yield Daily

Galatians 5:16–17 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Filling happens when you simply yield yourself to God – your future plans, your ego, your desires. The more you give in to Him the deeper you will experience His presence.

Romans 8:7-8 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

Complete The Sentence; "It Is Not A Matter Of Me Getting More Of The Spirit, But Of Him Getting More Of Me!"

The outcome is Christ likeness and is expressed in the Fruit of the Spirit.

Have you thanked God the father and God the Son for sending the Spirit of God to indwell you? Are you now allowing Him to control you? If not, why? What should you do about that?