Santiago, I have thought about the discussion I was involved in a few days ago, and I have come up with a few points to ponder. I hope you will receive this in the spirit it is being sent. No matter how we try to perceive God, he is still God and we are not. We must forever remember that the original, and still primary sin was to try to become like God in terms of knowledge and understanding. We are to know God, but we can never fully know about him. We are to take on his character, but we cannot approach his majesty. This is both exciting and frustrating. But the promise remains that one day we will be like him and see him as he is. And I feel that there is a great need for the Holy Spirit in the Christian community to let us understand many of these things on a spiritual level. I know that many people tend to shy away from even talking about "Being filled with the Holy Ghost". The fear of this can cause people to shudder with thoughts of chaos and disorder, not only in the church, but also in daily life. We've all heard stories of "Holy Rollers" freaking out, and not too many people would want to be associated with this stereotype. We have enough stereotypes to deal with as it is, as Christians. But, as I'm sure you are aware, the fruit of the Spirit is love,joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness and temperance.(Galatians 5:22-23) Going nuts and acting like a lunatic is the opposite of this, in my opinion. I think there is a ""Great" need to clarify this. I believe many Christians are missing out on much of what the Lord has for us because of this unfounded fear. I think it's spelled out pretty well in the Word. What would you suggest?
Lew |
