Saturday, September 6, 2008

Coming to Faith in the Christ in Me.

8:00 PM by Christi Bowman

God is good...and He doesn't leave a serious question unanswered for very long.

I have struggled for a while with the huge gap that has only been growing bigger between myself and the church. Some people believe in the Holy Spirit and the gifts imparted to them when they receive him...still, those people look a lot like the people in churches without the Holy Spirit...and that should not be. I see people who struggle in churches. They claim God as their own, but there is no rest for them. I have been in places of no rest. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God saves TODAY from present circumstances and gives hope. I see a glimmer of that hope in their eye as they leave after we talk...only to see them again days later with that same hope replaced by despair. I have sat across from them thinking "I can't make it happen for you...I can't call down heaven for you". I have wondered why. Why is it different for them? Why wont He come for them? Why didn't He come for me until now? When is it their time? What else do they have to suffer through? Will He ever reveal Himself to them?

He answered all those questions and then some with John 20:21-23:

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Like I said in my last post, the kind of faith that I hear is required of me in these verses will take some time. He does come to them, in our flesh...the more we become Him by the power given to us by the Holy Spirit.

I am going to stop here...and let this passage resonate with your spirit...I think we all need to wrestle with these verses, and decide if we are willing to accept who we are and what we were created to be.

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