Knowing God. Taste and See

 I love cappuccino coffee. When I go out, I love to try a different café and taste the coffee. I have found there is good coffee, bad coffee and wonderfully delicious coffee. Sometimes I go to the same café on different days and I find delicious coffee on one day and ordinary coffee on a different day.

I talked about it to a café proprietor I know, and she explained it this way. It depends on who serves you. If a person who does not love coffee serves you, the coffee is not likely to be good. 

What is the message here? If you want to bring people to God, you must learn to love the taste of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be a good cook if you don’t enjoy your own food.

Christian service can become an end in itself. You can work hard at being a good Christian but in fact you are trying to conform to human ideas of being a good Christian. 

So often we can copy church leaders or copy one another, or be ruled by rigid ideas of Christian duty and morality.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught something quite different. He called his disciples to follow him personally, to be with him, to know him, to enjoy his company.

I find that I can also fall into this trap. I get consumed with doing good things for God, but I spend less time enjoying His company. I get spiritually and emotionally dry.

Jesus said:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Jn 10:27–28 NKJV

I can read my bible and feel the touch of God in my heart or I can just read the Bible. I can pray and tell God what I think or need, or I can tell God what I think he wants to hear, or I can ask God what He wants to tell me and expect Him to answer.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Ps 34:6–8 NKJV

Taste and see ….

God wants you to Experience the Holy Spirit

Perhaps you are striving to live uprightly and correctly and to make God's truth known. This is good, but the people around you will only recognise God's truth if they see and feel God's grace and love in you.

You can live virtuously and speak of God's grace and love, but if you don't experience and enjoy God's love, others will only hear religious talk.

Some may respect your virtue, but it will not awaken a longing for God's love in their hearts.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jn 7:37–39 NIV

You can only pass on what you have received. If you have only received beliefs, you can only pass on beliefs.

Unfortunately, there are many in some churches who are satisfied with beliefs, but people in the world are not interested in beliefs at all. Many hunger and thirst for a reality that they can experience.

God did not send his eternal, infinitely loved Son into the world just to establish a religion. Do you want to experience God like the Lord's first disciples? Why not?

We already find models for our faith in the Old Testament.

Before the fall of man, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden.

Then we see Enoch.

Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Gen 5:23–24 NIV

This man was certainly a hero of faith in a Bible story, but what does this have to do with us, ordinary Christians?

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jn 7:38–39 NIV

This is how Jesus describes his intention for ordinary Christians, for us. How can this be anything other than an overwhelming blessing? If we don't experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit as a dramatic visitation, something has gone tragically wrong.

But for many Christians, being filled with the Holy Spirit is just a dry doctrine. That can't be!

Then we see Abraham.

To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. Acts 7:2 NIV

Abraham knew no doctrines. He experienced a visitation of God's glory. When he believed and obeyed God, the world changed for ever.

We must not throw away the doctrines in the Bible and seek only experiences.

But so many cling tightly to commandments and Bible texts and are afraid of visitations from God himself. This is a tragic mistake.

If you want to cling to biblical commandments, then you should take this Bible verse seriously.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:18 NIV

Many Christians think this means they should never have a glass of wine, and they don't drink, but they ignore the second part.

Drunkenness is a dramatic experience that has negative after-effects, but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, it should also be a dramatic experience, but with heavenly effects.

God wants to overwhelm you with all kinds of blessings because He loves you immensely and to bless those around you through your life.

Knowing God Personally

 If we believe in Jesus, we are forgiven and saved from eternal death.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 ESV

What is this faith by which we are saved? Many are baptised as babies, but they do not know what has happened.

Some are baptised as adults, but there is no trace of brotherly love and mercy in their lives afterwards. Some become loving people, but others become merely religious and self-righteous.

‘everyone who lives and believes in me.’ Jesus speaks of an enduring life that is determined and characterised by faith.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jn 8:31–32 NRSV

What does ‘continue in my word’ mean?

You should read the Bible every day? A good idea, but is that what Jesus meant?
Keeping God's commandments? Also good. We must not disobey God's commandments.

Jesus taught the Bible very differently from the pious Jews of his time.

Jesus was one hundred per cent a Bible man, but he spoke of something different, of a living relationship with himself.

Jesus rebuked the pious Bible experts who listened to him.

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.
Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Jn 5:39–40 NRSV

What did Jesus mean when he told the Jews to remain in his word?

They should live as Jesus himself taught. It is not enough to agree with biblical truth. We must put Jesus' teachings into practice every day.

But how can we love our enemies? Not just be nice to difficult people, not just pray for the conversion of sinners, but really be touched by the love of God for evil people?

We must take the teachings of Jesus seriously, but that is not enough.

When Jesus called his disciples to follow him before the cross, it was both a command and an invitation to live in personal communion with him. Peter and Andrew had to leave their fishing boat behind. Matthew had to give up his business.

Back then, Jesus was a travelling preacher. Following him often meant travelling with him.

Even today, there are newly converted Christians who have to leave their job or their home, but many should stay where they are.

What does discipleship mean today?

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Rom 8:14 NRSV

We do not have visible fellowship with Jesus today, but we do have God's invitation to experience fellowship with his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a theological concept, but a loving person, a person who loves you like Jesus himself.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NIV

We can only live the way Jesus wants us to live if we allow ourselves to be changed inwardly by the love of God. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to bring about this inner healing.

Wonderful Experiences with God

 The Hebrews were afraid of God's direct presence.

And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” Ex 20:19 NLT

Should we look down on the Hebrews of that time? Not at all.

Many Christians today want to have a dry faith, clinging to the written Word of God but wanting nothing to do with dramatic supernatural experiences.

We read the Psalms of David, and we see a very different attitude.

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Ps 63:1 NRSV

How precious is your favour, O God, that the children of men find refuge under the shadow of your wings!

They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. Ps 36:8 NRSV

It is good and important for your thoughts to be in line with God's Word, but did God save you so that you would be right in everything, or to experience his holy and tender love?

Many Christians theoretically believe in the bliss and joy of God's presence, but they only expect it after their death. David did not think so, nor did Paul.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gal 5:22 NASB95

So many Christians suffer anxiety and stress. The overwhelming experience of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful blessing that God wants to give you.

The HOLY SPIRIT Can Change YOUR Life

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; Luke 4:18 (NKJV) 

Jesus grew up in Nazareth as an apparently ordinary Jewish boy. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from His mother’s womb but the Holy Spirit did not come upon Him and rest upon Him until He was baptised in the River Jordan.

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Mark 1:9-11 (NKJV) 

This was the anointing of Jesus for the preaching ministry and this is what He was telling the people of His hometown in Nazareth. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Jesus made Him different, empowered and commissioned by the Father to change lives in a way the Nazarenes had not seen before Jesus became a preacher. 
This was not just to identify Jesus as the unique Son of God but also to set an example for us all to follow.

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' John 1:32-33 (NKJV) 

When you trust in Jesus and you are born again, the Holy Spirit comes to make His home in you, just as He did in Jesus from before His birth. But when Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, His Spirit comes upon you and changes you for a purpose, to reach out and change lives around you with the power of God and the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.  And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:17-18 (NKJV)

Are the Charismatic Gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary for salvation? Yes and no. You can be saved without speaking in tongues but gifts like healing and prophecy can be the evidence which convinces many others of the reality of God and lead them to salvation.

If we use the divine gifts with a heart of love, we can continue the mission of Jesus which He described in these words.

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;