Greetings,
Today I am writing from kind of the middle of nowhere. I am out on a hunt and have managed to find a phone connection to be sure to blog to all you wonderful folks. No success in the hunting field yet, but hoping to find my groceries later today.
When I first came to Jesus more than 45 years ago I had an issue that I battled with. It was an issue in my heart and it caused me to do things that were not right. Human beings were not telling me to stop my behavior, but I knew I needed a miracle change. The Holy Spirit started convicting me. I knew that what I was doing was not good. This is a healthy environment to have, where Holy Spirit convicts and not humans condemning. Holy Spirit doesn’t condemn, He convicts. That is His job, not ours. During that time, I heard a testimony from a pastor, He said, I used to smoke a lot, and I knew that God wanted me to quit. Now, I don’t think if you smoke you will go to hell. If hell smells smoky you might smell like hell, I don’t know. It has been proven that smoking tobacco can cause cancer. So, smoking could send you to heaven quicker if you are a believer. It is not an eternal damnation, it just might be a shortcut to heaven. But, If God tells you to do or not do something, listening to His voice is more important than reasoning whether something is heathy or not, or even wright or wrong. This pastor said, I used to smoke, and God told me to quit. So, I quit, but then I would start again. I would cry, O Jesus, forgive me. I am smoking again, and I don’t want to do this. He said, he would go a little while and do the same thing again. He said this went on for many years. One day he smoked, and he cried, God I am sorry I don’t want to do this anymore please forgive me. Holy Spirit said to him, liar! You do want to do this. That is why you do it. He said, You’re right God. I love smoking! I would make smoking sandwiches if I could. I would smoke all day long if I could. I want to smoke! I desire to smoke, but God, I know You don’t want me to do this. Would you change my desire? Change my heart, God. When I heard his testimony, I went before God with my problem that night and I confessed my sin. I said, God I love doing this! I would make sandwiches out of it if I could! But I know You don’t want me to do this. Please don’t tell me what to do. I need you to go deeper. I need You to give me the desires of my heart. Give me desire to not do this. Change my heart God! That was more than forty-four years ago. I was addicted to this problem and not one time in forty-four years have I had a problem in that area, because that night God changed my heart. It was a miracle! That night my heart grew, and God put a desire in me to not desire to repeat my error of sin. This is not a method. It is a place of relationship. If you make it a method, you will miss the point. God wants our hearts and He is willing to give us new hearts when we ask.
Since that day I have adopted a value that has become a way of life for me. I don’t want God to tell me what to do. I want Him to give me the right desires in my heart. I don’t want Him to be Lord of my ‘what to’ in life. I want Him to be Lord of my ‘want to’. I am good at doing what I want to do and when God changes my desires things become real in my life.
We have to lead people into desires and not laws. We are human beings and we are good at doing what we want to do. We are terrible at doing what we are told. Why? We are not dogs, horses, donkeys or any other beast. We are not meant to be slaves, robots, or some object of bondage. If we are put into slavery we will rebel at some point. Why? We are human beings. We were created in the likeness and image of a passionate and creative God. Our Father is both passionate and creative. We are sons and daughters of God. We should be the most passionate, the most creative, the most passion filled creations anywhere. But we need God’s desires.
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
We must lead people into the place where they allow God to give them His desires. We lose our lives, but we don’t really lose them. When we lay our lives down down, we actually find them. In Christ we can pick our lives up. God changes our hearts and He writes His desires upon our hearts and minds. Life is the victory over every sin. It is way to victory over every bondage.
We are called to lead people into the place of desire. For me it was a testimony where the Holy Spirit convicted me and a miracle of God happened in me. No one did it for me, Christ in me is the hope of glory. Those people who just came to the church community, their only hope is Christ in them. They don’t need less desires, they need more desires that are life-giving desires. We give God our hearts and we set an example where anyone can by led by the desires of God put within them.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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