The Real Deal
By Alexandra Copeland
Sometimes, we can be so focused on
memorizing God’s Word that we neglect the privilege of
getting to know the Holy Spirit through it. We know from
John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its
sin, but I would venture to say that what’s most important
to us at this critical juncture in time, is that he, the indwelling Holy Spirit, better
acquaints us with the person of Jesus Christ. God speaks to
us through His Word. As we read it, something spiritual
happens externally and internally because of the Spirit's work. This should bring an
incredible amount of enthusiasm and hope into our lives.
Externally
The things that are happening around us are beyond the scope of what our great grandparents could ever have imagined; and this is true of both positively and negatively. On the negative side, the devil is busy, and his tactics of evil seem even more dark. And on the positive side, God is doing some amazing things within the body of Christ, and people are beginning to expand their vision of what can be achieved through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts 2:17(NLT) tells us, “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.” We are witnessing this amazing prophecy come to pass before our very eyes.
The things that are happening around us are beyond the scope of what our great grandparents could ever have imagined; and this is true of both positively and negatively. On the negative side, the devil is busy, and his tactics of evil seem even more dark. And on the positive side, God is doing some amazing things within the body of Christ, and people are beginning to expand their vision of what can be achieved through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts 2:17(NLT) tells us, “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.” We are witnessing this amazing prophecy come to pass before our very eyes.
Internally
It’s no secret that the pace of life feels as if its accelerating, and if it’s happening externally, then we have to know that it should be happening internally as well. 2 Peter 3:18 encourages us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we read about Jesus Christ in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit does the work internally that helps us to grow in Christ. Years ago, I witnessed the good news of Christ to a man that was notoriously mean and stubborn. As a young believer, full of both the Holy Spirit and naivete, I was gung-ho to be the conduit for his transformation. I thought I had all the answers, but quickly found myself stumped by his responses. At the end of our discussion, he told me that he didn’t need to read the bible or need anything from me, because God tells him everything he needs to know.
It’s no secret that the pace of life feels as if its accelerating, and if it’s happening externally, then we have to know that it should be happening internally as well. 2 Peter 3:18 encourages us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we read about Jesus Christ in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit does the work internally that helps us to grow in Christ. Years ago, I witnessed the good news of Christ to a man that was notoriously mean and stubborn. As a young believer, full of both the Holy Spirit and naivete, I was gung-ho to be the conduit for his transformation. I thought I had all the answers, but quickly found myself stumped by his responses. At the end of our discussion, he told me that he didn’t need to read the bible or need anything from me, because God tells him everything he needs to know.
I learned valuable lessons from this
witness session that are still teaching me today. The first
thing solidified for me was how important it is to let the
Spirit teach us. The indwelling Holy Spirit knows our past,
present, and future. He knows the lessons we need to learn;
and when it comes to putting on the example of Christ, he
also knows our weakest areas. He knows the future situations
that will cause us great distress. If we’ll allow ourselves
to be guided by him, he will help to strengthen us today for
what lies ahead.
Teachable, or Not
I also learned the invaluable quality of being teachable. To be teachable is to exhibit the kind of humility that pleases God. To be unteachable is the equivalent of arrogance and inflexibility. Both are the underlying messages we send when we don’t feed our minds, hearts, and souls an ample diet of God’s Word. In my case, I was doing what I saw other Christians my age doing, but I wasn’t truly pursuing a relationship with God through the Spirit. I prayed, but I didn’t anticipate a dialogue. I studied, but didn’t expect a spiritual deposit, and therefore didn’t acknowledge receipt of one. It isn’t enough to identify ourselves as ‘Christian’, we have to believe fully in our spiritual transformation and trust in the workings that are going on within our very beings every moment of each day. To lose sight of this is to forget why we’re here on this earth. Our mission to become more like Christ and to continue what he started in the earth.
I also learned the invaluable quality of being teachable. To be teachable is to exhibit the kind of humility that pleases God. To be unteachable is the equivalent of arrogance and inflexibility. Both are the underlying messages we send when we don’t feed our minds, hearts, and souls an ample diet of God’s Word. In my case, I was doing what I saw other Christians my age doing, but I wasn’t truly pursuing a relationship with God through the Spirit. I prayed, but I didn’t anticipate a dialogue. I studied, but didn’t expect a spiritual deposit, and therefore didn’t acknowledge receipt of one. It isn’t enough to identify ourselves as ‘Christian’, we have to believe fully in our spiritual transformation and trust in the workings that are going on within our very beings every moment of each day. To lose sight of this is to forget why we’re here on this earth. Our mission to become more like Christ and to continue what he started in the earth.
It is very easy to become enthralled
with what is happening on the world stage, and to feast off
of stuff that isn’t real, like celebrity, fame, fashion,
monetary wealth, and ego. As God’s children, we can’t afford
to take our eyes off the prize. We must remember that the
real deal is the life that we live every day through our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; it’s the relationships with
our family, friends,
communities, and most importantly, with
God. This is what is real, and the enemy does his best to
keep us distracted, so that we’re too busy and preoccupied
to pay attention to what really makes us thrive.
God has laid out the real contest in
His Word. In Ephesians 6:12 (NLT), Heavenly Father tells us,
“For we are not
fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil
rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty
powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the
heavenly places.” The real contest is the
spiritual battle that the devil is waging against our souls.
Like he did with Adam and Eve, he wants to disrupt our
relationship with God and to steal our souls. Being wise to
what he’s doing is a must for us.
In Mark 16:15(NLT), Jesus Christ
commanded the disciples,
“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” This
is our call, our great commission from the Master. This is
the real deal. God commanded us in Romans 12:2 to come out
from among the world and not to be conformed by it. We’re to
be transformed by the renewing of our minds to His Word, so
that we are prepared for the work we’ve been called to do.
The contest is still the same as it was for Jesus. It hasn’t
changed. The read deal was, is, and will continue to be
spiritual. When he walked upon this earth, Jesus Christ
always understood this, and if we want to win the eternal
prize that awaits us, we had better understand it too.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT)
are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King
James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
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