"Mechanics..............................."

Our Wednesday evening Bible study left me a bit disappointed last night, the question of “Do you have all God wants for you?” reduced to a mixture of Joel Osteen and Norman Vincent Peale theology, a serving of clever analogies meant to encourage us in ourself. There were a few references to chapter and verse wherein Christ was acknowledged as being involved in whatsoever we might attempt in His name; but, for the most part, the emphasis was placed on us gaining understanding of our own potential and not much attention at all given to the Holy Ghost’s role in our endeavors. The teacher spoke, in truth, of our culture being the underlying factor in the freedom Pentecost gives to expressing oneself in worship and the need to apply wisdom in such area; yet prophesying unto others, believing yourself to be “anointed” merely out of your own volition and His participation in your actions taken for granted, was simply a matter of taking the New Testament for its promise unto us. Perhaps I’m just old and rooted in my own thinking; but when Francis Chan, in “Crazy Love”, pointed to Solomon warning that men ought not to be fools, rushing into the Creator’s presence with words, it occurred to me that nowadays, in my ecclesiastical neighborhood, anyhow, believers are told to boldly charge the very gates of hell, His authority theirs by proxy, victory guaranteed if their “faith” doesn’t waver. When we’re told in Romans, however, that God predestinated us to be “conformed” to the image of His son, the Greek for that particular term brings it down to any transformation taking place being “jointly” accomplished. It is a “merger”, then, wherein two are made one; and, as far as I know, it is a temporary condition, nobody yet having become anything more than a vessel through which He might be manifested in a time of His choosing. Yes! We need to be hungry to serve Him in such fashion. We need to see ourselves as possibilities for such an event. Always, though, we must recognize that He is the vital piece of the puzzle. While we must move, the goal in front of us should never be the mountain, itself, but a surrender in which the well within us comes forth to the task at hand……