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sbm SusanBottgerMinistries |
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Spirit of the Living God Most people who know me know that I’m a natural worshiper. I especially love music. It speaks to me in a way that is unlike any other. At times it makes me dance for joy and at other times it moves me to tears. Something spiritual happens to me when I am caught up in it and it’s as if my spirit is somehow connecting directly to God’s spirit. This for me is true worship. Recently I went through a very difficult period in my life where I knew the Lord was fine tuning me for a new level of intimacy with him. At numerous points during this time I cried out to him and begged him to stop the process. It seemed to be too much for me to handle. Then one day I came across an old, familiar song on a worship CD. It comforted me immensely and spoke to my heart.. Like me, you have probably heard it many times before. Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Today I want to really delve into each of these words and their significance in this worship prayer. I want to explore with you why these words carry such power for every Christian who is courageous enough to make them their own and ask you to ponder how this song speaks to your heart. Let’s start with Line #1 - Spirit of the Living God When we speak of a spirit, we know that we are not talking about something of a physical nature, but something in the unseen realm. There are many spirits at work in our world today whether we like to admit it or not. Some are of God and others are not. Spiritualists and mediums claim to have the power to communicate with the dead, to channel to the “other side,” or tell the future. They are people being deceived by Satan and are in reality communicating with demonic spirits. They are clearly dealing with spiritually evil forces which are not of God. There are also a number of other demonic spirits like fear, lust, pride, and intimidation which attempt to draw us away from the presence of God and try to derail us from a life of peace, love, and joy in Christ. How do I know? The Bible says in I John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye that the spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now is in the world. II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power of love, and a sound mind. Then there is the Spirit of God. He point us to Christ, intercedes for us, and draw us closer to the presence of God, and bear witness to our salvation so that we can enjoy his peace, comfort and enabling power. Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. When the song says, “Spirit of,” the “of” means that it comes from a specific source or place of origin. If I say I am the daughter of Jake and Lois DeBoer, it means that I originated from that genetic line and I contain the attributes of my parents. I have their DNA. So if we sing “Spirit of “ something, it indicates that it is a spirit that has the same or similar attributes or DNA so to speak from the source of its origin. For example, the spirit of fear is a spirit that originates from fear. Fear is not of God, but originates from Satan. So we could actually say that the Spirit of fear is the spirit of Satan. It’s demonic in origin. It doesn’t draw you into God’s presence, but seeks to separate you from the love of God. When we became Christians we were adopted into the family of God. We were made joint heirs with Jesus. We were justified by the shedding of his blood for the remission of our sins. We figuratively took on his DNA. We were born again into a new spiritual nature. This is what the Bible says: I John 4:13 Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. I John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. At the time of our profession of faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, our sinful, fallen nature was changed. Our spiritual DNA was redeemed and we received new attributes like our Father God. We became sons and daughters of God. Now we can call him Abba Father, Daddy. So if we say “Spirit of the Living God”, we know that the Spirit we are referring to has the attributes of Jehovah-God. He is the One, true, God of the Universe.. THE- This is such a little word, but it is also very powerful. In the English language, “the” is an article that comes before a specific noun and indicates that special attention should be given to that particular noun. “The” singles something out and indicates that that thing is distinct from the others things which are around it. You’ve heard people introduced as “The Nobel Prize winner” or heard about “The one and only, so and so celebrity.” This is said to emphasize the importance of whom or what is being talked about. So when we talk about “the” Living God, we are emphasizing that he is distinct, special and above all others. There are no others that compare to him. When Jesus asked his disciples in Matthew 16:16, “Who do you say I am?”, Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” There was no question that he was distinct and special. Jesus was whom they’d been waiting for. Notice that Peter said that Jesus was the son of the Living God. Why did he use that description? No doubt there was a lot of idol worship that the disciples had seen in their travels with Jesus. Peter was fully aware that Jesus was God “in the flesh,” alive and powerful in the Spirit. This word “living” is extremely important because only something living has the ability to grow, change, and be a dynamic force in the universe. Things that are dead have no power to act, react, influence, or bless. In death, there is no hope of healing redemption, or greatness. It is an ending. It is impotent and lacks power. Jesus was the embodiment of this power to redeem and change the world. For many here in The United States and around the world, the objects of worship are dead. They have no power to change lives, to redeem or to heal. The idols to false gods, materialism, ancestor worship, or ritualistic practices are exercises in futility that cannot provide the hope of new life or blessing. Only a relationship with a living God can bring salvation and hope. Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being. Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. Few I know have an attitude of awe, a reverential fear of the Lord. He is not dead and he does have the authority to cast us aside if he chooses to and is a God of justice.. He will meter out justice to those who reject him and his loving sacrifice on the cross for us. It is only by his love and his grace that we have been forgiven, so we should take that very seriously. If we look now at the word God, it almost feels too big to tackle. God-
How can we even describe who He is?
This is
This is the same Spirit of the Living God that we have access to today. Amazing! Now let’s look at Line #2-Fall afresh on me. What exactly does that mean? When something falls, it drops from above. I like to compare it to rain. When rain falls from above and lands on you, you know it. You can feel the moisture against your skin. And you usually respond to it in some way. Many times in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Bible says that the Spirit of God “fell upon” or “came upon” the people of God. For example:
In each of these cases, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God, fell upon those whom the Lord wanted to empower for his purposes. It was an anointing that could only be given by a dynamic, living God with the purpose of birthing life, advancing the Kingdom and blessing the future generations of God’s people…and they responded. For God’s people today, it is a Fresh Anointing. It’s not left over from the past, predictable and worn out, but just like His mercies which are new everyday, the Spirit of God and his power doesn’t diminish with time, but continually revives, empowers and changes a believer from the inside out. A fresh move of the Holy Spirit is dynamic and flexible so that those on whom He falls can experience a new depth and revelation of who God is and what He desires for their lives. So we’re asking the Spirit of the Living God to fall afresh …where? On Me! It’s one thing to say, “Yes, I want the Holy Spirit to come and move in our church, or move in our city, or move in the lives of our family and/or friends so that they will be saved. It’s another thing completely to say, “Fall afresh on me!” If I say, “It’s on me,” I mean that it’s my responsibility. It can mean literally, it’s on my shoulders. I am accepting all that this means. I know that it starts with me and I am inviting the power of the Holy Spirit to impact me for the purposes that God desires. I am humbly submitting myself to his divine direction and I trust that his sovereign will is best for me. We know that the Bible teaches that when someone comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live in them. When we pray this worship song, we are literally saying, “I want the Spirit of the Living God, the Holy Spirit not only to live in me, but to fall on me, to do a supernatural work of empowerment in my life that is like what happened in the early church.” Read the word of God from the 2nd chapter of Acts, verses 1-4 and 14-21 for a picture of how He works. When we sing this song and really mean it, we’re asking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to do a work in us, and through us in a way that is beyond our ability to do things in the natural. It is a supernatural work of God’s Spirit. We’re asking for the Spirit to come upon us with power. That’s very scary for some folks. We like things calm and quiet, but the Spirit of the Living God wasn’t very calm and quiet in the early church was He? He may choose to work quietly or He may demonstrate his power in ways we aren’t expecting. Either way, if we want God to take us deeper in relationship with him, we have to be willing to allow God to be God, even if we’re uncomfortable. At this level of intimacy with the Spirit, we are asking to be taken out of our comfort zone and trust God for the results. It starts with.the words… ‘Melt me’. That means asking the Holy Spirit to take you down to the core of who you are, to impact you in the innermost part of your being…Spirit to Spirit. It’s like melting a candle. It starts as a solid form that has rigidity in its shape. It can only be used for a specific purpose in the form that it has. As it is subjected to the flame, it is transformed into a liquid substance. It has no specific form, but is moldable to whatever form the candle maker decides is right. When we ask to be melted, it means that we are asking to be broken down into a different form than we are used to. We are willing to be subjected to the fire of the Holy Spirit so we can be made pliable in the Master’s hand. Next it says “Mold me.” When we say this we are literally asking the Lord to shape us into the form that he wants us to have. This is a complete surrender of our will to the will of God. It is giving up the right to control who we are, where we go, or what we will do with our lives. Listen to what the Bible says about this. I Corinthians 2: 19-20 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own. For you but ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify the Lord in your body and in your spirit which are God’s. When we become Christians, we in essence give up the right to be called our own. We have already taken on a new identity as children of God, so now we need to be molded into his likeness. Romans 12:2 Be not conformed to the world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When we give ourselves to Christ, we can’t just give him bits and pieces. He owns us lock, stock and barrel. We have to allow him to mold us into the image of Christ, body, mind, and Spirit. If we are “of” the Living God, He will shape us to vessels that bear his resemblance. This reshaping or molding is not without pain. Giving up our identity for a new identity in Christ is not easy. As humans we fight for our right to be independent, self sufficient, and unique. It is an ongoing process of becoming more and more like Christ…being changed from glory to glory. Then the songs says, “Fill me”. As we are being transformed into the men and women that God desires us to be, it is his good pleasure to fill us with himself. It’s like taking a half glass of juice and poring water into it. At first the juice becomes diluted, but as more and more water continues to be poured into the glass it, the juice disappears and all that is left is the water. In the same way, the more we are daily, continually filled with the Spirit and presence of God, the less room we have for our own desires and the more we will become like him. We will be so full of the presence of God it will spill over into every part of our lives. Finally, we will be ready to say, “Use me”. We can only be used of God to the degree that we are willing to be melted, molded and filled by the Holy Spirit. When we say, “use me” we are glorifying God by giving him the opportunity to be seen in our lives and demonstrated through our actions. The Kingdom of God will be advanced as we are used for His purposes. When we can truly say “use me,” we are not concerned with how he does it, but we are so grateful for what he has done in our lives that we count it a privilege to be used in any way he sees fit. That’s not to say that there won’t have a cost. Being used by God comes with a price. He may ask you to sacrifice your time, your image, your money, and for some who are called to dangerous parts of the world, he may even ask them to sacrifice their very lives for the gospel. The price of being used is different for every individual. He knows. He gave his only son as the price for our sins. Conclusion The question is, can you sing this song and mean it?
Take this time with me as you listen to this song again, and reflect on these questions. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Pray with me: Heavenly Father,
I come to you right now asking you to do a new thing in my life. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and enabling grace. Amen!
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Website Revised: 10/22/2010. Copyright © 2005 [Susan Bottger Ministries]. All rights reserved. |