Does your knowledge of God change you from a hearing of the ears to a knowing of your heart?
Faith Filled Thoughts
August 25th, 2008
By Connie Ciccone
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Please share our website with your friends and family
www.faithitout.com
Faith Filled thoughts released Monday –Friday
Does your knowledge of God change you from a hearing of the ears to a knowing of your heart?
Scripture: Job 42:5 "I have heard of You only by the hearing of the ear; but now my spiritual eye sees You.
August 25th, 2008
By Connie Ciccone
Visit our New website Live!!!!
Please share our website with your friends and family
www.faithitout.com
Faith Filled thoughts released Monday –Friday
Does your knowledge of God change you from a hearing of the ears to a knowing of your heart?
Scripture: Job 42:5 "I have heard of You only by the hearing of the ear; but now my spiritual eye sees You.
"The book of Job wrestles with the question, "Why do good people suffer?" Job was a man who was morally good and highly respected. He was spiritual and even functioned as a priest and offered burnt offerings for his family. Yet, God removed Job's hedge of protection and allowed Satan to come against him for a season. In an effort to destroy him physically and spiritually, Satan repeatedly used the forces of nature, sickness, and people, but Job continued to trust God. Even death, itself, held no threat in Satan's challenge to destroy Job's faith, for Job said, "Though God slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).
Several months of testing passed as Job continued to place his confidence in God. When his season of testing finally came to an end, Job had experienced a new relationship with the Lord. He was tested, tried and tortured, but believed that through it all he Faithed It Out! He now recognized the sovereignty of God and his need to acknowledge it. Before he had been afflicted, his words had only been words without knowledge (Job 38:2). But in the midst of his tests, God spoke to Job directly, asking him simple but profound questions. When God began to commune with him, Job's spiritual eyes were opened, and he realized that God was the creator and was still in control. His knowledge of God changed from a hearing of the ears to a knowing of the heart.
This is the same process that God takes us through in the seasons of our own life. Throughout our life, we hear of Him with our ears, but when we are challenged like Job, we come to spiritually see or know God with our heart. We may hear of Jesus, the Son of God, but we only know Him as Savior when the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us and convicts us to receive Him into our heart. Likewise, we only come to know Jesus as the healer when we experience healing or to know Him as the provider when we see Him meet our needs. As we encounter the Lord directly, we become persuaded about who He is, and nothing can separate us from that knowledge. In the midst of our afflictions, we discover that God is not just a theory or a thought or someone that we have heard stories about but He is reality and must be experienced. Through this wonderful experience we then receive the Holy Spirit as full acceptance of Him in our Lives daily.
What a Marvelous Day when you too will experience the powerful pleasure of The Holy Spirit!!!
May He Bless You and Keep You Today!
With Great Love
IN HIS SERVICE
Connie
What a Marvelous Day when you too will experience the powerful pleasure of The Holy Spirit!!!
May He Bless You and Keep You Today!
With Great Love
IN HIS SERVICE
Connie
posted by Pastor Connie Ciccone | 12:39 PM
1 Comments:
Dear Sis. Connie, Your article has been read with interest and I think overall it has some very valuable points. May I suggest an additional vantage point for what happened to Job? Without dispute he was a fine man in his heart. Could it be that Job left himself wide open with the words of his mouth and actions? You notice in Job 1:5, he CONTINUALLY OPERATED IN FEAR, and EXPRESSED IT OUT LOUD, and continually tried to make sacrifice for his sons, who should have been trained to take responsibility for themselves and do their own repentance (sacrifices). In Chapter 3:25-26, you will note he admits to operating continually in FEAR, and the very things he expressed and feared came upon him. Remember, Death and life are in the power of the tongue. He said the THING I HAVE GREATLY FEARED (and spoke) CAME UPON ME.
Then note in Job 4:12-21, where a "thing" secretly was brought to him, and "mine ear received a little of it". (question: wonder what slimy devil brought it to him?) He did not even want to accept responsibility for accepting and hearing it himself but wanted to blame it on "his ear" which received (a little of) these horrible words. We know the source, because then fear came upon him. Then the spirit began "bad mouthing God", in verse 17, and essentially said that God did not trust his servants and even charged his angels with folly, and how much less should man be destroyed from morning to evening and man perishes forever with God even regarding it. (He failed to mention that the spirit's boss (satan) was the angelic ring leader and was cast out of heaven.) Then he tried to put a curse on mankind because he says verse 24, "Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
Please be sure you understand this is not a criticism of what you have written but perhaps gives a little more insight concerning how he got there and why, and who the players were.
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That was a wonderful statement you made at the last. It will be a Wonderful Day when people experience the pleasure and Power of the Holy Spirit. What is so troublesome is that so many will never do that because they have been told they already have it and they have never received it. Some have not told them the full gospel because they do not know it, and others because they don't think it would be well received and might not be as acceptable and profitable to them. The book of Acts where the Church was formed, so plainly outlines how people receive that experience. Like in Acts 1:4 and 8, when Jesus, just before he ascended, commanded the disciples to tarry until they received the Baptism which they did receive in Acts 2:38 and other places. It was not given in the Gospels and Jesus laid out the criteria in St John 7:38-39, that He must ascend and be Glorified, before it would come. The Epistles to the churches were written to people who had already received it.
My Dear Sister, who I admire so much, I pray that the spirit of Godly Love and admiration for you and your work come through above all else. I pray with all my heart that nothing I have said is offensive to you. I truly feel the night is far spent and the day is at hand, and there are such untold multitudes who need to be told the full Gospel before it is too late.
Love in Christ,
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