SPIRITUAL SENSES
I wonder if you have ever thought about the fact that not only do we have 5 natural senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling, but we also have these as spiritual senses that we must develop in our lives so we can be the very best the Lord would have us to be. An important part of Discipling is to assist the new believer to develop these spiritual senses. Sadly many do not devlop these senses and remain immature and stunted in their spiritual growth,
SEEING, Jesus said “lift up your eyes, see that it is harvest time now”. If we just looked naturally, we would despair and be so discouraged and we would be tempted to give up.We must see things as Jesus sees them, He has promised revival, if we will co-operate with Him. I think Christians can develop spiritual cataracts that need to be removed surgically. That surgery isd is for another day.
HEARING Jesus said to the 7 churches in Revelation, “He that has ears to hear” not natural hearing but spiritual hearing. In the Old Testament we read about hearing a voice behind us saying “This is the way walk it”. We must not let spiritual wax develop in our ears to stop us hearing the voice of God. As a young Christian it is good to have a Mentor to help us discern what is truly God’s voice. Paul says there are many voices in this world, and they can all have some significance.
TASTING The Psalmist said “O taste and see that the Lord is good” how is your spiritual appetite, Do you hunger after the Lord, and His Word. When a person is unwell he often loses his appetite, If we start to lose out spiritually, the first thing to go is reading and meditating on the Word of God. There is an old saying :This book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this book”. That is why the Psalmist said he hides God’s Word in his heart, so that he does not sin. Lord increase our hunger for your word.
TOUCHING The best illustration is the woman with the issue of blood, in faith she reached out and touched the hem of Christ’s garment and was instantly healed. There is an old song, the chorus says
Reach out and touch the Lord as He goes by
You will find He is not too busy to hear your heart’s cry
He is passing by this moment your needs to supply
Reach out and touch the Lord as He goes by.
May we seek to touch the Lord every day
SMELLING The Bible talks about the fragrance of His presence, we used to sing a chorus “His name is as ointment poured forth”. It is not a natural fragrance, but you know it when you can smell (discern) it. Some people lose their sense of smell and taste, and it is difficult for them. Living in the presence of God is our great privilege, As the great Catholic mystic said, “Let us practice the presence of Christ”.
I have said all the above, because I was greatly blessed at church on Sunday morning, the worship and Communion was excellent, and the Pastor preached a great sermon on “looking beyond the natural” using Joseph, Joshua and Elijah as examples of people who looked beyond the natural. I especially thought of Elijah, he had declared “at my word it will not rain again, and it didn’t, then he stands up and says “I HEAR the sound of abundance of rain” He also SAW a cloud, and sent his servant up the hill 7 times until the servant saw it and even then it was tiny just the size of a man’s hand.
I have preached about Elijah many times, I believe with the eye of faith I have seen a cloud, and with the ear of faith I have heard the sound of abundance of rain. We look around our world, naturally and say there are no signs of revival in our area, we must “lift up our eyes”, open our spiritual ears to see what God wants to do.
About 10 days ago we had some heavy rain, a lady in our church posted a FB message saying the front of their house was drenched in rain but not a drop at the back. of the house. The Lord is going to pour out His Spirit on our city, but some “Houses of the Lord” will remain dry, because they did not use their spiritual senses. I am not a Prophet or a son of a Prophet, but the Word of God confirms this is and will be a fact in the days in which we live.
“Lord wake up your Church, open their eyes and ears to what You want to do in these last days. Lord I want to be a part of the answer and not part of the problem that is in your Church, help me to co-operate with you, so that Your will shall be done in us and through us.
Does this teaching resonate with you ? if it does please respond and let me know what you feel are the Keys we need to unlock God’s blessing and power on His Church in 2015.