INDWELT BY DEITY

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23, NKJV).

Devotion 3 of 9

SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE INDWELLING

In my perception, several things are accomplished by men being indwelt by Deity. These are provided for your consideration. They are not intended to be all-inclusive. I am persuaded, however, that they are at the heart of the matter. RATIONALITY IS BROUGHT TO ITS HIGHEST LEVEL. Our chief resource is our mind. This is the battleground for those living by faith (Romans 7). The union between God and man results in understanding and insight. The Word of God becomes more clear. The individual becomes more adept in the application of its principles. Things formerly perceived as unrelated in Scripture are comprehended in connection with God's "eternal purpose." A religion that disengages the mind cannot be from God. His first and great commandment involves loving Him with all of our mind (Matt 22:37). The thought of a valid spiritual experience making our minds unproductive is absurd, and must not be countenanced for a moment. OUR SENSITIVITY TO GOD BECOMES MORE KEEN. This is more than an emotion, although it surely involves the emotion. This is intelligent sensitivity. It is even higher than the experience of Jacob, who said, "God was in this place, and I knew it not" (Gen. 28:16). This involves the recognition of God in circumstance; i.e., "It is the Lord!" (1 Sam. 3:18; 12:6; John 21:7). It also includes God being dominate in our thinking, speaking, and doing. We live primarily in view of God, not of the flesh. This is something men try and accomplish by routine or discipline. The success rate of these endeavors, however, is not good. What these humanly devised plans cannot accomplish is realized when men are indwelt by Deity. ONES INVOLVEMENT IN THE WORK OF THE LORD BECOMES MORE CONSISTENT. The Lord works in people to "do and to will" of His own good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). He also works in us "that which is well pleasing in His sight" (Heb. 13:21). This is not accomplished independently of our understanding. If that were the case, we would have done nothing more than the fish that brought a coin to Peter (Matt. 17:27), the ravens that fed Elijah (1 Kings 17:4-6), or the beast of burden that saved Balaam's life (Num. 22:30). When God lives within us, He works with us. He brings us into His will experientially and with cognition . AN ACUTE AWARENESS OF THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF THIS WORLD IS DEVELOPED. At this point, some modern televangelists have failed miserably. They speak of being filled with the Spirit (a very real spiritual occurrence), yet seem to become more firmly rooted in this transitory world. They accentuate "things" that are NOT eternal, and their emphasis is too often placed upon goods that will ultimately be burned up (1 Pet. 3:10-12). God within adapts the individual for eternity. This world is then perceived for what it is--transitory. It is not our resting place, "it is polluted" (Micah 2:10). Those who have Christ within sense their strangership here (1 Pet. 2:11), and long for a "better country, that is, an heavenly" (Heb. 11:16). If this does not occur, whatever experience has been realized, it has not been ministered by the Lord Jesus Christ. These are like touchstones that allow us to try the spirits. Any experience purporting to be from God that disengages the mind, making it unfruitful, is false. Conversely, any encounter that renders us obtuse, and unable to intelligently perceive the Lord, is to be questioned. A religious experience that causes us to be a mere spectator, not involving us in the will of the Lord, is not superior. If my religious experience has made me feel more at home in this world, causing me to want more of it, I have been deceived. I realize this will be offensive to some people, but that ought not be the case. Jesus did not die to leave is in this world, but to deliver us from it (Gal 1:4). While the child of God certainly receives remarkable benefits here and now, they are nothing to be compared with the things "God has prepared for them that love Him." Like it or not, the bulk of our inheritance is up ahead, and will be realized when we are "ever with the Lord." Now, the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit within orient us for that time, and empower us to live in this time. PRAYER POINT: Father, may Your blessed presence sanctify my mind, make me acutely sensitive of Your Person and will, make me a consist worker together with You, and make me aware of the evil of this present world.

-- TOMORROW: THE PRINCIPLE, REVEALED IN THE PROPHETS --