The believer who has been
filled with Christ’s Spirit will continue to have a desire for more of the
infinite life of God. It is this willingness to count “all things” as loss in
order to know more of Him that becomes the one sure sign we are currently
filled with His Spirit.
The soul continues to
experience a sweet and deep inward rest during this stage of growth. The lines
that had once bound the heart to shore have been cut. It is then that we find
ourselves consistently moving forward into the fathomless and boundless ocean of God
There are people who profess
full salvation who do not show this same desire. They seem to be content where
they are. Even though every true Christian has the Spirit within them, and the
Spirit will cause them to sense the need to become more like Christ, this
desire has not taken full possession of their heart. There needs to be a
“filling” with the Spirit before there can be continuous desire to count
everything as loss to know more of Christ’s resurrection life and power. If
this desire was once possessed and has been lost, it implies there has been a
giving way to the devil’s temptations to use some of the temporal things of
this world to feed the spiritual life.
Do not love the world or the
things in the world… For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the
world. (1 John 2:15-16)
Again, this deep desire for
God Himself weans the soul from everything on earth more perfectly and more
sweetly than anything else can do. It burns out attachments to property,
earthly standing and even old friendships. It turns us away from the world and
its things without putting any sourness or melancholy into the fountains of the
heart.
The most effective means for
leading Christians out from the world is by revealing to them the Pearl of
Great Price. They need to see what Christ has promised to give. Only then will
someone be willing to sell everything from their self-originated form of life
in order to buy it.
Christ has come as the
Messiah to reveal His heavenly life through His disciples to prove to the world
He is the one true Savior. He comes to make us perfect in one “that the world
may know” that He was sent by the Father to establish His heavenly kingdom.
(John 17:23) Let us therefore press into all the fullness of this life of
promise. It is when we are all sharing with Him in His life of divine love and
living in a heavenly harmony with each other that the world will know that He
is the true Savior. (John 17:22-23)
Set your mind on things
above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. (Col. 3:1-3)
Therefore they are before
the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits
on the throne will dwell among them. And they shall neither hunger anymore or
thirst anymore…for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd
them and lead them to living fountains of waters… (Rev. 7:15-17)
Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14 NIV)
From the book: Living Through Christ
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