I learned by the Holy Spirit a while ago that if you study any two subject matters, especially if one were the Holy Bible, eventually you would begin to recognize analogies between the two—how one subject matter is an illustration the other. The title of this lesson speaks to one such analogy.
For eight years, I was a communications officer in the United States Air Force. In this job, I spoke of and was involved in all things network-related, and the term “bandwidth” was commonly a part of my vernacular. That being said, by the Holy Spirit, this analogy between receiving revelation from God and network bandwidth came rather easily to me.
Without being too elaborate, bandwidth is the speed at which bits of data travel from one network interface to another. Ideally, you want to have as high a bandwidth as possible, but with the your bandwidth being a function of the amount of twisted pair copper and/or fiber optic cable you are willing to pay for, whether your bandwidth is high or long is strictly up to.
And such is revelation from the Holy Spirit. Like that bandwidth, the revelation you receive from the Holy Spirit is increased or decreased as a function of your practical effort you to receive it.
The Holy Spirit has an eternity’s worth of revelation to share with you, but paramount to you receiving that revelation is that you create the moment of meditation. From strictly church attendance to personal Bible study and prayer to even taking notes in service, as you endeavor to ingest God’s Word, so is the revelation bandwidth increased.
The Holy Spirit once told me that taking notes when being ministered to will ultimately be the difference between those that speak from pulpits and those that just listen to them. His point was that to those who make increased effort to retain God’s Word, He will entrust more opportunities to share that Word. And I guarantee you that the persons with high revelation bandwidth will have a lot of Word to share.
I implore to do more to create the moment of meditation than just attend church or an occasional prayer. Don’t be so naïve—really deceived—as to believe God will tell you what He wants when He wants. For God has placed the capability to receive from Him into your hands. Remember, you control your own existence; your free will is not an illusion, and God created Man this way from the beginning. So make time to study God’s Word and pray and listen to teaching tapes, CD’s, and Christian radio. Such practical effort will create moments of meditation and thereby continually increase your revelation bandwidth. And the higher you revelation bandwidth, the more you empower God to share His revelation knowledge with you.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Receiving Revelation from the Holy Spirit is Like . . .
It is a respectable responsibility to speak or write on a fresh new rhema Word on each opportunity to minister. You want to bring relevant and insightful teaching, and you want to do that for as long as there is breath in your lungs. For that you must purpose yourself to remain in God's presence that the flow of revelation knowledge may be constant.
2 Kings 4:1 – 8 talks of a widow who is steeped in debt and about to lose her sons to her creditors that they may work off said debt. She consults the man of God, in this case Elisha, for assistance; and subsequently, obeys his instruction.
Her only asset is a small container of oil. As advised, she borrows more containers—of course, creating more debt—and continually pours oil into these numerous containers with the intent to sell the oil.
The miracle here is that despite the fact that she only had a little oil in a single container, she was able fill all the containers she had to the brim. Quite simply, as long as she had containers in which to pour oil, she had oil to pour. The Bible tells us that when she ran out of containers, the oil stayed.
Therein is the crux of this discussion; she controlled the flow of oil all the time. If she had borrowed ten containers, she would have filled just those ten, and at that point run out of oil. Had she borrowed enough containers to fill her bedroom, she would have filled them all, and only then would the flow of oil cease. If this woman had any understanding of what was about to occur, she would have borrowed enough containers to fill her entire house floor-to-ceiling and the backyard!
And such is the flow of revelation from God to Man. As God is confident you will share the Word that He gives you, so will there be more Word to share. Versus, if you are a Dead Sea for revelation by the Holy Spirit, implying that you have no outlet, the flow of revelation will cease. Of course, you have to create moments in which He can relay said revelation, i.e. your Bible study and prayer times. It doesn't come by osmosis! But the point here is that you control the flow of revelation to you by the revelation you allow to flow out of you.
Finally, understand that this flow was meant to be eternal. Neither you nor I would ever run out of revelation knowledge to share. With it being true that God and His Word are one, according to John 1:1, the flow of revelation to us and subsequently through us can be as infinite as the Father, God Himself.
2 Kings 4:1 – 8 talks of a widow who is steeped in debt and about to lose her sons to her creditors that they may work off said debt. She consults the man of God, in this case Elisha, for assistance; and subsequently, obeys his instruction.
Her only asset is a small container of oil. As advised, she borrows more containers—of course, creating more debt—and continually pours oil into these numerous containers with the intent to sell the oil.
The miracle here is that despite the fact that she only had a little oil in a single container, she was able fill all the containers she had to the brim. Quite simply, as long as she had containers in which to pour oil, she had oil to pour. The Bible tells us that when she ran out of containers, the oil stayed.
Therein is the crux of this discussion; she controlled the flow of oil all the time. If she had borrowed ten containers, she would have filled just those ten, and at that point run out of oil. Had she borrowed enough containers to fill her bedroom, she would have filled them all, and only then would the flow of oil cease. If this woman had any understanding of what was about to occur, she would have borrowed enough containers to fill her entire house floor-to-ceiling and the backyard!
And such is the flow of revelation from God to Man. As God is confident you will share the Word that He gives you, so will there be more Word to share. Versus, if you are a Dead Sea for revelation by the Holy Spirit, implying that you have no outlet, the flow of revelation will cease. Of course, you have to create moments in which He can relay said revelation, i.e. your Bible study and prayer times. It doesn't come by osmosis! But the point here is that you control the flow of revelation to you by the revelation you allow to flow out of you.
Finally, understand that this flow was meant to be eternal. Neither you nor I would ever run out of revelation knowledge to share. With it being true that God and His Word are one, according to John 1:1, the flow of revelation to us and subsequently through us can be as infinite as the Father, God Himself.
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