Hammer on Anvil '

One day last week I had the tremendous privilege of reading Rees Howells, Intercessor in its entirety. This was not my first time; this treasure is one I read over and over again. When I sense the slightest spiritual dryness, it is life-giving water for my thirsty soul. When I feel the need to be challenged anew to lay down my life for my Savior, Howells' biography fits the bill.

One of the chapters deals with when Howells allowed the Holy Spirit to come in and take full possession. He claims that he knew God before this time, but was apparently living a rather nominal Christian life. As he explained it, he knew he had been "quickened" but had not yet "been raised up with Christ to that place of power." Howells was attending a revival when he heard for the first time about the personhood of the Holy Spirit and how, if you claim Christ, the Holy Spirit must be given full possession of your body.

Many of us can relate to Howells' spiritual state before the revival. We often forget Paul's probing question to the Corinthians: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

When Howells heard the truth about the Holy Spirit, his eyes were opened. The Holy Spirit said to Howells,

"As the Savior had a body, so I dwell in the cleansed temple of the believer. I am a Person. I am God, and I am come to ask you to give your body to Me that I may work through it. I need a body for my temple, but it must belong to Me without reserve, for two persons with different wills can never live in the same body. Will you give Me yours? But if I come in, I come as God, and you must go out. I shall not mix myself with your self."

Though Howells was honored to think that the Holy Spirit would come indwell him, he suddenly realized what that meant. Every bit of his fallen nature was to go to the Cross. From that meeting, Howells went out into a field and wept because, "I had received a sentence of death, as really as a prisoner in the dock. I had lived in my body for 26 years, and could I easily give it up?"

Howells fully intended to say yes to the Holy Spirit, but he wept for days as he considered the cost. It took him five days to make the decision -- days in which the Spirit dealt with him, exposing roots of pride and selfish ambition. Finally as he agonized about the decision, the Spirit said, "If you can't be willing, are you willing to be made willing?" As soon as Howells said he was willing to be made willing, the Spirit came in like a flood.

What struck me more than anything about this testimony is that he wept for days as he considered the cost. The preacher at the revival meeting made it abundantly clear that this was not a decision to be made lightly. This was no "Just come to Jesus tonight and your life will be great" sort of message. I fear we hear the "cheap grace" message far too often in American churches, because we're big on racking up the numbers of salvations and baptisms so it looks good on the monthly report.

Friends, the decision to follow Jesus should not be made lightly. And in our efforts to share Jesus with others, it is our responsibility to be honest with them about the costs involved. Following Jesus doesn't mean we will no longer have any problems. It doesn't mean we will never be sick or weak. It doesn't mean we will never be tempted to sin.

What it DOES mean is that we relinquish every part of our flesh to God, so He can use us for His purposes. It means DAILY crucifying our flesh, nailing every bit of it to the cross as the Father reveals parts of our lives that are not in keeping with His will. That may mean ditching the television because God wants you to use that time in prayer. It may mean relocating to a different neighborhood or state or even country, because God has called you to minister to a particular people group. It may mean doing a major overhaul of your finances because you have been spending too much money on frivolous pursuits, and God wants you to use it instead to help someone else.

We sin against God when we communicate to others that the gospel is easily swallowed and easily lived out. Many believe they are following Jesus simply because they go to church, when in reality their church experience is more like a country club. I have been in churches like that, and it's scary how you get sucked in to thinking you are okay spiritually because you are behaving like everyone else.

Brothers and sisters, remember Peter's exhortation: "I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11). The words "aliens and strangers" does not give me the feeling that we are supposed to "fit in." We are not supposed to look and act like other people, even if those people are in the church we attend.

God calls us to intimate fellowship with Him, and that won't look the same for you as it does for me. The point is that we daily offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Daily relinquish your will to the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to "guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). Pray for your eyes to be opened to the needs around you, and for your ears to be eager to hear when He speaks. He has redeemed your life for a purpose. Let Him use you as He desires.