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In Christ's Image Weekly Message
September 7th, 2001
Pastor Francis Frangipane
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GOD, GRANT ME A TREMBLING HEART
"To this one I will look, to him who is
humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2).
We have dissected the Scriptures and analyzed
God's truth in both ancient Hebrew and Greek. Our scholars have successfully
transliterated the original manuscripts so that we have Bibles to read in both
formal and contemporary English. Along the way, we have challenged and debated
every
scriptural nuance; we then organized our doctrines and compiled our information
in thousands of books and study programs.
So, why are we still so spiritually weak? Perhaps
the primary reason is we have yet to tremble when God speaks. It is not enough
to know truth if it never produces within us trembling and holy fear.
Choosing which verses to esteem and which
verses to ignore, we have approached the sacred Scriptures as though we were the
superior or dominant personality. Open your favorite translation to the Gospels
and look at the verses you underlined or highlighted. Have you opened your
Bible? Now, look at all the things Jesus taught that you did not esteem or
underline. This is the Jesus you do not yet know, whose truth you do not yet
fully esteem.
The Living Word
We study the word as though it were a theology
course, as if the ultimate goal were to pass a test. Dear one, the objective is
not to receive an "A" on a quiz, but to possess a heart that trembles
when God speaks. God is looking for trembling hearts.
You see, there is a difference between having
a pleasant Bible study and having an encounter with the living word of God. We
sit relaxed with Bible in hand looking for no more than a quick encouragement
from above. Yet, is there a time in our study when the printed word becomes the
"living and active" word? In other words, is it a soft brush that
superficially paints the surface of our lives so we look "Christian"
or is it a sharp sword piercing the core of our being, creating Christ likeness
within us. Finally, has the fire of the word illuminated our inner condition so
that the "thoughts and intentions of [our] hearts" are revealed and
purified? (Heb 4:12)
Beloved, let us cry to God for a trembling heart!
We must expect more from our times of study than religious information. Let us
approach our Bibles cognizant that the all-knowing Spirit of God abides on the
other side of the printed page. Knowing our need, He waits until our eyes arrive
at a verse vital to our spiritual condition. Yes, it is His
impassioned goal to emerge through the page at this very point of intersection,
to speak deeply and truly to us of things that only a humble, trembling heart
can receive.
Is The Spirit On Us or In Us?
We want to be slain in the glory of God, to be
miraculously delivered of our problems. We sing, "He touched me" and
how we love the goose bumps and tears. I have nothing but thankfulness to God
for those precious encounters. Yet, the Spirit of God desires to go deeper. He
seeks not only to touch us, but to dwell within us, speaking and guiding our
lives with His voice. I am speaking of what is the basis of all ministry and
true destiny, the source of eternal power that enters our lives.
Thus, Paul tells us to work out our salvation
with "fear and
trembling." For, he says, "it is God working in you" (Phil 2:12).
God is working in you. We adjust the volume of this truth down until its barely
audible. The Word that lives, that speaks to our inner person, is God Himself.
It's not spiritual reflection; it's God. Let the roar of that reality
shake us awake. Our trembling is the result of nearness to God.
John wrote,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).
The Word is still God. The writer of Hebrews
warns, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Heb
3:15).
We want to put God in the past; our hope is in
God of the future, but Hebrews says, "Today if you hear His voice."
God is still speaking today. He is speaking right now. Yet, He has also
given us the freedom to listen or refuse -- to harden our hearts or draw near to
Him in our hearts. God speaks to the heart. Thus, in God's view, anything less
than a trembling heart has the potential to grow into a hardened heart.
Mature humility is defined by a heart that
trembles when God speaks. This is the heart of Christ toward God. Jesus only did
the things He saw the Father do; He only spoke such things as He heard the
Father say. Jesus was perfectly weak; perfectly surrendered; perfectly dependent
upon the
voice and desire of God. Hebrews again tells us that Jesus' prayer life included
times of, "supplications with loud crying and tears." Indeed, the word
continues that His prayers were heard "in that he feared" (Heb 5:7
KJ). The word translated "feared" meant "caution, reverence and
by implication, dread" (Strongs).
Jesus had a trembling heart. With such a man or woman, the
Most High needs not compete with the plethora of human initiatives, ideas and
man empowered agendas. Enough of manmade religion, let us see what God can do!
If we have never trembled at God's word, with
mercy I say, we are yet too arrogant and stiff necked. If we argue with this
evaluation, it is because we are even more stiff-necked than we thought.
Without doubt, there is a time when God speaks
to us as a Father to children. Certainly, there are times when He sends His word
and heals us. Yet, there is a holiness, a great and awesome majesty, to our
heavenly Father. The glory of our Creator ought to often produce trembling. He
may choose to calm our trembling with His command, "Fear not," but we
cannot calm ourselves.
All who have seen Him fell before Him; as dead
men so they lay. "But," you say, "God loves me. There is no fear
in love." Yes. He loves us with love beyond our knowing. However, John the
beloved, the very one who taught us, "There is no fear in love," --
this very man fell before Him on
the Isle of Patmos. Yes, John remained as a dead man until the Master bid him,
"Fear not." Does not love tremble in the embrace of its beloved?
A trembling heart is spiritually accessible to
God. It is this
vulnerability, this free entry into the human spirit that the Almighty seeks.
Trembling before God is the most powerful position one can attain on earth. Be
assured, he who trembles before the Almighty shall be fearless before men.
"Blessed Lord, I come to You to ask but one thing: create in me a heart
that trembles when You speak. Forgive me for the hardness within me.
Deliver me from my isolation from You. Master, I would offer You that which You
seek: humility, contriteness of spirit and a trembling heart.
Amen."
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