Category Archives: Holy Spirit

Without Boots or Beards

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It used to be fashionable to travel to some exotic place, climb a steep mountain and sit under the teaching of a man known to be full of spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Did you ever wonder why he was way up there?  You might think someone with spiritual wisdom and understanding would realize just how much people need such things down here in town.  People who don’t own hiking boots and have a couple extra weeks of vacation.

But what if you could have spiritual wisdom and understanding?  What if you could get your spiritual insight directly from God, Himself?  It sounds almost blasphemous  to even consider such a thing.  You would have to have a special, direct connection with God’s Spirit!

And yet, this is exactly what Paul prayed would be given to his friends, not to wise old giants of the faith, but to newbies and rookies who were just getting used to following Jesus. 

Paul wrote and told them:
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,…” – (Colossians 1:9)

Most of those folks didn’t live on mountain peaks and sport long white beards.  They looked about as much like a guru as you do. But what Paul prayed they might receive, as astonishing and unlikely as it may seem, is what Jesus promised to give to anyone who would trust Him fully. 

Jesus said:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”  – (John 14:16-17)

Imagine that!  Spiritual wisdom and understanding for anyone who would trust and  pay attention.  No hiking boots needed.

Like a Dad

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When a baby takes that first step, it’s a natural thing that happens as they grow and mature.  But don’t tell that to Dad, who just posted videos of Sally’s first steps.  He’s over the moon with excitement.

When a new believer begins to change as the Spirit of Jesus grows and develops within them, their friends who first told them about Jesus tend to get just as excited.  Because those baby steps, those changes they see, confirm the new life that has taken hold.  It’s like watching baby steps. Jesus called those changes “bearing fruit.”

Paul saw love emerging from the new Christians in Colossae and he couldn’t stop thanking God for them (see the previous post: The Love Test).  Then he says this:

“…In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”  – (Colossians 1:6b)

End of story?  Hardly.  Paul, just like Sally’s dad, cheers them on, excitedly anticipating where this new growth will take them. He says:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,  so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” – (Colossians 1:9-12)

Seems like Paul is stumbling over his words in his excitement.  He prays for all the stuff that emerges in the new life of believers as the Spirit fills them and naturally gives them new dance moves in rhythm with God. 

But then, that’s what dads do. they just can’t contain the excitement when they see those first new steps.  Happy Father’s Day, y’all.

The Right Words

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If you want entry into the secret cave, where 40 thieves hid the treasure, you need to say the right words: “Open Sesame!”  Are there right words to say if you want to open a connection with God?  I used to think so as a kid.  The man in the robe up front would look all serious and intone, “Let us pray…”  Did that do it, kind of like a religious “Breaker 19?”  What if, instead, he said, “Lettuce spray?”  Would that work?

Amazingly, no opening of the connection is needed; it’s already open and working.  At least, it is working from God’s end:

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” (Psalm 139:1-4)

How does that make you feel?  Maybe sheepish, thinking, “You mean He knows about that time I was thinking about (Here is a blank for you to fill in…)?”  Does it make you want to hide?  (I’m reminded of how babies will try to hide from their parents by putting their hands over their eyes.)  Does knowing God knows what you are thinking and doing inhibit you?  I suppose those kinds of reactions are normal, but that’s not the response God was looking for when He revealed those truths to David.  He was trying to reassure us and fill us with awe.

If you were deep sea diving, it would be mighty nice to know that someone on the surface was monitoring how you were doing.  If you were sneaking around behind enemy lines, knowing that your commanders were watching, were tracking you with drones or satellites – that would be a warm fuzzy.  Your situation here on earth is similar; God wants to reassure us with the knowledge that He is aware of who you are, what you are thinking and how you are doing.

But when we try to make sense of how that might work, we run into the limits of what our minds will handle.  David wrote:

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:6)

To paraphrase: David is saying, “When I try to think about how You, God, know me, it fills me with wonder and awe.  There’s no way I can fully understand it; it’s too high, too mysterious.”

Once you know that God loves you, you personally, and know that He knows how it is going with you right now, then you can open your end of the connection and communicate with Him.  You don’t even need the right words.  You don’t have to say, “Lettuce spray…”

 

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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Passing Through

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Admit it: there are times when you wonder if you have arrived on the wrong planet.  The world seems to have gone crazy.  We don’t belong here.  Don’t turn away from that feeling; we really don’t!  God makes it clear in His Word: we are temporarily homeless, homeless now but traveling toward our home with Him.  You see this throughout the Bible, as He calls His people “sojourners” (King James word), people on a journey.  Sojourners may be staying for awhile in a place, but know, ultimately, they are moving on.  God called Abraham to sojourn away from his family homeland.  The Israeli escaped slaves sojourned in the desert enroute to the Promised Land.  And followers of Jesus are called sojourners, too.  Our citizenship is not here on Earth but in Heaven.  Jesus prayed for His followers, saying,

“…they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14b-16)

Sojourners.  That’s why Peter, writing to fellow believers, referred to them as,

“…strangers [literally sojourners] in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,” (1 Peter 1:1b)

When we realize, as the song says, “this world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through,” life in this crazy world makes more sense.  It is fresher, more invigorating and filled with purpose.  Motels don’t feel like home but when you are on a journey, the temporary feel of a motel is no big deal  It’s when you get stuck living in a motel, as  several friends have been, after their homes were destroyed, that things get weird.  It’s as though life stagnates.

When we think of this world as our permanent home, life stagnates and gets weird here, too.  Our priorities become twisted.  Instead of living by love we fixate on acquiring stuff.  When we recognize that this life is but a journey, and make that journey with God, the natural stagnation of this world is cleansed and refreshed by the “living waters” of His Spirit.

Our journey is not aimless.  We are heading toward our real and permanent home.  The author of Hebrews wrote this about those who knew they were sojourners:

“If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:15-16)

When you know life is a journey, the ups and downs are better, the craziness easier to deal with.  And the destination is better, too.  As David wrote about his journey, the one that even wound its way through the “valley of the shadow of death,”

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

 

 

 

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

The Mousetrap Question

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Jesus did something that scared the living daylights out of His critics.  Do you know how?  Was it with a startling miracle?  A demonstration of mighty power?  Neither.  He did it with a question!  Jesus asked a question that frightened them and shut them up for good.  Like all good mousetraps, Jesus’ question seemed safe and simple at first.

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.” (Matthew 22:41-42)

This looked like an easy volleyball lob for a return spike.  These guys were experts on the Scripture.  They knew all the answers.  And this one was easy.   They all knew that the Christ would be the son, or the descendant, of David.  You can almost see the cynical and triumphant look on their faces as they easily answered Jesus’ question.

But then Jesus’ trap was sprung!

“He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. “ (Matthew 22:43-46 – my emphases)

Whap!!!   Question is, what was it about this seemingly innocuous exchange that was so frightening to them?  Maybe this:

  • These self-proclaimed experts in the Scripture suddenly saw that there is more going on in God’s Word than they understood.  They didn’t know all the answers.  The Scriptures were written from God’s vantage point, not the limited and comparatively ignorant vantage point of humans.  To be confronted with this is humbling and frightening.  Especially for “scholars.”
  • Jesus trusted the actual words written in the Bible.  He didn’t pick and choose, as they did, according to what seemed right.  He accepted the words as they were written, even when those words didn’t conform with human, common sense.
  • Jesus knew that when the Scriptures were written, the human authors were “speaking by the Spirit” of God.
  • Because they could not refute what He said, the Pharisees began to suspect that the One with whom they were speaking was:
    • The Lord
    • The Messiah or Christ
    • Qualified to sit at the right hand of God
    • Would ultimately dominate all His enemies

When the rug is pulled out from under the things we think we know, it can be very scary.  Even more so when you cannot explain away the new insights.  The smart thing to do, despite your fear, is to re-evaluate your assumptions, looking carefully and thoughtfully into the things that have frightened you.  Such as what it says in the Bible.  That’s not what Jesus’ critics did.  They decided to kill Him.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Peace

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What do you want most in this life?  Seriously: make a list and then prioritize it.  What’s on top?  Is “peace” on your list?  If you think about it, peace should be number one.  Not world peace, but personal peace, the kind of peace that comes when we are content and whole, inside and out.  Shalom, the Hebrew word for it, conveys thorough harmony, security and tranquility.  If you couldn’t attain anything else on your list, but truly had peace, it would be better than having them all without peace.

Right in the middle of Jesus’ biggest moment of public triumph, riding into Jerusalem to the deafening cheers of the crowds, He paused on the hill, overlooking the city.

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42)

Jesus wept for those who, for a thousand personal reasons, could not see Him for Who He was, go to Him and find  peace.  A few days later, He looked into the eyes of His disciples, gathered at supper and said:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Those guys had seen “what would bring” them peace.  They knew the secret.  But what is the secret?  How can we find peace?  Jesus told them:

““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” “ (John 16:33)

In Jesus you may have peace.  As we surrender and come to Jesus we come to life in Jesus.   He said,

“Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.“ (John 14:19b-20)

And in Him is peace.  Jesus knew that some would get it.  He wept for the others.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

When You’re Ready

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My wife and I got mugged in Savannah, not physically but verbally, by a guy holding a sign and yelling Bible verses at us.  He literally followed us down the street, trying to “save” us by forcing Scripture on us.  He probably thought he was earning brownie points from God.  I was annoyed.  More than that, I was frustrated, wondering how many people he had chased away from God’s grace that day.  If you get accosted by someone shoving God or the Bible down your throat, don’t fight back; run away.  Because God doesn’t work that way.

It’s not that God doesn’t care; He really does.  Jesus’ brother, James, wrote of how God intensely yearns for His Spirit to live in us, just as He intended.  (That is my rough and loose paraphrase of James 4:5)  God is passionate that we be restored to the fullness of spiritual life by having His Spirit alive in us.  He wanted that for us so much He paid a terrible price to accomplish it.

BUT HE DOES NOT FORCE HIMSELF ON US!  He waits for us to be ready.  James continued his thought with this:

“But He [God] gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 – my explanation in brackets)

“The proud” in that verse are those who think they have life figured out on their own and who have no use for God.  He waits.  Stuff happens.  Sometimes “the proud” become “the humble.”  In the words of Bob Dylan (Like a Rolling Stone)

You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal

When “the proud” become “the humble,” when they are ready to receive Him, then God approaches.  With grace.  Not with loud, angry shouting.  He sent His Son to find you and rescue you.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

Jesus invited people to come to Him and find rest, saying He was “gentle and humble in heart.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

I remember seeing a video on Facebook about a guy who rescued an abandoned, starving dog.  The dog was aggressive, unwilling for anyone to approach but the guy just sat there and waited him out.  After a long time, when the dog was ready to receive it, the man gave him “more grace” – care, nourishment, healing and a new life.  There was no yelling involved, no signs, no scolding.  It was very much like my own experience with God, Who waited until I was not so full of myself.  Then, when I was ready to receive His grace, without holding anything against me, He gave me the life of His Son, Jesus.

He waits for you, too.

Quotes:  The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Like a Rolling Stone lyrics: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/rolling-stone#ixzz3UwbEdylf

What Corrupts Government

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Two words explain the root of what is wrong with our government.  You thought I was going to say Republican and Democrat.  Sorry…   Good guess, but those aren’t the two I was thinking of.  And it’s not just our government.  These two words define the problem with every system of government.  Which two?  Selfish ambition.  The reason governments don’t work well is that those who gravitate to positions of authority over others tend to be people who are ambitious and selfish.  Of course I’m not talking about your favorite leader.  But I am talking about the majority of those who claw their way up into positions of influence and power.  Consider this:

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:14-16)

In the United States, our leaders are supposed to represent and serve the people.  Too often they behave as though the people are supposed to serve them.  But the same root problem exists in repressive dictatorships.  The people who manage to get to the top tend to be self-centered and driven.  That’s not the kind of personality that works best to govern.

Imagine if our governments were filled with people who were described like this:

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. “ (James 3:17-18, NIV)

Next time you start thinking about someone in government, take a moment to pray for her or him.  Ask God to fill them with those qualities which are developed from within by His Spirit, and to protect them from the destructive attitudes of the world.  Then pray, “Thy Kingdom come…”

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Tell and Show

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In truth, it’s not what you say that matters; it’s what you do.  That’s the test.  It’s not enough to sound religious, to say a bunch of holy things about God and stuff.  It’s what you do that shows if you are spiritually alive.

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. “ (James 1:26-27)

At first glance it sounds like James is saying, “Hey, watch your language around here, buddy…” But really, he is warning people not to sound religious to impress others or maybe even God.  People may be fooled by that, but God isn’t impressed with lofty tones of voice and holy vocabulary.  He cares about what He sees us do.  Don’t misunderstand: we can’t earn our way into God’s favor with good works.  But when we have His Spirit alive within us, we will show it as we tend to help others in distress.  Even those like widows and orphans who, in that day, didn’t count for much.  “Being polluted by the world,” in this context, means caring more about my own reputation among the influential people than I do about someone else with real needs.

These two verses drag me across coals of regret. I wince to read about keeping a close rein on my tongue.  But that’s why I need these verses.  And why I need grace.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Powerful Word

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What’s the big deal with the “F word?”  Used to be that people would use adjectives to help us understand what they meant.  They would talk about a melodious bird or a twisted relic, a cantankerous geezer or a dog-eared book.  Their descriptive words would jumpstart our imaginations.  Now, they say, “F’n geezer,” or “F’n bird” and my imagination shrivels. My interest sags.  My daughter says I’m old fashioned and that I have allowed the “F word” to have too much power over me.  Power?  I think not. It’s not powerful, it’s lazy.

Let me tell you about a Word with astonishing power, so much so, there’s no word in English that completely conveys it’s meaning.  The Greek word, Logos, is translated in English as “Word.”  But, as it is commonly used in the New Testament, it’s much more than a combination of letters.  Logos means the mindset and understanding of God, the way God thinks and interacts with the reality He created.  Logos is the Greek root for the word, “logic.”   The apostle, John, called Jesus “The Word,” the “Logos.”   He meant that Jesus was the full essence of God’s Mind.  By this he equates Jesus, “The Word,” with God:

” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

“Logos” is a word with power.  God’s plan to restore humans to their full potential and life, as revealed in both the Old and New Testaments, is to plant His “Logos” in their soul, like a seed that will grow.

““… “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33b)

“And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

When God’s Logos is planted in us it grows and changes us with power.  His law is put into our minds, His Spirit lives in our soul.  This planting of God’s Logos is made possible as we accept God’s gift of forgiveness and cleansing, paid for by Jesus on the cross.  In Jesus’ words,

“…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16b-17)

Now, there’s a “Word” with real power, living, growing, transforming power.  Compared to “Logos,” the “F word” has all the power of flattened roadkill.

Now, consider this from Jesus’ brother, James:

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:21)

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.