Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

Bring it On

Leave a reply

Maybe you have asked, “If Jesus saves, why doesn’t He save me?”   Maybe you have just lost your job or your home.  Maybe you have just received some awful news from your doctor.  Maybe you just saw your picture on the post office wall.  We find ourselves in deep trouble and call out to Jesus, “Save me!”  Sometimes He does and sometimes He does not.  Why not?

John the Baptist must have been wondering that same question.  John was a prophet who was faithfully and fearlessly serving God.  Not only that, he was Jesus’ cousin!  If Jesus had the power to break John out of jail, why didn’t He do so?  Jesus knew that John would be executed in prison and yet did nothing to free him.  Why not?  Why let John suffer and die?

it wasn’t that Jesus didn’t think John deserved it.  He told His disciples:

I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; …” (Matthew 11:11a)

But as good as John was, and as close as they were, there was something more important than John’s comfort and safety in play.  Jesus continued:

“… yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [John the Baptist]“ (Matthew 11:11b)

The worst person who is in the Kingdom of Heaven is better than the best person who is not.  What did Jesus mean by that?

Here’s an analogy: The worst, piece of junk flip-phone that has service is better than the latest and fastest Google android mega-screen monster that does not.  Phones can be powered up and have all kinds of cool graphics and games, but it they don’t have “bars,” they are dead.  That’s because phones are designed to communicate by means of the invisible cell signal.

We humans were designed by God to communicate with Him, receiving and sending information, by means of His invisible Spirit in our souls.  Without that Spirit, even though we are physically alive, we are spiritually dead.  No “bars.”  Since Adam and Eve rebelled against God and lost “all the bars of their Spirit service,” all of their descendants have been born dead, disconnected from the Spirit – even John the Baptist.  Jesus’ primary mission was to give us the Spirit and bring us back to life.   Everything else was secondary.  He said,

“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b)

Jesus must have known that leaving John in prison would advance the cause of giving people real life in the Spirit.  That eternal goal was far more important than John’s immediate comfort or freedom.  If John could have known how his suffering would be used in that cause, he would have accepted it willingly.  Joyfully.

I am convinced that God did not waste John’s suffering and that He does not waste your suffering either.  I am convinced that if we knew how God uses our suffering to bring people to full life, we would be glad to be used by Him.  It’s not that we want to suffer.  We urgently pray and ask God to rescue us from it.  But as we pray to our Savior and King, we line ourselves up with what He knows is best.  “Thy will be done.  Bring it on!”

Flunking Jesus

Leave a reply

Jesus would have flunked freshman creative writing; He mixed metaphors – a serious no-no. Beseiged by great crowds, Jesus compassionately said they seemed like “sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).  But then He switched metaphors:

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.   Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:37-38

Why do you suppose He switched from the image of leading sheep to harvesting wheat?  The sheep metaphor “works” because of how helpless sheep are without a good shepherd to show them the way.  But what does a wheat harvest illustrate?  Here’s some things He may have had in mind:

  • The wheat belongs to the Farmer, the “Lord of the Harvest.”
  • Wheat cannot harvest itself.
  • There is a very limited window of opportunity during which wheat can be harvested.
  • Wheat is grown for the purpose of being harvested.  Until it is harvested and transformed into bread, wheat has not reached its full potential, has not accomplished its purpose. We have not become “complete” until we have the Holy Spirit living in us.
  • (This is my favorite…)  When you harvest wheat, you cut it loose from its attachment to the earth, gather it together and give it to the “Farmer.”  When we recognize that Jesus is God and trust Him fully, we are “harvested.” We are “cut loose” from our earthly attachments and given a new citizenship in Heaven.  Jesus gives us to the Father, Who transforms us by the leavening of His Holy Spirit.

Maybe you can think of other parallels between a harvest of wheat and our need for salvation.  In any case, probably Jesus shouldn’t flunk.

Beware the Crusty

2 Replies

Nobody told Marlene (not her real name) you’re not supposed to yell in church.  Even if she had been told I’m not sure it would have made any difference.  Right in the middle of a sermon, the pastor said something about how the Holy Spirit lives and grows in the souls of those who place their faith in Jesus.  And she couldn’t sit still.  Marlene jumped to her feet, with her arms waving wildly above her head, and yelled out, “Whoo Hoo!”  Needless to say, the rest of the congregation was a bit startled.  Some of them woke right up, blinking and bewildered.  No doubt, others were thinking, “That’s not the way we do it here…”

But I think Jesus loved it!  Whoo Hoo!  He knew that woman had come to faith and been reborn a few days earlier, that she just couldn’t contain her joy.  I’ll bet Jesus was wondering why nobody else was jumping and shouting.

A bunch of long-faced, crusty, religious types once asked Jesus why He and His disciples were not fasting, why they were not acting with appropriate religious sorrow.

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:15-17)

New wine is alive.  It’s growing and bubbling inside.  So is new birth in the Spirit of God, when someone surrenders to Jesus.  It bubbles with joy and new life.  Paul called it “walking in the newness of life.” (Romans 6:4 NASB)  Old, crusty rituals cannot contain new life.  How can the guests fast while the “Bridegroom” is with them?  Jesus told believers that He would never leave them (Matthew 28:20), that He would come and make His home with them (John 14:23).  He said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14;19).  Whoo Hoo!

The chances are good that Marlene is more subdued in church these days.  She probably got the memo.  She’s more crusty.  But don’t you fall prey to that!  The wine is still new.  The Spirit of God is still growing and bubbling inside.  Let that joy loose!  Whoo Hoo!

Ready or Not

Leave a reply

The waters of the North and South St. Vrain are rising again.  So are the fears of the folks in Lyons, Colorado.  Last September, after 18″ of rain, those two rivers ripped through town and left little behind except twisted, mud-soaked wreckage.  The River Church building clung tenaciously to its foundations, against a 6′ surging torrent, until a telephone pole swept down and knocked the corner of its foundation out from under it.  By God’s grace, most of the rest of the building hung on.  By God’s miraculous grace, scores of volunteers from around the country have reconditioned and restored that building from the foundation up (see more below).  But now the heavy snows in the Rockies are melting.  The St. Vrain is rising.  If you are praying for rain, please be specific about where you need it!

Jesus said life on this planet would resemble the Lyons flood.  But He also gave us words to survive by – the Sermon on the Mount.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Live by the Sermon on the Mount and you will survive the pounding floods of life.  Easier said than done.  Living with an awareness of spiritual bankruptcy, hungering for righteousness, being salt and light in the world, loving your enemies, never thinking about sex outside of marriage, avoiding the pull of materialism, …  putting the words of Jesus into practice seems impossible.  It’s like saying to a caterpillar, “Just become a butterfly and you will be able to survive life’s troubles.”

Don’t despair or quit.  Just as there is a way for a caterpillar to become a butterfly, there is a way for you and me to begin to live by the words of Jesus.  They both involve a complete transformation, from the inside out.  We cannot make it happen or pay to have it done.  The charges have already been fully paid at the Cross.  Our only part is surrendering to Jesus, confessing our bankruptcy and inability, asking for and accepting His forgiveness, and then trusting His Spirit to begin the transformation.  Our part is to humbly call out to Him for rescue.  As Jesus begins the work of transformation, your life will begin to conform to His words.  I wonder if caterpillars feel amazed to look down one day and discover they are flying.  If so, they must feel like people who trust Jesus and discover the new birth and growing influence of His Spirit in their souls.

One last note:  Jesus didn’t say that if we follow Him there would be no floods, only that we would stand.  You may not live near the St. Vrain, but know this:  the water is rising.

PS – You can see pictures and find more about The River Church here.

Enemy Whisperer

2 Replies

The hounds of Hell live just around the corner from my house in Colorado, two German Shepherds with slathering fangs and burning hot coals for eyes. The chain link fence that stops them from eviscerating me has my deepest respect and gratitude. But I am convinced that the “Dog Whisperer” could nonchalantly walk into their yard and gentle them in short order.

It takes a lot of courage to be a “whisperer.” The “Dog Whisperer” and these guys who get into corrals with wild horses have great courage. But they also have something the average person does not. Somehow, they have the capacity to show they pose no threat, that they understand that the animal’s aggression is based in fear. The one who “whispers” really wants the very best for those animals.

Jesus says, “Be an enemy whisperer:”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43-44)

The love that Jesus refers to here is genuine concern for the wellbeing of your potential adversary, at the risk of your own wellbeing. Jesus would have us get in the corral with our enemy, posing no threat and acting with the understanding his aggression is rooted in fear. Jesus would have us communicate by what we do that we are truly there to bless. Clearly, that takes a lot of courage. But it takes something else, too, something the average person does not have.

That previous quote from Jesus is incomplete. He ended the sentence by saying,

“…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:45a)

To “be a son” of someone is an idiom for being so full of his character and spirit that you thoroughly resemble him. Jesus says, love your enemies, showing that you are full of God’s Spirit and in step with His character. The Spirit of God is something the average person does not have. But Jesus came to “whisper” us, to show us He posed no threat but was out for our genuine good. He said He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save us (John 3:17). Jesus knew that without God’s Spirit we were stuck in fear. But He came, at the risk of His own life, to bless us. For those who will truly trust Him, Jesus connects them to and fills them with God’s Spirit in a living way.

And says, “Whisper your enemies…”

No Morons

1 Reply

Jesus said, “Don’t act like a moron.” Really. There’s lots of ways to be a moron, but Jesus was talking about failing to do something amazing when you could have done it, but didn’t use the power. Like the guy who says, “If I hadn’t let up on the gas, my truck really could have jumped that creek…” If that was true, he could have been a hero, the envy of all his buddies. Now he’s a moron.

If you are looking for “moron” in your Bible concordance, you probably won’t find it. But it is there, when Jesus says:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. (Matthew 5:13)

When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” He’s talking about living with the Holy Spirit. When you have the Holy Spirit, you have a different kind of power and a different way of approaching life. That difference is supposed to make a difference – a noticeable and attractive difference. Like salt does on a burger. The purpose is not bragging rights, but to cause others to notice how bland life is without that Spirit, to notice and want to change. However, when we “lose our saltiness,” when we live with no discernable difference, Jesus says we act like morons. Literally, the Greek word used is the root for our English word, moron!

It is pointless and stupid to have the Holy Spirit and live as though you don’t. If salt isn’t salty, you throw it on the ground and trample it.

Don’t act like a moron. Live by the Spirit.

Clobbered for Good

Leave a reply

It’s all the rage to be outraged by bullying, in the classroom and on the internet. But we see the essence of bullying played out in boardrooms, churches, truckstops, home owner associations, newsrooms and countless other adult social situations. Bullying is pervasive. At its root, it grows out of the strong pull we humans feel to conform. Non-conformists get ostracized. Others participate in various forms of ostracism (a form of bullying) to make themselves feel accepted. That’s why Bob Dylan got booed at Newport, why you see “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service” and why most churches and clubs have a dress code (even if it is unwritten).

Jesus understood that His followers would be bullied and worse. He knew social rejection had always been the fate of those who lived by the upside-down principles of the kingdom of heaven. That’s why He said:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

No question about it, getting in step with Jesus puts you out of step with most of the rest of the world. Don’t be surprised by what the world does to people who play by different rules. Later on, Jesus explained it further to His followers:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)

Why would anyone knowingly sign up for such treatment? You play football, you are going to get clobbered. But its worth it. Those who play hard are rewarded. So it is with those who play on Jesus’ team. His game plan is for those who have received His Spirit to be noticeably different, to be “salt and light” in the world and to thereby attract others to Him for eternal life. You will get clobbered, but it will be worth it.

Cool New Stuff

Leave a reply

When you update an app, you expect it to work better, right?  Sometimes you don’t notice any difference but sometimes your updated app does cool new stuff.  When you trust Jesus, you get more than an update. You get a whole new operating system – the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit definitely comes with cool new stuff.

Like mercy.  We humans are not naturally wired to extend mercy, but God is.  When He described Who He was and what He was like to Moses, God started out with mercy:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…  (Exodus 34:6)

Mercy is the character of God, 101.  Bob Dylan writes songs; God extends mercy.  So, when a person receives God’s Spirit, Who begins to transform how he operates, one cool new result is an increased capacity for mercy – to give it and receive it.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus began by  preaching hope for those who knew they were spiritually bankrupt, for those who mourned their condition and hungered for a soul that worked right (See the previous 4 posts).  He told them they would be comforted and filled, hinting that He would give them the Holy Spirit.  But then Jesus switched gears and began to speak of what happens in a person who is comforted and filled by His Spirit – what the cool new stuff is.  He said:

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  (Matthew 5:7)

That’s cool new stuff 101.  Those who have the Holy Spirit notice a growing capacity for mercy – to give it and receive it.

It’s not that being merciful earns us mercy from God.  Being merciful in a genuine way shows that God’s Spirit is living in us.  In that condition, we are enabled to receive God’s mercy.  This mystery is repeated often in Jesus’  teaching.  The unmerciful are unable to receive God’s mercy.  The unforgiving are unable to receive His forgiveness.  It’s not that they don’t deserve it; nobody deserves mercy and forgiveness.  If we are deserving, it’s not mercy or forgiveness.  It’s that our souls are unable to receive God’s forgiveness and mercy, to really accept them in a settled way, unless they have been brought to spiritual life by His Spirit.  When we receive mercy, we naturally extend it.  And vice versa.

It’s cool new stuff from our new operating system.

Hungry and Thirsty No More

Leave a reply

When you pass a wreck, why do you look?  Why do people gather around a fight?  Why do we think the way we do?  Perhaps you have had times when your inability to think about or do the things you know are right has led you to despair.  Perhaps you have felt as though you were drowning in your own wickedness.  If so, Jesus understands and has good news:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  (Matthew 5:6)

Remember the scene in “Lawrence of Arabia” when they open the canteen and there’s barely a drop left?  Middle of the desert, in the blazing heat?  That’s thirsty.  Actually, two days later is thirsty, but you get the idea.  What’s hungry?  No, strike that.  What is it to hunger?   That’s worse than being hungry.   

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is the end result of knowing your spiritual poverty and mourning about it, knowing you cannot fix it.  Jesus says that’s the kind of person the Kingdom of Heaven is for.  That’s the kind of person who is ready to listen and ready to cooperate in an attempt to be healed.  That’s the kind of person who feels morally starved and parched.

Jesus said those who would trust Him, would cross from death to life, because He would give His Holy Spirit to live in their dead souls.  They would experience a “newness of life” as they are fully reconciled to God.  In this teaching He says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness would be filled.  He used the word for eating your fill, the word they used to talk about fattening cattle.  Imagine being that full of His Spirit, that full of righteousness.

That’s the promise.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  (John 6:35)

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  (John 7:37-38)

Be Meek

Don’t Take the Fire Escape!

1 Reply

You are startled awake by the loud blaring of the fire alarm.  You can already smell the smoke and you hurry from your room on an upper floor of the hotel.  Rushing down to the fire escape, you discover that it is about to be overcome by flames. So you turn around and head back the other direction.  You have to fight your way through a stampede of hotel guests who are trying to reach the fire escape.  “No!” you say, “Turn around; you will die if you keep going that way.”  Most of them don’t believe you.  Some call you an idiot for ignoring the fire escape sign.  Those few who decide to trust you, turn around and follow you in the “wrong” direction.  They live.

Jesus was in a situation like that.  He knew we were thundering toward death.  He urged us to turn around and head the “wrong” way, in order to find eternal life.  That is why so much of what He said seems up-side-down.  Like this:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  (Matthew 5:4 )

He didn’t say that those who grieve are happy.  He said they would one day be comforted and therefore are blessed.  This statement follows the previous one about realizing our spiritual poverty.  The kind of mourning Jesus was referring to was the desire to be spiritually full, spiritually rich, without being able to change one’s spiritual bankruptcy.

Jesus said people in that condition would be comforted.  He wasn’t talking about someone who would feel sorry for them and say soothing things.  He was talking about a total reversal in their spiritual bank account.  Here’s how I know:  Jesus said,

‘If ye love me, my commands keep, and I will ask the Father, and another Comforter He will give to you, that he may remain with you—to the age; the Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to receive, because it doth not behold him, nor know him, and ye know him, because he doth remain with you, and shall be in you. ( John 14:15-17 Young’s’ Literal Translation)

I used that old fashioned sounding translation because they gave the literal translation of the word Jesus called the Holy Spirit – Comforter.  It is the same root word He used when He said those who mourn “will be comforted.”  The people who are spiritually bankrupt and who mourn their condition, who are unable to be good enough or spiritual enough to change it, will be comforted.  How?  They will receive the Holy Spirit, Who will “remain” (live)  in their souls forever.  This is eternal life.

Ok, but what’s all this business about “if you love me and keep my commands?”   Those are like the folks in the hotel hallway who turn around and head in the opposite direction because they trusted you.  That’s what happens when you trust and love Jesus.  You turn around, you follow, you live.