I have never really given a lot of thought to the Holy Spirit. I know it is part of the trinity and the triune God. I looked up some information and Bible verses which show the Holy Spirit is powerful and a gift. The Holy Spirit was a promised gift given at Pentecost. Pentecost is 50 days (7 Sundays) after Easter. I have overlooked the importance of the Holy Spirit in today's world.
Sometimes God is compared to the wind. We can't see the wind, but we know it is there and we feel the power. The way the Spirit was given is powerful:
Acts 2:1-4 The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost (NIV) 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
God still wants to give us the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NIV) 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God wants us to keep the Spirit working in our lives and let it help us persevere (I'm beginning to really like that word persevere) through bad news, pain, rising gas prices and concerns.
Jude 1:17-20 (NIV) A call to persevere 17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Since we are mind, body and spirit, I believe we communicate more with the Holy Spirit than we realize.
Romans 8:26-27 (NIV) 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
May we truly appreciate the gift that God gave us by providing the Holy Spirit. May we be more willing to keep moving our faith forward and use all the help God has already given us. May we get over the fear of letting others know how much they are missing when they are not fully relying on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I'm glad I'm a mom because.....
OK, this is off topic from what I've been blogging about, but I thought I'd share this anyway.
I recently got an e-mail from Hearts at Home (http://www.hearts-at-home.org/ - a great mom resource!) They're having a contest in honor of Mother's Day. The topic is: I'm glad I'm a mom because.... and you're supposed to answer in 50 words or less. Note: 50 words is not all that much. I had to work it down until I got it to 47. It was REALLY easy to go over so this is the 3rd or 4th try.
I’m glad I’m a mom because God handpicked my kids for me. Sometimes I think He gave me more than I can handle. Sometimes I rise to the challenge and grow in the process. Sometimes I get frustrated. Then I remember they’re only mine for some time.
Wow (Mom upside down...think about it...you're picturing it in your head aren't you?) :)
A new perspective. Now, to remember when the ortho appliance is having ANOTHER problem, during homework time, getting them off the computer/guitar hero, etc., "He/She called me a name!" (whiny voice) .....and the list goes on.
I would expand this to anyone who has an influence in a child's life. Do you know how important you are? Give yourself a pat on the back and move ahead two spaces in the game of life, take the little car...oh wait with gas prices you better walk...and enjoy the view.
Now, go call your mother or somebody else who has helped make you who you are today...
I recently got an e-mail from Hearts at Home (http://www.hearts-at-home.org/ - a great mom resource!) They're having a contest in honor of Mother's Day. The topic is: I'm glad I'm a mom because.... and you're supposed to answer in 50 words or less. Note: 50 words is not all that much. I had to work it down until I got it to 47. It was REALLY easy to go over so this is the 3rd or 4th try.
I’m glad I’m a mom because God handpicked my kids for me. Sometimes I think He gave me more than I can handle. Sometimes I rise to the challenge and grow in the process. Sometimes I get frustrated. Then I remember they’re only mine for some time.
Wow (Mom upside down...think about it...you're picturing it in your head aren't you?) :)
A new perspective. Now, to remember when the ortho appliance is having ANOTHER problem, during homework time, getting them off the computer/guitar hero, etc., "He/She called me a name!" (whiny voice) .....and the list goes on.
I would expand this to anyone who has an influence in a child's life. Do you know how important you are? Give yourself a pat on the back and move ahead two spaces in the game of life, take the little car...oh wait with gas prices you better walk...and enjoy the view.
Now, go call your mother or somebody else who has helped make you who you are today...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Doubting (put your name here), stop doubting and believe
In the Bible, it was Thomas:
John 20:24 - 29 (NIV)
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Today, it could be any one of us....we can read the Bible, we can feel God's presence and peace, but that little feeling of doubt is never too far away. Thomas didn't just want somebody's word for it. He wanted proof! If we're honest, would we have asked for anything less? Do we now?
Jesus told Thomas to go ahead and touch his hands and side and then, "Stop doubting and believe." Thomas did and THEN he believed.
Jesus knew it would be more difficult for us. Look at verse 29. "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus looked far into the future and knew that there would be days when you and I know we love God, but He just doesn't feel real close right then. Jesus still offers us His hands and side as proof that He did what He said He would do. He died on the cross, rose the 3rd day and went back with His father to prepare a place for us to live eternally.
Deuteronomy 7:8-9 (NIV)
8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
We're one of those thousand generations. He is faithful. He still welcomes doubters, seekers or whatever we need to call ourselves when things aren't going like we think they should. Ask Him to prove Himself to you. He will, no doubt about it.
John 20:24 - 29 (NIV)
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Today, it could be any one of us....we can read the Bible, we can feel God's presence and peace, but that little feeling of doubt is never too far away. Thomas didn't just want somebody's word for it. He wanted proof! If we're honest, would we have asked for anything less? Do we now?
Jesus told Thomas to go ahead and touch his hands and side and then, "Stop doubting and believe." Thomas did and THEN he believed.
Jesus knew it would be more difficult for us. Look at verse 29. "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus looked far into the future and knew that there would be days when you and I know we love God, but He just doesn't feel real close right then. Jesus still offers us His hands and side as proof that He did what He said He would do. He died on the cross, rose the 3rd day and went back with His father to prepare a place for us to live eternally.
Deuteronomy 7:8-9 (NIV)
8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
We're one of those thousand generations. He is faithful. He still welcomes doubters, seekers or whatever we need to call ourselves when things aren't going like we think they should. Ask Him to prove Himself to you. He will, no doubt about it.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
He is not here.....
Luke 24:5-7 (NIV)
5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "
He is not here....the more I think about it, the more excited I feel about 4 little words. Christian faith boils down to those 4 words. If he was there when the women came, he could not have been who he said he was. He had told his disciples that he would die, but would rise again. They didn't get it. Even when some of them saw him later. He couldn't be alive, they had seen him die a horrible death. Yet there they were, the stone was gone, his body was gone and they were told that Jesus was NOT there, He was among the living not the dead.
When Jesus had gone to Martha after hearing of the death of Lazarus, her brother and his friend:
John 11:25-26 (NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Do you? He is not here......
5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "
He is not here....the more I think about it, the more excited I feel about 4 little words. Christian faith boils down to those 4 words. If he was there when the women came, he could not have been who he said he was. He had told his disciples that he would die, but would rise again. They didn't get it. Even when some of them saw him later. He couldn't be alive, they had seen him die a horrible death. Yet there they were, the stone was gone, his body was gone and they were told that Jesus was NOT there, He was among the living not the dead.
When Jesus had gone to Martha after hearing of the death of Lazarus, her brother and his friend:
John 11:25-26 (NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Do you? He is not here......
Saturday, April 05, 2008
What about those 3 days?
Tonight, my mind is wandering about what happened those three days Jesus was dead and in the grave. It seems at Easter time we go from Friday and his death to Easter Sunday and his resurrection. I'm thinking we're overlooking a major reason Jesus was here. He came to beat sin AND death. His blood covered the sin of the world. His resurrection beat death, but how unless Jesus was still fighting for us those 3 days?
I know in the Apostles Creed it states: "He descended into hell" I have done some searching to find biblical references to this.
Matthew 12:40 (NIV) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So is the "heart of the earth" just the tomb? Or is it where all of us deserve to go because of our sin...where Jesus went to battle for our right to eternal life with God in Heaven?
1 Peter 3:18-22 (NIV) 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Ephesians 6 speaks of our spiritual armor and that our fight is against the devil's schemes and our struggle is with the spiritual forces of evil. Jesus fought against those powers and won!
Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV) 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
When I have read about Gethsemane, I kind of assumed that Jesus asked for "the cup" to be taken away if possible because of the cross and the physical pain of being crucified. Maybe it was more because of the spiritual battle that would ensue after his physical death. He knew he would have to fight this battle while feeling forsaken by God, but on that 3rd day? He knew he was not forsaken.
Some really good info here: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html and http://www.apostle.org/lectures/inthegrv.htm
For now, I'm going to think on these things with the anticipation of realizing that Jesus has suffered more and took on more than I have ever imagined. And He did it for me, for us.......
I know in the Apostles Creed it states: "He descended into hell" I have done some searching to find biblical references to this.
Matthew 12:40 (NIV) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So is the "heart of the earth" just the tomb? Or is it where all of us deserve to go because of our sin...where Jesus went to battle for our right to eternal life with God in Heaven?
1 Peter 3:18-22 (NIV) 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Ephesians 6 speaks of our spiritual armor and that our fight is against the devil's schemes and our struggle is with the spiritual forces of evil. Jesus fought against those powers and won!
Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV) 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
When I have read about Gethsemane, I kind of assumed that Jesus asked for "the cup" to be taken away if possible because of the cross and the physical pain of being crucified. Maybe it was more because of the spiritual battle that would ensue after his physical death. He knew he would have to fight this battle while feeling forsaken by God, but on that 3rd day? He knew he was not forsaken.
Some really good info here: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html and http://www.apostle.org/lectures/inthegrv.htm
For now, I'm going to think on these things with the anticipation of realizing that Jesus has suffered more and took on more than I have ever imagined. And He did it for me, for us.......
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