Category: The Holy Spirit

Jesus Christ…Heard of Him?

Maybe you have never heard about Jesus Christ. This blog is your first-time hearing His name mentioned. Allow me to introduce Jesus Christ to you. One of the biblical authors, the apostle Paul, tells us good news about Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 in the Bible, Paul says,

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…”

Jesus was a real human being who lived and died on earth, my friend. This is not a fictional story. John 3:16-17 from the Bible tells us why Jesus came. It says,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

So, you see, Jesus came from God on a mission born out of love. Unlike others, God did not send Jesus to shake His finger in your face to scold you about how “bad” you are, or to stick his nose up at you to show how much your actions “repulse” Him. In fact, the intent was just the opposite. 

Emanating from God’s heart of love for humanity, and His compassion and mercy which He has plenty of, God was
propelled to send His Son, Jesus Christ–to save us from sin. The idea of humanity needing a savior is true. We do! Being “saved” from something suggests a problem or danger exists that we need to be rescued from. There’s
something bad or negative lurking around in the shadows. Right?

Well, yes, there is a danger lurking around in our human hearts and world – it’s called “sin.” Sin is not something God likes or participates in. On the other hand, humans, unfortunately, have a natural proclivity for it. We were born in sin and have the instinct to partake of sin’s fruit. At one point, God recognized how humankind’s proclivity for sin and evil was so great, He relented (or regretted) that He had made mankind. That’s pretty saddening, I’d say. It says, in the first book of the Bible, Genesis chapter 6, verses 5-7,

“But
the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become
great on the earth. Every inclination of
the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he
had made humankind on the earth, and he
was highly offended.”

 

We have an opportunity to understand here how God does take issue with sin (the word we hate to say); it is the problem or danger in us that stands in the way of Him and us. It’s in the way of us rightly relating with God because He is Holy and, as the younger generation would say, He’s “all good.” Yes, God is good and therefore sin must be faced, addressed, and dealt with in order to know Him.

Bing! This is where a Savior is key and Jesus Christ is important to get to know. Jesus Christ stood in the gap for you and me to handle this sin problem that offends God. Sin has a penalty—death–and somebody has to pay a price for it to stay in God’s company. This is what Jesus did. One time, for all, Jesus took the punishment for sin that humanity deserved so that we could become the righteousness of God. Jesus, a good guy, died a criminal’s death on the cross. The Bible says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:19-21,

“In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses [sins] against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God!’ 

God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.”

The good man Jesus, the Savior, took the fall for the bad guys (you, me, and the rest). We can, however, be reconciled (made right) before God right now and begin a relationship with Him because of the fall Christ took and the price Christ paid on the cross for our sins. Please, do so.

God wants us near and close to Himself, as family members. God, the Father wants you to know and experience His life. Simply believe and receive this truth about his Son, Jesus Christ—that He came as the Savior of the world and died, was buried, and rose again to bring you to God. He was more than just a religious prophet and teacher. In fact, Jesus Christ is the only One who can bring us to share in God’s eternal life, as Acts 4:12 shows us this about Jesus’ name. It says,

“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

Don’t reject the message about Jesus Christ any longer. It is true. Believe and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior right now. Ask Him to come into your heart and give you God’s eternal life. Then the truth about what this
eternal life is, as recorded in John 17:3, will immediately begin in you. It says,

“Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”

“Welcome…nice to meet you. Please, come in and have a seat at my table,” you will sense God saying, once you do!  😊

 

Let us know if you received God’s life!

 

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Slow Down

Hello. I’m back from my summer break and must say I feel rested and refreshed. I’ve learned it’s okay to put things aside and rest for a while. This was not always typical of me. I had to always be busy or actively working on or doing something new. I was driven and consumed by success, ambition, making money, climbing the corporate ladder, and getting things right (especially this Christian life)–quick. My drive and what was compelling it, I discovered, had nothing to do with God! My drive was worldly, often fueled by insecurity and wrong motives. I’ve learned and still am learning the importance of slowing down, smelling the flowers, and gaining the right perspective. We’re all familiar with this traffic sign. It alerts drivers to exercise caution in a particular area because pedestrians are walking nearby. Drivers should slow down.

Slowing our pace, pulling away from demands, streamlining expectations, and drawing away from people sometimes must be beneficial for us. Didn’t Jesus do it? Mark 8:35 shows us He did. It says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Even our Creator, God, after He completed His creative work, rested. Genesis 2-3 tells us, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Surely, if Jesus stopped healing, teaching, and preaching to regroup, and God, the Father, rested after work, shouldn’t we do the same?

For twelve years, I’ve been living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Before MS, I was naturally energetic and fast. My brain thought fast. I walked fast. I finished tests and spelled words fast. I typed, prepared documents, and proofread fast! I cleaned the house fast! And still, even now, I respond fast to a crisis. This was me. Fast could have been my nickname. It’s how people may identify me. No doubt, the MS has contributed to my slower pace now, (although my son is constantly alerting me still to, “slow down, Mom”). There was something more, however–besides MS–that triggered in me a need to slow life down. First, the more I experienced God in my life, I realized, unlike our fast-paced American culture and world, God doesn’t always immediately move when I need or want Him to. He doesn’t always quickly respond to my requests. God moves, responds, and acts in His time. This is sometimes difficult for us to grasp, especially when it involves something we believe He could or should have prevented if He would have. However, God’s kingdom is a mystery to us; it does not function or operate as earthly kingdoms. He reveals pieces about it to us little by little, because its ways are foreign to human ways. No one can say they have completely figured God out.

Second, this idea about, “setting our minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2) is not something we immediately comprehend. Ours is a fast-paced, fast answering, fast problem-solving world. Society tells us to “weather the storm” and “keep it moving.” Even as we watch on television the world calamities that happen, we hear news network reporters asking, “How quick was the response? How soon will repairs start? How fast did law enforcement arrive? When will the electricity be restored?” Since information now travels so fast via the internet, satellite, and cell phones, one is thinking, “Wow! Didn’t the catastrophe just happen?” But, this is our world–fast. It was my thinking too.

In my upcoming book, I talk about how as a child I visualized God as a superhero, like Superman, flying through the skies, saving the world from evil. I’ve since grown up and realized, however, God may not always act fast on my behalf. As a member of His family, there are times when daily, weekly, or year after year, my prayers to God continued–unanswered. I thought they were honorable prayers too, prayers that deserved special attention because they concerned areas of struggle and weakness I had or a sin I wanted to overcome. I mean, “God hates sin,” right? He’ll be here fast to help with this one. To my surprise, God didn’t immediately show up, let alone even address the situation I put before Him. He didn’t immediately come and show me a way out–sometimes until years later. God didn’t always immediately strengthen me, show me what to say, or heal my broken heart. I recall times crying out earnestly to Him, in anguish, seeking His help on a matter, his touch to relieve a pain that I felt warranted His immediate response. God did respond—but in His time. Contrary to how fast our society says we should move to keep up, I recall, in between my prayers to God and His response to them, I did: hurt, feel pain, cried, sweat, struggled, wondered, and thought. I did have to wait.

We don’t realize how earthly-minded we still are as Christians.  Instead of it being God’s kingdom driving us, we’re being driven and propelled forward maybe by our culture and societal norms and values, past hurts, settling a score, competing with someone, words spoken that left a scar, attempts to correct a past failure, and other things only you know. It’s wise to check in with ourselves to see what’s really driving us; it may not always be God.

When we’re so busy, moving fast, making things happen, and getting things done, at some point, we may finally look up and see, we missed the entire process and important small details. We neglected to recognize the still small voice inside us saying, “Stop, he’s hurting; she’s crying, sit a minute; look at Little Joey’s picture he drew for you; your husband had a rough day, rub his shoulders; look at that beautiful skyline; pick up that pretty Lily; go visit your sister today; tell them about Jesus, they’re ready; go, it’s parent/kids day at school; give her $20, she’s hungry; go visit your cousin in the hospital; hug him, he’s sad; sit down and listen, they’re depressed.” These seemingly insignificant whispers are wherein our blessing lies; it’s God quietly, gently speaking, and when we notice, we “do” what’s on His heart. Let’s slow down so we won’t miss these gentle nudgings anymore. For, it’s in doing these where our true success is measured—for God’s kingdom, that is.

Be blessed until next time!

God’s Message by The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is probably the most misunderstood and overlooked of the Trinity. However, He performs several essential functions. God introduced Him in Acts 1:8 as One with power who would help the apostles witness for Him. At Pentecost, He came astoundingly as told, and the men spoke in each other’s native languages and miraculously understood each other. In her article, The Unsettling Holy Spirit, Dr. Judy Siker discusses the astonishment the Holy Spirit’s presence created. Instead of an entrance that made the men feel comfortable, the Holy Spirit’s presence shook the place and transformed the entire atmosphere and the men in it (Siker, J., 2004). This is indicative of who the Holy Spirit is. He’s the One who inspired biblical authors of old to record God’s message for humankind.  Not only did the Holy Spirit inspire the writing of the Bible, but today he also interprets it for us.  As interpreter, the Holy Spirit challenges our presuppositions, manifests God’s truth to us, enables us to understand what God is saying, and then empowers us to live according to it.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

The Holy Spirit works in the Church through illumination. We’re able to know emphatically God’s word is divinely inspired. And, He tells us what God means. Can you recall times, if ever, when you read or heard the Bible taught or preached, and suddenly, a light turned on in your mind? No longer did it feel as if you were reading a fairy tale story. A sense of reality hit you like a thunderbolt. “This is true,” you suddenly realized! You had read or heard that scripture passage over and over for years, but you could never quite grasp its full meaning. It didn’t penetrate your spirit. You tried meditating on it, but nothing. This happened to me with the verse, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” found in Philippians 2:13 (KJV). It’s one often quoted or preached in church and discussed among Christian friends. For me, as often as I had read this verse, it never clicked inside me what God meant. Not until one day, while reading it, the Holy Spirit came and illuminated my mind. When the Holy Spirit works in illumination, it’s like He’s turning on a light. Your surprised! Stunned! It’s an OMG moment, where your eyes are instantly opened, and you can see! The Holy Spirit helped me understand how transformation into Christ’s image is a work God does. This scripture means the Lord works in us to even want to do His will and works in us to do it. I was one of those persons on a treadmill walk to successful Christian living (with many peaks and valleys and highs and lows, may I add). I approached my Christian walk the same as I did my job. Be on time, work hard, strive to be good at it, and toil long hours, if necessary, to get the job done. I was going to get this thing right. It was remarkable when the Holy Spirit explained this verse to me. I found so much freedom and relief from the stress I was under trying to live God’s life through my own efforts.  Contrary to some popular church teachings and beliefs today, the Christian life is living the life of God–one we know nothing about. We’re humans, with a sin nature, and a proclivity for sin. God knows this about us. It’s why the Holy Spirit must come alongside us and enlighten us in God’s word and work in us a desire to do God’s will and live for His good pleasure. It’s not in my nature to want to do this. This is what our great Father–God, the Holy Spirit–is all about. It’s why, since Pentecost, He has continuously been helping guide believers and non-believers to understand the truth about Himself (John 14:6 NIV).  

God, the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—the Trinity. They work in accord and each function in one purpose. Scripture tells how God, the Son–Jesus Christ–always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29 NIV). It makes sense then how it’s only through the Holy Spirit’s work in illumination that we gain a proper understanding of scripture, which helps us become like Christ. He only acts in accord with what is written in God’s word. His interpretation will be consistent in revealing what is written about God’s nature, His ways, and what pleases Him. The Holy Spirit will not alter the written word to appease our lifestyles or desires, to make us feel comfortable, or to make us be right. People do that. At the same time, however, The Holy Spirit does not do all the work for us in interpreting God’s word. “The Lord expects us to use the available Bible tools to discover God’s message” (Duvall & Hays. 2012, pp.229-230). Second Timothy 2:15 (NIV) supports this idea, where it states, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God…”

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 12:17 tells us. By hearing God’s word, we become convinced about what God has said. Next, it takes root in our hearts and becomes our way of being and thinking. Finally, as we go about our daily life activities and encounter various type situations and people, we then do (or put into practice) what the Holy Spirit has made known to us. How do you know this to be true, you may ask? Well, in John 14:26, when Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, He told them, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.” An advocate speaks up boldly to defend someone’s cause. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to come alongside us in our situations in life to boldly speak for God, reminding us of what He said and strengthening us to carry it out. He’ll be championing us on–assuring us “we can do all things through Christ.” I don’t know about you, but this is inspiring for me to know we have a Holy Spirit who equips and prepares us for all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Put a praise on it with me for Our God, The Holy Spirit! Inspiration by Ellie does not own the rights to this song.

So, in closing, I admonish you today to continue reading, studying, and meditating on God’s word, even when it makes no sense to you at all. Don’t become discouraged or disappointed because you’re not “getting it” and put it down, because you don’t know at which time you’re reading or listening to God’s word, when the Holy Spirit is going to show up to shake your world and change your life by turning the lights on to what God’s message is to you. If anyone is reading this who has never pursued the life of God or read the Bible, you can start today. Try it! Begin reading God’s words in the Bible today and watch! 😊

Be blessed until next time.

References

Duvall, J.S., & Hays, J.D. (2012). Grasping God’s Word. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI.

Siker, J. Y. (2004). The Unsettling Holy Spirit. The Living Pulpit (Online), 19.