You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Holy Spirit’ tag.
Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NCV)
Old Preacher Story Ahead! Story is told of a little boy from the city who visited Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. As was their custom, Grandma and Grandpa, with child in tow, headed off to church on Sunday morning. On returning home Grandma walked with the little boy to the barn to check on some new lambs that had just been born. In the stall next to the lambs was a stubborn old mule. The little boy looked at the mule for some time and then asked a question. “Grandma, Is that old mule a Christian?” Puzzled by the question, Grandma responded, “Why no son, why to you ask that?” The boy responded, “Well, it has the same sad face most of the people had at church today.”
Look around you at the faces of people in church during the worship service. (Be sure not to stare…that’s creepy.) Now, I’ll admit I have a personal struggle with what we call the ‘worship’ part of our church services. I’d like to think there is worship going on but sometimes there is everything BUT worship happening. The praise team can get sucked into performance mentality; the Pastor can be so focused on what he’ll say that he forgets that his worship is far more important than his sermon notes. To others worship is the time cushion that allows late-comers to get into the chairs before the important stuff happens.
So, take a look around. What do you see? Bill and Sally must have had another fight on the way to church; they look like they are ready to bite each others head off. Grandma Jones, as usual is looking around to see who ISN’T there and you’ll be sure she mentions her findings to everyone she sees. Fred is thinking about the ballgame this afternoon. It’s obvious he’s not in tune with the music. Harry wishes we could go back to the good ole’ hymns. He misses the piano, the organ and those good old, doctrine filled songs of his youth.
Okay, perhaps I’m being a bit harsh. None of those examples are real people, but our faces should reflect what we have in Jesus. Whether it be in church, at the office, in the store or on the beach we should reflect our joy with the blessings we have in Christ. Those without Jesus in their lives are burdened with worries, fears, and anxiety. They are looking for an answer to the problems that plague them. They have no hope.
As Christ followers our best testimony to Christ’s love dwelling in us can be the countenance of our faces! A simple smile or a ‘good morning’ greeting to a stranger may be all they need to make their day brighter.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for the love, the forgiveness, and the promises of your word and a guarantee of eternal life with you. Help me in my worship and in my daily living to reflect the love I have for you. In Jesus name, Amen.
God is strong and can help you not to fall. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and can give you great joy. Jude 1:24 (NCV)
I sat and watched a group of rock climbers one day as they tried to scale a sheer rock cliff. From a distance it seemed impossible for them to be able to make it to the top safely. It was apparent from my observation which climbers were novices and which were the ‘veterans’ of the group. The novices moved very slowly and tentatively. Some got half way up and came back down by the safety ropes to regroup and try again. One by one the group made it from the bottom to the top safely. With each person’s successful climb you could hear a cheer erupt from the onlookers.
Later, I had the opportunity to ask one of the climbers what he thought were the essential ingredients to a successful climb. He told me that, in his opinion, there were three things each successful climber needed to make it to the top. One was faith in your equipment. The climb I watched was pretty minor but especially on the big climbs you needed to have good equipment and trust that equipment to do what it says it would do.
The second ingredient was remaining focused. He referenced the few ‘novice climbers’. Their biggest problem was that they focused so much on the danger and the possibility of falling and getting injured that they lost their grip. On this climb it was okay because there were safety ropes to lower them to the ground. In a real climb one slip can mean death. “Most climbing accidents are the result of improper use of equipment and/or climber error” He told me. Equipment failure is rare.
Lastly, he said, good climbers don’t climb alone. They would prefer to climb in groups because the support of the group helps them, especially during the tough climbs and during inclement weather. Group support is indispensible when it comes to making it to the top.
As I left I thought about the application to our spiritual lives. When we first start our walk with Christ we are careful to do the things that will help our growth. We read his Word, we pray, we seek every opportunity to make our way up the slippery slope of life.
As we ‘grow older’ in our faith we may tend to lose our focus on the task before us. We may have more faith in our own ability than to trust the equipment. We may be so intent on looking back to our past that we lose sight of the task before us. We may look towards our goal and wonder how we will ever make it to the top. When we lose our focus we increase the chances of losing our footing and falling.
Along with the focus we need to have in our climb, we need to have faith in our equipment. Climbing equipment rarely fails. The word of God and his presence in our lives NEVER fails. But falling is a possibility when we fail to have faith that our God is strong enough to see us to the top.
Lastly, when climbing the sheer rock wall of life, we need each other. Fellowship with other Christ-followers encourages us on the way, reminds us who we are, and gives us another vantage point to see our way to footholds that help us advance.
Proper equipment (Faith in a living and powerful God); Focus (relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us through the daily tasks of life); Fellowship (surrounding ourselves with people who can help us along the way). Three ingredients to making it up the slippery slope of life.
PRAYER: Father God, there are so many times I’ve lost focus on you or relied on my own power and ability to make it through life’s challenges. Empower me with your Spirit to climb the slippery slope of my life relying on you to conquer to obstacles before me. In Jesus name, Amen.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
During a very difficult time in my life I was unemployed and unable to get work in the area of my training. It was a very difficult time for me. Few jobs were available in the first place. Secondly, there were some jobs that I’d have liked to have, but I didn’t have the training. Other jobs required experience that I didn’t have. In an act of desperation I even tried to get a job at McDonalds and was told I was too overqualified.
Needless to say it was a very tough time for me financially, but it was even more damaging emotionally. I ‘realized’ at that time that I wasn’t able to meet anyone’s standards. I felt defeated, worthless, and hopeless.
When we don’t feel like we measure up it affects our entire outlook on life. We can give up on relationships; bury our frustrations in food, drugs or other addictive behaviors and activities. That kind of behavior leads to a negative spiral. We do something stupid and feel guilty about it. We look for relief for our actions which usually leads to more activity of the same, which of course makes us feel guilty so we find some way to comfort our feelings of failure by…yep, engaging in some inappropriate activity of feelings.
Rehab centers and counseling offices are full of people who have, at some time in their lives, felt they didn’t measure up. ‘New religions’ and changes in church policies are put in place to try to make you feel better about your lifestyle. Nothing is working though. We continue to struggle with ourselves.
Part of the problem is we try to meet up to people’s standards. But that’s a losing battle because some people are impossible to please. Others standards are much lower than your own or fickle. What we need is to find a standard which will show love and acceptance. A standard that will make us feel fulfilled no matter what life throws at us. A standard that will lead us to eternal life.
Sound impossible? You are right, it is. That level of standard only comes from God. His standards are perfect. His standards are loving, kind and full of mercy and understanding. So to feel good about yourself and what you do the trick is to live up to the standards of a Holy, Perfect God.
Sound impossible? It is. We are all human. Whether you are gay or straight, pro-choice or pro-life, regardless of your political persuasion or religious affiliation, you have fallen short of the standards God requires for a good life here and eternal life with him.
So what’s the solution to not meeting up to the standards God demands? Jesus. There is nothing you can do in and of yourselves to meet up to Godly standards. Only through the free gift of Jesus Christ can you find the success to live the life God and you desire. It’s not your power. It’s not your striving. It’s accepting the fact you can’t and living according to the grace given through Jesus.
Stop depending on your own actions to succeed. Stop striving to kick the old habits. Let God take that away. Through Jesus you can meet his standards.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank and praise you for your gift of salvation through Jesus. I’m tired of doing the same stupid things over and over again. Forgive me for the things I’ve done to hurt myself and others. Empower me with your Spirit to live free because of Jesus. In your name, Amen.
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27
The prophet Jeremiah was confused. The walls of Jerusalem were surrounded by an enemy much larger and more powerful than the army of the people of God. Defeat was imminent. There was no hope. Yet in the midst of this struggle Jeremiah is told to go buy a particular piece of land. He questions God about this, “Why buy land if we’re going to be killed or, at best, led into captivity?”
To paraphrase, God tells the prophet: “I’m God. I’m God of everything. I’m God of the enemy, I’m God of you. I’m God of those who doubt my existence; I’m God of those who refuse to obey me. I’m in control of every living thing and all of nature. I’m in control of any aspect of life. Of those who acknowledge me and those who don’t.
Times really haven’t changed much since the days of Jeremiah. People still doubt God’s existence. People still question why he acts the way he does. People still determine for themselves how God will respond to their situation. It’s especially hard at times to trust a God who, from our perspective, allows natural disasters to wipe out towns and entire families. It’s easy to question God when divorce devastates ‘good families’ and leaves children emotionally scarred in its wake or when trusted public figures deceive us.
Our Heavenly Father is passionately in love with us. He could make us comfortable, but he chooses to make us strong. As a loving parent he realizes that the best way to make us strong is to bring things into our lives that may hurt or make us struggle, but will, in the end make us able to withstand greater adversity.
Regardless of what you are going through, remember that ultimately God is in control. It may seem the enemy is closing in. It may seem, from our perspective that we are in a hopeless situation. If so, we are right where God wants us, for when we come to the point where we realize we can’t, God shows us he can!
If you water a young tree every day its roots will never grow deep. The tree that endures the drought and the storm and the dead cold of winter is the tree that has placed roots deep in the soil for nurture, strength and endurance.
The Christ-follower who endures the attacks of the enemy and learns to withstand the unfair assault of our evil generation will be able to stand because their roots of faith have grown deep in the knowledge that no matter what happens, their God is in control.
PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for the fact that you are God of all things. Sometimes I feel surrounded by people and circumstances that make me question your actions or your strength. Forgive me for those times of doubt. Empower me to trust you even when I don’t understand you. Help me to be comfortable even in the hard times. In your name, Amen.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 21:2(NLT)
There is nothing so stunning as the bride as she walks down the aisle. We all stand as she enters. All eyes are on her. Even those of us guys who maintain our stoic ‘masculine’ image will admit in our honest times, that we are taken back by the moment.
The groom watches her enter. His face mesmerized by her beauty. To him, there’ s no one else in the room. In fact, both the groom and the bride, when their eyes meet are taken out of this world for a moment. They are the only two in the whole world that matters. She is the most important thing in his life at that moment. He is the prince of her dreams.
The moment is filled with hope and passion. Those of us lucky enough to look on remember our own weddings or the dreams we have of one day, walking that aisle or watching the one we love come to us in radiance.
What a marvelous picture of hope, expectation and passion. How fitting that this is the picture the Word of God gives of us as the church meeting the object of our passion: Jesus of Nazareth. Regardless of how we or others view ourselves, He views us as the groom views the bride. We are spotless, pure, perfect in every way, the object of his passion. Forever.
Not one of us has ever walked that aisle or waited at the front of the room without believing that this was it, this was the happily ever after, this was the ‘til death do us part.’ Even those of us who have experienced the painful reality of divorce entered that relationship believing that this was the ‘one for us.’
The difference is, this relationship with Jesus…it never will end. We are his and his forever. Every day, when we get out of bed, no matter how bad we look in the mirror, he sees us as his radiant bride, the object of his passion. He smiles whenever he looks at us. He pauses constantly to think of us. We are always on his mind. This marriage relationship will never grow old, never be taken for granted, never lose the passion of that wedding day.
What a glorious feast that will be! Now we struggle. We rebel. We endure the pain of broken relationships, financial hardship and political turmoil. In the midst of our struggle, even during those times we can’t see Jesus clearly, he sees us…and smiles.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I have a hard time imagining the fact of your passionate love for me. My love is so often shallow and built on performance. Relationships here on earth are marked by trouble and calamity. They grow cold and even die. Thank you that you always see me with the passion of a groom on his wedding day. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 