You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Holy Spirit’ tag.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2
A few years ago we were fortunate enough to be able to visit Disney World inOrlando,Florida. We’d never been there before but it was always a dream of ours. Once we got there our dreams came true in ways that seemed bigger than life. It was just like in the pictures we’d seen.
Sometimes, I wonder what heaven will be like. We get pictures, word pictures that is, from the Bible but they are nothing like the pictures of Disney World because no one has ever been there, taken pictures and posted them.
Heaven is an intriguing yet scary place because we’ve never seen it. But there is one thing I know about Heaven that makes it all seem worthwhile to go to, a place where I can look forward to my arrival. I’ll see family members that have died before me. I’ll meet Bible heroes in real life. I know I won’t be sick anymore. I’ll never get tired, never get hungry.
But the thing I look forward to the most when I get to heaven is that I’m going to get to meet Jesus. Even more incredible than that is the fact that when I see him I’ll be looking in a mirror! I’ll look just like Jesus!
So what will I look like? Not sure of course, but here’s some ideas.
- I know I’ll have compassion on everyone. I’ll know that because here on earth Jesus never looked the other way when someone was in need.
- I know I won’t have to worry about sin because I’ll be able to implement, in heaven, what I could never do here on earth, resist sin. Oh, I have the power to resist today. But I also have this nasty human nature at war within me telling me to do things I know I shouldn’t and keeping me from doing things I know I should do. Once in heaven I’ll be free. The battle will be over, the war will be won!
- I know that I’ll be able to take a walk with God himself! Just like Adam did. I’ll be able to have questions answered that I’ve always wanted to ask.
- I know I won’t have to struggle with failure or rejection anymore. Those of us in heaven will see, once and for all, that sin is sin is sin is sin and God has forgiven all my sin (and yours) and there will be no favoritism or judgmental attitudes anymore. I know that because Jesus treated everyone that followed him the same way.
I don’t know what heaven will be like. I only know two things for sure. Because I have asked Jesus to forgive my sins and have claimed him as Lord of my life, I will see him and live with him for eternity.
The second thing I know is that when I see Jesus I will be transformed into his exact likeness and so we will be in perfect, passionate relationship for the rest of time.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. There are so many things I don’t understand about life here on earth, death and the life beyond. I read your word and get a glimpse of what lay ahead for me in Heaven with you and I’m scared and excited at the same time! Thank you for loving me enough to give me eternal life with you. I can’t wait to see you so that once and for all I will be like you. In your name I pray, Amen.
My God, I want to do what you want. Your teachings are in my heart.” Psalm 40:8 (NCV)
We say we want God’s will to be done. We say we want good to triumph and evil to be defeated. But what is it that keeps those things from happening in our personal lives? I’m not talking about the world economy, or solving the political upheaval in far-off lands. I’m talking about the inner turmoil that goes on in our own little circle of influence, the world that makes up our families, our churches and our communities.
Passion plays a huge part in our success or struggle. What makes our hearts burn with passion?
Attitude is another big part to the puzzle. When things don’t go as planned I have two options available to me. I can get angry, bitter and resentful and do my best to retaliate and get justice for my cause or I can work within the system to bring change and accept the results.
Passion is the power, the energy behind our success. Attitude is the rudder that steers us through the storms of life. If our passion is for God and his ways then everything we desire will be within his will. Do you love to sing? Sing! Do you love to write? Write! Do you love to garden, build, and serve the needs of others? Look at the things you desire and measure them against God’s word.
If our passion is for ourselves then even if we get what we want materialistically, we won’t be satisfied. It was true with King Solomon when he looked out over his kingdom. He had everything he wanted. He says in Ecclesiastes he didn’t keep himself from one desire. Vacation homes, women, money, all the toys in the world didn’t bring him happiness. It’s still true today. People who win the lottery often end up bankrupt within a few years as well as divorced or relationally destroyed!
Cultivate passion through God’s word. Let the guidance of Holy Scripture direct your thoughts and emotions. Seek the counsel of Godly men and women around you during the questionable times. Don’t let earthly passion override Godly passion.
Then, let an attitude of love steer your thoughts, words and actions in the midst of this chaos called life. The balance in your bank account shouldn’t direct your desire to serve God and people. The reaction of the legal system, your spouse, your boss or your friends shouldn’t direct your response to anything at all! Our attitude should be the attitude of Christ which always showed love and compassion to those in need. Jesus was far more disappointed in ‘religious people’ than those who struggle with life.
A passion driven by God. An attitude of love and mercy. Two key ingredients to winning in life!
PRAYER: Father God. I want so badly to follow you but there are so many things that call for my passions. Forgive me for the times I allow the passions and desires of this world to overcome me. Forgive me for the times I’ve cultivated hate and judgment instead of love. Empower me by your Spirit to be passionate about you and merciful and loving to others. In Jesus name, Amen.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23
A few months ago now, a friend of mine had a baby. As held that newborn I was once again amazed at the beauty of new life. The tiny little fingers. The soft, supple skin. The complete and total helplessness of this creation of God. Amazing.
My mind shot ahead. I’m a bit of a sap at times I guess. I thought of my own children and how every day became a new adventure in exploration and discovery as they grow older. Sometimes they get themselves in trouble. There are times when the ordinary and mundane to us is a complete and exciting adventure to them. And have you ever noticed how a little baby can turn even the most refined adult into a babbling idiot making all sort of gibberish to elicit a smile or a giggle?
I wonder if Mary thought about those things as she watched the events surrounding Passover the year of Jesus’ crucifixion. He was her first born. Together she had shared the wonder of new life with him. For him, a new life in a human body. For her the wonder of her very own newborn baby. The Bible says she treasured ‘all these things’ in her heart. The message of the angels; the events leading up to his birth; the visit from the strange nobility from the East; the tragic news of the slaughter of her friend’s children at the hands of a greedy, ruthless King.
Did she stand at the foot of the cross and wonder, “When did he grow up?” To a mom her first born is always her baby. Always holds a special place in her life.
There are a lot of things we don’t know about Jesus. Many events of his growing up years and his ministry that have been locked in the annals of time. Some perhaps far too mundane to even be mentioned. He was, to many after all, just a good guy, a great teacher, a friend who was closer than a brother.
Oh, but he was so much more than that! He was a king who never lost sight of the leper or the cripple. He was a gentle father who never forgot the true identity of the prodigal son or the woman caught in adultery. He was God and he came to earth to die for the undeserving and grant eternal life to the eternally hopeless. God with us. The true story of Grace. The true story of Easter.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. In light of your miracles and deity it’s so hard to remember that you were also a baby, a child, a man. You experienced all the tragedies and victories of life as I have. Thank you for giving your life so I can live forever. Thank you for taking my sin so I can live free of guilt. In your holy name I pray, Amen.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31)
Throughout the Biblical account of the creation, whenever God finished one aspect of creation he would exclaim, “It is good”. There was, however, one time when he not only said “it is good”, he added it is ‘VERY good’. That time was just after he created mankind. The rolling plains and majestic mountains were good. The sea life and land life was good. But man and woman? They were very good. The crown of God’s creation. His masterpiece
We aren’t told how long it was before we failed God. Was it a day? A week? A month? No one knows. But a time came when man and woman made a choice to disobey God and act on their own wisdom. Wisdom they were deceived into thinking was better and wiser than God’s wisdom.
Up until that time, God came in person to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. They were naked and not ashamed, completely open to God. They were perfectly comfortable with who they were, and God was completely open with them about life and goodness.
When sin entered the world everything changed except for one thing. The once fertile ground now grew thorns. Animals once tame became wild and dangerous. The shameless nakedness of man and woman was now covered physically, emotionally and spiritually. The joy of childbirth would be tarnished with the pain of labor. The only thing that didn’t change that day was God’s love for mankind.
Even though man would hide from him, God still longed for the companionship and open relationship he had with man. That’s why Jesus came. He came for the sole purpose of renewing a relationship that once was open but had now become distant.
Paul writes that Jesus came ‘so that we could be made right with God through Christ’. The word for made right is really the root word of ‘reconciled’. Jesus death and resurrection allows us to be reconciled to God. The word reconcile has its origin in a word that means ‘to make good again.’
Let that sink in. Because of Jesus, the once broken relationship we have with God is made good again! It’s not repaired. It’s not as though God is changing anything about him to stoop to our level. Jesus allows us to have the same relationship with God Adam had in the Garden of Eden. For now that means spiritually through his Spirit, but someday, physically as we spend eternity with him!
PRAYER: Father God. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Adam to be able to walk side by side with you in the garden. I can’t wait to find out what that is like. For now, I praise you and worship you because Jesus allows us to have the relationship restored to its original condition through the cross. Empower me by your Spirit to live in the realization of the fact that you long to have a passionate love relationship with me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 