Holy Spirit

Understand?

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” -Charles Spurgeon

Do you understand the Bible? I’ve studied it for a long time and admit there are many things I don’t understand. And I think that I am not the only one!

Here are some examples straight from the Bible:

Jesus told his disciples of his coming arrest, death, and resurrection. They didn’t understand, but were afraid to ask. (Mark 9:32)

The man from Ethiopia was reading an Old Testament scroll when Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. His answer: “How can I unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31a)

Job didn’t understand why all these bad things were happening to him. (Job 7:17-21)

From these examples, we learn three things:

  1. If we don’t understand something in the Bible, we shouldn’t be afraid to ask the Holy Spirit to help. James tells us God gives wisdom to those who ask.
  2. We should be willing to learn from teachers who know more than we do. That incudes people in the flesh, but also reliable resources in print or on line.
  3. Job teaches there are things we will never understand in this life. Mysteries will remain, but if we trust God, we can be OK with that.

There are some things in the Bible we cannot comprehend, not because God is intentionally keeping secrets, but because we, as humans, don’t have the capacity to understand the majestic mind of God. We also realize there are many things in the Bible we can understand and, with that knowledge, we obey what we read and we draw closer to our Creator. The rest will become clearer in time.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” – Romans 11:33

The Me I Want to Be

“The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are but awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace.” – Philip Yancey

Recently a Christian leader sent an angry tweet and, then, another post apologetic about the first and saying, “That isn’t really who I am.”

If we’ve used social media for any period of time, we most likely have had regrets about something we posted. Aren’t we all glad for the edit option?

In Mark 7, Jesus taught his disciples this truth: The words that come from our mouths (or, in today’s world, our phones or computers) reflect what we’re like on the inside. Our words reveal exactly who we are. Maybe, as one tweeter said, we shouldn’t say, “That isn’t really who I am,” and instead say, “That’s not the person I want to be.”

How, then, do I become that person – the one I want to be? The one who is good, kind, gentle, generous, wise, self-controlled, faithful, loving, patient, and forgiving, but still discerning and bold? Whether we need fine tuning or a total overhaul, the method is the same: We go to the Father, confess our failings, and ask him to grow us into the person he’s designed us to be. Then, believe that he’s doing it. As we go through our lives day-by-day, we will be given opportunities to choose our responses, to initiate conversations, to help someone in need, and all the while, we are changing – becoming more and more like the person we want to be.

It all starts with turning to the Father.

” . . . walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” – Ephesians 4:1b-2

Insight

“A moment of insight from God is worth a lifetime of experience.” – Anonymous

There’s a lot we cannot see with our eyes.

The story in the Bible that gives dramatic evidence of this is when the King of Syria sent a whole army to capture Elisha, and Elisha is calm, but his servant is terrified. So Elisha asks God to open his servant’s eyes so he can see what Elisha already knows: There are heavenly chariots of fire all around them! The servant had been afraid because he couldn’t see the protection God had already provided.

God can help us see the things we cannot see on our own. And praying for him to help us see is biblical, “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

Those might be insights to understand the messages in God’s Word, yes, but I have found there are more ways God helps us to see.

He can give insight . . .

. . . to sense when someone says they’re fine when they’re not.

. . . to clearly discern the direction we are to take.

. . . to know when to instruct and when to confront.

. . . to understand today’s events in light of eternity.

. . . to ‘see’ the heavenly help we receive when the battle seems overwhelming.

I believe God wants us to live in the light of his revelation every day. Commitment to constant walking with him allows us to see the things only he can reveal, and our decisions, understanding, and relationships take on new and richer dimensions. Open my eyes, Lord!

“. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you . . .” – Ephesians 1:17-18a

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God Connections

“Blessed are the people . . . who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who exult in your name all the day. . .” – Psalm 89:15-16a

Would you like God to be gracious to you? To lead you? To teach you truth? If we love him, we want that, right? The Bible is filled with verses that tell us the path to these blessings is for us to keep God in the front of our thoughts all the time. Here are just two examples:

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” Psalm 25:5

“You keep covenant with your servants and show them grace, provided they live in your presence with all their heart.” (1 Kings 8:23b)

So how can we live our busy lives and still constantly connect with God? Sometimes our minds have to be otherwise engaged, so I try to take advantage of times when when I’m walking or doing things like cleaning, driving, or preparing meals. For those of you who garden, it’s a perfect time for conversations with your Creator.

When we keep him in our thoughts with intention at these times, we will find the Holy Spirit within us carries on the connection even when our minds are doing something else. Then when we finish our conversation with someone or put the project down, the Spirit gently draws us back into awareness of God’s presence. We can trust him to do that.

A unique blessing comes to us when we sense God’s nearness all day long.

“We have the ability and the responsibility to keep God present in our minds, and those who do so will make steady progress toward him for he will respond by making himself known to us.” – Dallas Willard

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Comfort

“For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” – Isaiah 49:13b

A friend called. She knew I was struggling. She encouraged me, assured me of her prayers, and let me know she cared. After her call, I felt stronger, lighter, ready to take the next step God would put in front of me.

What did she do? She comforted me. Not with the kind of “comfort” that pats me on the back and says, “Everything’s going to be OK.” I would have recognized the lie.

The word comfort comes from two roots. The first is com which means with. The second is fortis which means strong. Comfort connotes coming alongside to give strength. If we truly comfort someone, we make them stronger. That’s what my friend did. Her comfort strengthened me.

At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples that, though he was leaving, he would send his Spirit to live in them. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16 KJV). Jesus would no longer be there to help them, but his Spirit would.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you have his Spirit living inside you. He is always there, guiding, enlightening, correcting, and, yes, comforting. That’s one of his names – Comforter! And his comfort makes us strong.

I still like it when a friend calls, though. Don’t you?

“You don’t have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it’s all been made possible by your Savior. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow.” – Joni Eareckson Tada

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Am I the answer?

“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” – Job 6:14

Most of the time, we don’t know what’s on another person’s prayer list, do we? Sometime they share their burdens with us. More often, they are silent about what keeps them awake at night. We might not even know they need help.

But God does. He knows, as well, our relationship to this person, and it just may be that he wants to use us to answer a prayer request we aren’t even aware of. So what do we do?

First, as friends, we should learn to listen with sensitivity and to observe behavior. Often a person in need will give clues to what he cannot seem to verbalize, but we have to be aware and watchful. The Spirit will often reveal what we would not see on our own.

Then we can come in a little closer and try to help – sharing from our resources, offering our skills, giving biblical counsel, and standing alongside until our friend’s burden gets lighter. If we are willing, we can make a difference – one act of kindness at a time.

We usually aren’t called to solve other people’s problems, but we are called to respond in whatever way the Spirit shows us until they, with God’s help, can solve their own.

We may be the answer to someone else’s prayer. That, dear friends, is one of the greatest joys of the Christian life. Serving God. Loving others. Sensing God’s affirmation. And being reminded of Jesus’ own words, “. . .It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35b).

None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that? – Max Lucado

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Living Like the Wind

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8

John tells about an interesting conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus that occurred late one night. Jesus was trying to explain to Nicodemus the difference between physical life and spiritual life. And it seemed that he said a person living the life of the Spirit of God lives lightly – you don’t know where he comes from or where he goes, just like the wind.

I never completely understood that verse and, maybe I still don’t, but could it be that Jesus was saying (and this is consistent with other teachings of his) that living by the Spirit means we are no longer deeply attached to things of this world? Instead, we are more spiritually-minded and, therefore, more free? If that is so, this is what living the Spirit life might look like:

  • Having the ability to move freely from one environment to another – content in plenty or in need, comfortable with young and old, smart and simple, holy and not-so-holy.
  • Traveling lightly – not overly attached to material possesions (houses, cars, clothes) or weighed down by anxieties about life and/or the world.
  • Living in constant spirit-to-Spirit communication with God within us.
  • Being able to live with unpredictability – like the wind, moving at God’s direction, not always following fixed patterns or pathways.

The wind moves slowly or quickly at God’s command. It appears from nowhere and goes to places we cannot see. Do we dare yield to the wind of the Spirit?

“If we get our information from the biblical material, there is no doubt that the Christian life is a dancing, leaping, daring life.” – Eugene Peterson

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What about the big kids?

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:5

If you have adult children, how’s your relationship with them? We watch and worry as they learn how to do life on their own. There’s a problem, though, when we think our grown-up kids are still ours to direct and protect. If we respect them as adults, we may need to rethink our role.

At some point we have to let them go, encourage them to grow on their own, quit worrying so much about them, and stop trying to be their Holy Spirit. We can do that pretty well when we approve of their decisions, but not so well when we think we know better than they do how they should be living their lives. Some of you can relate to that.  And you know in your soul you have to stop trying parent to another adult.

So, as we let go, what do we do? First, we give up trying to control. Then we put them into the hands of our loving heavenly Father and under the guidance of the all-wise Holy Spirit. If you are at a loss as to how to do that, here’s what I have prayed about my own grown-up kids. Maybe it will help you, too.

Lord help me to . . .

love them deeply as you do,

guide them wisely as you would,

listen to them carefully,

hear what they’re not saying,

hold them loosely so they can fly, and

keep them ever before you in my prayers.

Amen

 

“We may not say that we have the answers. Questions of how to conduct oneself as a Christian or how to serve as a Christian must be answered by life itself- the life of the individual in his direct responsible relationship to God.” – Elisabeth Elliott

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Who’s in tune?

“. . . imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”- Hebrews 6:12b

I am learning a little bit about music from my musician husband. One thing he’s observed is that if a section of the orchestra is out of tune, it may be because the musicians are tuning to each other and not to a standard beyond them. For example, one violinist might suspect she’s playing a little flat, but will still tune her instrument based on what she hears played next to her so she will be in sync with the other violins. The result is the entire section might be playing flat. 

There’s a way to change that. If a strong, in-tune instrument moves closer to the problematic section, the players will begin to hear a new standard and will tend to tune to the stronger instrument. One by one each player in the section will follow suit. The result? Everyone will be playing in tune!

Most of us tend to tune our spiritual lives to the people we hang out with. Are they warm toward things of God or cool? Turning to him for direction, or relying more often on their own wisdom? Or, worse, are they focused on their own interests and not those of God at all? If those we spend our time with those who are out of tune with the Holy Spirit in their day-to-day lives, we might be following suit without even knowing it.

The solution? We need to find friends who live in harmony with the Spirit and then get close to them. We can listen to their talk, catch their spiritual enthusiasm, and seek their counsel. Spending time with in-tune Christians will help us stay close to God, too!

“Only a disciple can make a disciple.” A. W. Tozer

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Saying “no” will break my heart.

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple! – Psalm 65:4

Do you want to know how God really feels about you? Are you a bother to him? A pest? Do you talk too much? Ask for too much? Say the wrong thing? Take a deep breath. He’s saying something like this to you right now:

I want you to be near me. You can talk to me. You don’t have to stay in a corner or try not to be seen. Come closer. Stay close. I’m in love with you. I want you with me always.

“He will rejoice over you with gladness;
 he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17

And, if that’s not enough, Jesus whispers, too:

I am your shepherd, your teacher. You can hear best when your heart is quiet and when you stay within the range of my voice. Stay close enough to hear me. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27

Finally, the Holy Spirit asks in his own way:

I’m reminding you that you are invited to the dance. You are welcome at the banquet. Please come. I love you so much that, if you say “no”, it will break my heart.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” – Ephesians 4:30

Are you convinced yet of God’s love? Be brave and get a little closer. 

“Our doubts do not destroy God’s love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son.”  Jerry Bridges