Category Archives: Holy Spirit

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November 17, 2014

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Holy Spirit, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

FITTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be. [Jeremiah 17:9-10 (MSG)]

At times, life is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. It gets muddled and disconnected; nothing seems to fit together and we can’t see the whole picture. Puzzle pieces will never fit together if they are the wrong shape and size. Have some parts of our lives become so important that other elements have been crowded out? Or, have certain areas of our lives been neglected and become too small, leaving an empty place in our hearts? Moreover, if pieces are missing, no matter how hard we try, the puzzle simply won’t be complete; we’ll never feel fulfilled. Have areas of our lives been lost or forgotten? Today, let’s look at our own personal puzzles and analyze how the parts of our lives fit together.

Father, fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we can make sense of the confusion of our busy lives. Help us examine our priorities. Show us what parts of our lives are out of proportion and help us find any that have been misplaced. Let us never forget the most important and largest pieces: You, prayer, and faith.

When we can’t piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let Him help put you together. [Terri Guillemets]

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. [Romans 1:21-23 (MSG)]

 

 

 

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October 22, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Holy Spirit, Love & Works

CUTTHROAT COMPETITION

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. [Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)]

Although I enjoy the various cooking competition shows such as “Chopped,” one Food Network program troubles me: “Cutthroat Kitchen”, with its phrase, “Sabotage is back in season!” Four competitors start with $25,000 each. During the various cooking challenges, they bid on ways to handicap their opponents, such as making them cook the assigned dish on an iron, removing all their knifes or bowls, or even taking away an essential ingredient, such as sugar when the task is brownies. The host chuckles with glee as the hampered chefs struggle to complete their cooking task in the allotted time. The bidding gets fiercer and more vengeful as the show goes on. The winner isn’t necessarily the best cook; it’s the one who is most devious and underhanded. The victor only gets to keep the money that remains after he or she has paid out thousands to destroy the other chefs’ chances; often it is a just pittance.

It’s just a television program and, admittedly, it’s interesting seeing how the cooks manage to rise to the challenges. Most of the time, however, they can’t overcome the hindrances. It’s disturbing that watching people take delight in limiting other individual’s opportunities in a contest (or life) is ever considered entertainment. Unfortunately, much of “reality” television is just that. Every time we find it amusing to watch someone get hurt or humiliated, our humanity erodes just a little. We may become more willing to sabotage others to win at all costs in our own lives. Our schools talk a lot about bullying; let’s be careful that we don’t ever find bullying entertaining lest we become bullies ourselves.

Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I follow your guide to life.

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. [Romans 12:17-18 (NLT)]

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October 14, 2014

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God's Promises, Holy Spirit, Joy, Salvation: A New You

BELIEVE AND RECEIVE

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. [John 3:16-17 (NCV)]

What a beautiful promise Jesus makes to us: everlasting life! There is, however, a stipulation: to get this wonderful gift, we have to believe! This belief is not just an intellectual exercise of acknowledging that someone named Jesus lived in Israel over 2,000 years ago. It’s more than knowing a few Bible verses and stories. This belief requires us to trust Jesus’ words and to rely on his Holy Spirit to make a change in our lives. We need to have confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior. We need to be confident enough that we will give Him our lives. That’s a lot of belief!

If we believe, God promises us a gift: everlasting life. This will not be a continuation of the life we have now on earth. There will be no death, sin, sickness, pain, enemies or anger. The wonderful thing is that we don’t have to wait until we die before we start enjoying this new life in Christ. All we have to do is believe and accept the gift of His Holy Spirit right now. Christ’s love will live in us and we will start experiencing a new life immediately.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. [Romans 10:9 (NCV)]

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October 2, 2014

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Holy Spirit, Wisdom & Guidance

MAPPING OUR WALKS

I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures. [Galatians 5:16-17 (TLB)]

Realizing that my power walks had become more like leisurely strolls, I recently got an app called “Map My Walk” that keeps track of my mileage and pace. Now that I’m using it, I’m walking faster and farther and enjoying it more. The app knows exactly where I’ve been and how long it took me to get there; there’s no more fooling myself about how far I’ve walked or how much effort I exerted. Moreover, the app doesn’t care if I’m tired or the weather is hot and humid. It’s made me accountable! Of course, I do have to remember to turn it on before I go walking.

Let us never forget that we don’t need to have an app on a Smartphone to map our daily walk in life. We have the Holy Spirit within us and He will, indeed, make us accountable. If we’re wandering off course, He’ll tell us. If we’re lingering when we should be jogging or rushing when we should take our time, He’ll either prod us to get moving or slow us down. He’ll even point out the errors in our ways and, like my walking app, the Holy Spirit isn’t much interested in excuses! We just have to remember to listen to His voice and follow His instructions!

Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. [Ephesians 3:20 (TLB)]

 

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September 27, 2014

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Bible Stories, God's Word: The Bible, Holy Spirit, Temptation & Sin

DO WE NEED TO BE RESCUED?

Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me. Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers. They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, Lord, though I have not sinned or offended them. [Psalm 59:1-3 (NLT)]         

The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. [Psalm 18:4-6a (NLT)]        

Many of David’s psalms are about battles, protection from his enemies, or being rescued from an attack. For example, Psalm 59 was written about the time soldiers were sent to watch David’s house in order to kill him and Psalm 18 was sung on the day David was delivered from the hand of his enemies and King Saul.

Granted, there may be people who don’t particularly like us, but they’re not our enemies and, while we may have a few disputes, we aren’t preparing for combat. Since we’re probably not on anyone’s “hit list” and we don’t have an angry king or opposing armies waiting to ambush us, how do David’s psalms relate to us? Who are our enemies and what are our battles?

Our enemy, of course, is Satan, and we enter into a spiritual battle with him every day. It’s good to remember that no matter how safe we may feel in our comfortable homes and lives, we are never safe from him. He is always looking for ways to ambush or trap us because he wants our souls. God, however, wants our salvation. With the power of the Holy Spirit we have all of fire power we need for today’s encounter with the enemy.

When the devil comes knocking upon the door of my heart and asks, “Who lives here?” the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, “Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out; now I live here.” The devil, upon seeing the pierced hands takes flight immediately. [Martin Luther]

I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. [Psalm 18:3 (NLT)]

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September 19, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Holy Spirit, Love & Works, Salvation: A New You

BUSTED!

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? [James 2:14 (NLT)]

While enjoying lunch with a group of church women, the person across from me asked if I could deliver “Meals on Wheels” the following week. Knowing how busy my life has been of late, I reluctantly looked at my calendar, secretly hoping every day was booked between 11 and 2. Monday through Thursday were, but Friday was open. I wanted to say, “I’m sorry, but it just won’t work!” I was sorely tempted to do so until the Holy Spirit pointed out the irony of the situation. You see, I’d just finished writing yesterday’s message about sharing God’s love and compassion and there I was: unwilling to share even a few hours. Rather hypocritical, to say the least! Yes, I was busy, but if I had time for a “Boot Camp” class that Friday morning, I could certainly find time to deliver some meals in the afternoon. Granted, I had lots to do but so did the “Meals on Wheels” chairperson. She has a family with youngsters still at home yet, for twenty years, she’s spent countless hours lining up drivers and delivering food to shut-ins! We’re all busy, but God is never too busy when we call on Him. After that rebuke from the Holy Spirit, I cheerfully said I’d do it.

We “Christians” can be the worst hypocrites of all. We may say all of the right things, but often don’t live them. We preach forgiveness, but hold grudges. We speak of generosity, but only give our leftovers to God and those in need. We say we love, but hold prejudices. We say “judge not” but act as judge and jury when it comes to the behavior of others. We say we pray, but frequently don’t; we say we trust God, but let fear and despair lead us; and we say we read the Bible, but rarely do. Being a Christian, however, is not just talking like Christ; it is being like Him!

Father, forgive us when it’s only our words that are “Christian” and not our behavior. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, point out the errors of our ways, and transform our lives so that we carry the message of Christ in all we say and do.

Why is it that a community that talks so much about supernatural transformation shows so little of that transformation? We will have to be men and women who embody the message that we are preaching, whose lives are faithful to the claims we are making. [Ravi Zacharias]

If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. [1 John 2:4-6 (NLT)]