Tag: Holy Spirit

Posted on

9.23.24. Spiritual Gifts

God gifts men/women to do the work of the ministry

1 Cor 12 The Spirit Gifts

When one believes and accepts Christ as Savior, it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to our hearts that Jesus is Lord. Is He Lord of your life? If so, then the Spirit is yours as well and with that He gives the gifts that are needed to develop the person and the church. “To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.”  [1 Cor 12:7] As you ponder this thought, consider what gift the Spirit has given to you and not for you alone, but for the many believers out there. 

Paul then takes time to teach the Corinthians and us in turn the many gifts that the Spirit shares out of His abundance of wealth. Has He given you wisdom? Know this, that wisdom comes from the throne of God to edify the church’s believers. Has He given you knowledge? If so, what are you doing with it? Paul then lists many more gifts too numerous here to note. Believer, God has saved you and blessed you with a gift perfectly suited for you and the church so that many would come to salvation. 

What are you doing with your gift today? 

Posted on

Free at Last!

Rom 8:1 no more condemnation

Romans 8 NO Condemnation

Satan is our adversary and as it says, his one motivation is to find or seeks to kill and destroy. He uses many means to keep us from being at peace and his tool is to remind us and to rehearse in our minds our past sins. Yet, as Paul writes, we have powerful advocates in the Holy Spirit and Jesus who are our intercessors in these times. Their prayers and words to the Father assure us of this: we are forgiven, sealed and prepared for the kingdom’s work both here and in the future. The older I get, the more I appreciate vs 1: there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Secondly, when I can’t pray for one reason or another, the Holy Spirit knows the problem and He intercedes for me to the Father. His words are far more eloquent than mine. They reach the deepest hurt and the deepest thoughts of my heart. 

Amen and amen! Not condemned but free! 

Posted on

The Worry Syndrome

Matthew 10 Do Not Worry!

One of the greatest challenges in our lives is that we tend to worry. We worry about many things and this is a tool of the enemy that comes to seek, kill and destroy. Worry is one of those nagging sins that we carry like a trophy and it disturbs not just ourselves but spills over into our relationships with others. We worry about what tomorrow will bring or we worry about what we shall wear or we worry about life in general. In other words, we worry about many things. 

Jesus is teaching the disciples about what will happen after he has departed back to heaven. He reminds them, the world will hate you [and I] and seek to undermine your [our]  message of salvation.  He said, “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.”  [Matt 10:19-20]  This is a powerful reminder that the Holy Spirit who lives in us will bring words and thoughts to our mind. Why then do we worry? He, the Holy Spirit, who is God in Spirit, will bring to our minds what we need to think or say. 

The bottom line is this: when we worry we are not trusting God and His Holy Spirit. Therefore, reader: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” [Phil 4:6-7]

Posted on

More wise counsel

James 3 James is what we call “on a roll!” He continues to instruct the church and its parishioners on what to do and what not to do. Todays’ lesson is on the tongue which is a mighty force that we have to bless as well as curse. James uses the illustration of horses and how we control them and ships with their rudders. He is saying, stop and consider if you are more like the horse who needs a bridle or a ship which needs a rudder to navigate life. 

Horses can be tamed, ships can be controlled (however, recently we saw the Dali lose their navigational power and ultimately take down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore showing us that ships and their navigational tools are not always reliable! ) James is saying you have the tools to navigate life but your tongue, like the Dali ship’s control center, sometimes is not always reliable apart from the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. He is given to us to tame this unruly part of our human body. 

John wrote: “When the Holy Spirit comes, He. will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;” [Jn 16:8] Allow Him to tame this unruly gift that God has given to you so you can be a blessing and not a curse. 

Posted on

Remember…

John 16 Three words to remember:

John has written all of these words that we might believe and become overcomers. In John 16 once again John returns to his prologue ideas: Jesus is the Word from the beginning. John used three words repeatedly: truth, love, witness and this chapter adds one more overcomer. John quoted the words of Jesus: I AM the way, the truth, and the life and NO man comes to the Father but through Me. 

John used the word truth 45 times. He used the word love 80 times. Jesus called he and his brother Sons of Thunder and they lived by that motto until their deaths. Yet, as John writes, he recalls that the Master “Taught that God is a God of love, that God loved His own Son, that God loved the world, that God is loved by Christ, that Christ loved the disciples, that Christ’s disciples loved Him, that all men should love Christ, that we should love one another, and that love fulfills that law. Love was a critical part of every element of John’s teaching and the dominant theme of his theology.” (Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur pg 116) John was a thunderous defender of the truth and in that sense was a Son of Thunder to the end. John used the word witness nearly 70 times : the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of scripture, the witness of the Father, the witness of Christ, the witness of miracles, the witness of the Holy Spirit and the witness of the apostles. [ibid pg 116] 

John 16 teaches us that we are to be overcomers no matter what the world throws at us. We have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to bring all that Jesus taught to our minds, [Jn 14:26] to empower us against the ruler of the enemy, who has been condemned by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we wander through the OT and NT we come across the many who have overcome: Joseph, Ruth & Naomi, John (the last surviving apostle), Stephen, Paul, Peter and many others. 

Jesus reminds us that as an overcomer we have joy that is made full. [Jn 16:24]. Is your joy full today? Are you an overcomer or do you yield to the ways of the enemy? 

Posted on

Are you Fruitful?

Acts 19 In 1 Chron there is a story about a man named Jabez who prayed for God to enlarge his borders. Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory. May your hand be with me.”]1Chron 4:10]

In some ways that is what Paul must have prayed often. He wanted to share Christ as he traveled and along the way he met some who knew about salvation but had not experienced the power and presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In Ephesus he met 12 men just like that. They had repented and been baptized but had for some reason had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. Could this describe you? How do you know if you are like these men? Paul wrote to the Galatians later that the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit will be seen in our lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.[ Gal 5:22]

Today check yourself and see if these fruits are in your life, repent if they are not and seek the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Posted on

Birthdays! Celebrate!

Acts 1-3 and 4-6 Let’s Celebrate the Birthday of the Church!
It’s really funny when memories of something of years ago return to remind you of something special.

In John’s gospel, we read that the forerunner, John the Baptist, prophesied that someone would come to him for baptism one day. When that happened, God said that the “one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” [John 1:33] In Acts 1 and 2, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for what the Father promised, for you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” [Acts 1:4, 5] In Acts 2, it actually happened!

God sent His Holy Spirit with violent wind blowing from heaven. Secondly, the tongues of fire spread to each one in the room. Lastly was the filling of the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak other languages. What a birthday celebration!

On Christmas, we celebrate the birthday of Jesus. On Pentecost, we celebrate the church’s birthday and the day the gift of the Holy Spirit was sent. What a celebration! Let’s all stop and praise God for the Holy Spirit upon the church and each believer!

Posted on

God’s Majestic Power

Ezekiel 43 Here in Dallas, there is an Arboretum with a manmade waterfall with a ledge behind it. You can walk behind the waterfall and experience the sounds and feel the spray of water. It is magical! Imagine being Ezekiel experiencing the sounds of a mighty rushing water, like a massive waterfall, as God re-enters the Temple, and the earth radiated with His glory. As before, when Ezekiel experienced God, he fell prostrate at his feet. Is this how we respond to God’s very presence as we sit before Him in our quiet time? Do we experience His power and His presence?

God called Ezekiel, empowered, and placed him where he could witness God’s return to the Temple. Ezekiel described God’s voice as that of a “sound like that of rushing water.” Previously, Ezekiel was present when God chose to leave the temple due to the sin of men. [Ezek 10:18] Now, he is given the vision of God’s presence returning. Then God hovered as He left the Temple, but here God returns quickly and with the addition of the sound of many waters or the sound of a majestic waterfall.

When God entered your life with the power of the Holy Spirit, did you then, and do you now fall prostrate and worship Him? 

Posted on

Are we prepared?

Ezekiel 40-41 For Such a Time as This

This phrase was given to Queen Esther when she hesitated to speak to her husband, the king, about Haman’s treachery. Mordecai told her that perhaps she had been put in her position ‘for such a time as this.’ She asked her maids to fast (and we imagine, pray) for wisdom to know what to say and when to say it. In this chapter in Ezekiel, we find something similar. “The man said to me (that is Ezekiel), “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you, for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.” [Ezek 40:4]

God desires three things of us: a heart that is prepared to see with our eyes hear with our ears, and have a heart to understand what the Sovereign Lord is saying. As we begin our reading each day and as we enter His presence to pray, do we ask God for these three things so we might give attention to His Word and be able to share what the Holy Spirit reveals to us?

The challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding so we might be able to impart the truth of the scriptures to others. 

Posted on

Wisdom Precepts

Prov 10 & Isaiah 28:10 “Precept Upon Precept”

Do you find Proverbs a challenge? If I were the author, I would want to include all the verses around wisdom together and the consequences of stupidity in another. But thankfully, I am not the author, and the Holy Spirit did not arrange this chapter or any of the following chapters that way. Instead, perhaps Isaiah’s verse gives us the answer: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” [Is 28:10 KJV] Thus, we learn best when we take in a bit, meditate upon it, and then find that same tidbit further on, which brings that same truth to light but given differently. For example:

Prov 10:1 says a wise child makes a father rejoice, and Prov 23:15 my child, If your heart is wise, then my heart as well be glad. Same principle but worded in a different way.

Paul reminded Timothy of this wisdom: “all scripture is profitable for gaining wisdom in teaching (doctrine–biblical principles), reproof (rebuke), correction (challenging us to walk uprightly) and training in righteousness (that is the way of God) so that we may be capable and equipped for every good work.” [2Tim 3:16] 

Optimized by Optimole