Holy Spirit Archives – Page 6 of 6

August 22, 2013

Do You Have a Battle Strategy?

Romans 8:

One of the greatest privileges a believer in Christ has is his freedom from condemnation, both here and in the afterlife. Freed from the rules and regulations of the Law, the believer is freed to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance regarding the standards of the Commandments. Today, in Romans 8 Paul continues his dialog with both Jew and Greek as to how to live as we face the battles between the flesh and the new nature. The battle begins in the mind and is carried out in one’s life.

Point 1: Know that you are no longer condemned by the law of sin. We are free in Christ to walk in newness of life.

Point 2: We will face struggles here until we leave for eternity. Therefore, we need to set our minds on the things of the Spirit not on the things of the flesh. The mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God and brings only death. The mind set on the Spirit is pleasing towards God and brings life. Our attitudes and actions reveal which one we have chosen.

Point 3: Our empowering comes from the Holy Spirit who illuminates our spirit to the things of God. In addition, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness by reminding us of our new walk, of what is sin, what is displeasing to God through conviction in our spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer at the throne of God with groanings that cannot be uttered by man. The Holy Spirit searches our hearts to see where we are astray and to redirect us. Lastly, not only does the Holy Spirit intercede for us in prayer but He intercedes for us according to the will of God because He knows the will of God whereas sometimes we are either ignorant or unwilling to accede.

Point 4: Paul has led us through this maze of thoughts to bring us to the crux of this whole issue which is what our total perspective should be as one changed from the inside out. Whereas the enemy seeks to undermine and to destroy, the Holy Spirit seeks to encourage. We are no longer condemned; therefore no one has the right or privilege to be against us spiritually speaking; no one or nothing can separate us from the love of God; and lastly through all tribulations we now can overwhelmingly rejoice and be conquerors.

So the question is why are we wringing our hands and weeping when we should be rejoicing? We are more than conquerors through Christ once we realize the battle begins in the mind and is transferred to our actions and attitudes.

This graphic, courtesy of David Austin, former Exec Direc of bible.org shows how this works.

August 19, 2013

Polish the Gift!

When we recently moved and unpacked all of our remaining trinkets, some of which are priceless antiques, it was amazing to note that even after hours of carefully packing and having sat for over 4 yrs in the covering of those supposedly tarnish free papers, many of the silver pieces had indeed tarnished. With a cloth the work began and with intense rubbing slowly the tarnish was removed. Paul says, in Romans 5 that like the tarnish on our silver, our suffering is the tarnish we carry with us as we face the struggles in our walk on this earth. Daily God uses His rubbing tool to polish away our tarnish so that we may reflect Him and His love to the world.

In chapter 6 of Romans, Paul is reminding believers that believers have a precious gift of eternal life but it is not always so wonderfully visible due to our tarnish a.k.a. sin. The Holy Spirit must polish us to remove our tarnish and sometimes He uses suffering. The question before us is: Are we allowing Him to rub away our flaws? We can aid in this by immersing ourselves in the Word daily.

Our gift of eternal life has taken us from death to life through the baptism of regeneration and now our old self is buried with Christ. Paul will reiterate this same thought in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” So Paul then asks, why then would you want to exploit God’s grace by resurrecting the old man, the old life, the tarnished man? He who has died to sin should reflect that marvelous sheen that comes with polishing just like your earthly silver.

So then, as eternally secure believers, dead to sin what must we do? We must make 4 choices:

Not let sin reign 1Co 9:27 Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
Offer ourselves as a gift to God Col 3:12 “clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,”
See from whence we came—the mirror has no claim on your past life now.
Polish your gift of eternal life. How? By immersing yourself into the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit polish your tarnish away.

Today, take a look in the mirror, you have been bought with a price far beyond what anyone could fathom to purchase. It was paid by our Beloved Jesus. Treasure it and polish your gift until the world can see your reflection. The world is watching, looking, what do they see when they see you? Are you tarnished or perfectly polished? Is this your prayer? Holy Spirit polish me until I reflect the Savior to the world!

July 18, 2013

What Rule Book Are You Following…OUCH!

In any sport there are rules which are listed in a play book. Players need to memorize them and abide by them. The Pharisees had their rule book and to be a “righteous” Pharisee one studied it religiously! In Matthew 12 it seems that the Pharisees and their religiosity or legalism surfaces more clearly than ever before. It is almost as if they ripped out the verse from Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” As they followed Jesus through the grain field they reminded him that we must be doing things in such and such a way. They whipped out their “rule book” to discipline the disciples, but failed to discipline themselves. They may have carried their rule book around with them as judgmental sticks but failed to see the context of Isaiah’s words. Their critical spirit is abundantly clear, in fact more so than ever before in the book of Matthew and our author has captured their critical eye as well as their vociferousness. According to their “rule book,” one may only walk 2000 paces on the Sabbath which leaves us to wonder—what they were doing in the middle of the grain field on the Sabbath?

But, moving on, the crux of this chapter is heard in our Master’s words: If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. From the grain field to the synagogue they follow our Lord. It is here, once again, that we see the lack of mercy all because Jesus spoke a word of healing…note that!!! Jesus spoke not touched the man with the withered hand…but again….*sigh* it was after all the Sabbath. Jesus asked them, where are your priorities? Is your mercy greater for an animal that has no soul but you are unwilling to show mercy to a man so in need that he can work and take care of his family? Matthew leaves no doubt in our minds as to what the Pharisees were truly seeking. They really did not care about this man, they wanted a way to assassinate the Lord of the Sabbath. They were unwilling to care for a man who thus would no longer be a burden to society but were willing to assassinate/murder Jesus. They refused to show mercy but were willing to murder. This leaves us again to wondering why? Jesus has the answer: they are blind and they are leading the blind…both will fall into the pit. Their hearts are governed by the rule book rather than the love of God.

After both of these incidents Jesus pointed to the real reason for their hatred and rejection. It lay in their heart. Jesus used the illustration of a fruit tree to capture this to the listening audience. He said: One could know one’s fruit by observing and listening to their words; For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. And then he added this warning: you will give an account for every worthless word and by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Out of this chapter there are several applications but one comes to mind that are applicable even now. It is my “ouch.” How often do I fail to show mercy just because it is inconvenient, it does not meet my time schedule? How often do I take verses out of context to show my reason why something should be thus and so? I have been called a “rule oriented” person! :-(Today may I demonstrate the Fruit of the Holy Spirit in showing God’s mercy and justice rather than a myriad of sacrifices, line upon line, precept upon precept, rules upon rules which are piling up on my altar thinking this is what God wants.

Thanking God for His mercies! They are new every morning…great is His faithfulness!

July 2, 2013

The Man Matthew

It has been intriguing to study the man called Matthew and to dig beneath the surface. He probably never thought anyone might be so interested but here I am on the quest. Just who was he and why did the Holy Spirit inspire him to write such a lengthy book filled with so many details?

This is what I found out so far: Matthew was not just a tax collector for Rome but he was a tax collector extraordinaire and gained great wealth from this less than desirable occupation it seems. In fact he was so wealthy that Luke tells us he threw a great banquet after deciding to follow Jesus.

But digging further. He knew the who’s who because he was not only innately endowed with observation skills to know who is real and who is a fraud but his skill is shown in his writing. As we wander through this marvelous book we will be given insights that only a man who had been educated, was fluent in two languages (Aramaic and Greek), had mastery of the monetary system of the Roman government, was an observer of men, and lastly one who moved amongst those in power as well as the poor who came by his tax booth in Capernaum could know. Yes, he had compromised his Jewishness by working for the Romans and thus was castigated by the populace that he extorted. But one day the Master happened by his way and called him to leave all and follow Him. From that point on we see the most radical change of all of the apostles, leaving all and willing to face the scorn of the Romans as well as the religious leaders of his time. He was fully committed to the very end. This is the man who will introduce us to the ways of Jewish society and ultimately the Messiah Himself.

He was also a researcher as we see by the first chapter in which he introduces us to the lineage of Jesus. He traces the OT line to the monarchy and exile and back to present time. He is bold in including five women! Women were never included in the lines of descent in any rabbinical genealogical records but Matthew would have none of this exclusion. He noted prostitutes, would be prostitutes, Moabites who were idolators, women who were used for sexual favor that we may see God’s love and tenderness for the most vulnerable. Matthew wanted his audience to know that no matter your history God has a plan for you and He will use you in that plan.

Matthew is a master story teller as we see in just the first chapter. “and this is how it all began” he might say today. Sit with me and I will share with you my journey with the man I call the Messiah, the man who called me from the tax booth to follow Him. What an adventure!

Now I have to ask myself, what gifts has the Lord given to me that He wants me to use to challenge others to follow Him? Am I using them as Matthew used his ? How about you?

June 3, 2013

Believers are God’s Tapestry [Eph 4]

Tapestry; what a beautiful word to describe the body of Christ, His church. A tapestry is a form of textile art, imitating paintings, which is woven so that there are two sets of interlaced threads, the warp which runs parallel to the length and the weft which is passed back and forth across all parts of the warps. A tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible.

We as Christ’s church are a tapestry, being woven together uniquely. We are the weft of beautiful colors which make up a glorious representation which is on exhibit to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly realm as well as here on earth. And just as a tapestry utilizes many colors, many strands of threads to complete this “painting” so it takes many believers in Christ to be the strands, the threads, used by the Holy Spirit to weave together Christ’s church. Thus, Paul charges the Ephesians and us in turn to be a weft thread by demonstrating the gifts of humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, and to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.

When you work on a tapestry you must have adequate light. The Holy Spirit is our light which illumines our understanding and allows us to see each thread for its color and beauty. If we work in the dark we are unable to see our design, the colors, the next warp to go under. So too when we are not in unity in the Body, Paul says we give the devil an opportunity and thus mar the tapestry being woven. Therefore, “he turns from exposition to exhortation, from what God has done (in the indicative), to what we must be and do (in the imperative), from doctrine to duty . . . from mind-stretching theology to its down-to-earth, concrete implications in everyday living” [Stott].

Speak truth, be angry and sin not and in fact do not let the sun go down upon your anger! Put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling and evil, slanderous talk. Instead, weave the threads of kindness one to another, compassionate, forgiving one another, Just as Christ also forgave you. Thus, “Christians must preserve the unity between believers that God has created in the church.”[Constable]

As a believer in Christ you are a weft thread. Precious ones, let the Holy Spirit illumine your weaving so you are a glorious and beautiful tapestry for the entire world and those in the heavenly realms to see!