Did You Receive

On July 25, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 19: 2

And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

Paul visited Ephesus and found some believers there. In fact, verse one says that he found “disciples” in Ephesus. He must have been well pleased to find believers there. I imagine that they exchanged stories and that they told him about all they were learning and experiencing. Then Paul asks them this significant question. Do you know about the Holy Spirit, have you received the Holy Spirit? Here was a group of believers but they knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. They didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Holy Spirit but they sure had the right person there to teach them.  

Reading this passage made me wonder if there are modern day believers who know little to nothing about the Holy Spirit and of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The New Testament believers first had to learn about the world after the coming of the Messiah. That was a big book by itself but there was a whole other chapter that they needed. I have said before that this is the third age of discovery. The Old Testament is mostly about the father. The gospels are mostly about Jesus, the Messiah but as Jesus began to transition out of the earth, he began to speak to his disciples about the coming of the third age, the age of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was promised in the Old Testament but it took Jesus to bring him into the earth. Now we come to know the Father and the Holy Spirit through the person of the Lord Jesus.

So the question is posed to us, “Have we received the Holy Spirit since we believed?” This passage shows us that once we become believers we still have to receive the Holy Spirit. Some people debate about receiving the Holy Spirit but if you ask me, it is a fruitless debated. We debate and argue about some of the silliest things. The thing we need to know is that it only takes an invitation to the Holy Spirit for him to come live with you. Why not ask him everyday to fill your life and your day? Let’s not get tied up in useless theology. The advice we get from both Paul and Jesus is to receive the Holy Spirit and so that is all that we need to focus on. Receive all that the Holy Spirit has for you every day and you will surely be blessed.

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Sowing to the Spirit

On July 23, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 6: 8

For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

This verse makes our choice pretty plain. We have only to decide what we want and then pursue it. The question we need to answer is, “What does it mean to sow to the flesh and to sow to the Spirit?”

There are many ways we can sow to the flesh and not all of them are bad. For example, if you are sowing towards someone else’s fleshly needs then you are really sowing spiritual seeds and will reap bountifully from the Spirit of God. It is the sowing towards our own gratification that gets us into trouble. When we ignore the needs of others and obsess on all of the things that we want we reap corruption. God wants you to have everything that you need and want but He wants to be the source of those things. We are supposed to sow towards the kingdom and allow Him to take care of our earthly needs. It is when we have our eyes on ourselves and are doing God’s job instead of ours that we really run afoul of His will.  

The obvious ways that we sow to the Spirit are studying God’s Word and prayer. Through those two practices we develop our ability to be led by the Spirit of God. Once you are comfortable following God’s leading you find that He leads you into sowing all kinds of spiritual seeds. Giving to God’s works, helping a stranger or praying for others are all ways that you sow seeds into God’s kingdom. As you continue to follow Him, He will show you many ways that you can bless other people and through that you are storing up treasure that will rain down on you. As we spend time being quiet before the Lord He teaches us ways to sow to the Spirit and when we do sow to the Spirit, God’s kids are blessed and we reap eternal life.

As you go through today observe where life leads you. Are you encountering increasing ways to sow spiritual seeds or is almost every action in your life designed to further your interests, needs or wants? Are there additional ways that you can sow to the Spirit? The more you journey with the Holy Spirit the more you will learn His ways. He loves to bless you but you may find that the greater fun is blessing Him and you can, you know. Every time you set your eyes and will on Kingdom goals, every time you go out of your way to bless God’s children you bless the Spirit of God and I don’t think you will ever find anything more gratifying than blessing the Holy Spirit. So ask the Holy Spirit in your prayers today how you can sow more into Him. I am sure that He will give you some opportunities.

 
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Show Me the Way

On July 1, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 51: 10 – 12

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Although David lived before the Messiah came and claimed victory, he is in so many ways a New Testament person. When you read his writings you see that he not only had a revelation of the Holy Spirit but that he also had a relationship with him. In today’s passage you see the essence of the New Testament regenerate child of God and the process of renewal.

God cleaned us by the sacrifice of Jesus. We were literally washed clean of all of our transgressions. He recreated us into the glorious version of ourselves that we were ordained into at the beginning of time. The footnote for “clean heart” says “upright heart”. Our hearts have been made upright before God. We are upright, or righteous, before God because of the cleansing of our hearts wrought by Jesus. But salvation did not end there as you can so plainly see from this text.

God, next, renewed our spirits. Imagine the joy our spirits experienced when the rejuvenating power of the Holy Spirit came into us and renewed our own spirits. Our spirits are cast in the same image of the Holy Spirit and we are truly part of him. David says renew my spirit in that image so that I am steadfast, unwavering and strong. We, like David, can stand surely and steadfastly in the grace and honor of our Lord knowing who we are because our spirits have been renewed in Christ Jesus. 

And then David makes this oh so interesting comment, “Do not take thy Holy Spirit from me.” David knew what it meant to live with the Holy Spirit of God. That was a very uncommon occurrence before Jesus came. David also knew that the Holy Spirit and his walk with him accounted for the great successes he enjoyed as well as the blessings. The Holy Spirit protected him under some very difficult circumstances and David had a revelation of how to walk daily with him. This statement reflects the next step of our regenerated life. We are renewed in Christ and move into close personal fellowship with all three persons of the trinity. Our cleaned hearts are now fit habitation for the Holy Spirit so we can invite him to come live within us and be our daily guide and teacher. It does require an invitation of course. The Holy Spirit is a good house guest. He will come if asked but would never invite himself.

One can almost hear the insistent, almost desperate tone, in David’s voice when he says, “Do not take thy Holy Spirit from me.” He knew that the Holy Spirit’s presence in his life was saving grace and he realized how much he needed that presence in order to live. David was immensely successful in many ways but he also lived in very dangerous times. One of his sons usurped the throne at one time and David’s life was again in peril as it so often was during his lifetime. So David understood that all of his riches and his throne were because of the power of the Holy Spirit but he also knew that his very life was sustained through the power of God’s Spirit. Without that grace guarding his life he would not have survived to old age. Therefore, when David recognizes the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life and prays to the Lord for that presence to remain ever with him we can understand that his prayer is one of deep sincerity, appreciation and understanding. In fact, David shows an understanding of life with the Holy Spirit that few New Testament believers demonstrate even though this indwelling of the Holy Spirit is part of our inheritance through Jesus and part of our salvation package, part of the regeneration and renewal of our lives.

Salvation is a big thing. It is a process by which we are continually growing into the Father. Every day we can participate in this renewal by Christ and importantly we can celebrate these great gifts from the Father by acknowledging them through prayer and in thanksgiving. In Jesus we truly can experience the joy of salvation.

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Go Big

On May 27, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 1: 14

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

We looked, yesterday, at verse 13 but this is the verse I was trying to get to when I became so enamored with being sealed in Christ. The Holy Spirit was given to us as a pledge of our inheritance. A pledge, in this sense, is a down payment or a deposit. It is a small payment which is given as security for the greater payment to come. Okay, Wow! Think about that for a moment. The giving of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring, is only a down payment of all that God has for us. Can we as mere mortals even comprehend the enormity of that truth? Selah.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit our helper, comforter, the Spirit of Truth, our guide, our stand along, teacher, advocate, counselor, revelator, strengthener and intercessor (See John chapters 14 and 16, Amplified Translation). Have I missed anything? We are talking about a good friend to have. But this Holy Spirit, this amazing and wonderful companion, confidant and aide is a mere down payment on all that God has for us? I find that very difficult to fathom. We have yet to understand or appreciate the magnitude of the Holy Spirit but even from this little bit today we see that He is an enormous gift. How much more, then, does the Father have for those who love Him?

Do you think that God wants you broke, sick, beaten-down and defeated? Then why did He send the Holy Spirit? John 16: 13 says that the Holy Spirit was sent to lead us into all truth. Do we believe that a revelation of truth, much less all truth, is bound to leave people in bondage to all of the silly devices of the devil?  

I believe there is a big revelation available to those who seek it. God hasn’t just given us His best, He has given His all. He is goodness and there is no good thing that He is withholding from us in this life or the life to come. The Holy Spirit is much bigger than people thus far realize and yet he is just a down payment of the great and wonderful things the Lord, our God has for us. Don’t limit God with carnal thinking. We are bound to this earth right now in our bodies but our minds are free to explore the spiritual realm. Get a big vision of what God wants to do for your life and of your inheritance in Christ Jesus. It is bigger than anything you have yet imagined. Go Big. Go bigger!

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Staying Dry

On May 26, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 1: 13

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

We are sealed in Christ. Our lives are sealed in Him. That is enough good news for us to close the book and go home. Perhaps some of you are outdoors adventurers and can relate to this. I like to kayak but one thing about kayaking is the water. Now, I love the water but my electronics don’t and even the dry clothes I carry with me are useless to me if they do not remain dry so I have dry bags for everything. I have a dry bag fanny pack and a dry bag for my phone and a dry bag for towels, clothes, etc. The technology of sealing these bags is remarkable. Some bags have zip lips, others fold down and clamp, others have zip locks that are impenetrable. So when I think of being sealed in Christ I have an idea that nothing unwanted, not even dust, can get to me. I am hidden away in Christ. We are in Christ but it is the Holy Spirit which seals us in Christ. So, imagine that Jesus is the dry bag. The Holy Spirit is the new technology of zip lips. The Holy Spirit is the seal that secures us from the damaging effects of the world. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one working together for our protection and security much like the dry bag and the closure on the dry bag. You cannot separate one from the other and truthfully say, “Well the bag is what protects my phone,” because the bag would not function fully without the seal and vice versa.

This is part of the miracle of Jesus’ victory over Satan. We know that Satan is like a lion on the prowl just looking for someone he can devour (1 Peter 5: 8). We know also that Satan’s intent is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10: 10). Knowing Satan’s nature God devised a plan to send the Holy Spirit into the world. Jesus even told us that it was to our advantage that he leave the earth so that he could send the helper, the Holy Spirit (John 16: 7). So, God sent the Christ to die for us so that the eternal life we live might be with Him in paradise. Then the Christ sent the Holy Spirit of promise so that we might live this life on earth in security and victory. God’s plan was a master plan that left nothing out. He did not disregard the time that we spend here on earth. He made a plan to seal our eternal life in His son, the Messiah and his plan further sealed out all of the devastating effects of life in the earth.  

I include amongst those ravaging effects the decay that the things of the world undergo. You know that just living on this planet creates a wear and tear on our bodies. Even gravity, for all of the good it does us, has its down side too. It is just like the water when you kayak. It is really, really beneficial to have water if you want to kayak but at the same time you have to protect yourself and your possessions from it too. So God gave us dry bags, and life preservers. In the same way, God sealed us from the negative impact of living in the earth so that our bodies do not have to suffer the negative effects of living in the world without protection.

The revelation of Paul was so huge that one little statement, such as today’s verse, contains a marvel of the miracle and mystery of Christ. This is why we must meditate on the scriptures. There is so much contained in even just a few words.

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