Tag Archives: the Holy Spirit

June 13 – The Holy Spirit In Us

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I Kings 8, II Chronicles 5

When Solomon dedicated the new Temple, the glory of the Lord filled the House. Oh, to have been one of the thousands who witnessed that cloud filling the Temple! That would be a sight you’d not soon forget. God’s glory, present, and visible.

Church yesterday was almost that for me. First we sang, “Blessed Assurance,” “And Can It Be,” “Victory in Jesus.” The special music was a quartet singing “He Touched Me.” All of it old school. And all of it prepared us to hear a message about the unfailing love of God.

God’s Presence was as real yesterday as it was in Solomon’s day. The same Spirit that filled that temple, filled our hearts in Bellville, Ohio.

In light of the most recent Muslim terrorist attack on our country, I am hearing a lot about “love.” One person even said that if we stopped considering Muslims as the enemy, and loved them like God loves them, none of this would happen.

In a sense, that’s true. But not in the sense this person intended. Love is not acceptance. God’s love, which is a blanket that covers the whole world, is not salvation. God’s love sent Jesus to the cross because He is that serious about sin.

If we loved Muslims with the same love God has for them, we would stop at nothing to introduce them to the Savior. Love is not the answer. Tolerance is not the answer. The Person of Jesus Christ is the only answer to our world’s unrest.

Talk about Amazing Love. How can it be that God would love me so much He’d die for me? The victory is in Jesus who seeks each of us, who bought our salvation with His precious redeeming blood. We can have the Blessed Assurance that this same Jesus whose Spirit filled Solomon’s Temple thousands of years ago, is ours when we are born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

What does it mean to love like Jesus loves? What does it mean to have His Holy Spirit in us? It means we look at the world through His eyes. We see all people as individuals He died to redeem. It means we realize the truth that, without Him, they have no hope. It means allowing Him to live and speak through us so that those who don’t know Him, will recognize their need and fall on their knees in repentance.

Holy God, thank You for wanting to fill my heart with Yourself, like you filled Solomon’s Temple so long ago. Thank You for loving us so much You’d die to save us. May we who know You allow You to fill us, to strengthen us, to make us bold and obedient servants, so that all people will come to You. I pray for the families touched by the deaths in Orlando. May Your Spirit minister, may Your children reach out, and may hearts be drawn to the Savior, for their good and Your glory.

Feb 21 – Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

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Leviticus 24&25

“If anyone curse his God, then he will bear his sin.” (24:15)

That is what God said concerning a man who, when fighting with another man, blasphemed God and cursed. As a result of his blaspheming, the man was stoned to death. You just don’t curse God, even in a fit of anger.

Now a days we don’t automatically kill a person who damns someone while using God’s Holy Name. But that doesn’t mean what comes out of our mouths is any less serious this side of the cross.

Scripture tells us there is only one unforgivable sin: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And the Bible teaches that those who do will have to pay for their own sins.

The atheist blasphemes The Holy Spirit as long as he tries to deny God’s existence. The sinner blasphemes God as long as she ignores Him. Even ones who call themselves Christians can blaspheme God by not obeying or believing Scripture. And I believe if anyone dies in the state of blasphemy, they will face God on their own.

And, from what I read here in Leviticus, how we use the Holy Name of God is serious business. What we do with that Name is life and death.

A children’s chorus from my youth comes to mind:

Oh, Be careful little mouth what you say.

Be careful little mouth what you say.

For the Father up above is looking down in love.

So be careful little mouth what you say.

God is reminding me today that He is to be taken seriously. He is Holy. His Name is Holy. And I need to wear His Name, and use His Name with respect and honor.

Holy God, I pray for those reading this blog who have yet to bow before you and repent of sin. I pray that they will quit blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and accept your gift of grace. I also pray for your children, Father. May we honor you with our lives, including our mouths. And may people be drawn to you because of the way we represent You.

They Hated Me Without a Cause

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I am Facebook friends with a former student, a young man who loves the Lord. Very often he will post something about his struggles or his victories as he maneuvers his way through this life. This morning he posted something about wanting to live his life with so much faith that the world would have nothing against him.

At first, I wondered about that statement. Then, as God would have it, I opened my study Bible and it directed me to John 15 where Jesus is talking to his disciples right before his crucifixion. He tells his disciples, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own… They hated Me without a cause.”

I was reminded that, in order to condemn Jesus, they had to make things up. They had to lie about him so that they could get rid of him. Then I understood what my young FB friend was saying. He wants to live his life in such a way that if someone wanted to accuse him, they would have to lie.

Isn’t that the life we are all called to live? “Be holy as I am holy.” John continues to report that Jesus, after warning his disciples about how the world would view them, promised them the Holy Spirit to help them bear witness of Jesus. God knows his children will face difficulties because we love and serve him, and he promises to be exactly what we need to face them.

Dear one, don’t lose heart. Expect the world to be uncomfortable around you, because Jesus in you is going to make them uncomfortable in their sin. We can expect the world to hate us because they hated Jesus, too. Let the Holy Spirit do his work in their lives as you are obedient to Him, remembering that it’s God’s passionate desire for those people to come to him.

I’m praying for you. May the choices you make today reflect your relationship with the Savior. And may an unsaved friend or loved one be very uncomfortable in your presence because of their sin, and because Jesus is in you. Most of the time you won’t have to say a thing. John 15:26 promises that “He (the Holy Spirit) will testify about me (Jesus).”

Have you ever heard it said that you may be the only Jesus some will ever see? Or that you may be the only Bible some will ever read? I pray that those who see my life are getting the right message, seeing the right example of a woman saved by grace through the precious blood of Jesus. May it be true in us all.

100%

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People often say “Wouldn’t it have been amazing to live in Jesus’ day, to actually hear him speak and hang out with him?” I have thought so myself.

Then I read verses like Psalm 46:11 and I am reminded we who live this side of the cross have an even better reality “The LORD of Hosts is with us”! God, in all his power and majesty lives within my heart. I don’t have to travel to Jerusalem to have an audience with him. I exist in his presence!

I might not be able to shake his hand, but I can pour my heart out to him in the privacy of my room and know he hears. He’s with me in the car. Behind my desk. At the ballgame. He never leaves me. I have 100% of his attention 100% of the time. Now that is truly amazing!

I think if the disciples really understood this privilege, they wouldn’t have argued with him so often about his death. I think if I really understood the privilege, I wouldn’t doubt or question so often. I wouldn’t waste one second worrying or being fearful.

“Be still and know that I am God… The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.” Psalm 46:10+11.

Dear God, Thank you, thank you for your Presence in my life, Thank you for walking with me, living within me, focusing your attention on me. Thank you for the intimate relationship I have with you through the blood of your dear Son. May my walk with you be intentional, lived out of a heart of gratitude for the very real privilege of having you with me..

September 7

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Daniel 11:36-12:13; Psalms 93, 94, 95, 96

Daniel continues to share his vision about the future. And a verse I read today really frightens me.

The man clothed in linen tells Daniel in the end, some people will wake up in heaven, others in hell. Daniel asks when this is going to happen and in Daniel 12:7 the man says something that took my breath away:

“When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these thing will be completed”.

Now I totally trust God with the future and I don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out who I think the antichrist will be or if the rapture will occur before or after some great time of tribulation. But what that man told Daniel really scares me.

What is “the power of the holy people”? I believe the power we have is in the winning of lost souls, of allowing the Holy Spirit to use us to lead people to Christ. It’s in our willingness to live lives set apart so that the world can recognize Jesus in us and want him in their lives, too.

The possibility of this power being finally broken scares me. Can it really happen that one day our choices in this life will once and for all prevent the Holy Spirit from changing lives? Is it possible that our children’s children may have hearts so hard they won’t respond to God’s voice? Are we raising a generation that won’t recognize sin because we are teaching them “tolerance”?

Don’t think that can’t happen. Scripture says it will.

I know in my heart Jesus won’t come back until the last person who would be saved comes to him for forgiveness. But Daniel’s vision tells me that there will be be that last person, then the power of the holy people will be broken.

Someone said we are one generation away from godlessness. Parents, are you teaching your children to recognize sin? Are you teaching them there are consequences for disobedience? Are you showing them what a godly lifestyle looks like and that it’s better than anything the world can offer?

There are influences in our world that would take our focus away from our need of God. And those influences are targeted on our children. Will they be the generation that shuts out the Holy Spirit? They will be if we don’t step it up.

Are you talking about your Savior to your neighbors and friends? Is Jesus reflected in your daily choices? Do they see in you what they lack? They won’t if you don’t do something about it.

If we go through this life trying to fit in, to look like the world, to not offend someone by pointing out their need of a Savior, then we are taking part in binding the Holy Spirit. Every time we ignore him we add another link to the chain that will eventually render him unable to save.

Then the end will come.

And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves because he is not willing that any should perish. Can we say the same?

Dear God, forgive your people for our lack of zeal. Forgive us for sitting back and expecting someone else to share you with that person you’ve laid on our hearts. Forgive us for expecting a Sunday School teacher to show our children their need of you. And forgive us when we ignore your prompting. God, I pray for an outpouring of your Holy Spirit on willing hearts. May your Spirit have your way in our homes, in our churches, in our towns, in our world. May you find your children faithful and may lost souls find you through us. Hold off on returning, Lord. Because if you do come back today, that just means we haven’t done our job. I pray that you will find us willing to listen and eager to obey for Jesus’ sake.