Holy Spirit

Refreshing Reminder

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I was cutting the grass earlier than normal today in hopes of escaping the heat. Thankfully, it wasn’t super hot yet but the air was already heavy with humidity. Thankfully, there was a refreshing breeze that cooled me down periodically to keep me going.

That reminded me of something I learned about a particular Hebrew word used for the Holy Spirit. Ruach is translated as spirit, but it can also mean wind or breath. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about being born again, He probably used that word ruach to convey how the Spirit moves in mysterious ways.

Usually in western thinking, we typically assign one meaning to a word. Even words that can have different meanings usually have one based on context. But in Hebrew thinking, a word can have multiple meanings all at once.

As I have learned, it’s possible when Jesus used the word He was thinking spirit, breath, and wind all at once. The Holy Spirit is of course the third person in the trinity, the three-in-one consisting of three distinct persons yet also one God.

When Jesus later promised the Holy Spirit to the Church, He said that the Spirit’s job would be to remind them of all He had taught them. The Spirit would also give us the words to say at the right moment of a gospel conversation or where we’re defending what we believe.

I like to think of what the Holy Spirit does (at least in part) as a refreshing reminder of all the promise God has ever made. When life gets hard and the world becomes overbearing, the Spirit is like that gentle breeze that reminds us that God is present with us in the trials. He will bring to mind a verse or something a friend said that reflected God’s heart or even a song lyric that speaks God’s truth.

All that is to point us to Jesus and keep our eyes fixed on Him who is the founder of our faith and the goal of our journey. As long as we’re on this side of heaven with all our struggles and trials, He’s with Him. One day, we’ll have our faith made sight and reach the end of those struggles and trials, and then we’ll be with Him.

Tremble, Tremble and Repent

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This isn’t supposed to be a brimstone and hellfire type post (although sometimes I do think we need to bring back preaching that isn’t afraid to step on a few toes while proclaiming the whole gospel for the whole person).

I do think that American Christianity has progressed to the point where it barely resembles New Testament Christianity. People can come to most churches and feel comfortable living in sin and not once feel convicted about their lifestyle choices and behaviors. There is very little accountability and next to no discipline at any given local church.

Yes, Jesus did say to the woman caught in adultery that He didn’t condemn her, but He also added “Go and sin no more.”

I think the American church needs to champion social justice AND personal holiness. It’s not an either/or, but a both/and. Read Isaiah 58 if you want to know what biblical social justice looks like, but also read Romans 12:1-2 (and many other passages) that compel us to be holy and set apart.

There’s a lot of emphasis on getting people saved, but not much on discipling them afterward. The result is that many people sitting in any given church service on Sunday know very little about the Bible or the faith they’ve professed to believe. Very few actually know how to live out that faith and apply it to every day situations.

I do think that the American church needs revival. Not the kind where people get saved (although that would be awesome) as much as the kind where the people who are saved start acting and living like it. Including yours truly.

It starts and ends with the Bible. It’s about preaching the gospel to yourself all day every day. It’s about falling at the feet of Jesus and declaring your dependence on Him once again. It’s about living a Romans 12:1-2 life of sacrificial worship that is radically different than the world. It’s about loving God and loving others the way God in Jesus has loved us.

It Says That?

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“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19, ESV).

How I wish the verse said “Many are the afflictions of the wicked, but the righteous will avoid them all.” Unfortunately, it does not.

There is a popular brand of Christianity that preaches a prosperity gospel. Basically, if you’re righteous, you will reap spiritual, physical, and financial blessings. You will never see hardship. Any kind of suffering is not of God and you can pray it away if you have enough faith.

But Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble. Not might. Not may. Will. As in the forecast for your life is that there’s a 100% chance of affliction and trouble in your future. That’s the part that can be a bit depressing if you focus just on that part.

But the second is the hopeful part. But God delivers the righteous out of them all. As my pastor used to say, God never gives us a way out but a way through. We may walk through some dark valleys, but our Shepherd is with us.

I’ve pointed it out before, but in Psalm 23, the first few verses talk about God as our Shepherd in the third person. He makes, He leads, He restores. But in the valley of the shadow of death, it changes. Suddenly, it’s You are with me. In that place and in that season, God becomes personal and the experience becomes intimate. Theoretical head knowledge becomes precious wisdom gained from life experience of God walking with us through the worst that hell can throw at us and delivering us from it all.

No matter what, God is with us. That, not the inevitable affliction, is the key. God will be with us and all will be well because He is making all things new.

The Joy of the Hunt

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I love a good afternoon spent thumbing through stack of vinyl. There’s just something about the joy of the unexpected, never knowing what you’ll find. Of course, I love finding those rare, hard to find, collectible records. But for me, finding LPs that take me back to my childhood are just as valuable.

I call my record player a turntable time machine, because music is the closest to being able actually to travel back in time to the year the album was created. So many dormant memories can reawaken upon the dropping of the record needle and the first notes of the first song on the first side.

If you didn’t grow up in the 70s, you may not be aware of a band called Candle that did a lot of Christian music for kids. The one I know best and love most is Music Machine, a sort of musical adventure through the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It’s good music for kids because it’s music that anyone can listen to, young or old.

Music that’s meant for only kids, just like books and television shows or anything else, usually aren’t good books. I think C. S. Lewis said that. I should be able to revisit a childhood favorite and still be engaged by it if it’s any good.

But for me, the best treasures are often the ones I find in the bargain bins or sometimes even in the free bins. So much of my collection is definitely in the $10 and under category. I think that’s because what determines value most isn’t always money. The price tag doesn’t automatically equate to worth or importance. And that goes for so many other things outside of music and records.

So the hunt will continue for me for a while. I hope you will share your own unique and interesting finds by posting in the comments. Happy listening!

Driven to Tears

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Tonight at Room in the Inn, we had our annual Q & A instead of the usual Bible study for the homeless guests. There were four of us who each took one theological question and gave a roughly five-minute answer. The one that stays with me is when Tommy Woods did the question on what is the gospel and why does it matter.

It wasn’t so much in what he said but how even talking about the gospel got him emotional. Talking about the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on the cross brought him to tears. I was moved by the passion behind the emotion.

I sometimes wonder if we really understood what Christ went through on the cross, how much he really suffered, and how great the pain of bearing a whole world of sin felt, wouldn’t it bring us to tears every single time? How could I not be moved by the One who moved heaven and earth to get to me in my lostness and rescue me from my own rebellion?

I think if we knew how much God really paid for the free gift of our salvation, we’d sing a lot louder. We’d worship more boldly. We’d live more sacrificially. We’d never stop being a thankful people instead of a grumbling and complaining people.

Jesus once told the story of two debtors: one owed $50 and the other owed $500. He said this to defend the woman who broke a jar of expensive perfume to bathe Jesus’ feet while using her hair as a towel. He said the one forgiven much is the one who loves much.

If we think we’re basically good people with a few minor hangups and faults, we might feel a little entitled about our salvation. If we think we’re bad people who needed to be made good, we might offer up a token prayer of gratitude. But if we know that we were dead in sin and God in Jesus made us alive, we’d spend all eternity in thankful praise. And one day, we will.

Not of Us

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“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
“The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely; but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,—a poor depository for such priceless truth.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence; but when God selects, as he always does, earthen vessels, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us” (Charles Spurgeon).

That’s true whether you’re a famous preacher in front of thousands or a simple witness in front of one person. All the power of the gospel comes from God. All the saving comes from God. All the changing of the heart from unbelief to belief and the changing of a soul from dead in sin to alive to God comes from God.

That’s key whenever you have a gospel conversation with anyone. It’s not your job to save anyone. It’s also not your job to be an attorney and prove the existence of God and the Bible and the historical validity of the resurrection and all that. You don’t have to win the person over by a compelling argument. You are simply a witness, telling what you saw, what God did, and how God changed your life.

As I’ve learned, people can argue all day long about theology matters. They can argue about whether God is real or the Bible is true. No one can argue your story. No one can say what happened to you didn’t happen when they see the evidence of a changed and transformed life.

I was reading today about the passage where Jesus sent out the disciples to carry His message. He told them not to worry what to say because when the moment came He would give them the words to say. So often, that’s the case when we are surrendered to God’s will and open to sharing about the hope we have with anyone who asks. We may not know what to say beforehand, but in the moment, the right words come and God is speaking with our voice.

I pray that we all — me included — would diligently seek out in prayer those people with whom we can have gospel conversations. I read something called a 3-open prayer that seems appropriate to be our prayer for those gospel conversations: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

A Heavenly Perspective

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“DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
We have faith in Jesus, blessed be your name, but oh strengthen and deepen that faith! May he be all in all to us; may we never look elsewhere for ground of rest, but abide in him with an unwavering, immutable confidence, that the Christ of God cannot fail nor be discouraged, but must forever be the salvation of his people. We trust we can say also that we love the Lord, but we long to love him more!Let this blessed flame feed on the very marrow of our bones.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5)
It is faith that muzzles the mouth of death and takes away the power of the grave. If any man, who had not been a believer, had been translated as Enoch was, we should have been able to point to a great feat accomplished apart from faith. It has never been so.
Do not attempt to escape the pangs of death by any other way, but walk with God, and you will be able to say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).”

Almost no one was as good as Charles Spurgeon at keeping his people focused on Christ and the Cross, no matter what. May the same be said of us inside and outside of the church buildings or homes where we gather. We need to remember that God’s plan is so much bigger than us and our fears and doubts and dreams, yet He is concerned with each of us and our needs. May we also be reminded that the story isn’t over until you get to the last page, and as I read the last page of the Bible and of our story, it’s a good one.

Something Better

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I used to hear growing up that God answers prayers in one of three ways: “Yes,” “No” and “Wait.” Sometimes, the last one looks a lot like “Not yet.”

In my own experience, I can vouch for the fact that God sometimes doesn’t give me what I ask for because it simply would not be good for me. I’m asking selfishly out of my flesh and what I ask for would lead me astray. Some things I ask for would likely destroy me if I got them.

Sometimes, I ask for things I’m just not ready for. It would be like if my 8-year old self wanted a Corvette for Christmas. There’d be no point in me getting one because a) they’re ridiculously expensive and b) I couldn’t drive it for another 8 years anyway. That would be dumb.

God knows what I need AND when I need it. God’s a lot smarter than me at figuring out if I’m mature enough to handle what I request. Sometimes, what I want is just stupid. Sometimes, it’s actually harmful to me and possibly to others. Sometimes, it will be good for me when I’m good and ready for it.

A possible fourth option would be that God denies my request because He has something better in mind. It’s like I’m short-sighted in my view of what I think I need but God is looking at the whole picture, figuring it into the whole of His master plan for creation. I see one puzzle piece and He sees the whole puzzle.

Basically, the best thing God ever did for me (and still continues to do for me) is to not give me a lot of what I pray for the moment I pray for it. Or to not give it to me at all. Or to give me something much, much better. Like Himself.

Jesus In Me, The Hope of Glory

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“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

We miss the point when we make the Christian faith a matter of behavior modification or merely championing causes. It’s not about following rules or fighting for the right social injustice. It’s about being transformed by the indwelling Christ.

That’s what I need. I need Jesus to live in me and to live through me because I can’t live like Jesus on my own. I can’t be holy as God calls me to be holy. But Jesus can. My righteousness can’t exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees (or anyone else for that matter), but Jesus’ righteousness exceeds them all and His righteousness is now my righteousness if He is in me.

So I don’t need more self-help books. I don’t need more Bible studies. I don’t need more Christian events. I don’t need more coffee (but I sure would like more). I need Jesus. That’s it. That’s all. Just Jesus.

Forgiving Yourself

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“How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? Our deepest desire is that the forgiveness we offer will be received. This mutuality between giving and receiving is what creates peace and harmony. But if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom will forgive! Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. We cannot force those we want to forgive into accepting our forgiveness. They might not be able or willing do so. They may not even know or feel that they have wounded us.

The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts” (Henri Nouwen).

Sometimes, the hardest person to forgive is yourself. It can be much harder to forgive yourself or to receive forgiveness than to give it. But at the end of the day, we are all broken and hopeless without Jesus. We all bring nothing to the table in and of ourselves but our own sin, but when we are in Jesus, we bring Jesus, and that is enough.