Who is the Holy Spirit?

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin , because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness because I go to the Father and you see Me no more; do judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. . . . When He, the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all Truth . . . (John 16:8-13)

The Spirit is not something we "get" when we want to shout, dance, or sing. It may however, make us weep, shout, dance, or sing! Like any person we encouraged, the Person of the Holy Spirit of God can and will cause us to do things, feel things, and react to things. The difference is this Person must be received through belief and repentance in the Lord Jesus and His work upon the cross of Calvary! God the Holy Spirit is not something to place upon the shelf for SONday worship or prayer meetings, or when we want Him or need Him. He indwells every born-again believer when he repents and commits to Christ. Only God knows the true believer, yet the proof comes in the leading and controllimg of the Holy Spirit upon one's life. If we say we love Christ and we call Him Lord, then proof should show in our living ... living led by the Holy Spirit! A Spirit-led life is not one that compromises or accepts the world's ways of living. It does not justify sin. It commits to a life worthy of a Holy God . . . an exciting life and a life set apart from this world. Too may "believers" get this wrong. While loving a set apart life requires saying "no" to much in this world, it also allows freedom to say "yes" to so much more of God!

Are we teaching and modeling this life to our young people today?

It's How I Was Raised

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.(1 Peter 3:8)

Have you allowed your upbringing or experiences to prejudice you against a particular group of people? Women? Men? The poor? The rich? Asians? Jews? Black or White? Prejudice leads to hatred and a lack of compassion toward others. To the contrary, God's people are to be known for their love and compassion. Surrendering your life to God means recognizing and relinquishing your prejudices. Your spiritual transformation will be stunted until you let go of your prejudices toward any people group. Seeing your own prejudices doesn't come easy. You need to ask God and those close to you to help you see areas of prejudice in your life. Once you see them, confess them and ask God to change your heart. (Steve Arterburn-New Life Ministries) This U.S. presidential election Of 2016 has caused many unpleasant attitudes and character flaws to rise up. "True colors" are showing and with it bitter hatred and accusations. People are aligning with one party or the other based upon traditional values and upbringings. However, for the Christ-follower, there is no room for past prejudices or cultural divisions. In Christ, there is either born-again or not! In Jesus' day you were Jew or Greek. Now, there is a disciple (follower) of Christ or not. There is no room for a white CHRISTian or black CHRISTian. There is no room for the democratic or republican CHRISTIan. A follower of CHRIST is FIRST a CHRIST follower! His ways . . . His doctrine . . His guidelines take precedent over tradition, culture, family and any other influence that MAY have had it a hold on us. As we examine our hearts, we must be honest with ourselves and deal with the sin of our upbringing and even past experiences. "That's how I was raised" is not an EXCUSE to sin, but rather a REASON to repent! There is NO ROOM in the Body of CHRIST for cultural or racial divides . . .there simply is not!

God the Holy Spirit is awaiting our call . . .

But God has revealed them to us, through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of the man which is in Him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God . . .but we have the mind of Christ! (1 Corinthians 2:10-16)

Are the things of God still a mystery to you? Do you find yourself asking "why", "how", and "what" much too often? James addressed this question very plainly and his answer was to "ask God"! (James 1:5) God the Holy Spirit is ready and willing to give us all knowledge and wisdom pertaining to life's issues . . . if we are only willing to inquire and OBEY!

Dr. Charles Stanley writes: "The Spirit’s goal is not to fill your mind with information but to bring you to a deeper level in your relationship with the Lord. He wants you to understand the truth so you will fall in love with Jesus. Then you’ll long to spend time in the Word, thereby getting to know Him even better.But all these treasures of God’s Word could remain out of reach if you never ask the Teacher to unlock them. Each time you read your Bible, ask the Lord for understanding. A wonderfully intimate love relationship with Christ awaits those who let the Spirit reveal to them the thoughts of God."

Whether we have fallen out or touch with the Spirit or simply have never sought His wisdom, we can begin anew today. Treat Him as the real person that He is. A simple "Holy Spirit, please help me to understand this" is a great beginning. He will "unlock" the mysteries of life to each of us who asks.

Job, Jesus, you and me . . .

The eyes of the Lord never squint, never close, never slumber, and never sleep. . . .not even a nap! Every moment of day our Lord’s perfect eye scans every corner of the globe, surveying every heart of every person, looking for someone, for you,for me, for anyone whose heart is fully committed to Jesus Christ. Even as we go through times when it seems like we are all alone, He is with us, watching, engaging, willing to assist . . . even to take over!

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever . . . the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.(John 14:16-18)

A life committed to serving the Lord and His purposes is not easy. It is many times lonely. There are dark periods when it seems all is doomed. There are times when it seems tomorrow will never come and the light will never shine. However . . . His promise never fails. Hold on. Hang in. Lean on Him. Like David, like Job, like Jesus on the cross . . . He NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us. He is RIGHT HERE!

Prepare the Youth

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by NO means pass a away. . . .but as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. . . they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and did not until the flood CAME and TOOK them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:35-39

Rather than worry about what we really cannot control, like the political circus we call a presidential election, can we please focus on things we know WILL occur? Jesus is coming back and a whole lot of folks . . . young folks especially have no clue! We as Christ-following parents, mentors and teachers are responsible to "go and make disciples" of these very young people. It is NOT enough to teach them math, science and geography. It is NOT enough to have them in every sports program and tutoring session available. While the MIND is a terrible thing to waste, the SOUL is what matters most! We have so many intelligent, athletic, and good looking young people preparing for a future in medicine, technology, sports, and education, but few prepared for eternity and a specific appointment with the Creator.

What answer will they give . . . will we give. . . when asked "Who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:29)

Redeem These Times!

He changes times and seasons . . . He removes kings and sets up kings . . . He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.(Daniel 2:21)

Daniel was about to reveal the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. In the end, The Kingdom of God rules! What peace this is to the believer today! No matter the circumstance, no matter the seemingly confused state of world politics, God is in control and working out His plan. We as Christ followers need not to worry so much about the politicians as we do about our personal relationship with Christ. We are to be involved and influential in the political process. We are to pray for our leaders. (2 Timothy 2:1-2). We are to obey the laws set before us. (Romans 13:1) Yet we need to trust God with the ultimate judgment. (Psalm 75:7) Let's redeem the times we live in and be sure of our calling in Christ. The harvest in indeed ripe. There is work to be done!

Less of ME . . . A spiritual weight loss is needed!

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life. This is the CONFIDENCE we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know we have what we asked of Him. (1 John 5:13-15)

Many times we feel as though our prayers are going nowhere . . .and that's probably true! We get into ruts and habits with everything in life, even our prayers. While we know that we can approach God directly because of the blood of Christ, we must do him humbly and respectfully. We cannot treat Him casually! He is not Santa . . .He is GOD after all!!!! To get in tune with the WILL of God we must be in tune with the WORD of God. We get to know His character, His plans for us, and what He would have us to do. Simply based upon His character, we can many times discern what we should be doing. As we grow closer to Him, we begin to realize how to please Him and what would please Him. As we align with His will, He will the new begin to orchestrate our lives accordingly. May I suggest to ask for nothing more than more time with Him? As we spend quality time with our Daddy, our wants become less important and our desires are to please Him and not ourselves. My prayer is that we all seek God more and "me" less. (John 3:30)

Armed and ready . . .

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed . . . (Jude 3-4)

When I have been reading the Bible lately one sure thing has been striking me: Things have not changed too much! While we like to believe that because of our technology and other advances that we are so much more advanced than the folks we read about in the Bible, we are still struggling with the same issues. Sin is still sin and the Word of God is still the Word of God! Here Jude, Jesus' brother, reminds believers to "contend earnestly" for the faith. He gives us the command to "agonize" over continually and vigorously defending the purity of the salvation message of the Bible. Just as Paul instructed Timothy ( 2 Timothy 1:13-14, 1 Timothy 6:19-20), we too are to retain the standards of sound doctrinal truths. While we hear the slogan "Protect This House" in sports today, we as Christ followers must also defend our faith and protect the sound doctrine and not allow it to be watered down or dummied-down in our presence! We are under attack!!!

There WILL be a Final Exam!

If you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.(Colossians 3:1-2)

The best athletes focus on their sport and how they might improve each day. The most skilled physician studies up on new medicines, procedures, and therapies. Lawyers study up on laws and legal practices. Parents and teachers are constantly seeking out more effective ways to reach children in order for them to achieve their highest potential. Even politicians strive to win every vote, in every state so they can win the election.

Why then, as Christ followers, do we focus upon so many things other than Christ?

Do we not desire to know as much as we possibly can about Christ? Do we not want to discover how to best please the One Who created us . . . with a sole purpose of bringing Him glory? (John 15:8) If we were indeed created to bring Him glory and to "bear fruit" for this reason, then why do we not gather all the knowledge we possibly are able to gather about our Lord and Savior? The old saying concerning any area of expertise, be it sports, medicine, law or the like is that we never stay the same. We either get better or worse with each passing day. It is sad that those of other faiths know more about CHRISTianity than most CHRISTians! We have to study and practice our faith!

Don't GIVE UP . . . GIVE IN!

God will equip us for whatever He calls us to do. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, we have all a need to fulfill the Lord's mission. Instead of letting human inadequacies hinder us from obeying, allow it drive us to us to our knees so we can then get up with renewed insight and power. I am so in awe of Nehemiah. Here he was serving the King Artaxerxes, pretty well set in comparison to most Jews, yet his mind was on his people and his city, Jerusalem. The king could see the worry on his face!

"Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." . . . "the place of my fathers' tombs lies in waste, and its gates are burned with fire." (Nehemiah 2:2-3)

The king then decides to send him back along with letters of protection as he travelled. Though he faced opposition, Nehemiah would rally his people to rebuild the walls totally depending upon God and His provisions. What are we troubled with today? What do we believe is impossible . . . but for God? It is still true today: if we indeed trust Him with our whole heart, if we lean upon His strength and understanding and not our own, then we too can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Allow our inadequacies to be God's opportunities to use us to His glory. Do not give up, but give in to God!

God is . . .

. . .I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments, and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest parts of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to a place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name." (Nehemiah 1: 6-9)

Nehemiah respected the awesome holiness of God, so he approached Him with confession. He admitted not only his sin, but his father's and Israel's as well. We cannot hide or continue to enjoy our sin and expect the Lord to hear and answer our prayers. Purity of heart and the power of God are linked. We need the sensitivity to instantly recognize when we've strayed, and the willingness to deal with sin immediately. We must approach God with a sinful, needy, without hope attitude, because that is what we are without Him . . . a holy, perfect, all-knowing and all-powerful God. We all fall short and we must humble ourselves before Him in order to receive His grace and mercy . . . He alone is GOD and we are NOT!!!