Unique and Accepted

As humans, we are all unique beings. When we need specific individuality, there are finger prints and retina scans that are not duplicated in other humans. Yes, we are quite unique. We also share a similar uniqueness. Almost always each person in in born with and will grow into a body that has similar organs with other humans, however we are still unique to a degree in this. In some areas of the body, certain organs exist, but they may not be in the same place as other people, one surgeon mentioned, “we need to find the actual location of that piece of the puzzle.” Bone fractures and flesh wounds that heal can also alter the specific locations of certain organs. Beyond the shielded internal, most people go through a period in life when they are attempting to “figure out” what they want to display as their outward appearance. This is an attempt to gain acceptance of and encouragement from some other groups of people they consider important. This importance ranges across all aspect of a person’s life, from physical to mental to spiritual abilities. As far as being unique, there has never been a person so unique as Jesus Christ. For those whose parents are from mixed races, Jesus was part human and part pure spirit. So far as physical abilities, he was a builder, who worked hard and later required little sleep. So far as knowledge, at age 12, he amazed seasoned scholars at the epicenter of Judaism in Jerusalem. Jesus also went through a period of deciding how He wanted to live His life. When He decided to follow God’s plan for Him, He faced severe testing and temptation, by His major opponent, Satan. Jesus decided that being accepted by the Father was more important than anything surrounding Him on earth. Jesus had observed, and knew that considering the Father’s desires as most important would not come with acceptance, but cause others to completely reject Him. This was not an ignorance, it was an active rejection by some He help dear, such as His siblings. He told His disciples, “Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.” “Truly I tell you,” said Jesus, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life (Mk. 10:28-30). At some point in our lives, we must come to the point in which we choose what is most important to us, or by whom we want to be rejected: other people or God. For those who accept Jesus sacrifice, the indwelling Holy Spirit is always there to prompt us toward the decisions we must make, but He will not make those decisions for us.

Effective Love

In societies today, we use the word "love" to describe many things and levels of feeling. When Jesus spoke, He intended "love" to indicate more than thoughts, but actions. When we reach out to help other people with the same concern as for ourselves, we mirror God's efforts for us. He loved us so much He came to earth and suffered a cruel sacrifice for us. How should this realization affect our view of other people? "And the second command is like the first: 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.' All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands." — Matt. 22:39-40 (ERV)

Sharing

As far back in time as Moses, God's focused servants who had the Holy Spirit have wanted this Spirit to be distributed to more people. This would mean they could be closer to God. Those who accept Jesus' gift, possess what Moses wished for so long ago. "Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Numbers 11:29 (NIV)

How do people view you

Communication, verbally or otherwise, is essentially creating a mental picture in another person’s mind similar to the mental picture in the speaker’s mind. In conversations, every sound we hear, motion we see, smell we detect, or touch we feel creates some part of a picture that develops in our minds. A mental picture appears as we piece together the inputs we receive and process them based on our past training and life experiences, as well as present emotions. Individual people arrange these information fragments in distinctive ways to form unique pictures; they may arrange them differently at other times. These pictures can differ slightly or significantly. A speaker can sometimes transfer a more complete representation of the picture in his mind with additional or more specific words, as well as other means of presentation. Many pictures are most easily communicated when compared to a presently known image. People with similar backgrounds and experiences may be able to exchange mental pictures more easily and quickly. Mental pictures may represent images, ideas, concepts, conclusions, or understandings. Students bring this endeavor to a deeper challenge when they undertake examination of the Bible. The ideas and concepts mentioned in the Bible depend on creating work pictures since the topics are so different than attitudes, events, and commitments that surround us in the present day. These mental pictures gain a greater focus when one depends upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to clarify them. We need to depend on the Holy Spirit to do just this, clarify our mental pictures of godly elements to life. A recent post mentioned that while the mental picture of death is not really a cessation of existence, but a separation of something. While alive, we may say “I am dead to that habit,” or I am dead to that person. Physical death separates the body from an earthly existence, however spiritual death speaks of a separation from God. The opposite of death is life. Whereas death means separation to something, life means union with something. There is physical life, meaning all the systems of a physical body are functional to some degree and there is spiritual life, which means we have a union with God. This union was made possible because of Jesus’ sacrifice and is protected via the indwelling Holy Spirit. Heaven is a description of a place focused only on God, and inhabited by beings that exist to praise and serve Him. If a person is inhabited by the Holy Spirit while in their physical life, it might be accurate to think of them as being a bit of Heaven on earth. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us display godly actions towards others and display a bit of Heaven on Earth.

OLD AGE AIN’T FOR SISSIES

2/25/18  “And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you”. --Isaiah 46:4
A wise man once said, “Old age sure ain’t for sissies.” From the book of Ecclesiastes, it seems as though King Solomon would agree. He wrote of how the things we take for granted when we are young may cause us to lose delight in living when we’re old. Our eyesight grows dim - we start with reading glasses and then move to bifocals. Our hearing grows weak. We’re constantly saying “Huh?” to our spouses. We have time to sleep late, but we wake up early. Our hands start to tremble. Our desire for sex diminishes. Old age isn’t for sissies. We work hard to develop talents and abilities, but they disappear over time, even with practice. Our bodies just don’t work like they used to. Aches and pains are a daily reality, and morning stiffness is our companion every day as we get out of bed. Some parts of life can all be very depressing, and without God life can become meaningless. But with God, an older person can discover different things to occupy their time and challenge their minds. If they allow it, the indwelling Holy Spirit will encourage them each day. They can have the opportunity to help others in different ways. As one grows closer to the end of their physical life, there is wisdom, strength, joy, and the hope that when the body finally gives out, Spirit inspired physical life changes into the life God intended - in heaven with God.

Opinions

As Jesus' servants, it is crucial that we try to respond to the Holy Spirit's promptings. When we accepted Him as our Savior, we also accepted Him as Lord, the ultimate controller of all we do. How doe we understand what our Lord wants? Perhaps we ask others for their opinions about what He might want, and they likely have opinions. When we consider the stated or practiced opinions of others, we must remember Paul's words to the searching Corinthians,  "So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit."  1 Cor. 12:3 (NLT)  The best way to gather opinions about what Jesus wants is to consult his own words from scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand how the words apply to us in this time. As we read scripture, our minds may quickly become overwhelmed. These first words were spoken at a times far removed from today and to a culture that seems “different’ in the ways it valued people and interpreted concepts. We must, however realize that the people of the first century also struggled to understand some of the writings. Nonetheless, they relied on the Holy Spirit to help them understand the core teachings. The concepts written in scripture from God are greater than our greatest thought and are more complex than our most insightful moment can help us comprehend. But there is a promise on which we can always rely: the Holy Spirit will never lead us to say anything untruthful or unholy about God - as Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God convicts us of the truth, gives us insight into the truth, and empowers us to declare the truth. Confessing Christ as Lord indicates a heart full of faith, a testimony to God's grace, and is a declaration of our commitment to our Lord. The Holy Spirit unlocks our minds and empowers our hearts to confess Jesus as Lord!

All Truth

[Jesus said,] "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future." - John 16:13 (NLT). When you think of "all truth," what do you picture in your mind? It could be every bit of truth that exists, but that would be overload. It is likely better understood as applying godly principles to every event encountered in your life. These events might seem confusing, but through prayer and request, the indwelling Holy Spirit will reveal the real truth, what God wants. The critical things for salvation that Jesus did was planned by the Father and spoke by the prophets many years before Jesus displayed how it would be revealed. We were given the indwelling Holy Spirit when we became his true followers (Titus 3:3-7). As this Spirit guided the apostles, he guides us into the truth about the will of God and about Jesus. If we will but ask, He will help us understand the truth about both Jesus' ministry while he was physically on earth and how to continue this work in your present culture. The culture that surrounds us is different from that which surrounded Jesus, so there will need to be some changes made to the presentation of the same message Jesus gave. We can observe this in the actions of Peter and Paul as they went to different areas to spread the news of Jesus. Although Cultures are a bit different, all people have the same need - become closer to Jesus. Like Peter and Paul, any modifications to presentation must be consistent with the message of Jesus. If we will but ask, the indwelling Spirit will guide us into all the truth about Jesus and his love for us. his subsequent ministry, including his ministry now. So let us ask for the Spirit to guide us into all the truth about Jesus.

He who has ears

[In his revelation to John, Jesus said,] ""Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."" – Rev. 2:7 (NIV) This passage is keyed on us doing something, considering and accepting what we hear, not pushing it aside. The Holy Spirit may speak to us continually. If we pray without ceasing, we are constantly talking to the Spirit. If we are prompted to remember a scripture, the Holy Spirit has asked us to remember some of His words. When we open the Bible, more happens than just word associations. The Spirit who inspired the word also convicts us and appeals to us and corrects us and seeks to conform us to the will of God and the character of Jesus. When we open our Bibles, let’s have the expectation that the Spirit will use these words and symbols in new ways and give us fresh insights for all our challenges.

Spirit of Truth

A person may quote the passage from John 16:13, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." But what did this mean to the disciples? Just like today, there were many priests in Judaism trying to convince people that their understanding of God's desires were correct. The difficulty is they had grossly misinterpreted what God wanted. One of Jesus' goals was to help people understand what god truly wanted from His people. When Jesus completed the sacrifice, He returned to the Father, but left the Holy Spirit in His disciples to continue the spread the truth about what God wanted. This indwelling Holy Spirit was the Spirit of truth. Today, we have this truth revealed, whether that truth was revealed through ancient prophecy, revealed through first century inspired writers, or revealed now. The Spirit is our assurance that we can know, understand, and apply the truth about Jesus. So when we hear true testimony, when people give true witness to Jesus, then the Holy Spirit is present, supporting that message, using that message to convict people of sin and bringing comfort from that message to those in need. When we speak the truth about Jesus, the Holy Spirit is present giving power to that truth.

Unexpected Events

Have you ever experienced an unexpected life changing event in your faith journey? Did you sprint to take action to remedy this interruption in your life plans? Something like this happened to Joseph, Mary's husband. “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’” Matthew 1:20 (NIV) One key to this verse is, "after he had considered this." What had happed to him was beyond unfortunate, but Joseph did not act hastily. Why would God allow this to happen to him, a law abiding man? He had waited so long, been so faithful.
How could she do this terrible thing? I trusted her; now she can’t even admit the truth, to me.
As Joseph thought it over, and according to their law, putting her away was the best way to handle the sticky situation. Then, his plans were interrupted again. “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’” (Matthew 1:20). Hmm, this still didn't make any sense. Apparently, Joseph had not acted immediately upon his impulse, but had created time and space in his life to hear from God. Through the angel’s message, Joseph discovered things were not really as they appeared. Though others would not understand the why behind his decision, Joseph would keep moving forward and make Mary his wife. This baby growing in Mary was part of God’s miraculous plan. The Son of God was coming to save us from our sin. So despite whatever fears Joseph may have felt, he chose to trust God’s plan. Life on earth is messy and very unpredictable. Returning to the first question, have you ever experienced an unexpected life changing event in your life? Perhaps there has been a time, as a Christian, you sensed a move God wanted you to make, the Holy Spirit was prompting you. But, it didn’t make sense to others, or maybe it didn’t even make sense to you? Yet, you trusted the Holy Spirit knew what He was doing. Now you look back and see the Spirit’s faithfulness to help you as you took one right step after another. Was Mary surprised by the actions of John the Baptist’s mother? Joseph and Mary’s took tedious steps to Bethlehem. more and more people knew their plight. Did they fully understand? No, they probably didn’t understand all of God’s plan, yet they chose to go the way He had revealed so far. Later, Mary is said to treasure these things in her heart. Unlike Joseph, we may not have an angelic dream, but we can resolve to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance regardless of the opposition.

Trust

Trust is sometimes a difficult feeling to develop. It is a feeling and it is one that begins with something from each person’s past and grows in some direction, either greater or lesser depending on words and actions experienced by each person. Some people have an approach of trusting anyone until they do something or say something to break that feeling of trust. Others, usually due to past broken events of trust, are very cautious to allow trust to develop. A large part of developing trust is the perceived risk in some way to a person’s safety and security. When two individuals meet or come in contact, each needs to develop a sense of acceptance and expectation of the other. This is sometimes most clearly visualized in children. The ultimate example is fond in Jesus. What kind of trust must He have had when, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Matt.. 4:1

See; Hear; Act

Sometimes we can find ourselves opposed by a person or group of people whose objections make little rational sense. When these times are driven by emotional opinions and diatribes, they may be little that can be done to make one’s point. These times can display an attachment to present satisfactions with no concern about future implications. Paul once found himself in such a position with those who were attached to the Jewish law. Instead of presenting a united case against what Paul was saying, they began disagreeing and arguing with one another. In such a situation, there is little more to be gained with rational discussion until calm can be gained. Paul found himself in such a situation once and the people began to leave the discussion. Because of his concern about his ethnic brothers, he made a final statement to prompt them: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”- Acts 28:25-26 (ESV) This should prompt us to realize that many times things God says are not easily grasped. God’s ways are not the usually ways we might accept. While God’s ways are ultimately best; adopting them may take some time to fully understand and integrate into our practices. We must attempt to grasp God’s word and rely on it for our actions. We must “see” it, or realize it; we must “hear” it, or put it into practice.

Hated

Generally, people do not like to be corrected, that is, revealing their wrongs and guiding them to better practices. In some cases, "hated" means more than "loved less." With such activity comes with ramifications. [Jesus said,] "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’" - John 15:18-25 (ESV) Jesus makes a profound observation in this passage which is, if He had not come to clearly explain their sin, the people could not be held accountable. Because Jesus was rejected, his disciples will also be rejected to some extent. When Jesus' disciples today, follow His instructions to take the faith with them “as they go” (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 8:4), face rejection or persecution or hardship, and hatred because of their faith, they need to know that they are not alone. Hebrews 12:1 speaks of believers being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Further, confident believers need to realize it is not them personally being rejected, but because they stand for Jesus’ principles they are being distanced. Jesus also faced these things as did other Christians before us have faced these things. Believers are accompanied by a God who lives inside them via His Holy Spirit and promises never to leave them or forsake them. Jesus' disciples must not take their mistreatment and persecution personally; they're not being rejected, but God, His will, and His grace are being rejected. As Jesus' disciples, we need to be faithful, and our testimony will affect other people in some way. Hopefully, because of our faithful actions, others will share the victory crown of life that awaits us!

Witness

Every day our lives display a witness of something, whether joys or tragedies. In most cases, we can choose what that witness will be by deciding how to act, or attempt to act. Motivating our response to the things that happen around us and to us, we must remember that we have seen and experienced God's saving work. We have been adopted as His children. We have the Holy Spirit living within us and can expect a mighty deliverance in the future. When we consider these blessings, how can we remain silent? Our lives will testify to our trust in His guidance. Contemplating our present status via being indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit and our future home, should overpower feelings of discouragement, bitterness, or pessimism. We are to display our confidence in the God who raised Jesus from physical death. He is our Savior and he has set in us a deposit, promising to always love us. We should remember that besides the Holy Spirit inside us, Hebrews 12 reminds us we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses for our encouragement and 1 Peter 2 reminds us that we are here as witnesses to "declare the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light." As Isaiah also reminds us, "I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.  I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.” - Isaiah 43:11-12 (ESV)

Individual pathways

In general, people want to pursue the paths they have decided are correct for the given situation, the ones containing the least resistance to meeting their individual goals. People who live in a "free" society have less overriding requirements and more opportunities for personal choices to achieve their own goals. A difficulty arises when the means to arrive at those goals becomes very difficult or seemingly impossible. This is a time for reassessment of those goals. These goals or desires are usually enjoyable and very important to the individual. It is at these times many people look for other ways to achieve their desires. If the person remains convinced the goal is the best solution, they may seek help or make decisions they never thought they would make to achieve that desire. Hopefully there will come a time when a person’s life beyond this one, is considered. It is at this time a reexamination of one’s overall goals needs to occur. At this time, the person is met with a bold reality, by myself, there is no way I can achieve the goal of being with God after I leave behind the goals on this earth; I need help. If we are sincere in this concern, God will provide a way for someone to introduce us to the one who will offer a solution to this goal. Jesus provides a sacrifice for all those who will believe He exists and He did this for them. Another reassessment of our desires and goals may indicate that the future life we desire is worth changing some of the goals we have held so dear. We may also find that by some redefinition, many of those goals can still be accomplished. The new goal needs be allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them toward a realization that offers praise to God, first. Throughout this exercise of life, we can look back and realize God is always close to those who genuinely seek after him. But at his point, we still must be careful since there is the adversary that may entices us to drift away from Him, lose interest, and leave His presence. Yes, it is ultimately up to our own choice. So let's continue to sallow the Holy Spirit to guide us through the tough or glorious encounters we face. "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near." - Isaiah 55:6 (NIV)

Wretched Creature

If a believer is really honest, being accused of a sin is shocking. We think that we try to do as much as possible according to the Bible teaching we understand, but did I miss something? Yes, almost certainly you did. We are weak creatures, even with the Holy Spirit living inside us, we can deny His promptings and leadings. Even Paul recognized the impossibility of avoiding sin, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.: - Rom. 7:24-25 (NASB) However, even though we cannot always avoid sinful thoughts or acts, we can continually admit this truth and repent, trying again to live a more sactified (holy) life. Our Comforter is close by to help, if we will ask Him to do this.  "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:8-9 (NIV)