Son of Man

Have you ever wondered about the reason Jesus wanted to be known as “the Son of man?” One reason is that it was a description from the prophets of the Father reaching out to His errant children. When the people heard “Son of man,” they should have remembered the words the Holy Spirit gave to Ezekiel: "Stand up, son of man," said the voice [of the Spirit]. "I want to speak with you [Ezekiel]." The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words. "Son of man," he said, "I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day." - Ezek. 2:1-3 NLT

Holy Spirit Communication

 Holy Spirit communication can be extremely difficult because it tends to demand each Christian opens up completely and admits what they are feeling. Do you have a physical friend with whom you are not hesitant to share ANYTHING. The Holy Spirit is closer to the Christian than such a friend. As you communicate with the Spirit, you must realize nothing should be held back. He already knows your desires and biases, therefore everything you say or do, the real motivations are known to Him. Although He knows your motivations and reasoning, He will not stop a bad decision from playing out with its consequences. He rejoices with you in your good decisions, and feels the hurt from the bad ones. While we would like to shift the blame for some of our decisions, it cannot be. The comment about actions without responsibility, “the Devil made me do it,” is an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for our actions. Perhaps an ungodly germination, but the final decision was our own. Such redirections will not be accepted when the Spirit knows all our motives. When we better understand this, we might better understand Jesus' goals for His siblings.

Timely meeting

 If you had the opportunity to meet Jesus in person, what would you feel? Unbelievers would likely be dumbfounded: that which I considered nonexistent, really is true! Hmm, now what should I do, think, say, uh . . . If you are a believer, I suggest this meeting would be radically different. Certainly you would probably feel overwhelmed. What would you try to say to someone who knows everything you are thinking, everything you have ever thought, said, and did? All the thoughts, words, or actions for which He has provided forgiveness! This is someone who was with you through all the struggles and learning experiences you endured -- this is someone who knows the depth of your present shock. Would you want to praise Him for, for . . . everything? Would you suspect He wants something different from you — but what? I would like to suggest this is an experience a Christian can have any second of any day. All you need to do is begin reading or listening to His words left for everyone and remember the Holy Spirit lives within you and will be as active as you are willing to allow Him to be. Jesus’ promise to His disciples also applies to His other children:  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” - Jn. 16:12-14 (ESV). At that point you should be partially astonished, but also realize that He loves you enough to not only die for you, but is also committed to help you become what He wants you to be. What the Holy Spirit reveals for an individual to do probably will not exactly mirror the task given to any other person since our past experiences have made each of us unique, to a degree. Although being a bit unique, we all need to embrace the guidance God gives to us and courageously act on it. Since part of the triune God lives within the Christian, sometimes we think it is so far beyond our comprehension we deny its reality. Each person in whom the Holy Spirit indwells has immense power to accomplish those things Jesus wants done. We should remember that when we are aligned with His desires, we have the same power source Jesus did. One of our major challenges is replacing our desires with Jesus’ desires.

Holy Spirit yeast

Opposed to the Jewish teacher lectures, Jesus provided understanding using stories which encompassed activities His hearers encountered most every day. What better way to describe the change expected when one enters the Kingdom of Heaven than the transformation which occurs when an invigorating element is added to what we consume for sustenance. As the yeast produces a different presentation of the same material, when the Holy Spirit come to indwell a person, that person is changed. Then Jesus told the people another story: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough (bread) rise." — Matt. 13:33 (ERV)

Perfection

"The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a man without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God." - W. T. Richardson. Many times, humans set up a sort of competition to strive for perfection in the physical realm. This pursuit is measured and compared to others – sometimes it becomes an obsession. In most cases these efforts are met with the realization that they will never achieve the end goal - or the goal is ever expanding. This can also be compared to a business management description known as the Peter Principle: “A  person tends to rise to the level of their own incompetence” - Laurence J. Peter (1969). If the goal shifts to perfection in the spiritual realm, a person may quickly face either exasperation or denial: there are too many errors for perfection. The truth is that only one person has ever achieved spiritual perfection, and at great cost. Only Jesus, God Himself, was able to achieve this result. God realizes this. The motivation for Jesus coming to earth was to accomplish what other humans could not. When Jesus returned to heaven, He left the Holy Spirit to help those who wished to eventually become perfect. The person who desires to be spiritually perfect accepts Jesus and is granted the resident Holy Spirit to help mold them into a godly person: towards greater dedication to God (sanctification) and finally spiritual perfection. This perfection goal is both immediate (1 Jn. 1:7) and future; it can be described as a unique independent spiritual journey. The Holy Spirit provides appropriate memories and prods to help Christians along this journey. Those who look for and yield to the Holy Spirit’s guidance will share in the reward given to the perfect Jesus.

How should Christians respond?

While it is a bit different for most people, when the person drinks some quantity of wine, they lose the ability to act normally, or as others expect. Those who drink too much are often described as “overcome,” something else has taken control of their actions, something has caused them to act differently than expected. Whether one remembers Peter at the Pentecost wherein the Holy Spirit was given to men or Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, these men were overcome and demonstrated something had taken control of them in times of difficulty. “Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts; you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah” - Eph. 5:18-20 (ISV). As we move along our unique individual spiritual journey, we should allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our actions.

Holy Spirit guidance

Based on Holy Spirit guidance, Christians make decisions by rational reflection on their life-situation, helped by wise and godly advice, within the parameters established by the Word of God. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us." - 1Jn. 5:14 (ESV). 

Dedicated by the Holy Spirit

Circumcision was a physical act used by the Jews. More importantly, the act was supposed to indicate a male’s irreversible dedication to God. This act provided a distinction for those who served only Jehovah God. Such dedicated devotion was understood to symbolize a spiritual commitment to the one God. “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” Phil. 3:3 (NIV)

Mistakes

Have you ever done something or said something and you just could not forget about the event? This might be your conscience reminding you of something that you knew was opposed to God's desires. All humans experience these times, but Christians should not despair. Christians have a relationship with God because of Jesus. There is a way to correct this feeling: realize and accept that Jesus paid an extremely high price to void those activities, if we will trust Him; the Holy Spirit will helps us learn form these events and put them behind us. "Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins." Heb. 9:14 (NLT).

What is IT

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." - Matt. 7:7-8 (NIV). Other translations reveal the continual persistence required, - "Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened" - (ISV); "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened," - (KJV). When many people read Matthew 7:7-8, they may be thinking the focus is on material things they would like to acquire (food, drink, clothes, goods). However, please recall Jesus' previous words in Matt. 6:33: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Jesus' ministry was acutely focused on the spiritual health of human creation. I suggest a valid paraphrase based on the context might be: “Keep asking about righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom and this (IT) will be given to you; seek righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom and you will find help toward this goal; boldly pursue righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom and barriers will be removed for you. For everyone who asks about righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom receives help; the one who seeks righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom finds the path; and to the one who boldly pursues righteousness and guidance toward the Kingdom the gifted path to these goals will become apparent. Seek Jesus and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit along your unique individual spiritual journey.

Hearing God

Almost all Humans struggle with times when life events important to them turn out differently than they expected or thought they should. Some who find themselves exasperated with their surroundings may say, “If there is a God, this event or these events would certainly not be happening.” Those who believe in Jehovah God can also drift into this spiral of uncertainty and denial. These are times when Christians can have difficulties feeling connected with God. Yes, the Holy Spirit is God and He preserved scripture as words from the creator, but sometimes once the scriptures are read and prayers offered, harmonization to one’s surroundings doesn’t seem very apparent. It can be difficult to understand why you don’t hear from God when you think you need Him most. In essence, you want the Holy Spirit to hear you or give attention to you and act to relieve your difficulties caused by the embattled situation. After all, this is part of what is involved in “hearing.” But hearing is not only listening; hearing demands a response. Perhaps you have tried all the pathways you know to find some calm and solace in your struggles, but nothing results. You might even assume God, the Trinity doesn’t care. Amalgamated in this description of hearing is a reflection of what God has said; if this describes you, please be encouraged today that even when God’s voice is difficult to hear, He can absolutely be trusted to provide, lead, and guide you at every time and in every surrounding. If we want God to “hear” us, how does He understand the concept of “hearing”? In Scripture, when God "hears", He pays attention to His people and their surroundings and responds at the proper time. While His people should also pay attention to Him and respond to His desires, many times they do not. Hearing is the mode by which the Son of God and his followers receive God's word. First, “Hearing” implies response and the proper response is obedience. In past examples, obedience. In past examples, God hears both his people's groaning in trouble (Gen. 16:11; Exod. 2:24; 3:7; 6:5; Psa. 69:33; 102:20) and their grumbling against him (Exod. 16:7-9; Num. 14:27). Throughout Scripture God hears his people's prayers (1 Kngs. 8:31-53; Psa. 34:15, cf. 1 Pet. 3:12. Since God consistently hears his people, His people should also hear him, or pay attention and obey Him. The prophets frequently call Israel to "hear the word of the Lord." Often in Deuteronomy, Moses calls on Israel to hear, especially in the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5; cf. 4:1; 5:1; 9:1; 20:3; 27:9 ). The Holy Spirit comes through the "hearing of faith" (Gal. 3:2; 3:5; cf. Acts 2:37-41). Those who become believers should go on to maturity, not being "dull in hearing" (Heb. 5:11) or remaining only hearers of the truth (Jas. 1:22-25; cf. Rom. 2:13; Matt. 7:24-27; Matt. 13:19). Believers should especially avoid turning from hearing the truth, listening to false teachers who will scratch their "itching ears" (lit. "itching hearing" 2 Tim. 4:3-4). Hearing from God often means we must refocus our desires to be more in line with His desires. If we will ask, the resident Holy Spirit will help us achieve this as we move along our unique individual spiritual journey. You have trusted your future to Jesus and He lives within you as the Holy Spirit, but sometimes you face choices, important choices, and the best decision seems elusive, at best. Even when you have difficulty hearing God’s voice, remember, He can absolutely be trusted to lead, direct, and provide for you in every season; He knows your needs and challenges. In these times, one comes to realize that the decisions going forward are ones they must make. There are a number of actions you can take. First, have an open conversion with God. You should tell Him all that you are feeling. While He knows what is in your heart, this part of the conversation will help you to organize and express your own thoughts. Next, you need a reply from God. This is gained by reading God’s Word, asking the Holy Spirit for application to your present situation, and responding to direction consistent with scripture. 

Inheritance promise guaranteed

When a person finds a property they want to purchase, many times they will indicate their seriousness about completing a purchase transaction by making a pledge towards that decision; they invest “earnest money,’ towards that eventual, final transaction. In order to legally validate such a commitment, this initial action is personally signed, “sealed” or recorded as authentic. God has done the same with those who accept Jesus. “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" - Eph. 1:13-14 (NASV)

The Investment

As Christians, God’s Holy Spirit in us, is our greatest investment from God. When we receive the investmentt of the Holy Spirit, we receive the gift and the giver. The Holy Spirit indicates unity with God, our source of communication from God, and the guarantee that we belong to Him, His children. "Being" indicates a continual process. "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." Rom. 8:14-17 (NASV). Jesus will come again to recapture His investment.

The Father was pleased with His Son

 It is very important that parents validate and correct the actions of their children. Too many times, parents or leaders focus only on sharing corrective and punitive responses to their followers. Yes, children are followers of the parents. God is our greatest example. “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Matt. 3:16-17 (NASV).