Safety

Most of us may cringe or shake our heads in amazement when we view or hear of tragic happenings to various people when their physical safety has been compromised. There are beatings, knifings, and shootings revealed in graphic visual or descriptive verbal detail. How could this person or persons do such things reported? The best answer is that we live in a fallen world and the actions of fallen people often reveal the brutal choices they make. As Christians, we would like to believe the relationship we share with Jesus will protect us from any physical harm that might come to ourselves or our family – we want physical safety. However, varying degrees of physical illness, pain, and death is a reality for all humans. Jesus told the disciples that following Him would cause them difficulties, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – Jn. 16:33 (ESV). In order to encourage them toward inner peace, He reminded them that regardless what happened around them, or to them, He had overcome the world. Scripture does not include an example of Jesus being physically ill, but while on earth, He suffered emotional pain, and at His crucifixion pain and rejection most of us cannot fully grasp. When we are faced with things that shock and distress us, as Christians, we should be encouraged that we are protected. This protection is not from the evils pervading the world which surrounds us, but is targeted at our spiritual status with God. The indwelling Holy Spirit will protect us from any outside Satanic harm, but should we choose to do things which are spiritually dangerous, He will not overpower our decisions; thus He may not be able to protect us from our own poor decisions. While He will not remove Himself from Christians, He may be very disappointed or grieved because of our actions. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. – Eph. 4:30-31 (ESV). While there are myriad promises targeted at those who follow Jesus, physical safety is not included in these. We may not even partially understand the reasons God allows bad things to happen to His people, but we can still declare that He is God and He ultimately provides good results. Paul had both physical infirmities (Gal. 6) and abuse (2 Cor. 11), but he was able to look beyond those to not only the promise of heaven, but also how he might help others accompany him to that end. Like Paul, we too, can be certain that eternity with the Jesus is well worth any hardship here on earth. When troubles arise, Christians should try to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit the lead them along their individual unique spiritual journey toward a closer relationship with Jesus. As implied, this journey may be radically different for various people. However, by doing this, we will have greater personal peace and provide a critical example for others to follow. As we depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance, we can experience feelings of safety, spiritual safety, regardless of worldly tribulations.

Decisions

Simply stated, based on Holy Spirit guidance, Christians make decisions by rational reflection on their life-situation, helped by wise and godly advice, within the parameters that the Word of God establishes.

Redemption

What does "redemption" mean for people? The concept of redemption describes "buying back, releasing, ransoming." When people realize they are in a condition in which there is no escape, they seek help for a way out of this condition. When the condition is sin, there is only one way out, Jesus Christ. Accepting His offered gift provides not only redemption from this sinful condition, but also an indwelling helper for the journey ahead: the twisting, undulating journey of life ending in eternal bliss with God. This can be described as a unique individual spiritual journey, led by the Holy Spirit. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Rom. 5:5 (NIV)

Holy Spirit working

As a Christian, have you ever doubted the Spirit was working in your life? Do you remember a time when you recognized a need in someone's life, then made a decision to follow through and help them? Or, do you remember a time when you recognized some situation was probably not what Jesus would want you involved in and decided to bypass the opportunity? Those were your own decisions, no one forced you, but you may have been prodded to realize the true meaning or ramifications of those of those events and were able to make a better decision about your life. These could be examples of the Holy Spirit working in your life. The Spirit didn’t make the decision for you, but He may have prompted you to think through the possible results and ramifications of your actions before you made the final decision. Many times the Holy Spirit guides subtly, but effectively along your unique individual spiritual journey! "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Rom. 8:14. (NLT)

BFF

The acronym BFF is supposed to mean Best Friend Forever in modern texting communication. It is hoped to mean someone who accepts you as you are and attempts to ease any pain or share any joy experienced in life - someone to share life with you. Sharing life can mean shared celebrations or direct trusted correction when needed. Both of these are part of being a best friend, and knowing that whatever challenge arises, they will never turn away. The indwelling Holy Spirit goes far beyond a BFF; He is a part of God. "I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back." — Jn. 14:16-18 (MESSAGE)

Sincere Prayer

One of the reasons many consider prayer a challenging practice is we may have an incorrect expectation for the purpose of prayer. With incorrect expectations, we cannot properly understand the answers to our prayers. If we ask for one thing or multiple, conflicting things, we will likely become disenchanted when we don’t recognize any expected answer to our prayers. God does answer prayers for the believer, "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him - (Jn. 5:14-15). So, in our view, were the prayers answered or not, did God meet our expectations? What should be our expectations when we pray? Should we expect exactly what we ask for or something better? This quandary may be overcome when we fully comprehend what prayer should be. Use of words create conceptional images in our minds. Even different words for the same item may cause different shades of description around this mental image. As an example, in the English language, the word “prayer” is usually understood as the idea of requesting something. An earlier part of English, Old English offers the example of a request either to God or to anyone else as: “I pray thee to do something.” Regarding physical communication, the basic image conveyed is that of a request. The request could be a surface-level request, or perhaps a deep heart-felt request. As we consider spiritual communication, there were many instructions for both the disciples and believers to pray. The apostles received guidance in passages such as Jesus answering their request about how to pray. [Jesus said] “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” - Matt. 6:9-11. When Jesus spoke to His disciples, He would have used the Jewish concept of prayer. This prayer concept is best defined by the Hebrew word  “tfilia” (תפילה). “The primary meaning of the verb “lehitpalel” (להתפלל), the verb behind the noun, is self-judgement or introspection. “Especially in Jewish Hassidic traditions, “tfilia” is understood to be an introspection that results in bonding between the creature and the Creator, as a child would bond with his/her father.” (Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg - Israel Bible Center). Further Dr, Eli says, “The answer lies in understanding that Hebrew prayer is not only a “request-making session.” It is a communal bonding between God and his child. The house of “his prayer” is, therefore, where God himself engages in introspection and in so doing bonds deeply with his people. They in turn reciprocate this action in their own prayers and bond with Him.” It is not a surprise that when the Jewish Christ was asked by his disciples how they should pray, how to bond with the Father as he did, Jesus clearly responded. Jesus taught them what to request, making sure to address their Heavenly King as “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9). Shortly before this Jesus had warned them to avoid using vain repetitions that characterized pagan approaches to prayer (Matt. 6:7). This introspection is also revealed in His instructions to use a closet and avoid crowds when they prayed (Matt. 6:6). Beyond this, toward the end of His ministry, Jesus told His disciples:

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” - Jn, 14:13;

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” - Jn. 15:7;

“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” - Matt. 18:19;

“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” - Matt. 21:22;

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” - Mk. 11:24.

There was usually an expectation of believe, faith, and according to God’s will. For the disciples, believing after asking was critical. Beyond this, Paul told Christians to “pray without ceasing,” implying constancy of reference to God, 1 Thess. 5:17; Col. 4:2. A major means of promoting religious joy is this bonding prayer. These statements are capped with the revelation that the indwelling Holy Spirit communicates our prayers in a special way to the Father. This communication, bonding, submission is accomplished with a form of feelings that cannot be described by words. Paul says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” - Rom. 8:26.

As we should understand, prayer or better, communication with God is a very personal encounter. Prayer can be thought of as close to confession, homologéō, ("say the same thing about") properly, fully agree and to acknowledge that agreement openly (whole-heartedly) (Strong’s). When we agree with God as best we understand, it signifies we are intending, trying to place His desires above our own. When we do this, our never-ending, or frequent prayers may shift from our desires and material items, to other goals. We should first desire for others to believe, praise, and know Him better. After this, a desire for people to follow His desires. After these, our minds should turn to our requests for His actions. As we align our prayers closer to His will, we may find we recognize more of our prayers being answered.
 (All scriptures from ESV)

Continually

Many of us have read that King David was a great king and a man after God’s own heart. The Holy Spirit lived inside him and used him to speak encouraging words. [Jesus said,] “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ - Mk. 12:36 (ESV) {From Psa. 110}. Although David was indwelled by the Holy Spirit and spoke by Him, how could the events surrounding Bathsheba occur? David was guilty of lust, adultery, premeditated murder, and instructing others to perform sinful actions. We might say, “he was really messed up.” Where was the Holy Spirit when all this took place? How could the Holy Spirit allow a person to do such things? How could the Holy Spirit remain inside such a “messed up” person? In this history, we observe a mystery of the way God works with His creation. He has given them free will, the privilege to make decisions and choices, while holding them responsible for the resulting implications. At the same time, He will never leave them despite their sometimes appalling choices. In the case of Bathsheba, David’s repentance did not prevent a baby’s death, but it brought him back to following the pathway of God. Such is the case of modern Christians which all have the Holy Spirit living within them. We can make decisions and choices that leave us, “messed up.” While the Holy Spirit may help us recognize harmful choices, He will not prevent the person from ultimately making their individual choices. Although we all sin on numerous occasions, He will not leave the Christian alone. It is true, He cannot remain close to sin, but He certainly remains with those who are continually forgiven of sin. Even when we make poor choices, as long as we continually repent and our continual intent is to follow His guidance, our sins are immediately and continually absolved, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 Jn. 1:7 (ESV). {the verbs “walk”, “have”, and “cleanses” in this sentence are continual} Like David, our choices and decisions may sometimes be minimally or grossly sinful. They may cause physical and emotional discomfort or pain, but He will not leave us. He is continually working to sanctify us for the next part of our existence.  {Please Like this post to see more, later.} [if you would like more encouraging notes, please visit www.rediscoveringthespirit.com and select Twitter: @RediscoverSprt].