This should be another devotion to get you to do some thinking! Before you read the verse for today answer this question. Who is in control of your life....be honest!
1 Corinthians 12:11
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills
This verse is refering to the gifts of the Spirit but what I want you to focus on this morning is the distribution process. Do we choose what gifts we get? No! If you look closely it is the Holy Spirit who distributes to each one of us as "He wills" or desires! Wow! Think about that for a moment. This is a big reminder to us of who exactly is in control. Just as we don't get to choose our gifts we also don't get to choose what God intends for us both each day and for our life! So think back to my original question...did your answer line up with God's Word? It is also the same for the church. God has a plan for the church. Are we accomplishing that plan through prayer and seeking His will or are we doing are own thing and asking Him to bless it?
So the scripture show us this morning that the Spirit has His own desires for us and the church. On that note we need to be praying like Christ "not as I will, but as You will".
God's word is so alive and relevant. He reminds me everyday of how awesome He really is...I hope these devotions do the same for you!
Tom
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Holy Spirit has emotions! #17
Have you ever thought about what ie means when we grieve the Holy Spirit?
Isaiah 63:10
10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.
Ephesians 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
grieve
–verb 1. to feel grief or great sorrow:
The Holy Spirit being a person has feelings and emotions. Have you ever stoped to think about that? So when and how is the Spirit grieved? Just like when we are when a relationship is breached. It can be in a our relationship with God or with man. Here are few examples of ways we grieve the Spirit....gossip, jealousy, hatred, disunified, and all other kinds of sin. We can also include disobiedience...when led by the Spirit to witness, care for others, or spend time in worship and we choose not to the Spirit is also grieved. I believe the Spirit is hurt more deeply than we really understand.
So let me ask you...how does this make you feel knowing this? Does it bother you? Have ever even give consideration what it means to gieve the Spirit?
If we truly ,as the church, cared about grieving the Spirit there would be fewer divorces, fewer fights, fewer splits in churches. Think about emotionally hurting the Holy Spirit today! It may change us in a mighty way. Maybe if we would care more about grieving the Holy Spirit than our own grief we would change and repair broken relationships in our own lives! Remember change starts with us before we can try to change others. If we arn't modeling the spiritual growth we want to see in others then don't expect them to change!
Take time to think on this because our Holy Spirit may be grieved today because of us!
Tom
Isaiah 63:10
10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.
Ephesians 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
grieve
–verb 1. to feel grief or great sorrow:
The Holy Spirit being a person has feelings and emotions. Have you ever stoped to think about that? So when and how is the Spirit grieved? Just like when we are when a relationship is breached. It can be in a our relationship with God or with man. Here are few examples of ways we grieve the Spirit....gossip, jealousy, hatred, disunified, and all other kinds of sin. We can also include disobiedience...when led by the Spirit to witness, care for others, or spend time in worship and we choose not to the Spirit is also grieved. I believe the Spirit is hurt more deeply than we really understand.
So let me ask you...how does this make you feel knowing this? Does it bother you? Have ever even give consideration what it means to gieve the Spirit?
If we truly ,as the church, cared about grieving the Spirit there would be fewer divorces, fewer fights, fewer splits in churches. Think about emotionally hurting the Holy Spirit today! It may change us in a mighty way. Maybe if we would care more about grieving the Holy Spirit than our own grief we would change and repair broken relationships in our own lives! Remember change starts with us before we can try to change others. If we arn't modeling the spiritual growth we want to see in others then don't expect them to change!
Take time to think on this because our Holy Spirit may be grieved today because of us!
Tom
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A prayng Holy Spirit!!!! #16
All I can say is WOW! As I think about the lesson for today is so overwhelming so let's get right to the verse!
Romans 8:27
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
There are two incredible truths here to catch in this one verse...don't miss them. The first is this... the Spirit has a mind of His own! From what we have learned in previous lessons, (that the Holy Spirit is a person) learning that the Spirit has mind of His own should not be a suprise. The second is that the Spirit prays for us. Do you see in the verse above where is says "He makes intercession for the saints"? That is us (saints). The Bible refers to any one who has accepted Christ as a saint. Now I want you to think about what was has been said for a moment. The Spirit prays for us according to God's will. That is incredible. It also should be very comforting knowing that when we pray dumb things or when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit is stepping in and praying for us in God's will!!! WOW! Have you ever prayed for something dumb? I have many times. Here is one that pops in my mind....God please don't let it rain tomorrow because I want to go hunting. Now I don't know how the Spirit interceded for me at this point but I don't think God is really concerned with if I get to hunt or not in the realm of things that are important!!! That paticular day it did rain and I spent more time with the family so if I am reading the situation right that may have been what the Spirit interceded for me more time with family!
So... when we encounter situations where we do not know what to say or we may think we know what to say in our prayers but it may not be correct! I am taking comfort in having a Holy Spirit that does know what to say and is interceding on my behalf....Thank you Holy Spirit for I need all the help I can get!!! Amen?
Tom
Romans 8:27
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
There are two incredible truths here to catch in this one verse...don't miss them. The first is this... the Spirit has a mind of His own! From what we have learned in previous lessons, (that the Holy Spirit is a person) learning that the Spirit has mind of His own should not be a suprise. The second is that the Spirit prays for us. Do you see in the verse above where is says "He makes intercession for the saints"? That is us (saints). The Bible refers to any one who has accepted Christ as a saint. Now I want you to think about what was has been said for a moment. The Spirit prays for us according to God's will. That is incredible. It also should be very comforting knowing that when we pray dumb things or when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit is stepping in and praying for us in God's will!!! WOW! Have you ever prayed for something dumb? I have many times. Here is one that pops in my mind....God please don't let it rain tomorrow because I want to go hunting. Now I don't know how the Spirit interceded for me at this point but I don't think God is really concerned with if I get to hunt or not in the realm of things that are important!!! That paticular day it did rain and I spent more time with the family so if I am reading the situation right that may have been what the Spirit interceded for me more time with family!
So... when we encounter situations where we do not know what to say or we may think we know what to say in our prayers but it may not be correct! I am taking comfort in having a Holy Spirit that does know what to say and is interceding on my behalf....Thank you Holy Spirit for I need all the help I can get!!! Amen?
Tom
Monday, January 18, 2010
Haiti
I woke up this morning with this on my mind so I am going to take a one day break from the Holy Spirit series.
Brothers and sisters this earthquake in Haiti continues to be a horrible situation. Many folks who were lucky enough to survive the quake and be pulled from the rubbell are now dying because they can't get enough medical supplies to treat the infections. There are not enough doctors, not enough places to have life saving surgeries, not enough food, not enough water, most are sleeping outside and I could go on and on. Please read the verse below.
James 5:16
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
My friends I have a good idea most of you have already been praying for Haiti and I am asking you this morning to please keep praying for this situation. Frankly it is gonna take a mighty act of God to turn this situation around. I believe we have a God who can do it!!!
So please take time to pray for Haiti. For the peopel, for the aid workers, for provisions, for the name of Jesus to be glorified. I seen yesterday that many Haitians had gathered for worship even in the midst of this terrible event. What a testimony of their faith.
Have a good week my friends and pray!
Tom
Brothers and sisters this earthquake in Haiti continues to be a horrible situation. Many folks who were lucky enough to survive the quake and be pulled from the rubbell are now dying because they can't get enough medical supplies to treat the infections. There are not enough doctors, not enough places to have life saving surgeries, not enough food, not enough water, most are sleeping outside and I could go on and on. Please read the verse below.
James 5:16
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
My friends I have a good idea most of you have already been praying for Haiti and I am asking you this morning to please keep praying for this situation. Frankly it is gonna take a mighty act of God to turn this situation around. I believe we have a God who can do it!!!
So please take time to pray for Haiti. For the peopel, for the aid workers, for provisions, for the name of Jesus to be glorified. I seen yesterday that many Haitians had gathered for worship even in the midst of this terrible event. What a testimony of their faith.
Have a good week my friends and pray!
Tom
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Holy Spirit is Holy and eternal. #15
Here is another truth for us to remember this morning. To prove the point of being eternal look at this verse:
John 14:16
16And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
How long will the Holy Spirit (Counselor) be with us? " Forever"! Just as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit has been from the beginning and They will be for eternity. Another verse that tels us of the eternal Holy Spirit is:
Hebrews 9:14
14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Did you catch that? "Through the eternal Spirit." I think the Bible has made it clear the Spirit is eternal! He is not something that comes and goes and you have to wonder if He will be here when we need Him. It is very clear He is here to stay!
Next we need to see the Spirit is holy. Obviously He is called the Holy Spirit for a reason. It is reinforced throughout the New Testament.
Romans 1:4
4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 5:5
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
It is clear from scripture the Spirit is Holy but here is some to think about today....Because the Spirit is Holy and dwells in us, our bodies are holy sactuaries from God's standpoint. Most of the time we just think about our bodies as the source of sin and it's fallenness but our body is the exact spot the Spirit of God has chosen to dwell! Isn't that awesome??? It also should make us want to use these bodies in the best possible manner to please God!
So I hope you can see clearly this morning that the Spirit is both Holy and eternal!
Have a great weekend!
Tom
John 14:16
16And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
How long will the Holy Spirit (Counselor) be with us? " Forever"! Just as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit has been from the beginning and They will be for eternity. Another verse that tels us of the eternal Holy Spirit is:
Hebrews 9:14
14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Did you catch that? "Through the eternal Spirit." I think the Bible has made it clear the Spirit is eternal! He is not something that comes and goes and you have to wonder if He will be here when we need Him. It is very clear He is here to stay!
Next we need to see the Spirit is holy. Obviously He is called the Holy Spirit for a reason. It is reinforced throughout the New Testament.
Romans 1:4
4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 5:5
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
It is clear from scripture the Spirit is Holy but here is some to think about today....Because the Spirit is Holy and dwells in us, our bodies are holy sactuaries from God's standpoint. Most of the time we just think about our bodies as the source of sin and it's fallenness but our body is the exact spot the Spirit of God has chosen to dwell! Isn't that awesome??? It also should make us want to use these bodies in the best possible manner to please God!
So I hope you can see clearly this morning that the Spirit is both Holy and eternal!
Have a great weekend!
Tom
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Holy Spirit is God! #14
We often have a tendency to think of the Holy Spirit as being a little less than God or Jesus. This is not so. The Spirit is God. All thoughout the New Testament the Holy Spirit and God are used interchangeably.
Look at this passage in Acts where Peter challenges Ananias:
Acts 5:3-4
3 But Peter said "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
This verse pretty well shows us how the Holy Spirit and God are the same doesn't it? I believe this truth is very inportant to hold onto as we sometimes negelct the leading of the Spirit which means we are neglecting God!
I know this is kinda short this morning but it is to the point and has much to think about here! I know it has reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in some time!!!
Have a blessed day!
Tom
Look at this passage in Acts where Peter challenges Ananias:
Acts 5:3-4
3 But Peter said "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
This verse pretty well shows us how the Holy Spirit and God are the same doesn't it? I believe this truth is very inportant to hold onto as we sometimes negelct the leading of the Spirit which means we are neglecting God!
I know this is kinda short this morning but it is to the point and has much to think about here! I know it has reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in some time!!!
Have a blessed day!
Tom
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Holy Spirit is a person. #13
The next couple of days we are gonna look at some truths about the Holy Spirit. Some of these like today are hard to comprehend but this doen't change the truth taught by the Bible. Many like to think of the Spirit as an it or as some kind of force that we can call on and control like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. This is not so, the Holy Spirit is a person. This is something we must grasp in our walk as a Christian. Look at this verse:
John 14:17
17 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. We are to know Him(Spirit) as in we are to have a realtionship with Him. Not try to harness him so can control His power. The Holy Soirit is a person who has personal relationships with each believer if allowed to do so. We also see that the Holy Spirit has relationships with Jesus and the Father and we see the Spirit working togethere with bothe the Father and the Son throughout scripture.
Look at these two verses:
Matthew 28:19
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
While I must admit this is hard to understand humanly for one how can The Spirit be a person and yet dwell in me? All I can say is it is a God thing and the scriptures teach it and I believe it in faith! So build that realtionship with the Spirit....just like a human relationship, the more you communicate and work on the relationship the more you can relate to one another and grow and work into a beautiful love realtionship!
God bless...Tom
John 14:17
17 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. We are to know Him(Spirit) as in we are to have a realtionship with Him. Not try to harness him so can control His power. The Holy Soirit is a person who has personal relationships with each believer if allowed to do so. We also see that the Holy Spirit has relationships with Jesus and the Father and we see the Spirit working togethere with bothe the Father and the Son throughout scripture.
Look at these two verses:
Matthew 28:19
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
While I must admit this is hard to understand humanly for one how can The Spirit be a person and yet dwell in me? All I can say is it is a God thing and the scriptures teach it and I believe it in faith! So build that realtionship with the Spirit....just like a human relationship, the more you communicate and work on the relationship the more you can relate to one another and grow and work into a beautiful love realtionship!
God bless...Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)