Friday, November 21, 2014

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT??


I was reading a book this week and the author asked that question. He was looking at John 16:7 which says:" "Nevertheless I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don't go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you." HCSB version. 
This is Jesus telling His disciples that it is better for them if He went to His Father in heaven. If He didn't, the Holy Spirit would not come to them. 
Think about it. The disciples must have been so confused as to what Jesus was saying. They had spent so much time with Jesus, seen so many miracles, heard so many teachings and now they would be better off without Him!?!
Seems like it doesn't make sense! But we know that the Holy Spirit would be sent down to all who accept Him.
The disciples mind set was that they knew of how the presence of God was with so many of the prophets of old and that to have Jesus leave would be a devastating to them!
Up to that time, the presence of God was displayed with smoke or fire. This was so foreign to them. You could say that the Old Testament was "God with us". Like Jesus was with them in the flesh. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given out in the full and powerful sense that was promised for the new covenant age.
I always wondered that when I went to Heaven, I wanted to ask the prophets of old what it was like to see the presence of God in the form of smoke or fire. But with Jesus being with the Father, we now have the Holy Spirit in us! In Romans 8:11, that's the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! Now that's pretty awesome!! Maybe the prophets will be asking us about what was it like to have the Spirit inside of us!!!
So it went from "God with us" to "God in us"!  How many times I have forgotten about the Holy Spirit in the things going on in my life. Do we really know what we have?? 

This study I am doing has brought back to me the importance of the Holy Spirit in my life. 

How about you?


Blessings,


Paul

Monday, November 17, 2014

I couldn't sleep so God took me to Ecclesiastes----WOW!!!

OK....the title might throw you off but I couldn't sleep this morning (day off---go figure!) so I got tired ( no pun) of rolling around in bed and decided to get up and get some good early study time in! And here I am in Ecclesiastes!!! I haven't been in this book for quite some time!! ( and for those who won't admit it, I did have to look it up to where it was!).
So I am reading in the first chapter and I got to verses 12 -18 and I started to pray about my priorities. I can get burden down by the ever changing "topics" of the day. The "emergencies" of daily life. The worries and troubles that we all walk through. Some of them are "big deals". Some are conformed to our present state of mind and/or spirit to be elevated to a higher emergency level in our daily walk.
Right then God was speaking to me about being so consumed by all of this stuff! I don't really take the time to spend with Him more during these busy days that I should. I don't look at it as a priority. I am spending to much time dealing with all of this stuff that I don't take a "spiritual time out" to gather my thoughts and emotions and fix my eyes on the One true Comforter.
I spoke about this in a past blog on how we should take the time everyday to recharge our spiritual batteries. I look at this busy holiday season that we all have and this is a real good time to "exercise our spiritual bodies" and make it a priority in these busy days! We have to say "No" when we become "overcome" by these things that come flooding into our lives.
Seeking wisdom and understanding in the Kingdom of God is a lot better than trying to get through this stuff on our own!
It is so amazing what God will speak to us when we make the time to spend with Him.
Now, what is God saying to you about your day??!!

(I got to get back to reading Eccl.!!! I don't think this is over yet!!)

God Bless!!

Paul

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Gravel, Weeds, and Good Soil

This is a new blog that I am doing to invite conversation about Sunday's message as well as what the Lord is revealing to us within our hearts and lives during the week. It will be exciting to hear from many within our fellowship as well as others in different parts of the world!! And, it will stir up inside us more desire to read the Word and Pray for discernment and understanding as we strive to grow in our daily walk in the obedience of Christ.

So, let's begin!!! This morning, Pastor Derek shared out of Matthew 13:18-23 in the Message version about what ground are we when the Lord speaks to us or gives us desires in our hearts. Do we start out full of energy and life or do we kinda drag our feet? Do we loose "steam" after a short time because things do not turn out the way we expect it to?

I know that many times, I find myself starting off great but after a while I loose momentum for one reason or another. Staying into the Word and a consistent prayer life helps. But do we keep the vision in front of us???

Derek went over a lot of stuff this morning but this is something that really spoke to me.

What do you think??

Paul