Category: PASSION Reflections

The Coming of the Spirit 7

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

The Spirit of God not only makes us God’s children and helps us in daily life, but he also dwells within us.  I Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  God himself dwells within us.  That is an incredible thought.  Stop and ponder what it means for God to dwell within you.

One response we must have to this incredible truth is that we must glorify God with our bodies.  This is what v20 tells us.  In the context of the chapter, to glorify God with our bodies first means that we must not commit sexual immorality.  But the application can swing much wider.

All of our actions are to glorify God.  All of our words are to glorify God.  All of our thoughts are to glorify God.  When we sin in deed, word, or thought, we desecrate God’s temple.  We bring abominations into God’s temple.  Sin is serious indeed.

What is more, if our bodies are God’s temples than we must take good care of our bodies.  How could we treat God’s temple poorly?  This includes what we eat, proper exercise, and avoiding those things that would be harmful to our bodies.  What we wear must also be considered.  Do my clothes honor God?  Modesty is important here.

The Spirit of God dwells within me.  My body is the Spirit’s temple.  I must use my body for his glory.

The Coming of the Spirit 6

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

The Holy Spirit not only makes us God’s children giving us hope, but he also helps us in our daily lives.  Jesus calls him our Helper (John 14:16, 16:7).  Various translations translate the word Helper as Comforter, Counselor, or Advocate.  And he is all three.

The Spirit is our Advocate interceding before the Father for us (Romans 8:26-27).  The Spirit is our Counselor teaching us how to live (John 14:26, 16:13, II Peter 1:21).  The Spirit is our Comforter giving us peace in the midst of trials (John 14:26-27, Galatians 5:22).

The Spirit is there to help us.  We must simply look to him.  Are we in need of comfort and peace in the midst of trials?  We can look to our Comforter.  Are we in need of direction and counsel?  We can look to our Counselor.  Are we filled with cares and concerns?  We can look to our Advocate who will intercede for us.

We need not face life alone.  The Spirit has come to help us.  Let us look to him for the help we need.

The Coming of the Spirit 5

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

In the first four posts on the coming of the Spirit, the emphasis was on the Spirit’s work in us together as the church.  In the next four, we want to see how the Spirit works in us as individuals.

First, the Spirit makes us God’s children.  Romans 8:15-17 tells us that it is through the Spirit that we are adopted, it is through the Spirit that we call God our Father.  Because we are God’s children, we are heirs.  We have an inheritance.  One day we will receive resurrected glorious bodies like Christ’s resurrected glorious body (I Corinthians 15) – we will be co-heirs with Christ.  We will dwell in a new heaven and new earth where there will be no more pain or crying or death (Revelation 21:1-4).

Our response to this should be hope.  We have a great hope of a day when we will be with the Lord, and there will be no more sin, no more suffering, no more sickness, no more pain, no more death.  In the last week, an older man in our church passed away, and a young woman in our community passed away.  In the face of death, how we need this hope!

In the midst of trials and struggles – times of loss, sickness, surgery, family problems, and so much more, we can cling to our hope of a better day that is ours through the Spirit.  In the midst of good times that God blesses us with for our enjoyment, we can cling to the hope that even better days are coming through the Spirit.  In the face of our own deaths someday, we can cling to the hope that a day is coming when even death will be defeated and we will dwell in paradise with the Lord forever – all because the Spirit has made us God’s children.

Is this hope alive in us today?  Do we live in the good times and the bad times holding on to the hope of what God has prepared for us?  Or do we get so caught up in life today, that we forget our hope?  Our hope can give us strength and courage for today.  Our hope can clarify our priorities and motivate us to live for Christ in this life.  Are we living each day in light of our glorious hope?

The Spirit makes us God’s children and heirs of a great inheritance, and so we have hope.  Let’s live like it!

The Coming of the Spirit 4

On By BrianIn Church Life, God & His Glory

The Spirit comes and not only makes us part of his church, empowering us to minister and witness, but he also dwells among us.  I Corinthians 3:16 remind us that the church is God’s temple where his Spirit dwells.  As we gather together, the Spirit of God is among us.

Do we gather ready to enter his presence?  Are we even aware as we gather that God is with us?  How often are we like a poor host who neglects his guest?

The church is God’s temple where the Spirit dwells.  Temples are places of worship.  Do we gather not only recognizing his presence, but also ready to worship?  To submit our lives to his Word?  To bring our gifts to him?  To bring our cares before his throne?  To praise and honor him with our songs and our hearts?

The Spirit has come and dwells in his church.  As we gather, let us recognize his presence, bow down, and worship.

The Coming of the Spirit 3

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

The Holy Spirit makes us part of the church and empowers us to witness.  He also empowers us for ministry to one another.  We are not just called to serve one another, we are also empowered to do so.

In I Corinthians 12:4-7, Paul tells us that there are various gifts given by the Spirit for the common good of the church.  God empowers us with these gifts to serve one another.

Are we seeking his power as we minister.  Often I think we are tempted to serve in our own power.  Then only natural things happen.  But when God works, supernatural things happen.  Are we seeking God’s power?  Are we asking God to powerfully work through us for the good of his church and for his glory?

We need the Spirit’s empowerment.  May we seek it and serve in his power.

The Coming of the Spirit 2

On By BrianIn Church Life, God & His Glory

In the last post we saw how the Spirit empowers us to witness.  But the Spirit does much more.  In this post we want to see that the Spirit makes us part of his church.  Paul tells us in I Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”  When the Spirit comes into our lives at salvation, he baptizes us into the church; he makes us part of the Body of Christ. 

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus foretold the coming of the Spirit, telling the disciples that they would be baptized by the Spirit in a few days.  At Pentecost the Spirit came, and the church was begun.

The Spirit makes us part of the church.  We are no longer on our own.  We are related to Christ and to other Christians.  We are part of one body, one church, one family.  We cannot go it alone, trying to be a lone ranger Christian.  The Spirit has made us part of a family.

Paul goes on to apply this truth in I Corinthians 12.  He tells us that though different, each is important.  And we are to use our differences to serve one another.  We are to care for one another, coming alongside one another in the good times and the bad.

The Spirit made us part of the church, part of a family.  Are we serving and caring for others in our family?  How might we do so this week?

The Coming of the Spirit

On By BrianIn God & His Glory, Habit of Prayer

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus predicts the coming of the Holy Spirit.  He tells the disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).  The Spirit will come with power, and in that power they will witness.

We see this play out in next few chapters of Acts.  In Acts 2, the Spirit comes upon them, empowering them to speak different languages to share the good news with Jews from many nations.  In Acts 4, Peter is filled with the Spirit and boldly witnesses to the same people who had Jesus crucified.  Later in the same chapter, the church prays for boldness to witness, and the Spirit powerfully comes upon them, giving them boldness to declare the gospel.

The Spirit empowers us to witness – giving us boldness and courage.  It is of course also the power of the Spirit that changes lives, making our witness effective.  We need the Spirit’s help to witness.  Do we seek it?  Are we praying for the Spirit to give us boldness.  Are we asking him to change lives?

Examples of Grace 12

On By BrianIn Miscellaneous

I Samuel continues the theme of grace.

Hannah prays for a son.  God graciously gives her one.  How many times have we prayed, and God has granted our request?  We are unworthy, we constantly fail the Lord, yet he answers our prayers.  This is grace.

Throughout the book, we see God’s gracious deliverance.  The Lord delivers Israel from the Philistines.  The Lord delivers David from Saul.  How many times has God delivered us – from sickness, from trials, from danger?  This is grace.

Nabal offends David.  David prepares to take vengeance.  But God uses Abigail to stop him.  He was about to sin, but God kept him from it.  How many times has God kept us from sinning?  Keeping a temptation from us.  Removing a temptation.  Giving us strength to overcome.  This too is grace.

Let us glory in the wonderful grace of God!

Still Swaggering

On By BrianIn Virtue of Humility

Yesterday I wrote about the swagger wagon commercials and our tendency to swagger despite God’s call to humility.  It struck me a few hours after I wrote the post, that I was swaggering about the post.  I thought pretty highly of myself for coming up with it, especially that last line with the pun (did you notice?).  I even placed a comment on the blog where I found the commercials in hopes that it might send more people to see my post.  How blind can I be?  Swaggering while writing against swaggering.  How sin can blind us to the truth.

“Search me, O God and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139:23-24)

Swagger Wagon

On By BrianIn Virtue of Humility1 Comment

Toyota has a hilarious series of “swagger wagon” commercials that in their words feature “two self-absorbed parents and the only vehicle that matches their awesomeness.”  The entire series is done tongue-in-cheek, but captures a real attitude in our world today.  While the commercials are funny, what is not so funny is our tendency toward a self-absorbed “look-at-me” attitude.

I remember when I first got my current car (which I have now nick-named the swagger sedan).  When I first drove it, I had a bit of a swagger attitude.  For some it might be a new set of clothes, the newest gadget, or some accomplishment that brings out the swagger attitude.  What is certain is that my swagger sedan after several years no longer has a swagger affect, and if we take an honest look at ourselves, we are not as awesome as we sometimes think.

The Bible calls us to humility.  Humility is not an “I am scum” attitude.  Humility is seeing ourselves rightly.  We are made in God’s image and so of great value.  But we are also sinners, rebels against God.  We are broken, not what we were made to be.  We are far short of awesome.

At the same time, humility calls us to look at ourselves in comparison to God.  God is awesome – the only one who deserves this adjective.  In comparison to him, we are small.  No one can honestly swagger in front of God.  Rather humility calls us to exalt the one who is truly awesome.

Though we are small compared to God and rebels against God, God still loves us.  He came to earth and actually became one of us.  He died on a cross to pay for our sins.  He rose from the dead to remake us into the people we were made to be.  This too humbles us.  He did this not because we are awesome, but because he is.  Not because we are great, but because he is.

At the same time, God’s love lifts us up.  Though we are broken and small, he loves us.  In him our sins are forgiven and we can be who he made us to be.  We can have a relationship with him.  We can spend all of eternity with him.  But this should not lead us to swagger.  We don’t deserve any of this.  Instead we ought to praise him for all that he has done for us.

I will continue to enjoy these commercials.  But they also now serve as a reminder to me of the folly of self-absorbed pride and swagger, a reminder to get off the swagger bandwagon, and humbly praise the one who is truly awesome.