Advantage Us

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:7

Imagine you are one of disciples and Jesus is telling you he will go away. You've chosen to spend your life following him. You know you are getting ostracized by the leaders of the community. You've gone all in and then he tells you he's leaving. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I would stunned and confused. 

But Jesus tells you it will be to your advantage. In hind sight we can understand to a certain degree what Christ meant, but, for the disciples I could see why they might struggle with it. Let's be honest here, don't we still feel the same way sometimes? We just wish to see Jesus, hear his voice, have him with us to move a mountain or turn a morsel into a meal. Sometimes there are moments we just don't sense his presence and feel alone. 

This is where faith comes in. Acting in faith is often choosing to act how you would act if Jesus was right there with you. You may not feel his presence or feel like he hears your prayers or knows your circumstances, but, you know the truth. God has unfailing love for you, he is Sovereign over all things, and he is always faithful to work our all things for good for those who love him. 

So what is the advantage? The advantage is the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Advocate. He will come to us. Recently, God began to answer a prayer (a seven year prayer) by moving me out of the classroom into a coordinator position. I really felt good right after I was offered the position. There has been a lot that happened while I was waiting for that answer to prayer. God used me in several different ways, helping me, leading me, advocating for me. My advantage. 

Spread

May the word of God spread from me today. May my life be full of God's grace and power. And from all who read this...

Be an Agent of Forgiveness

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

John 20:21-23 NIV

So often when we think of the Holy Spirit we think of the gifts of the Spirit. Isn't it interesting that after his resurrection, when Christ appeared to his disciples, that with the first breath of the Holy Spirit he empowers them to forgive? 

In a sense, forgiveness is the fulcrum of our faith. We need to be forgiven. We need to forgive. We forgive because Christ forgave us. Everyone around us needs to know that in Christ their sins are forgiven. 

Father, thank you that in Christ we are forgiven. Everyone we know needs to be forgiven. May we be agents of forgiveness to everyone around us today!

Do You Need a Drink?

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried

out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

John 7:37-38 ESV

Spiritually speaking, are you thirsty? Do you know you need a drink? What I mean is; do you know you need more of Jesus? Do you realize your spiritual poverty? 

No condemnation. Remember, any inclination within yourself to seek God, to know him in a deeper way, to understand the Bible, to be more like Christ, is the Spirit of God working within you. 

Jesus, "cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." I think this is something we shouldn't overthink. We know we need to drink. Christ said to go to him. Let's go to him. 

Lord Jesus, we come to you and ask for the Spirit, for living waters to flow from within us. Thank you that you hear our prayer.

How To Recognize the Spirit

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 2:21-23 (NIV)

Some people just struggle with everything. A very good friend of mine used to think that everyone else at church was doing great, had great faith, overcame every trial with great joy. The reality is quite different. Most people who go to church are struggling with their marriage, kids, jobs, addictions and just the world in general and they smile because they don't want to break down in tears publically. 

In the midst of the pressures of everyday life in the twenty first century we can often miss, as in not detect, the Spirit of God working in our lives. The Apostle Paul reminds us that "no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:3). The reformers realized that the effects of sin reached our entire beings (total depravity) and that the grace of God did also. Any thought we have of God can only come from the Spirit of God working in our inner beings. Do you get that? Each thought that you have of God is God calling you to himself. Don't let the enemy turn the conviction of the Spirit of God to pray, read the Bible, or love someone specifically in action, into condemnation. 

John didn't write to the believers so they would doubt their salvation or mire themselves in condemnation, but he wrote that they might, we might live in the light as he is in the light. Remember that as you go about your business today that every thought you have of God is the Holy Spirit calling you to walk in the light with Christ. 

Father, thank you for every thought of you. Help us to thankfully recognize the Holy Spirits work in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

FIVE THINGS I NEED

"Create in me a pure heart, O God,
     and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 Do not cast me from your presence
     or take your Holy Spirit from me.
 Restore to me the joy of my salvation
     and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
 Psalm 51:10-12

Throughout my life, the seasons, the trials, the struggles, the ups and downs, there are  many things I need God's help and intervention with. These verses nail five of them. 

First, I need a pure heart. The world we live in constantly bombards us with things not of God. I always need to keep my heart pure and without the Holy Spirit renewing me, I will just spiral down.

Second, I need a steadfast spirit within me. I need God to constantly renew me from within to deal with all that confronts me.

Third, I need his presence. Knowing that the Holy Spirit is within me, even when I can not sense him, brings peace and assurance. 

Forth, I need the joy of salvation. If I forget that Christ died for my sins (past, present and future sins) I will loose the humility and joy that comes from knowing I am a sinner saved by grace.

Last, I need a willing spirit to sustain me. If I am unwilling I will always miss out on what God is trying to work out in my life which is all things for the good. 

Father, thank you for forgiveness and my salvation. Grant me purity, renew a steadfast spirit within me, keep me in your presence filled with your Spirit, restore to me the joy of my salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Praise be to you in us today! 

WILL LEARN VS WON'T LEARN: Titus 3:5-7

"He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5b-7

Did you notice that everything in those verses is what God does? All we do is receive and reap the benefits. Now, there is a process that we are active recipients in. Yes, he saves us. Yes, he washes us through rebirth. Yes, he renews us by the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But, we must let God do those things in our lives. 

For the last couple of years I have been working with middle school students who struggle with their English language skills. What it usually boils down to is those who "will do" and those who "won't do". If a student will give any kind of effort they will learn something. But, if they choose not to learn there isn't much I can do. I can work with them one-on-one, set up individualized software programs, and allow them extra time, but, if they choose to not learn, they won't.

Isn't that how we are with God working in our lives? God speaks to us in ways that only we could understand, sets up individualized learning experiences (trials), and even patiently allows us extra time to learn. And yet... The point is that God is not done with you. God is still patiently teaching you that he loves you and is sovereignly in control of your life. There is hope. 

Father, help us to learn the lessons you put before us. Open our eyes to see your gracious, sovereign hand in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

NEED HELP? GOD HAS UNFAILING LOVE/ Psalm 44:26

"Rise up and help us;
     redeem us because of your unfailing love."
 Psalm 44:26

Remember, it's all about redemption. Christ died to redeem us from our sins. Sins of the past, present and future. His unfailing love is our help. Think about that: unfailing love. We may fail, he will not. Keep your focus on Christ. When you fail, seek Christ. When you succeed, praise him. In all things and at all time seek him. 

Father, help us to seek you always. Thank you for always being there and for your unfailing love! Praise be to you in us today!

WHO ME? EVANGELIST?: II Timothy 4:5

"But, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." 
II Timothy 4:5

Although my dad is the master of small talk (he once talked to a guy 20 minutes on the phone before realizing it was a wrong number) he was always intimidated by the thought of witnessing to someone. But God, being both amazing and humorous, still wanted to use him. I remember after he first gave his life to Christ, he would come home and in utter shock and tell mom how he ended up sharing with someone about Christ. Basically, the Holy Spirit would lead the other person to pretty much say, "What must I do to be saved?" Then my dad we have to tell them about the saving work of Jesus Christ. What would happen is that men who knew my father saw a change in his behavior and would ask him why he changed. He would tell them the truth. Christ was changing him. 

As normal people, not evangelists, sometimes we do the work of an evangelist however the Spirit of God opens the conversation. Don't be afraid. Let God work in you and someone will eventually ask why you live like you do. 

Father, in this world of darkness, living by faith in Christ, obedient to your commands, will make us stand in contrast to the world around us, in the world but definitely not of it. Help us to shine with your love, mercy, forgiveness and grace. Praise be to us in you today!