Who Is He? Who Are You?

How did Jesus perform all those miracles in his ministry? How did he manage to keep his cool when so many were accusing him of evil? How could he persist in his calling, when so many events in his life could have discouraged him completely? How did he defeat Satan's temptations and drive the enemy away? I believe a large share of Jesus' steadfastness throughout

"What's That In Your Hand?"

God can do anything, including everything that looks impossible for us -- like creating the universe from nothing, to start with! What's interesting is that he has continued to do the impossible, but now he's also doing it through

Take a Break...

Americans have a problem:  we are far too focused on accomplishment. We measure our worth by what we have done or made, not on

Fruit, Part 1

The two plum trees in our front yard were only saplings when we planted them but now they're nearly ten feet tall, and have blossomed, so we may have some fruit this summer. There's a deep satisfaction in seeing fruit on a tree I've watched over. But how much deeper is

Confession and Grace

We don't like accepting our weaknesses and sins (those we can admit, theoretically, that we might have). And we hope nobody else can see any, so we show up in public with our Public Face on. But God already knows what's wrong with each human, and he gives each one total forgiveness in Christ. And James 5:16 tells the church community, as we work together, "Confess

How to Treat One Another

I just saw this post on another blog and it's so good, I want to share it here. This is an 'infographic' which means it's easy to absorb visually but has great information in it.

http://overviewbible.com/one-another-infographic/

If you wonder how we should treat each other, this is a good place to start.

What do you think?

Eternity Is Now

Dallas Willard, in one of his books, says "Eternity is now in process."  Wow, that is encouraging! How do we eternity this way?  Well, we've discussed here that the Kingdom of God is already here, and will fill the whole earth at the return of Christ. In the same way, eternity is

Come, Let Us Adore Him

The busyness of Advent and Christmas season is over. We start the new year by putting away the decorations, writing thank-you cards, and focusing on the routine of life. But wait -- we sure don't want to lose out on the lasting lessons of the season, do we?  I think not. One of the main lessons of Christmas, I believe, is

Hurry and Cut the Grass Before the Snowstorm

I had to laugh - I've been wanting to cut the grass (it's called "mow the lawn" in some parts of the world) for about a week now

Time for Change? Good News!

This morning, I heard a flock of geese flying by, headed for winter south of here.  Their honking brings a smile to my face -- I think geese are magnificent creatures -- but it makes me realize
what their honking means:  Change is on the way! 

Most of us would like to see real, meaningful, permanent change in our habits.  We'd like to be free from fear, doubt and temptation.  Good news!  Our first real change has already been given to us, at no charge. Colossians 1 tells us that we are the blessed recipients of God's unilateral actions: 
"For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.  He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (v. 19-20) This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. (v. 21) Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body {not through our repentance, faith, baptism or obedience}. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault" (v. 22).  What a huge change!!  But can we change the way we act? 

I've had the experience of being harnessed to a strong rope and tackling an obstacle course twenty or thirty feet up (a lot higher off the ground than I like to be!).  Since I was completely secured by that rope, I was given the courage to climb, jump, and work my way over obstacles I never would have tackled alone.  God's love gives us the same courage.  Paul tells us here to "continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it" (v. 23) as a moment-by-moment part of life.  Leaving our old habits behind feels foreign, and we can hesitate in fear.  Knowing we are completely loved and eternally accepted by God, gives us the courage to change our ways:  to live another day without the false promises of alcohol, pornography, anger, lust, food, unforgiveness, or any other method we use to feel in control of our lives.

I can tell you from experience, this much change won't happen from sheer force of will.  It's time to believe what God says, that he we are "holy and blameless," and to choose to live in that truth.  God will always hold us securely, and will help us develop new habits of thinking, feeling, speaking and living, whether we take it one step at a time or all at once.  Why not start today?  If you need another person to know what you're doing and pray for you, just ask.

The Holy Spirit of God

Pentecost is in just a few days (May 27).  This celebration, which started out in Israelite life as a harvest festival (Lev. 23:15-21) came to full life in the New Covenant era when the Holy Spirit was given to the assembled disciples:  "On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.  And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability" (Acts 2:1-4).  It was clear that a whole new era was beginning, and the church continues to celebrate the Holy Spirit's person and role on this day.   

But the Holy Spirit seems mysterious to us.  There are only a couple of dozen references to the spirit of God in the Old Testament, and none of them is very clear as to what's going on.  For sure, this spirit comes from God, and when the spirit appears, God's will gets done (see for example 2 Chronicles 24:20).  But there's not much more until Jesus talks about the Spirit in John 14-17, and quite a few more descriptive comments in Acts and in the epistles.  So today, let's look first at some of what Jesus said.   

In John 14:16, Jesus says "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you."  The Greek phrase used here is allos paracletos.  The word "allos" means “another (in this case, Advocate or Helper) of the same kind.”  Jesus had been teaching them, correcting and encouraging them, helping them know the Father, for three years or so.  Now he would send another just like himself to the disciples -- which includes you and me, of course. 

In John 14:23, Jesus continues "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them."  And in verse 26, "But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."  The Holy Spirit's role is to continue teaching, leading, correcting and encouraging us, by bringing the Father and Son to us in a living, ongoing interchange of love as they make a home in our minds and emotions.  We gradually learn to "hear the voice of God" and follow.  

There's a lot more, but let's remember:  the Holy Spirit is "another one just like Jesus" and is "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16).  So it's important we learn to recognize and follow his voice.  We'll keep looking at that for awhile. 

On the Shore of the Red Sea

Exodus is a very cool book: full of stories of God's power, his peoples' inability to understand him even though he made it plain, and some 'excellent adventures' to borrow the title of a slapstick movie. Plagues, miracles and wonders, new kinds of food, burning mountains, the whole panorama of the new and unusual.

One story that always gets me is what I call "Standoff at the Red Sea" in chapters 13 and 14. First, God puts the Israelites into what my military friends would call an indefensible position, stuck on a little stretch of beach between the mountains and the sea. The whole Egyptian army, out for revenge for all those plagues, is boiling down on top of them. The Israelites, of course, blame Moses for the whole thing (starting with, "I can't keep my campfire lit next to the ocean!") and he spends some time complaining to the LORD about them.

The LORD comes back with something nobody would have predicted: he opens up the Red Sea for them. They stand there gawping for awhile, then because the Cloud moves into and through this new channel, they go across too. Probably shaking in their sandals the whole way and stopping the kids from picking up seashells. Then, just to sew it all up into a nice package, the LORD lets the waters come back over the Egyptian army; that'll show 'em!

I've sat in that spot, between the mountains and the sea with something or other coming at me like a Mack truck, more times in my life than I can remember. It's almost gotten to the point of being routine, except the circumstances keep changing. And, yes, I spend my time complaining to God about it. And inevitably, something happens that I didn't know was out there and couldn't have engineered to save my life (which is sometimes the point!).

Sooner or later, we all face illness, job loss, death of a loved one, financial problems, housing problems, or a thousand other problems we can't solve. Thing is, the same LORD who knew what the Israelites were facing also knows what you're up to. He is just as faithful to deliver you as he was to deliver them. And he is just as capable at parting your Red Sea as he was theirs. Now, the solution may be just as hard to step into as theirs was, but you can usually tell it's from him because nobody else could have done it. It may not be the solution you'd have chosen, but it will fit his plans to a T.

And when you step forward into his solution, whatever it is, he may show you a really pretty shell to keep, just to remind you that he loves you.

Parakletos: Helping Alongside

Most of us have helped someone pick up something bulky or heavy. And when life itself is too heavy or awkward for us to handle alone, it's a blessing to have someone come alongside and help.

Jesus had been walking with the disciples for three years or so. He had been their teacher, encourager, and leader. He had taught them about the Father, about his work on the cross for our salvation, and many other topics. But he was about to leave them, and so he promised, in John 14:16, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you."

Here, to describe the Holy Spirit, Jesus uses the word 'parakletos'. That's a Greek word with no exact equivalent in English, but its usages in Greek literature include 'advocate,' such as in a court of law; 'counselor;' and 'comforter'. Some translations use the word "Encourager" or "Helper" to describe the concept Jesus was using, and those are okay too.

Jesus also used the word "another" here -- and the Greek word he used means "another of the same kind" not "another thing, something different." So even though he had to leave, he wasn't going to leave them alone; in fact in verse 18, he says "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Whenever the disciples got confused or afraid, they turned to Jesus for answers and help. Since he wasn't going to be with them bodily from then on, Jesus reassured them that the comfort, help and answers would still be with them. And as we read on in the New Testament, we see many times where the Holy Spirit spoke the mind of God to the church. We see the church gathering to pray and ask for assistance (Acts 1:14, 4:23-31, 12:12, 13:1-3, etc) and we see God answering their prayers by giving them understanding, instruction and encouragement by the Holy Spirit.

That same Holy Spirit lives in Christians today. We have Someone who will come alongside of us when life is too heavy, too bulky and too difficult for us (and that's pretty often, isn't it?). We are led, comforted, encouraged and instructed by His mind in us. We get to have the "mind of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:16) so we can know "What would Jesus do?" and have the courage and faith to do it.

We don't have to travel the road alone, and we don't have to wonder if God will help us. He already has, and he always will: "...another Advocate, who will never leave you." Isn't that comforting, all by itself?