Tag: Holy Spirit

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A New Family

Today I will continue with our teaching on “Sons of God”. I am confident of this very thing, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”. I will keep my eyes on Him and follow His leading.

Now let’s continue.

      “He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 ERV

When a child is adopted, they are chosen above all others. The parents saw the child and chose them to be their own. The child is accepted and loved. Loved unconditionally, shortcomings and faults included. They are special and desired by the parents.

That should tell us something about our Heavenly Father. He looked across the span of eternity and desired to be our Father. He made the greatest sacrifice a father could make to receive us into His family. He sent His only Son to pay the price for our adoption.

Jesus had been with God, the Father, from the beginning of time.  Because of His sacrifice many sons and daughters have been added to God’s family. The price Jesus paid was great. He made the ultimate sacrifice. He did this so we could be the adopted sons and daughters of God.

“God knew from the beginning who would put their trust in Him. So, He chose them and made them to be like His Son. Christ was first and all those who belong to God are His brothers.” Romans 8:29 NLV

Our Father has given us all of heaven’s blessings. He has provided so much for us, far more than anything we could ever imagine or dream. He wants to give the best to His kids and to put all He has at our disposal.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven.” Ephesians 1:3 ERV

“God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us. 21 May we see His shining-greatness in the church. May all people in all time honor Christ Jesus. Let it be so.” Ephesians 3:20-21 NLV

This is one of the first things He promised to give us as His children.

“Even you who are bad know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to the people who ask him.” Luke 11:13 ERV

“But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.” John 14:26 ERV

Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a good gift. A gift from the Father.  The Holy Spirit was sent to help us. He is also called the Comforter, and by definition, that means counsellor, intercessor, advocate, strengthener and standby. He intercedes for us.

This verse also says the Holy Spirit will remind us of all things Jesus spoke and He will teach us all things. When the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, He reminds us of God’s Word and instructs us on how to show our love to the Father.

  • We have been chosen by God, the Father. He wants us to be a part of His family. Let’s honor Him by showing His love to the world.
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The Wings of a Dove

Several years ago I was sitting outside enjoying the beauty of a Big Sky Montana summer morning. It was a beautiful morning and I was dwarfed by the panoramic views from our yard; 360 degrees of unobstructed, bright blue sky filled with large white puffy clouds.

God’s creation is glorious!

I noticed, circling high above my head, a dark spec on this brilliant blue background. Getting lower with each circling pattern, it didn’t take long to identify this seeker in the sky as a crow. He finally descended to the ground, having spotted his morning’s meal from such a lofty perch. I couldn’t see what he was pecking at but no doubt, it was the carnage left from a coyote’s kill the night before.

I told our daughter, “Imagine how disgusting it would be to spend your life eating what something else had killed and left to rot in the field.”

By now you must be asking yourself “where is she going with this? I thought she was going to write a message. Oh, but I am.

Sometimes it takes a while to get through the introduction to the meat of the message but here it is. This crow reminded me of the raven in Genesis 8.

Noah and his family had been on the ark for over five months. The rain had stopped and the ark rested on the top of a mountain. No more floating! Noah waited a bit and then he sent out a raven, which the Bible says flew around until the waters dried up. Noah also sent out a dove “to see if the water had receded but the dove found no resting place” so it returned to the ark.

Why didn’t the raven come back too?

It had a ready food source. The bodies of the animals which had drown provided him an unlimited food supply. They also provided him with a place to rest. He could sit on their decaying bodies and didn’t need the trees to rest in. It didn’t bother him a bit, he was a scavanger.

The dove, on the other hand, needed life – green shoots and seeds to sustain its life so it returned to the ark. Noah waited seven days and sent the dove out again. It returned that evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah knew that life was returning to the earth. He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again. This time the dove didn’t return. Noah knew it had found a place to rest and food to sustain it.

I’m so glad that our Father uses a dove to symbolize the Holy Spirit and not the raven or the crow.

“So Jesus was baptized. As soon as he came up out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.” Matthew 3:16-17 ERV

A dove, bringing signs of life – how appropriate, a dove resting on the One who is the giver of life! The Holy Spirit has been sent to fill and empower each believer as a sign of our new life in Jesus Christ.

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NLT

This wonderful life is a free gift from God. A life of sin is death (crow’s food) but our new life is a gift from God – abundant and free!

Our life produces fruit; love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith. The fruit of the Spirit (dove’s food) is fresh. We need to make sure there aren’t any ravens circling over our heads. The Holy Spirit desires to fill us with peace. Be full of abundant life!

“If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 ERV

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Sealed

A few days ago I visited my neighbor and she couldn’t wait to show me the kitchen table they had built. She told me how just the day before they had put on the third coat of sealer. Now it was fully protected and she didn’t have to be concerned about water rings or food stains getting through and spoiling the surface of the wood.

It was sealed!

That’s an interesting word – sealed. There are so many different pictures that come to mind. A letter can be sealed to keep it’s contents private. If you have a tent you will certainly want to make sure the seams are sealed so the rain water doesn’t get in. Concrete floors and counter tops are sealed just like the wood of my neighbors table. Food packages are sealed. Medicine is sealed. Sweaters are sealed in bags.

The sealing serves a purpose – protection. Protection from destruction or contamination. It also denotes importance.

When treaties were struck or laws were written the king’s seal was placed on the document to verify that it had come from his hand. The most trusted advisor was the one in the king’s court who had access to the king’s ring and his seal.

“The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.” Esther 8:10 NLT

Kings continued to use seals up to the 1800’s. And then nations developed seals, we have the great seal of the United States.

But there is another kind of seal, it’s the seal that God the Father puts on us, his children; it’s a seal of protection and a seal of importance.

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” II Corinthians 1:21-22 NKJV

or in more modern language: “God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. 22 He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.” II Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT

The seal that God has put on our lives shows that we belong to Him, the Holy Spirit living in us proves that.

“It is the same with you. You heard the true message, the Good News about the way God saves you. When you heard that Good News, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark (seal) on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he promised. 14 The Spirit is the first payment that guarantees we will get all that God has for us. Then we will enjoy complete freedom as people who belong to him. The goal for all of us is the praise of God in all his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 ERV

Jesus said that the reason Holy Spirit came was to be our comforter, our helper, our teacher. He is the seal that shows we are valuable to God and He brings the Father’s goodness and blessings to our lives.

“Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. 31 Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. 32 You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.” Ephesians 4:30-32 NLV

When I read this verse I am reminded of my friend’s table. The wood has been sanded, several times, removing the elements that made it ugly and rough. The surface was smoothed and cleaned showing the beauty that was beneath the surface. Then it was SEALED to protect the beauty and the quality of the wood.

We are to remove those things that make our lives ugly. Then we let Holy Spirit “seal” us for our protection and preservation. Our beauty will shine through, it’s the beauty of a life filled with Christ.

There will be times when our surface gets dusty and dirty by the things we say and do. We will need to be cleansed by repentance but we are sealed by the Spirit of God and our beauty will remain protected. We are God’s workmanship, He created us for good things.

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 ERV

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This Is the Victory

Sitting here this morning, I’ve been thinking about my walk with the Lord. Where I’ve come from and how much farther I still have to go. A Bible teacher I know puts it this way, “I haven’t arrived yet but I’ve left”. He means that he has started on this journey called the Christian life but he hasn’t arrived at full maturity – that’s how I feel.

I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was a little girl. I grew up loving the Lord but had little or no victory in my life. Seems the favorite saying of the people in our church was “when we get to heaven all of life’s trials and struggles with be worth it”. That is true…but I was tired of getting my teeth kicked in by those trials. There had to be more to my Christian life than I was experiencing! There had to be.

You remember Peter. His life was a wonderful example of how my life had been. He was tempestuous, quick to react (right or wrong), wanting to do big things and failing. He walked on the water and sank; he ministered to the sick and then be stopped by a boy’s seizure; he was ready to take on the whole Roman guard to protect Jesus and then denied knowing Him to a servant girl! Up and down, up and down and no real victory UNTIL the day of Pentecost when he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes into your life. You will tell about Me in the city of Jerusalem and over all the countries of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

9 When Jesus had said this and while they were still looking at Him, He was taken up. A cloud carried Him away so they could not see Him.” Acts 1:8-9 NLV

After that day, Peter became faith-filled and fearless. He never looked back and he faced every day with the resolve that he would be a witness to the power of God and nothing would stop him from proclaiming the mighty name of Jesus. Beaten over and over, imprisoned, and persecuted he continued moving forward from one victory to the next.

When I saw this miraculous change in Peter, I said “Lord, this is what I want in my life. I want to live in your power and not my own; I want to be a victorious Christian and not one who is plagued with defeat. I want my life to reflect you and not be overcome by the circumstances.”

Thank you Jesus – he heard and answered that prayer. I, like millions of other Christians, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and became filled with God’s power.

That was over 30 years ago! Do I still have struggles – you bet. Do I always handle things right – not always. Do I face discouragement – some days it’s a constant battle. Am I victorious – ABSOLUTELY! Jesus said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – He’s my strength, He’s the one who carries me when I feel weak and He’s the reason I will live and declare the works of the Lord.

I don’t read God’s Word and serve Him because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t live my life trying to please Him and get His love; I serve Him and follow His word because He loves me.

My faith is in God and God alone, Its where I find victory to overcome the world.

“We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. 4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.” I John 5:3-5

Following God’s word isn’t hard when you realize that He is the one with all the answers. Faith in Him and who He is always brings victory!

“ I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 CEV

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