Tag Archive for Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit: God with Us

2016-04-28 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Read Ezekiel 37:1-10; Acts 2:1-4

Jesus came to be God with us. But His task wasn’t done when He ascended back to His Father. One of Jesus’ purposes in coming to us was to pour out God’s Spirit on all who trust in Him. At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist introduced Him this way:

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11, NASB)

When the Holy Spirit came, He carried on Jesus’ ministry. He was to all believers what Jesus had been to His disciples: teacher, comforter, encourager, companion, advocate, intercessor, friend, and the presence of God. The Holy Spirit was all that, but more. Jesus had been limited by a physical body. The Spirit is Jesus unbound from any limitations. He is God’s presence with us, among us, and within us, every moment, always and forever.

When the Holy Spirit was poured at the day of Pentecost, His coming was accompanied by two signs. Both of these signs had long been symbols of the living presence of God.

  • “A noise like violent rushing wind” (Acts 2:2, NASB) – In both Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek, the word for “Spirit” also means “wind” and “breath”. Thus God’s Spirit has always been associated with wind. God’s Spirit is His life in motion. For example, read Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-10.
  • “Tongues as of fire…rested on each one of them” (Acts 2:3, NASB) – Fire is another frequent symbol of God’s presence. For example, recall that God’s presence was a pillar of fire in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21). God revealed His holy presence on Mt. Sinai by fire (Exodus 19:18). When Elijah faced the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, the God who answered by fire was the true God (1 Kings 18:24).

When God poured out His Spirit at Pentecost, He signaled unmistakably that the powerful, living presence of God Himself was now among, with, and within His people.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Pentecost Hymn
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I Need the Mind of Christ

2016-04-24 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, what I need most right now,
this moment,
is the mind and Spirit of Christ.
Facing this day,
these concerns, and
all the needy people around me,
I need the mind and Spirit of Christ.
Nothing less than Him will
make me who I need to be.

Father, I bow and
ask and
depend completely on You.
Help me think and
speak and
respond like Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: When I Speak
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Anticipation

2015-06-30 Devotional with Hymn No comments

In my office hangs a poster of a large whale’s tail. The tail alone is seen above the water’s surface, with the other 99% of the whale being out of sight.

I’ve enjoyed this poster for years. I’ve owned it since before I had a good place to hang it.

What draws me to it, I believe, is its promise. What I see is impressive. But what I don’t see intrigues me more. The whale’s tale suggests a bigger being, a completely different type of being, a deeper life, a greater realm. What I see is a promise of what I don’t see, and it fuels my longing to see and know more.

It reminds me of God. What I know of Him is spectacular, but everything I learn promises even more that I have not yet seen or experienced, that I cannot yet fully grasp. As Job said after describing God’s greatness in creation:

Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand? (Job 26:14, NASB)

God’s promise through Paul is even more explicit:

Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NASB)

God has poured out Himself, His own breath, His own life force, on all of us who simply trust Him. He has lavished on us His power, wisdom, and love, through the Holy Spirit of His glorious Son. But as great as this Gift is, it is only a downpayment, a deposit, a promise of His full gift of Himself to His people:

Having also believed, you were sealed in [Christ] with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14, NASB. See also 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5)

Consider the greatness of God’s gift of His Spirit. Right here and now He can be more and wants to be more than you have let Him be. But also, let this great gift fuel your anticipation for the greater gift that is yet to come: our complete and constant union with God.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Longing for Home
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The Holy Spirit: Power to Be

2015-05-28 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ephesians 3:14-21

What part does God’s Holy Spirit play in our lives? What part can He play as we learn to rely on Him more? Realize this: the Spirit is the constant presence of the Almighty, all-wise, all-loving God in the innermost part of our being.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you? (1 Corinthians 6:19, NIV) 

God’s Holy Spirit brings us the power to be all our holy, loving Father wants us to be. He doesn’t paint a thin layer of holiness over our evil hearts. He transforms us from the inside out, from our very core, freeing us from our slavery to sin.

Now that you have been set free from sin…the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22, NIV)

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2, NASB)

Through the Spirit, Christ’s own character grows within us daily, naturally.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)

The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of the truth.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21, NIV)

“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
“He will guide you into all truth.” (John 14:26; 16:13, NIV)

As we trust Him, the Holy Spirit wraps us in God’s perfect peace.

The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6, NIV)

Through His Spirit, God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, NIV). He has given us the Jesus’ own Spirit, always within us.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy God
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Worship God in Spirit

2015-05-17 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:24, NIV)

To worship God in spirit and in truth means to give Him the worship that is His due.

God is a spirit. Therefore He must be worshiped in spirit, by a humble and genuine worship in the depths of our souls, where He alone can see it.

As we worship Him more and more often, this worship becomes a natural response to His continual presence with us. God becomes one with our souls and our souls one with Him. What began as our sporadic response of love gradually blends into a unison of love with Him. We begin to taste the beautiful, unbroken union Christ enjoys with the Father.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Breath of His Love
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The Holy One

2015-05-14 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Luke 1:26-38; 3:16, 21-22; 4:31-34

We can believe that an all-powerful Spirit God, with no body, dwelling in heaven, is holy and separate. But in the New Testament something absolutely amazing, almost incredible happens: this holy, separate God becomes a human being. He becomes 100% human. He becomes just like us, but without sin.

How can this be possible? How can God be holy and separate, yet like us and among us? Isn’t that a contradiction?

  • He is still 100% transcendent God, even though He is 100% human. He is above us and our world in character, quality, and authority.
  • He is still perfect and morally pure.

The gospels repeatedly tell us that this Galilean peasant is the Holy One:

  • Both Matthew 1:18-20 and Luke 1:35 say that Jesus was conceived, not by a human father, but by the Holy Spirit of God. Because of that, this human being would literally be the Son of God in a unique way.
  • According to all four gospel writers (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33), John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the One who would baptize the human race in God’s own Holy Spirit.
  • The Holy Spirit visibly came upon Jesus at His baptism, marking the beginning of His ministry (Luke 3:22; 4:1; John 1:29-34).
  • The demons, fully evil and opposed to everything Jesus was, recognized Him as “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34).
  • When Jesus had just sifted His disciples by insisting that they eat His flesh and drink His blood, He asked the twelve if they were leaving too. Peter replied, “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).

Both holy and human – in Jesus Christ we see God’s plans for our entire race.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: We Can Know Our God Transcendent
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The Christ of Trinity Sunday

2015-05-12 Devotional with Hymn No comments

from A Christ-centered Year

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever…the Spirit of truth.“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:16-17, 23, NASB)

On Trinity Sunday, Jesus ushers us into
the full unity, love, and fellowship of
Father, Son, and Spirit.

God is our Father, who lavishly, joyfully shares
His life and existence with us.

God is the Son, our Brother,
who fully became one of us,
reuniting us with the Father.

God is the Spirit, who breathes the Son
among us and within us.

God is Father, Son, and Spirit,
One God,
One undivided being,
One self-giving love,
yet three distinct persons.
Each envelops us in God in unique ways and at the same time,
enables our union with all the Others.

Their complete oneness, their unbroken sharing,
is the heaven of peace and wholeness
into which all believers are being drawn.
This oneness gave Jesus the
holy,
peaceful,
completely sufficient life He enjoyed,
even while wrapped in poverty and suffering.

On Trinity Sunday, Jesus ushers us into
this full unity, love, and fellowship in the
Father, Son, and Spirit.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Trinity Hymn
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Union with God

2015-05-10 Devotional with Hymn No comments

When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth . . . He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
(John 16:13-14, NIV)

Union with God is not a feeling. It is not merely an emotion.

Fellowship with God is not brought about by human imagination or understanding.

Rather, as we trust God, He gives us His Spirit to live within us. His Spirit leads us to God and lifts us to Him. He nurtures a desire to love God, to worship Him, to turn our minds and lives to Him more and more.

As we respond to God, a union grows that is beautiful and indefinable. It is peaceful, reverent, loving, personal, and very simple.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Growing in the Spirit (Medley)
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Ezekiel: A Vision of New Life

2015-05-07 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ezekiel 37:1-14, 23-28

The Israelites were sitting in Babylon, far from home, helpless captives of their enemies. They were a people defeated and disgraced. Their religion, their lifestyle, everything they had and had known was gone. Their nation no longer existed. They felt abandoned by their God – though in fact, they had abandoned Him.

In Ezekiel 36:16-38, God had made amazing promises to these people through His prophet, Ezekiel, who was there ministering as an exile among them. But such incredible assurances needed to be more than lofty words, so God confirmed the words with a vision, recorded in Ezekiel 37:1-10.

Ezekiel sees an entire valley full of human bones – very dry and very dead, beyond any hope of life. God challenges Ezekiel with the question, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones – that is, to speak God’s sovereign Word to them. When he does, the bodies first come back together as corpses. Then, at the Word of God through Ezekiel, God’s breath* brings them back to life, and they stand up on their feet – a vast army (v.10). Note that the same elements that brought life to the unformed earth – God’s sovereign Word and His Spirit* – now bring new life to what was dead.

What a stunning picture of the new life that God’s Spirit brings to us now and at the resurrection! The same Breath* of God that renews us now will soon bring us a completely new life, both spiritually and physically. 

Why is God so unbelievably lavish with His undeserving people? Because He passionately wants the entire world, every nation, every society, every family, every person, to know how holy, gracious, and forgiving He is. Ephesians 1:6 & 12 tell us that we were created and redeemed to show the world how good and loving is our wonderful God. Never forget that this is our calling. This is why we are here.

*In the original Hebrew of this passage, the words translated “Spirit”, “breath”, and “wind” are all the same word. God’s Spirit is the wind of His power and the breath of His love. God’s Spirit is His life in motion.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Ezekiel’s Vision
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Ezekiel: Complete Salvation

2015-05-05 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ezekiel 36:22-38

God’s people had failed, but God’s purpose would not fail. He would bring about a sweeping, dramatic salvation for His people. He would not do it for their sakes, for they had proven themselves unfaithful and unworthy. He would do it to vindicate His reputation among the nations. Note that He was not acting out of selfish interest, but because He was determined to show His love to our entire race.

In Ezekiel 36:24-38, God gives the specifics of what He would do.

  • He would regather His people from the lands where He had scattered them (v.24). Their exile had been a dramatic show of their failure. Their regathering would be a dramatic presentation of God’s power, goodness, and faithfulness to His people.
  • He would cleanse them completely from all their sin – not by their actions or by their worthiness, but by His own doing (v.25).
  • He would put within them a new heart and a new spirit – His own Spirit – to enable them to obey (vv.26-27). He would empower them to be His holy people, from the inside out.
  • He would bless their relationship with Him. They truly would be His people, and He would be their God (v.28).
  • He would give them the gift of a broken heart and true repentance (v.31). They would see their own sin in the light of God’s goodness.
  • He would bless their land, turning the desert into a Garden of Eden, so that all the nations would know that Almighty God, eternally faithful and loving, had done this (vv.30, 33-36).
  • He would increase their men (vv.37-38). Why? To any society decimated by war and captivity, especially a patriarchal society like Israel, the restoration of its male population was key to its recovery.

How good is our God! He doesn’t abandon us to our weakness and failure. By His own power and love, He acts unilaterally to save us from the inside out. He enables us to be far more than we ever dreamed we could be. Praise to Him!

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