The Role of the Holy Spirit - The Power to be a Son or Daughter of God

As Christians, we may not have ever been taught about, or experienced a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. We all have been encouraged to have a personal relationship with Jesus by praying, reading the Word and going to church. He is our savior, friend, forgiver and strength. We are often taught of the role of the Father as Creator, Judge, the One who is slow to anger, and the One that knows the date for the end of the age. What is puzzling to me is this, for some reason the church global, often excludes the role of the Holy Spirit and rarely teaches us to have a relationship with Him. Experiencing the Holy Spirit as the manifest presence of Jesus here on earth, should be part of our daily activities and spiritual life.

So what is the difference between having a personal relationship with Jesus, and one with the Holy Spirit? There is not a difference per se. However; understanding the relationship between the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are essential to a full and intimate relationship with a living and supernatural God.

Understanding the relationship of the godhead (trinity) is simple, and complex at the same time. God is not three separate entities, but He definitely has three distinct persons (roles). Just as your earthly father functioned in the role of father. Assuming that your parents were married, he also had the role of husband. Most men also have a title at their job; thus a third role, The trinity is similar. His role as father was to provide and protect His children. His role as husband would have been as a mate to his wife and he may have been a general manager or carpenter at work. It is the same person, with three very distinct roles, distinct responsibilities and distinct relational "qualities."

We might think of these roles in a more simplified fashion. The Father is law and judgement, Jesus is love and grace (by faith) and the Holy Spirit is power and wisdom. Without power, no matter how much we participate in religious activities, and obey the law, we are as helpless as a car with out gasoline. Without wisdom, we are directionless as a sailboat without a centerboard.

If you are over 17, you have probably noticed the difference between the actions of men and woman. The difference between God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is analogous. The Holy Spirit, for the purpose of understanding His role, is a bit like the wife. The Holy Spirit is submissive to the will of the Father and subject to the rule of Jesus-- and coequal at the same time. The Holy Spirit is not the head, but the one that carries out that mandates of Heaven on earth. The role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus and be a witness to His work on the cross now and throughout eternity.

As we meet, and get to know that person of the Holy Spirit, our passion and love for Jesus will grow. That is His purpose; to point to Jesus. This is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, as a sign that He had been glorified (John 7:39).

Here are 9 important roles the Holy Spirit plays in the part of our sanctification and walk with the Lord.

1 Helper (John 14:16) - The Holy Spirit is a helper; literally "called along side." This is the same Greek word that is sometimes translated comforter in other contexts.

2 Comforter (Acts 9:31) - Literally, "one who pleads another' case" It is the job of the Holy Spirit to express our pain, and bring peace as a judgement of Heaven.

3 Counselor (John 14:16) - The Holy Spirit is the one that brings peace in our relationships.

4 Convicts Us (John 16:8) - The Holy Spirit is the one that guides in what is right and wrong as God sees it. This is not our moral or ethical compass, which is subject to emotion, rationalization and human logic, but a powerful prodding by God Himself.

5 Peace (Romans 14:17) - The Spirit of peace and relationship maker. The Spirit reminds you of Him (John 14:26).

6 Teacher (Luke 12:12) - Literally "speak for us" with God's voice. The Holy Spirit is the one that recognizes the "rehema," the living word of God. The Holy Spirit is alive and He will challenge our beliefs, our traditions and our religious acts. Preparing our works to be judged with fire. The Holy Spirit will prompt us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.

7 Witness to Jesus (John 8:18) - He will witness to Jesus, not to Himself. His work will cause all men to give glory to Jesus. It was the work of the Holy Spirit that caused John to say, "we write of what we have seen."

8 Seal of Salvation (Ephesians 1:13) - The Holy Spirit in us. is the assurance of our salvation. Only the Holy Spirit can bring us the assurance of our faith in the eternal Kingdom. The coming of the age of the Holy Spirit is was Thomas was lacking. He had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead and participated in the feeding of the 5,000 men and their families. He knew what Jesus could do, but until that day of Pentecost, He did not have the assurance of the power to do it by faith.

9 Power to participate in Kingdom Activities (Luke 1:17, Luke 1:35, Luke 4:14, Acts 10:38, 1 Cor 2:4, Gal 4:29)

Realtionship With God is Key - A Preview

Many Christians seem to fall into three groups when it comes to the level in which God is allowed to act in their lives. The first group doesn’t believe that God will act personally on their behalf, therefore; they can’t expect anything from Him. This type of faith is characterized by this sort of belief system. “We should be glad with salvation and try to be good until that last day.” “If miracles happen, it is purely by chance.”

The second group gives lip service to that fact that God does miracles and heals the sick, but deep down they do not have faith that He will do something especially for them. In some cases this is unworthiness at work. They will often use excuses like these: someone else “deserves it more,” or “needs it more” than I do. “God would heal someone with cancer before He’d heal someone with a cold.” Theologically they believe that God can, but do not have faith that He will.

The third group seems have some sense of entitlement to the miracle and healing hand of God. I call this “hyper faith.” These people feel as though they can get God to deliver whatever they want, simply because they deserve it as a child of the Most High. When God doesn’t deliver, it’s the devil’s fault.

Do not misunderstand; we are entitled to the benefits of the kingdom as heirs of Christ, but on God’s terms, not ours.

In the 80’s there was popular, and thankfully short lived teaching called, “Call, Claim, and Command”. Like many teachings, it was based on the biblical principal that what we speak has power. The method of relating to God was to speak out our need, claim that which we have as heirs in Christ, and Command the heavens to provide it. As you might guess, this is a not a relationship, but a formula. It was later known as “Blab it and Grab It.”

There is spiritual confusion because the principals of the Kingdom are always at work, yet they are in conflict with faithlessness, our own understanding, incorrect understanding of the scriptures, the sovereignty of God and various and sundry forms of godlessness. For example, the biblical principal, of sowing and reaping will work for anyone; saved or unsaved. Those that sow will eventually reap—sometimes slowly; sometimes quickly. However; we cannot simply “give to get” out of compulsion, demanding a return from God on our time table. Going boldly to the throne room in faith is not the same as feeling some sort of entitlement to the things of God. This group is characterized by saying things like, “Just speak it out.”, “Well, you are sick because you don’t have enough faith.”

When it comes to healing, we need to see the entire spectrum of possibilities. With a careful examination of healing in Gospels, we’ll see that sickness is sometimes a lack of faith, other times the result of sin, and more often, a sovereign state in which God intends for His glory to be seen on earth. Simply stated, sickness is the result of living in a fallen world. God can and will use even the devil to achieve His ultimate purpose, relationship with the Most High.

Because God is sovereign, some things that we “believe for” are not what He wants for us. When the windows of heaven do not open, it is not always that devil’s fault, and if it is, like Job, God is allowing it. If we pray that which is God’s will for us, we will see many more answered prayers. God is not our spiritual bellhop.

Our personal relationship with Jesus is just that, personal and should be growing in intimacy. Our very creation can be identified with DNA, that’s unique! How much more would a loving God be concerned about our hopes, desires and needs?

God is many faceted, deep and a lifetime of searching is not enough to see the depths of who He is! In my own studies, I found 600+ names and attributes in the Bible. Initially He is the Father to us, the baby Christian. He desires to be known by His children, play with them, love them, talk to them, enjoy them, and guide them. When He sees fit, He corrects them too. God is not in the business of making bad people good, He is in the business of making dead people live. Job one for God is a vibrant living relationship with Him.

God is most interested in knowing us, and having us know Him, not performing parlor tricks and handing out blessings. He created us, and He is personal at every level of our life. He has counted the very hairs on our head; He has listened to our every thought, our every prayer, and every word that passed through our lips. He did not miss a single one. This idea of the depth in which He knows us, alone, is worth a good long meditation.

God is not just a receiver of our behavioral reports. He is not disconnected from us. It is us, who through sin, have become disconnected from Him! Our job is simply to get to know Him, and He will address our needs, not always our wants.

The truth is that we all simply deserve death for our sins. No one is good enough to deserve anything from God. That is what makes the Gospel so wonderful. By grace, and nothing else, God saves us, and wants to have a relationship with us! He is sovereign, and as one Anglican priest said, “He does was He darn well pleases, when He pleases, and it is not required to be fair, or make sense to us. Our job is to have faith, love God and one another”

To find out ways to build a deeper, more intimate realtionship with Jesus, stay tuned.

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I am working on a new book which I hope will be available sometime in the early Spring. These previews are rough drafts of stories and biblical insights that I'll be including.

Sharing the Holy Spirit with My Evangelical Friends - A Preview

In my enthusiasm for the Holy Spirit - the witness of Jesus on earth -- I just couldn't contain myself. I somehow rounded up a bunch of friends from the local evangelical church and invited them to one of the conference meetings. They were nice folks, loving, but always struggling. By there own admission, they were saved, but each one confessed that they didn't seem to be going anywhere with God. Religion for them was boring and bit dry. They had been told that tongues were of the devil, and that any worship of the Holy Spirit and not about Jesus, was a cult.

“Do you believe God?” shouted a loud and fiery preacher from the platform; right in the midst of worship. There was such a sense of the need to repent, that I hit my knees as soon as I found a seat. Closing my eyes, I quietly cried out, “God forgive me, God forgive me! Oh Jesus, please forgive me.” I wasn't looking around me—it was me and the Lord right then. A few minutes later, when I felt a release, I stood to my feet and I noticed that hundreds were on their knees around the sanctuary. Except for an Anglican mass, I had never seen such a sight.

The meeting went on going between worship and preaching, to prophesying and praying, and back to preaching again. The air was filled with anticipation. I hung on every word, every note expecting something to happen. What, I didn't know.

At the first of many altar calls that evening; a couple that I was with went forward. The husband asked for healing for his a lung disorder. As the presence of God came on him, the preacher asked him to recite the sinner’s prayer. He just began to cry as he mouthed the words.

“Are you full of the Spirit?” she asked. “You know, God won’t give you a scorpion when you ask for an egg.” She continued. “Do you want to be full of His spirit, His Holy Spirit?”

He barely eked out a “yes,” and the power of God caused him to lean forward 45 degrees to the floor. As he started to speak in tongues, he just hung there, almost suspended in thin air.

“Now do you want to be healed?” she asked.

“Yes” he said, and hit the floor, overcome by the power of God.

The preacher leaned over and grabbed his hand, “Get up and run! Show everyone what God has done for you tonight!” She exclaimed.

He got up and ran around that sanctuary! “I can breath!” he shouted as he took his victory lap down the center aisle. People clapped and gave God praise as he returned to the seat next to me.
Next it was his wife’s turn. They had been trying to have a baby for nearly five years. One of the ministers laid hands on her belly, and shouted. “I break the curse of bareness over your womb!” She fell to the floor.

A few weeks later my friend’s wife was sick in the mornings and went for a pregnancy test. The doctor determined, not only that she was pregnant, but that she had conceived the day of the conference! We laugh about it every time we bump into each other. Because of his healing that night, they went home and believed God for her miracle.

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I am working on a new book which I hope will be available sometime in the early Spring. These previews are rough drafts of stories and biblical insights that I'll be including.

Foundations of the Spirit-Filled Life - A Preview

Have you ever wondered what it takes to do some of the things that the apostles did? Do you want to be closer to God, witness signs and wonders? The book of Acts, chapter 2 gives us all the information we need to know. Here are seven steps to becoming a Christian who walks in the ways of the first century Christians. How we take these steps is as personal and unique as we are, and ultimately up to the depth of relationship we have with the Lord Jesus.

Entering into the process of sanctification we find seven foundational steps for living the spirit-filled life. If we reject anyone of these, we will not be able to live in power and purity, nor sense the assurance of salvation, or perform whatever ministry God has called us to.

-1 Salvation through faith in Jesus – Acts 2:41(a) “Then those who gladly received his word.”

Getting to this step, for some, can be quite a long process, but Romans 10:9-10 is the bar that we must meet. We need to confess Jesus with our lips and receive Him in our hearts. This is only the first step because there is more to Christianity then just glorious salvation!

-2 Water Baptism - Acts 2:41(b) “were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Although I do not believe that water baptism is a requirement for salvation, I believe that it is an important step in growing as a Christian. Some see it as a step of obedience and others as identifying with the death and resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I view it as part of the relational "pie." This act/experience is an important facet of knowing and relating to our Savior. We don't have to have dessert with our salvation experience, but it sure does taste good.

-3 Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:33 (b) “Received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Step three is important to understanding the fullness of the godhead in us. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our teacher; One who convicts us of sin and empowers us to do what the Father is doing. The Holy Spirit is a witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Without the activity of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, our Christian walk is mostly a lot of lip service to the biblical belief system, and belief is not faith. A relationship with the Jesus, through the Holy Spirit is God's voice in our live, God's power to preform the supernatural through us, and the seal and assurance of our salvation.

-4 Study - Acts 2:42 (a) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine
Without putting on the mind of Christ, an have a sword that separates the soul from the spirit, we are bound to make mistakes and fall into sin. We’ll have little wisdom in times of trouble, and we may even lead others astray.

-5 Fellowship - Acts 2:42 (b) and fellowship,
We can’t be apart from the body of Christ endlessly. Even Paul while in prison “kept the faith.” Sure there are some that are isolated, but the norm is to be a body and bear one another’s burdens, and to show kindness and love to the brethren.

-6 Communion - Acts 2:42 (c) in the breaking of bread,
Remembering Jesus is the bases of communion. Breaking bread can take many different forms, but it is the heartfelt remembrance of the work done on the cross that is central to this sacrament.

-7 Prayer - Acts 2:42 (d) and in prayers.Prayer comes in many different forms. There is praise, intercession, seeking, directive and prophetic prayer. It is more than talking to God, it deep calling deep; a place to hear His voice for your life and for others.

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I am working on a new book which I hope will be available sometime in the early Spring. These previews are rough drafts of stories and biblical insights that I'll be including.

Testimonies - The Cardboard Kind

This morning I received a comment on an old blog. It was regarding this video I found some time ago on YouTube. It's been viewed more than 3 million times, and I think it's worth viewing again.

Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.



LINK TO VIDEO

Gifts - A Great Time to Receive

This blog is not about Christmas, even though it was just yesterday that we enjoyed family, friends, food, more food and gifts! Today's blog is aimed at the believer. It may be beneficial for leaders, but it is for the average Christian wondering what they might do to serve God in a Supernatural way.

For many years, I heave heard that spiritual gifts were contained in three passages of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11 and Romans 12. I am going to gracefully disagree with lumping them all together. I believe that each list has a distinct purpose in serving God, and the Body of Christ. For this blog, I am going to focus on just the ones listed here:

1 Corinthians 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."

One of my pet peeves in the church, is people that say they believe in something ("Oh its in the Bible."), but can't seem to tell you much about what they believe. This type of behavior would be expected from a baby Christian. But I have run across this with pastors and leaders too. Worse, they are trying to convince some else to believe it!

When it comes to gifting the church, we can't just decide that we'll only recognize one or two. Here, Paul lists nine, which are available to every true believer. I am not going to discuss the criteria, but let me simply say that if you never see the fruit of these gifts, then you should check out your theology with God. These gifts should be fairly common in your day-to-day life... along with the fruit of the Spirit outlined in Galations 5:22.

Because I have never met a minister that could give an example of each of the nine gifts given in this verse, I am going to to do it now.

-1 Message (word) of wisdom - Luke 20:19-26 Here Jesus is potentially trapped between religion and politics. He is asked about paying taxes and giving to the work of God. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." It goes on to say they were astonished! This same gift, the word of wisdom, astonishes the Pharisees again in the account of the woman taken in adultery, found in John 7. The word of wisdom always provides an astonishing understanding of a situation.

-2 Message (word) of knowledge - John 4:4-42 - Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well during the midday. Why? She was an outcast or she would have been drawing water with the other woman early in the morning. Jesus receives a word of knowledge about her saying, "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband." It is certain this got her attention; to such a degree that she told the men in town. The word of knowledge is knowing of a past event or fact. It is primarily used to get the attention of the listener, giving credibility to additional information. We often see it used to identify someone that a healing is about to follow.

-3 Faith (word of faith) - Mark 10:52 Jesus told him, "Go. Your faith has made you well." At once the man could see again, and he began to follow Jesus down the road. The word of faith is not a word of knowledge or prophesy, but it is similar. This supernatural faith allows a person to believe God for a miracle or healing and receive it. It is not something that is conjured up in the emotions, but real faith that believes that which is not seen. It is the "knowingness" that God will move on your behalf, or someone else's. Most of the examples in the Bible are tied to healing, such as the woman with the issue of blood Luke 8:40-48, or the Centurion. But we cannot limit our faith to only healing.

-4 Gifts of healing - The Bible is filled with many healings too numerous to list. There is an important footnote to healing, and this is that it is plural. My sense is that certain people have gifting for certain types of healing. It could be for physical healing, emotional healing, the breaking of curses or the casting out of demons. Each one has it's place in the Body of Christ. The realm of healing is so diverse that one person is rarely anointed to heal every kind of disease and sickness. It is certainly possible, but my experience is that some seem to be wonderful with physical healing, and others with emotional healing, while others concentrate on kicking the demonic to the street.

-5 Miraculous powers - John 2: 1-11 Jesus turned the water into wine. Pretty spectacular don't you think? And he went on to multiply the loaves and fishes too. It is interesting to note that miracles are not healing. These are supernatural events that take place outside of the human body.

-6 Prophecy - Act 21:7-14 Paul was in Ceasaria and received a prophesy about his incarceration in Jerusalem. Again, there are many instances of prophesy (knowing the future), but I like this one because it is believers acting as Jesus would.

-7 Distinguishing between spirits - Acts 16:18 - Paul was followed around by a demon possessed girl, and after some time, he decided to deal with it directly. It is not prudent to cast out every demon you come across. More importantly, this is distinguishing between spirits. It is knowing when something that looks good is bad, and also seeing God at work in horrifying and terrible situations.

-8 Speaking in different kinds of tongues (languages) - Some say that the day of Pentecost was this. I will respectfully disagree. I believe that was a miracle simply because the speakers did not need interpretation. In the book of Acts some were baptized in the spirit and began to speak in tongues and other prophesied. This gift is really a prophecy in another language, which during a service should rightfully be interpreted.

-9 Interpretation of tongues (languages) - these last gift actually does not have Biblical example. We do know this gifts exists, because it is, A) part of the list, and B) there are instructions for using it in 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

There are many teachings on these gifts, and how you use and receive them. Here is where I stand. I think they are available to every true believer that desires them. And most often they seem to operate through those that have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can debate how one is baptized in the Holy Spirit for the rest of eternity, but I would rather see you ask God for wisdom, and start desiring these gifts, both of which are commanded in the Bible.

I do not think all believers use all 9 gifts on a regular basis. Remember, we are a body, and God is smart enough not to give every mission to the same man or woman. He has designed it so that we rely on each other.

There are two schools of thought, one is that these gifts are a one time "grace-let" sent from God through you; a vessel, to use in your personal ministry. I also subscribe to the fact that a certain person has been imparted one of more of these gifts, and will operate in a few or them on a very regular basis.

I believe that it is rare for a believer to have all nine gifts. Again, I have heard this, but not seen the fruit of it. The Bible does say that we can all prophesy, so that in addition to one or more of the other is more probably the norm.

I have written on this subject before in much broader terms, you can read that HERE.

Happy Holidays!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

As I sit here in my little office, I can see a few feet of snow out the window. My teenagers are on their way to celebrate Jesus' birthday. My shopping is done, and I ran a few errands for my wife too. I have all the ingredients for my hor d'ourves. The Christmas cards just arrived thanks to Fed-Ex. We'll be calling them New Year's cards. I am thinking about what church will be like tonight - it's a new place. I am looking forward to a Merry Christmas.

Every year I take some time off at Christmas because I really enjoy the season. I hear the excitement in my kids voices about the gifts they hope to receive. My youngest wanted to sit on Santa's lap-- "You know Dad," she said, "the real Santa is the one where you work." In doing a little shopping, I heard parents just as excited to give their children a gift... so much so, as I walk the aisles of department stores and ride mall escalators, I often hear "This will be an early Christmas gift." It is an exciting season!

I remember my early Christmases. I still have a letter that I wrote Santa in first grade, the wooden angels glued carefully in the corners. There were the Christmas pageants where most of the kids forgot their lines. I looked forward to receiving a few matchbox cars-- the coveted Ford Anglia #6 -- that was the best Christmas. My mother did such a great job of stuffing the stockings with fruit, nuts, candy and small gifts. Beneath the tree were often dozens of packages with long awaited treasures - well except for the clothes - in my mind they didn't count! Mom even had a secret wrapping paper for Santa's gifts.

As a teen I looked forward to getting record albums from artists Steve Miller and Yes, accompanied by a note from my brother which read "Do not play this junk when I am home!" I remember going with a friend to Hartford to see the lights in the city. Another one I drove around visiting my friends in the midst of a snow storm.

Jesus was a long way off.

Some time after I got saved, I started to see church as a wonderful time to learn about how my Lord was born. I loved midnight mass, especially when there was snow. Even today I have candles, wreaths and a creche.

I meditated on some Christmas services that were meant to get us thinking about the "true" meaning of Christmas. The one where we were to offer ourselves as a gift to Jesus. There was another where we gave gifts to the poor, the homeless and children who's parents were in Iraq or prison. Each year we are encouraged to think about what we have, not what we are getting.

Some years I have railed against the anti-Merry Christmas movement, put out posters with pictures of Santa and Jesus with the slogan "Who's birthday is it anyways?" This year, I was just too busy to do a whole lot until today. I decided to say "Merry Christmas" to the folks that I know at work, at church, and in the stores. I even reeled off a few prayers for the pick-up truck driver that rolled over in front of me on the Interstate on the way to the company Christmas party.

Honestly, Jesus seems far off this year. Possibly its because the older kids are away at college and my folks are gone. Maybe it's because my wife is working again today. Maybe it is because some of our traditional family outings were canceled. We did make the Nutcracker and the Fatima spaghetti dinner followed by a walk on the lighted grounds. Or maybe what I really need to do is watch Home Alone and believe in love, peace, family, and miracles.

Some days I wonder what other Christians are thinking and doing this season? I know that some churches are looking to attract local visitors for their services tonight. They are hoping to reach out, to preach the gospel. Others are going to feed the poor in a soup kitchen. Me, I just started to think about it today.

As I am sitting here later in the day, I remember going a performance The Annual Boar's Head & Yule Log Festival in Ft. Wayne. With 200 actors, and a full orchestra, it was an amazing performance. I remember it ended with the the hymn, "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him." Now I remember why I love Christmas time.

But I wonder, how far off is Jesus?

Merry Christmas