The pastor at my church recently started preaching on the Holy Spirit. I do not think I have ever looked at the Holy Spirit this way before. I have found it really interesting, and I have begun to look at some things a little differently. Much of this post is taken from my pastor's messages; he found these verses and preached on them. I took notes, and this is a lot of it.
The first week, the message was on whether the Holy Spirit is a person or a power. He is a person! Not a power. He is very powerful though. My pastor provided verses that prove that the Holy Spirit is a person. He has characteristics of personality (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12:11; Ephesians 4:30) and person-hood (Revelation 2:7; John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13; Romans 8:26; Galatians 4:6). We are to have a personal relationship with Him instead of just asking Him to do stuff for us, much like a power (the image depicted here is referring to something like a light switch, how someone can turn it on and off). The Holy Spirit is not to be treated like a light switch. We should treat Him the same as God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.
When we have this personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, too, we will be different. We will be devoted to being with God and His teachings. We will have a love and desire to be in the presence of God (reverently, dancing, singing, lifting our hands, etc.). The Holy Spirit can do so much, and after someone asks God to forgive them and asks Him into their life, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside them. This is why Jesus had to leave. Jesus told the disciples that He was sending the Counselor to them, but if He did not go to Heaven, then the Counselor could not come (John 16:7). The Counselor is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Ultimate Promise of four things: encouragement, truth, power, and salvation. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as a helper (John 14:16) who walks right next to us through everything. Jesus also spoke of the Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of Truth" (John 14:17). Jesus said "He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). In Acts 3:1-9, Peter heals a crippled man with the power of the Holy Spirit who was living in him. The Holy Spirit can make a difference with His power, too; "but many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand" (Acts 4:1-4). And we are all saved, or given salvation, through "sanctifying work of the Spirit" (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
This past week's message on the Holy Spirit was about the differences in the Baptism and the Filling of the Holy Spirit. Not once in the Bible, the Word of God, are we told, we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, but we are under Biblical mandate "to be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18b). My pastor gave the analogy of when someone is drunk. When someone is drunk, they lose their inhibitions, and they begin doing things they would not do otherwise. We are to be "drunk" in the same sense with the Holy Spirit. We are to give complete control over to Him, and allow Him to work through us to do things for the Lord, we would not do without His control. Another difference is that the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is a once-for-all operation, and the filling of the Holy Spirit is continuous. We are filled over and over again. Galatians 5:22-23 names the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will have and produce this fruit, but if we lose one of the fruits, we are not filled with the Spirit.
We are to all be born again, first born of water, then born of the Spirit (John 3:5). We are born of the Spirit when we give our lives to Jesus Christ. In that very moment, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us; we do not have to look for Him (Romans 8:9-11). Be indwelt with the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit. Be filled, or "drunk", with the Spirit and give Him control. Have a personal relationship with Him and know that He has the power to encourage, provide truth, make a difference, and save. If we all do this, WE WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the world could be different, too.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Voting
Yesterday, I voted in an election. That was the first election I voted in that was official (not for school or something similar). Being 18 years old brings some new responsibilities to me. One of those responsibilities in my opinion is voting. Everyone who is of the voting eligibility age has a civic duty or responsibility to vote. Since we are supposed to be responsible and vote, we are also supposed to be informed.
There are ways for all of us to be informed. Everyone, if not a very large majority of everyone, has access to internet, newspapers, magazines, or other places with political information. People may say, "I don't have time." Well, I honestly believe you can always find time for it, even if it is just ten or twenty minutes for a couple nights. If you say you don't have time because of things in your life, like your kids for example, that is a problem in my eyes. If you don't take the time to get informed, or don't vote at all, your kids will be the ones paying for it in the end. The voting now will affect the next generation as well as ourselves. I don't want my future children growing up in a world worse than it is now. I believe that the way the world is now is pretty bad, and I can't imagine having to grow up a world worse than it is.
The actual act of voting is a very important responsibility. Like I said, voting will affect us now and later on. If something will affect you, why wouldn't you want a say in it? After I voted, a lady working at the election came over and talked to me. She thanked me for coming to vote and said it's good that I am voting. She also said she hopes I continue to vote, be politically active, and fulfill my civic duty. I found what she said next very interesting. It was something I had talked about in my government class and am a firm believer of. She said that so many people complain about what is going on the nation right now, and the first thing she says back to them is, "Did you vote?" She told me that if they say no, she tells them don't complain at all. You have absolutely no right to complain if you didn't vote. You didn't try to make a difference if you didn't vote. Then she told me that if they say yes, she tells them to complain all they want because they tried to make a difference and didn't get what they wanted. I agreed with her 100%! That was perfect.
With this, I hope that everyone votes and continues to vote every time they get a chance. And I challenge you to be informed and make wise decisions. I know that God will help you find the information you need to make the correct decision. He will lead if you allow Him to. So let's find out what God says the best thing is and go vote on that basis!
There are ways for all of us to be informed. Everyone, if not a very large majority of everyone, has access to internet, newspapers, magazines, or other places with political information. People may say, "I don't have time." Well, I honestly believe you can always find time for it, even if it is just ten or twenty minutes for a couple nights. If you say you don't have time because of things in your life, like your kids for example, that is a problem in my eyes. If you don't take the time to get informed, or don't vote at all, your kids will be the ones paying for it in the end. The voting now will affect the next generation as well as ourselves. I don't want my future children growing up in a world worse than it is now. I believe that the way the world is now is pretty bad, and I can't imagine having to grow up a world worse than it is.
The actual act of voting is a very important responsibility. Like I said, voting will affect us now and later on. If something will affect you, why wouldn't you want a say in it? After I voted, a lady working at the election came over and talked to me. She thanked me for coming to vote and said it's good that I am voting. She also said she hopes I continue to vote, be politically active, and fulfill my civic duty. I found what she said next very interesting. It was something I had talked about in my government class and am a firm believer of. She said that so many people complain about what is going on the nation right now, and the first thing she says back to them is, "Did you vote?" She told me that if they say no, she tells them don't complain at all. You have absolutely no right to complain if you didn't vote. You didn't try to make a difference if you didn't vote. Then she told me that if they say yes, she tells them to complain all they want because they tried to make a difference and didn't get what they wanted. I agreed with her 100%! That was perfect.
With this, I hope that everyone votes and continues to vote every time they get a chance. And I challenge you to be informed and make wise decisions. I know that God will help you find the information you need to make the correct decision. He will lead if you allow Him to. So let's find out what God says the best thing is and go vote on that basis!
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