Devotion.al

Tag: Holy Spirit

  • Spirit Movement

    Psalm 51, Isaiah 66:1–16, Acts 16:6–15

    How the Spirit moves in our lives is both a and very important. The psalmist requests to be restored. Attributed to King David after being confronted in his regarding Bathsheba and Uriah, there is definitely some that needs to happen.

    While David as an was often not the shining example, at the same time he led the people of Israel to God fully. While we recognize David’s shortcomings and sins, we also have to recognize what he brought. Does that mean that what he did was okay? Obviously not. As we see in Psalm 51, David did repent.

    On the other hand, but the time if Isaiah, the rulers, and the people were not fully worshipping God. God was just another god, one of many. Many followed the prescribed outward practices but did not have the heart that was yielded to God. Isaiah wasn’t the only prophet calling to account, either. Contrast this to David. Nathan had a very short , and David was contrite. David was humble, submissive in spirit, and trembled at God’s world (Isaiah 66:2).

    David and the chided (by Isaiah) Israelites had very different responses to the Holy Spirit. Both had an experience of correction. David had additional experiences of support and direction.

    Paul, by this time in Acts, had had a number of interesting experiences with the Holy Spirit, but this might be one of the most important as it applies to us. Paul wanted to go to Asia. That was the plan. God wouldn’t let them. Think about that for a moment. Many in the (rightfully) talk about the loss of evangelism. Paul was told not to evangelize. Then he tries to go to Bithynia and is again stopped by the Holy Spirit. Stopped. Prevented. No evangelism here.

    Then Paul received a dream from a (nameless) man to come to Macedonia. He does so and makes his way to Philippi. There he meets Lydia. She converts to Christianity and becomes a strong supporter of the church. Some have called her a deacon, and yet others claim that her role was more pastor or bishop. While who knows what could have happened in Asia or Bithynia, Lydia’s conversion along with the establishment of the church at Philippi is all pretty important.

    Sometimes the Holy Spirit, as some say, knocks a person on the head with a 2×4. Other times the Holy Spirit nudges and encourages by whispers. Other times, the Holy Spirit closes the door. Being aware, being responsive, and being obedient to the Holy Spirit is what will shape and us. Also, this is how we are transformed to be more like .

    1) When you believe the Holy Spirit is telling you to stop, how do you test whether it is the Holy Spirit or your fear?

    2) When you believe the Holy Spirit is telling you to go, how do you test whether it is the Holy Spirit or your desires?

    3) When in the last week have you felt either go or stop from the Holy Spirit? If you haven’t, are you open to asking (and listening to) the Holy Spirit about what should be stopped or started?

  • Beyond A Name

    Isaiah 43:1–4, 1 Peter 1:13–23

    Do you know somebody’s ? Of course, you do. You know yours. You know the names of loved ones. You know the names of friends. You probably know the names of people that are not that close. We sometimes dismiss the importance of names. If we thought about it, though, if someone doesn’t address us by name, we wonder if they really know who we are. We wonder if they care.

    God’s words to Isaiah tell us that God knows our name. God calls us by name. The Creator knows you by name. There is a there. Once we acknowledge the relationship, then what?

    Peter reminds us what is fully responsive and reciprocating relationship with God is. Sober-minded. Some immediately attached to this. It really is about being firmly rooted in Christ, and not inclined to bounce around. Peter explains it as in God’s complete and utter grace.

    God doesn’t just us by name. God calls us into a of holiness. The 5 questions below are a modified version of John Wesley’s questions for . They are good for self-reflection and are best in a small trusted group of the same gender.

    1. How is it with your soul?
    2. What are your struggles and successes?
    3. Any to ?
    4. Anything you want to keep secret?
    5. How might the Holy Spirit be speaking and moving in your life?

    You are called to a life of holiness. You can live it when surrendered to Christ.

  • Godly Disrupting

    Genesis 37:2–11, Luke 2:13–19, Luke 2:41–51

    Joseph’s dreams were a problem. That the figures in the dreams were readily identified by the participants tells us that the visions were easy to understand, Joseph explained the visions for them, or God also gave Joseph’s brothers and the ability to understand them.

    Even assuming Joseph was indeed a spoiled brat, scripture does not say he explained his dreams. In fact, if we cheat and look ahead, the dreams all need to be interpreted. While Joseph is indeed the interpreter later, he does not seem to be now. That is open to discussion, of course.

    The real matter of interest is that Israel “kept the matter in mind.” While Israel could (and possibly should) have chided his , regardless, he kept all these dreams in mind. Parents have a tendency to keep some of the strangest (or surprising) words and actions of their children in mind, or what people say about them.

    Take Mary, for another example. There was no question her son, , was the target of much interest. She heard wonderful and amazing things about her son. Her son said some interesting things to her. Regardless of how unsettling they might have been, she kept them in her .

    What is it about these parents that kept these particular events so strongly in their memories? Perhaps it was the whisper of the saying, “watch this.” Perhaps it is that part of us–the —that resonates with the movement of God.

    1) We read scripture, often passing over seemingly inconsequential things. Do you think that there have been opportunities to “resonate” with God’s movement that you have missed or ignored?

    2) If God were to have a memento book of you, what things do you think God would “keep in his heart?” What do you want God to “keep in his heart?”

    3) Often things that are the most unsettling, can be the most transformative. Is there something unsettling in your that you need to allow to transform you?

  • Struggling in Unity

    John 17:20–23, Philippians 1:27–28

    E Pluribus Unum.

    If you look at US currency, most (if not all) will have this saying. In Latin, it means “Out of many, one.” While the US might be the gathering place of people of many nations, it is the that should be living out this saying more than any entity in .

    prayed that we (all the church, in all the world, in all of time) would be one, just as he (Jesus) and the Father are one. This is one of those areas of mystery and freedom for the people who make up the church. Our theology and teach us that God is One. Our theology and tradition also teach us that as One, God is still (at the same time) Father, Son, and Spirit. In purpose and intent, the Father, Son, and are One. However, they are also separate (the great conundrum of the ), which should be kind of like us.

    United in intent and love, and individual at the same time. As we can see, it hasn’t worked so well in the United States. It certainly could be worse. It certainly could be better. Jesus doesn’t us the excuse of, “it’s a republic.” We are to be united (a perfect single unit) so that the world knows that Jesus is the Messiah. This is not so the world knows we are Christians or good people, or we’re “saved”. is the testimony that Jesus is who he says he is.
    Paul takes unity and puts it as a symbol of trusting in the Gospel. In other words, Paul is saying, “you’re preaching it, but do you believe it?”

    The church in general and even Generations Community Church has a problem with unity. Unity is hard work. Unity is never about our-self, it is about all of us…together.

    Whether you struggle with being united with an “opposing” political party, a different skin color, a different language, a different nationality, a different sexuality (or lack thereof), we are called to be united. We have seen denominations start the long and painful road to separation. Church history is filled with splits. Even positives, like the Church of the Nazarene (which united different churches), are outweighed by splits.

    It may seem abrupt to tie this in, but evangelism as a practice is in decline. Evangelism, not sharing the . Yes, there is a huge difference. Evangelism is often a whip. Sharing the faith isn’t. Unity is the example the world needs. Unity shows the world who Jesus is. Unity shows the world we believe what we say.

    1) Have you ever left a church for a reason other than moving? If so, why?

    2) What are you doing in this church framily to build unity?

    3) One of the biggest struggles in unity is speaking truth in love. To whom do you need to speak truth?

    4) Often the biggest struggle in unity is hearing truth spoken in love. What truths have people shared that you did (and/or do) not listen to?

  • Three Essentials

    John 16:12–15, 1 Peter 1:1–12

    The Trinity has long been a struggle. As the church began to mature, there were many struggles, discussions, and arguments over what exactly they believed. Out of those many discussions, creeds were formed seeking to unify the church in understanding. Many have tried (and continue to try) to dismiss creeds as “The Victor’s spoils,” meaning that because the creeds were what “won”, they are invalid. The argument being that there wasn’t a consensus, and those that did not agree were tossed out of the church, that the creeds were then just a source of , control, and bullying. The reality is that the creeds defining the Trinity are essential to understanding who is.

    Jesus himself makes clear that there is definite relationship between , , and Spirit. Jesus conveys unified ownership (What is the Father’s is mine; what is mine is the Holy Spirit’s.). There is also the often ignored, but almost essential statement, “…you can’t bear them now.” The Greek implies an inability (i.e., immaturity) to be able to understand what Jesus means.

    Peter’s triune greeting shows us that while there is not an explicit understanding of the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is an understanding that the relationship is essential to the church and the . Why is this important? Why does it matter? As we move in the world, an incomplete understanding can be an issue, and can often lead to doubt or attack. While the Trinity is beyond the scope of a devotional, knowing what you believe, and why you believe it, gives you the firm foundation to walk as a .

    1) When we read Jesus’ words in the light of our , there is a strong mutuality of ownership. How do you see mutuality in your relationships with others? Do you see it in your church relationship?

    2) When it comes to hard-to-understand things in life and faith, how do you approach things?

    3) Peter’s words with service. How are you serving others in the faith, whether younger or older?

  • Pain and Blessing

    Psalm 86, Ecclesiastes 7:2–5, Matthew 5:3-10

    The world is often full of pain. In fact, were you to watch the news, it would seem that pain far outweighs anything else in the world. One of the biggest reasons for this is our desire to avoid it. Sounds contradictory. If we look around us, though, often what people pursue is to avoid pain. This could be any kind of pain: hunger, , shame, health, pride, .

    This often leads to problems as we try to hide our pain from ourselves and others. We also strive to avoid others’ pain, so that we don’t feel a touch of it ourselves.

    Why is it that the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us to go to the house of mourning? Wouldn’t it be better to be in a fun place? In pain, there is often far more honesty (even if it is pain lashing out in anger) than there is where everybody seems to be having a good time, or at least certainly trying to have a good time.

    takes it even to another level and says those in pain are blessed. Blessed? For most people in pain, blessed is often not the first that comes to mind. However, in pain is often the time a is more open to . This can be the time the Holy is presented with an open door.

    1) Think of many of the major decisions in your life. Were they based partially on pain or pain avoidance?

    2) We often focus on pain. Why is that, when that’s not what we want?

    3) While Jesus isn’t telling us to deliberately and purposefully live a life of pain, what do his tell us is the ?

  • Placing the Message

    Joel 2:18–32, Acts 2:29–40,2 Peter 1:16–21

    Joel is an interesting book in that there are no definitive elements to place. There are many events and practices that put it within a few centuries, but that the prophet does not define himself, nor does he seem to be responding to a particular king, it becomes open to interpretation.

    Since it has withstood the test of time, however, we can presume that those that followed after the time of Joel recognized his words as and . As with many quotations of the Old Testament used in the New Testament, there were some liberties in context that were not out of the norm, nor was it viewed as inappropriate.
    Much of what we read from Joel was repeated by Peter to the Jews present at . Joel’s words were intended to reassure the Jews that God was not gone and that God would come in a new (and old) way. It’s pretty clear that Peter felt the event of Pentecost qualified. Peter utilized the stories of to tie in David (the precursor of the new) to the Messianic reality that he (Peter) and the disciples had been experiencing.

    There were obviously many hearts already softened to the , as the of, “what do we do,” led them repentance and . Again Peter’s message to the Jews already had the hint of going beyond the Jews. “All who are far off” “As many as the Lord our God will ” It was enough, however, for Luke (the writer of Acts) to stop repeating Peter’s words, for the message had been heard and responded to.

    Peter himself reflected on prophets. While he may have thought of Joel or David, he probably didn’t think of himself. This despite his own words being prophetic regarding to whom the would preach and reach.

    1) Why was Peter’s message so effective to the Jews who heard it?

    2) If it is the same message delivered today (which we it is), why has it become so ineffective?

    3) What are the similarities between the Jews hearing the message, and Peter delivering the message? What characteristic(s) might be the same?

  • Barriers to Sharing

    John 20:19–23, Acts 1:4, Acts 2:1–36

    The short vignette in the locked upper room after the Resurrection seems as if was a snippet of a memory that was lacking something. Yet, John felt it was important. As a precursor to Pentecost, Jesus’ statement/blessing about receiving the Holy was an important thing. Jesus had already told the disciples that they would only fully be what they were called to be when the came and that Jesus would have to not be present. Jesus directed them to .
    They waited, prayed, worshipped.
    The Festival of First Fruits (Pentecost) was a Jewish major festival to celebrate the first of the harvest and to and worship God. Probably not as full as it was during Passover, Jerusalem was still a significantly full. In addition, there were likely many people who lived far away but remained for both. Was it as packed? Probably not. Were the spectacle of Jesus and his story still floating around? Probably. They, the disciples and the people of Jerusalem, were not for what came next.

    The spontaneous sermon by Peter probably shocked him and the other disciples. While his sermon fell on fertile ground, it is probably not just the words. Any charlatan or false teacher or false prophet can preach a good sermon. The miracle of people of different countries hearing the sermon in their native tongue showed God’s supernatural approval and participation in this.

    We often get tied up in methods and modes of communicating. There are longtime disagreements about modes and methods. Far too many confuse mode and methods with the message. God made no distinction between languages. It was the message that mattered. On the other hand, we could be so concerned about the language (“did they miss the nuance?”) that we forget the effectiveness of mode and message.

    What matters is that the message was heard. The people didn’t God’s message in some tongue that they were not native to, they heard it in the tongue where they knew the nuances. God did not do a poor translation, God did a great one. More than that, hearts were transformed, and those transformed hearts went back home. Of what value is a Jew whose first language isn’t Hebrew? They took home the message that God loves them so much, that he sent his son to die for them.

    Pentecost is the birthday of the . The whole church. While it took Peter and the other disciples time to recognize what the first sermon was saying (all nations and people can come to God), it was the of the Church at birth. The Jewish Pentecost was a celeb.ration of the first fruits of the harvest. The Church Pentecost is about the first fruits of the Kingdom of God

    1) The initial to the supernatural act of hearing things in one’s own language was met with skepticism. Why do you think that is?

    2) Speaking in Tongues is considered a gift of the Holy Spirit. What is very unique about this specific display of Speaking in Tongues? If you need a hint, who is missing?

    3) Even today people hold on to methods and modes as essentials to sharing the , rather than the Good News itself. Why do people hold onto such things, often to the detriment of sharing the Gospel?