Tag Archives: holy spirit

Your Body

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We hear so much today about the sin of abortion.  It is rampant in our nation.  I do not apologize for my stand because abortion is murder.  Plain and simple, murder.  Yet, we allow this atrocity because some women say, “It is my body and I can do with it as I please.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It is not “my body”.  The body you live in belongs to God Almighty.  He created this vile body and it belongs to Him.  The Bible even goes so far as to say that our bodies are God’s temple.  Look at I Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Now, the next time you involve yourself in something that you should not remember you are taking Jesus with you.  Dr. Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship said that having sex with your mate is like having Church.  This is because our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.  He further said that the next time you and your mate have sex remember it is a worship service.  I am not going there.

We want to take ownership of our bodies; but, we seem to lack in stewardship of our bodies.  When I roll up to the buffet line I don’t normally think about my body being the temple of the Holy Ghost.  I normally thing about how full I can get my plate before I have to go eat and start over.  This is just as wrong as the person who has sex outside of marriage.  So, the next time you want to get a new tatoo, smoke a cigarette, drink alcohol  or go to the local buffet and “buffet your body” just remember the body you are abusing the temple of the Holy Ghost of the Living God.

So, how are you doing?

Why We Do Not Have Revival 5

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As I was thinking again this morning about “Why We Do Not Have Revival” a thought came to me.  It sums up this entire series of blog posts.  Here it is.

We don’t have revival because we don’t want it.  Profound, I know.  It is the truth.  Look at our Scripture again in II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The very first word is the key.  “If”.  Revival is conditional.  When we meet God’s criteria then He will move.  Until we meet His conditions then He is under no obligation to send revival.

The problem is that we have become so calloused by the world we live in that we don’t see a need anymore for revival.  I am not talking about a special Church meeting.  I am talking about a real change of heart, mind and attitude.  What I am talking about is revival that closes the bars and houses of prostitution and the like.  I am talking about something so life changing that people will take notice and refer to people as “they who turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6).

What I am talking about is a supernatural movement of God among His children because they have emptied themselves and want nothing else but God to fill them.  We desperately need God!

So, how are you doing?

Farming 6

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This will be our last installment on farming for this go around.  As I was thinking again about driving the tractor the other day I keep going back to the finisher.  It is an effective piece of equipment.

The first section of the finisher are disks.  These cut up the leftover corn stalks or bean stalks.  This makes them smaller and easier for the planter to go through.  The next part are called shovels.  They break up the ground even more.  They are shaped like an arrow head and thus they really get things broken up.  Then the third part of the finisher are the rolling baskets.  They are a series of knives that are arranged horizontally in the shape of a circle.  As they rotate around they chop what the other two sections have broken up.  This leaves soil that is ready to be planted.

This brought my mind to the work of God the Holy Spirit.  He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  Look at John 16:8, “and having come, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment;”.  His ministry is to convict us to break up the fallow ground we looked at in the first installment of these posts.  He will cut, rip and chop what needs to be gotten out of our lives to make the ground of our hearts good ground to receive the seed of the Word of God.

Here is where the rub comes in.  You and I must yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit as He works in our lives.  If we will become sensitive to His promptings then it will be much easier for sure.

 

Humbled

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Yesterday I spoke to you from my heart.  Today I would like to continue my thoughts.  My heart is still aching after that incident.  I am sure that you can imagine my pain.  As I began thinking about this whole thing I was reminded of Matthew 21:37-38, “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.   But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”

This is where I began hearing from my Father.  He spoke to me about how His Son Jesus was treated by his own people.  The tears began to fall.  I know it is a whole different situation.  Yet, I now feel like I have a better understanding of how my Father felt when people reject Christ and say all manner of evil things about Him.  Oh my!

Sometimes in life we experience things that are unpleasant.  We wish that we had not experienced them.  The Father tells us that these are for our good and His glory.  Well, I dropped the ball in our experience the other day for sure.  Thank God for forgiveness!

The people of Jesus’ day did not understand Him.  Not even His own men.  How this grieved the heart of Jesus and Father.  Just like I sat in the van grieved only on a far different plane.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am sharing this from my heart to yours in order that we might understand the heart of the Heavenly Father.  He loves us supremely and He allows these things into our lives to drive us to Him.  I know in my life it caused me to see some things differently.  If people would not reverence and respect Jesus why would fallen man have any respect for God’s special people like our son.  The rhetorical answer there is, “They will not.”  God help them!

So, how are you doing?

Guardrails

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I have some very distinct memories of traveling Indiana back roads.  My family originated in western Indiana in some very small towns that if I named them you would not even know them.  Each year we would travel back to this area as a family.  It was so much fun.  I would love to take that trip today with my grandparents.  I would not wish them back from Heaven even for such a day though.

I remember many tight turns in roads were deep valleys lined the roads.  I can remember thinking to myself, “What do they do in the winter?”  I remember places where guardrails lined the roads to keep vehicles on the road and out of the ditch.  The guardrails were aids to navigation so to speak.  Probably not like we think of them; but, they were nonetheless.

In human history there is an ebb and flow to life.  There are ups and downs.  There are times we follow Christ closely and times we try to walk our own path.  The children of Israel were no different.  They seemed to do okay as long as a judge was in place; but, when they died it was a whole different story.  Look at Judges 2:19, “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”

God has given to us His “guardrails”.  He has given to us His Holy Spirit.  He has given to us a love letter in the Bible.  He has even given to us more mature believers to help us navigate the winding roads of life.  It is up to you and I to gain access to these helps and put them in place in our lives.

So, how are you doing?

Reaction or Action

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On the second DVD of a set published by Bill Gaither there is a song that I cannot recall the name.  The Isaacs sing it and it is about war, spiritual war.  The song speaks of a soldier going down and then follows with this line, “Go then with haste.  Stand by his side.”  This time around the words brought tears to my eyes.  Some days this would not even get a second thought.  “Why?” you might ask.  Some days are tougher than others.

There are days when the spiritual battle and physical battle rages so tough that it saps everything out of you.  It is this weakened condition that sometimes  we do not see things as they really are and we don’t respond correctly.

In the past; well over twenty, years I have seen the carnage on the battlefield.  It is not a pretty sight.  For some reason we seem drawn to shoot our wounded and leave them for dead on the battlefield.  If you are guilty of this then you; just like me, need to drop to your knees and beg God for His forgiveness.  You are part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Brother’s and sisters are bring wounded and all around us and we need to run to them and do our best to heal them and restore them to the battle.  I thank God for five dear men in my life that their goal has been to do just that in my life.  My heart aches for those who do not have a support system like this.  Yet, there are times that even this support staff cannot help.  They have to do as the song tells us and “Go then with haste.  Stand by his side.”  Look at John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

So, how are you doing?

The Eagle 3

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As we continue this thought about the eagle I thought about this verse.  Look at Deuteronomy 32:13, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;”

An eagle only flies 20% of the time.  That means that 80% of the time they are gliding.  How do they accomplish this?  You see the eagle yields to the wind and allows it to carry them where they want to go .  It makes me think about trials.  We seem to fight against the trials in our lives; but, they are opportunities for us to learn and grow.  I know from experience.  I also know that this is the last thing I want to hear in the midst of a trial.  No matter, it is true.

The Holy Spirit of God has been described as a “Wind”.  Is that not interesting?  It is to me.  If I will yield myself to God and let the Holy Spirit work in my life things will go somewhat easier.  I don’t mean life will be easy my any stretch of the imagination.  If we can stretch out our wings so to speak then we can let the “Wind” of the Holy Spirit carry us above the storms of life and we can soar like eagles and quit clucking like chickens.

So, how are you doing?

Who Has The Reins?

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If you are going through your entire life and you do not experience trials then please send me your formula for living.  Trials are a part of life; but, our response to these trials are optional.  Nobody likes to experience trials.  They hurt, are unpleasant and lonely among an entire host of other adjectives.

We don’t like to walk alone in the dark.  I love the description and help given in Psalm 16:7, “I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.” This verse reassures us that when it is too dark to see that God will direct us.  How does He do that?  He uses our “reins”.  This is our mind (our interior self).  What the writer is telling us is that when the Holy Spirit lives in us God speaks to us and guides us like the reins used to steer a horse.

I have owned a horse in my earlier years and I have had the pleasure of riding many horses.  I know what it is like to be guided by the reins and to guide by the reins.  It can be painful for the disobedient animal.

It is the same for you and I.  Things go smoother if we just yield ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

So, how are you doing?

It’s Darker Than It Has Ever Been Before

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Just before leaving the funeral home where his wife was celebrated, a man was asked if he would like for another family member to take his young daughter with them so he could have time to grieve.  The father responded, “No, we will go through this together.”

That night as the father was going to bed his daughter called to him and asked if she could sleep in his bed with him.  He readily agreed.  When the lights went out the daughter asked the father, “Daddy is your face turned toward me?”  The father assured his little girl that his face was turned toward her.  The little girl said, “Okay, I can go to sleep now.”

When the little girl had fallen asleep the father slid out of bed and on to his knees at the bedside and prayed.  He said, “Father, is your face turned toward me?”  God the Father spoke to this man in the depths of his heart and said, “Son, my face is turned toward you.”  This father replied, “Then I can go to sleep now.”

Dear friend, I don’t know what you are going through; but, rest assured that you have God’s undivided attention and that His face is turned toward you.  He loves you so very much that He cannot take His eyes off of you.  Remember the truth of Psalm 30:5, “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”  Hold on my dear friend, joy is coming in the morning.

So, how are you doing?