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Theology of the Holy Spirit – VOTD.07.16.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 16th, 2018 | by

Then, taking a deep breath, [Jesus] blew on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  John 20:22

When we look at a topic like the Holy Spirit there are at least four ways to look at it: academic, historical, spiritual, and practical. All are theological, and most people only look at the Holy Spirit one or two of these ways, which accounts for why the topic of the Holy Spirit can get so clouded. 

So today I want to consider HOW we look at the Spirit…

Academic theology (including systematic, biblical, exegetical, and lexical) explores the “What?” questions. It’s based on logic, philosophical questions and cognitive understanding. If we were to look at water from this viewpoint, we’d see a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, and consider the qualities of water (liquid, solid, gas), its erosive nature, etc. Of course, Academic theology begins looking at the Spirit from the texts of the Bible, and quickly breaks down those texts in an orderly and logical way, reaching conclusions based on that orderly scholarship.

Historical theology explores the development of doctrine over time. It asks the “When?” questions. It uncovers and presents the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in evangelical tradition or other traditions and how it has evolved from the time of the Bible writes and church fathers to arrive at the state it is today. Using our water analogy, we’d see the historical: what did people used to think about water, how has that changed? Where is the latest thinking leading? Of course, historical theology begins with the texts of the Bible and quickly moves on to how those texts were interpreted in the early church, the church of the Middle Ages, the reformation, various renewal and revivals since then. (more…)

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The Holy Spirit: When? – VOTD.07.23.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 13th, 2018 | by

When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…” John 20:22
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… Acts 2:4
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke to them… Acts 4:8

At a recent wedding I was talking to a young woman who expressed serious spiritual confusion based on what she found herself experiencing vs. the theology (or lack of it) that she had grown up in church with. In a nutshell, she was experiencing a move of the Holy Spirit in her life, but her church experience had never prepared her for God acting this way.

That’s ok. God specializes in breaking out of the boxes we have Him in. But how is it that so many people like this young women…people who grew up in local churches with youth programs, sound teaching, etc… meet the work of the Holy Spirit and have no idea?

That question is answered by the ‘When?’ question. How has what has been learned over time affect what we currently think (positively and negatively)? How does failure to learn affect us when we face spiritual realities we’ve never considered? (more…)

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Holy Knowing the Holy Spirit – VOTD.07.10.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 10th, 2018 | by Wheels of Glory

Because we are united to Christ, we have direct access to the Father through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:18

Have you ever finally met someone you had only emailed with in the past? Face to face we learn volumes about people whom we’ve never met in person. We discover things about their personality that changes our relationship completely.

We became sensitive to them as we experience what pleases them, what grieves them. We get to know them beyond what we’ve read. We even interpret what we’ve previously read in a different light because now we “know” them.

The Holy Spirit, wants each of us to know Him like that.

What makes someone a person? It’s what comes out of them. Emotions. Will. Intellect. Feelings. Opinions. These are just a few of the things that give us a personality. The Holy Spirit is a person. And just like you and me, He can feel, perceive, and respond. He gets hurt. He gets pleased. He speaks, and He has His own will.

The Spirit is one who brings into being within each of us direct access to the Father. He implements all that God has for us in our lives. God has many things for us… blessings, perfect gifts, abundant life, new nature, abilities, etc.… But it’s the Holy Spirit that adorns us with them and applies them to us.

This doesn’t eclipse the Father and the Son. But we can’t be in touch with the Father and the Son without the Holy Spirit. That’s the lesson of today’s verse. It is also the point of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 which we’ll end with:  (more…)

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The communion of the Holy Spirit – VOTD.07.09.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 9th, 2018 | by

The communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  2 Corinthians 13:14

Last time I provided two high-level steps to pursue if we want to meet with the Holy Spirit personally: 1. Ask the Holy Spirit to meet with us and reveal Himself to us in personal ways. 2. Ask people we know who seem to walk closer with the Spirit than we do to pray for us to receive more of the Spirit’s tangible presence in our lives.

Simple, right? Well, it’s amazing how many Christians are afraid to do that. Why? Because we don’t have an accurate concept of the Holy Spirit’s personality. So when we think of the Spirit it’s all kinds of weird… maybe even creepy… emotions. We know that this is God we’re talking about, but many of us have heard about Christians that are into the Holy Spirit that don’t fit our model of Christian decorum.

If that describes you, then let me admit that there are excesses out there. True. But that’s no reason to live in spiritual poverty just so you won’t be linked with the excesses that sometimes associated with spiritual wealth.

It’s kind of like some poor person saying, “I don’t want to be wealthy… have you seen the headlines in the grocery store checkout mags? Those wealthy people are wacko!” If that’s how you feel, let me tell you that there are plenty of wealthy people who aren’t wacko—you just never read about them in the grocery store checkout.

The same applies to what today’s verse calls, “the communion of the Holy Spirit,” which Paul prays over the Corinthian believers. If we knew the Holy Spirit as a person, this wouldn’t be a problem. You *hear* about people doing odd things in meetings where the Spirit is moving. (more…)

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Holy Spirit is Amazing – VOTD.07.03.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 3rd, 2018 | by

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God, so that we might experience the things that are freely lavished upon us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:12

Many years ago a group I was with got caught out in the woods on a moonless night without flashlights. It was pitch dark, so we held hands to try to not run into anything. The problem was, none of us could see where we were going so though we were together we kept stumbling into briars, prickers, trees, and so forth.

That memory comes back to me when I think about much of my early ‘training’ about the Holy Spirit. It’s not that my teaching about all God has for us was out of sync with all the other teachers I knew, it was just that none of us had enough “light” to be of any use to ourselves, much less anyone else. And even today, many Christians are in the same situation. Plenty of company, but collectively no further enlightened than my friends and I when we were walking in the dark.

Let’s start with the basics. The Holy Spirit is with us from the moment we invite Jesus into our lives and become born again. Problem is, a lot of Christians stop right there. Yes they’re headed for heaven someday, but meanwhile, they miss out on all that could be theirs through the deeper experience of the Holy Spirit (“things that are freely lavished upon us”).

Then there are Christians who testify to a second impartance of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Many Christians attest to that experience and stop right there. But again, they miss out on all that could be theirs through the deeper experience of the Holy Spirit. (more…)

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Amazing Jesus – VOTD.07.02.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | July 2nd, 2018 | by

Everyone was awestruck. They were stunned seeing the power and majesty of God flow through Jesus. Luke 9:43

My desire is that all I write brings glory to God. But in this meditation, I’m focusing on Jesus specifically. In reality, Jesus is too amazing for words. But the writers of the Bible inspired by the Holy Spirit did their best with words to help us understand just how amazing Jesus is.

Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Every knee will bow to him both in heaven and on earth. He is the most glorious One in both places. Highly exalted above all powers and principalities, much more powerful than anything that exists. Jesus Christ rules over everything that we think is in charge. He is the Lord over everyone who thinks they are in charge. His authority is perfect, complete, and forever.

He is life in eternity. Nothing and no one can measure up with Jesus, because He is perfect by every measure. The host of heaven rejoice and worship Him in total awe and rapturous esteem. Jesus is the ultimate joy of God the Father. He is the joy of humanity and all the beings of heaven. He is from eternity to eternity and is higher exalted than anybody else.

Jesus is too beautiful for words and the bringer of happiness to the people who love him. He is perfect Victor. He gives us His victory and fills us with hope. He makes our future beautiful instead of frightening.

Jesus is the light of the world. His radiance is brighter than the sun. His light is so magnificent that it banishes the deepest darkness. The light of His face is overwhelming and devastating to evil. Demons retreat in fear of His brilliant appearance. He is righteous and pure in everything He does, says and thinks.  (more…)

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Restoration – VOTD.06.26.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | June 26th, 2018 | by

Then Jesus asked him again, “Peter, son of John, do you have great affection for me—more than these?” Peter was saddened by being asked the third time and said, “My Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you!” John 21:17

You probably know the story… Jesus had been crucified, buried, and now had risen from the dead. Jesus’ trial had not been Peter’s finest hour. In the Upper Room, before Jesus’ arrest, Peter had made the grandiose statement of his commitment to Jesus: “Even if everyone else abandons you, you can count on me.” That hadn’t worked out so well.

In fact, reading of the post crucifixion gospels accounts, Peter isn’t mentioned all that much until John 21. When someone falls we tend to toss them under the bus and that seems to be going on with the other 10 disciples. In fact, Peter seems to have tossed himself under the bus. He says, “I’m going fishing,” and the others say, “We’ll go with you.”

Now we find Peter, Andrew, James & John—not out for a relaxing evening of rod & reel sports fishing, but literally back in their former employment, laboring through the back-breaking toil of nets and boats. After agonizing through a night of fishing with no fish to show for it, they recast their nets at the word of a stranger on shore, and then realized they were in the presence of Jesus. Soon they were enjoying the fellowship and nourishment of their Lord provided on shore.

Where did the boat and nets come from? There were no boat liveries where weekend sports fisherman could rent a dinghy and maybe some gear to do a little fishing. It’s most likely, Peter (who instigated this fishing excursion), still owned a boat or two and the nets to carry out his former employment. When he said, “I’m going fishing,” he had the equipment to carry out his plan—and enough for the others, as well. (more…)

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Glory – VOTD.06.25.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | June 25th, 2018 | by Wheels of Glory

And [the seraphim] called out to one another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3

It is interesting to think that heaven cries out about the glory of the Lord on earth. Not just that His glory would cover the earth – future tense – but in the present tense, that the earth is full, now, with the glory of the Lord. We can define the glory of the Lord as “the magnificence and great beauty of the Lord; the heavenly splendor and bliss of the Lord… the evidence of God, Himself.”

In a way, the seraphim’s call is a response to the cry of the psalmist, “Blessed be the Lord God… who alone works wonders. Praise be his glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen!” (Psalm 72:19)

If we think about the fact that there was a minimum of 220 years between when David penned Psalm 72 and the vision of Isaiah, that’s more than 200 years where people were singing that song – crying out to God to fill the earth with His glory.

Even before David, God promised His glory – “As I live, all the earth will be filled with the Glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). That was more than 400 years before David would write Psalm 72.

And so there was a promise, a repeated cry for fulfillment, and then a vision of its reality.

The seraphim’s words were more than just a nice saying – they were a fulfillment of a promise given more than 600 years before, the answer to a worshipful prayer that had been prayed for more than 200 years.

Today we can see the evidence of the glory of God – in the natural world, in our times with God, in our daily lives – the manifestation of the glory of the Lord covering the earth. We are living in the reality of what God promised, what David prayed for, what the priests and people after him prayed for, what Isaiah heard had become a reality.

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Hope – VOTD.06.19.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | June 19th, 2018 | by

“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Revelation 4:1

I’ve spent the past few weeks hiking… climbing mountains, enjoying magnificent views. How much more clearly we are able to see our surroundings when we’re standing on top of a mountain instead of hanging out in a valley. Metaphorically, God wants us to come up higher to where He is, so we can more fully see things the way He does.

Sometimes we feel discouraged or even let down by God. Many times, we can’t see the full picture of what God is doing in our lives because we aren’t able to see things from His perspective.

It’s easy to focus our attention downward at what’s wrong with our situations and circumstances. There’s nothing wrong with considering what’s going on around us, but if we’re not looking upward, we won’t have God’s perspective… seeing things the way He does.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Ps 121:1,2)

Many of us are still living in the narrative of our past or trying to deal with our present struggles out of the perspective of our past storylines. God sees us in our painful situations, and He will not leave us alone. He hasn’t dropped us. God is for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31)?

After repeated losses, it’s easy to give up hope…to simply not want to continue hoping, only to be disappointed again. When that happens we need to intentionally choose to live each day with gratitude and joy. That puts us in a position to receive new things from the Lord…to walk in His plans of hope and a future (Jer 29:11)

Focusing on our loss keeps us so distracted that we can actually miss the blessings God is trying to release to us. (more…)

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Press On – VOTD.06.18.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | June 18th, 2018 | by

So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 1 Corinthians 9:26

There’s a difference between acknowledging a doctrine that says that God is All-Powerful and living a victorious Christian life that expresses and demonstrates how All-Powerful God really is. In the same way, there’s a difference between running on a treadmill and going nowhere and running in a race to win the prize (Phil 3:14). Paul tells us in today’s verse to, “Run in such a way that you may win”.

The implication here is that we can run in such a way as to not win…we can go through the motions. We can ‘just get it over with’. Or we can run to win.

There’s a story of a man who approached a laborer who was laying bricks and asked him, “What are you doing?”
The laborer said, “Can’t you see I’m laying bricks?”
The man then walked over to another bricklayer and asked, “What are you doing?” And the workman answered, “I’m building a cathedral.” 

Both were physically doing the same thing, but the first laborer was occupied with the present task, and the other was concerned with the ultimate goal. I’m told that this is a true story. But as I look around me it’s easy to identify people serving God who resemble both of the workers.  It’s easy to become encumbered by the urgent, entangled in the web of our own faithlessness. (more…)

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