Category: holy spirit

Following the fourth Wiseman- But Why?
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · no longer lost · power of God · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Following the fourth Wiseman- But Why?

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Our traveler has heard that the Messiah has been taken to Pilot. He has made his way through the crowds, but those time he is pushing and shoving to get to the front. If only he could speak with someone, tell them of the signs and miracles he had witnessed. Tell them of the star and the prophecies. Somehow, maybe he could help end all this. He was no man of small means. He has great influence in his area of the world. Influence he will use if he needs to. If only he can get close! He trips and lands into a Roman guard who immediately, angrily grabs him and drags him I side the building to a room to be questioned. Things were so intense that even a mistaken stumble lead to our traveler being held. A voice sounds from the other room. It’s Pilot! Then another voice… “my King.” Our traveler whispers.

John 18:28, 33-38 ESV
[28]  Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.
[33]  So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” [34] Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” [35] Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” [36] Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” [37] Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” [38] Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.”

Our traveler was so glad to hear Pilot speak those words, though when the Messiah was lead out to the crowd and our traveler caught a glimpse of Him from the room he was in, his heart dropped and he had to hold back tears. The blood trailed behind Him. His wounds were so deep. Why?
“Why do this?” Our traveler asks the guard.
“Why not.” He humphs.
“Don’t you know who He is?”
“Yes. We all know that by now. It’s not our people who want Him killed, it’s yours.”
“But why?”
“You tell me. You can go now. We have no more questions.”
Our traveler walks out. Still with the question, why?

Why? The fact is. If it had not been for our sin Jesus would never have needed to die. There was literally no other reason. He was pure. He did kind things. He taught truth. If the garden had never happened and the apple had never been bitten into, Jesus would never have died. There are times when we ask ourselves why? Why did I get hurt? Why did my dream not take off? Why did I get sick?
Then shortly after asking why? We ask where? Where was God?
In communications class for health care professionals, we learn to never ask questions that start with ‘why?’ Because such questions lead us down a bad road. One why leads to another, which leads to defensiveness and anger. Instead of asking why? We are told to make positive statements about how to fix things. We cannot always do this, there are many times when the problem cannot be fixed. But instead of asking God why? Ask Him, what next? If this has happened then show me your reason and purpose. He might do exactly that. You never know what God will show you, unless you stop asking why? And start asking what? What is it you want me to do? What is it you want me to learn? What is your purpose?
God has a reason, we just have to trust Him.

Following the fourth Wiseman- A false palm branch
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Following the fourth Wiseman- A false palm branch

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We find our traveler once again being pushed and jostled by a crowd. He had heard people shouting,  “Hosanna!” and knew in his heart that it had been because of the Messiah. Our traveler followed the voices and now he found himself in the midst of a crowd standing near the gate to Jerusalem. A woman bumps into him and looking at his hands she says,
“You do not have a palm leaf to lay down. Here, take one of mine.” She hands him a green branch and head on her way.
Our traveler looks with interest at the branch. Then he notices that people are waving the branches and placing them on the road. Our traveler rushes to the front of the crowd and adds his branch to the others just as the shiny young hooves of a donkey colt step past him. He looks up, “blessed….” he begins to say and then stops. The eyes that rest upon him are red with tears, but the face still smiled at him. The moment so enveloped him that our traveler forgot why he was there. He had been within speaking distance of the Messiah whom he had sought after for some 30 or so years, and he had been so sad at the pain in His eyes that he had forgotten to speak. To give his gift. To say “may you be blessed.” The moment had passed and the chance was gone.
“I did say blessed, I suppose that’s something.” Our traveler says to himself as He walks away.
Later he recalled all he had seen and had heard of the day.

John 12:12-16 ESV
[12] The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. [13] So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” [14] And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, [15]  “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” [16]  His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
We always see the triumphant entry as a happy moment. I mean, it literally called triumphant. Yet, it was a sad moment for Jesus. He had so badly wanted to see the people of Jerusalem change. He had wanted to love them. Yet they doubted Him. He rode in to cheers of the crowd, yet He knew their hearts were still cold. He fulfilled the prophecy. Yet it broke His heart. Hosanna. Save us we pray. How often do people shout Hosanna. Shout, save us. And don’t actually want to be saved. Save us, but let us stay how we are. Save us, but don’t change us or our lives. Save us, but leave us here to stay cold and dead inside. The people shouted Hosanna and then only a little while later shouted, crucify Him. How many false palm branches have we laid? How often have we shouted to be saved and not actually mean it?
Jesus came to save us in a very specific way. He did not overthrow the government. He did not kill the enemies of His people. He did not restore the earthly kingdoms. He came to save us from ourselves. To save us from our sins. Hosanna. Save us from the devil Jesus. Save us from falling into hopelessness. Save us from us.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Following the fourth Wiseman- And all the rest
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Following the fourth Wiseman- And all the rest

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Our traveler left his new friends with a joy in his heart that replaced the sadness and disappointment of that morning with a burning fire. Our Traveler walked a ways until he found a small hillock and made camp for the night. As he lay on his back with his camel by his side, his eyes stared at the stars and he wondered how many more his Messiah would call and who they were?

Matthew 10:1-4 ESV
[1]  And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. [2] The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; [3] Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; [4] Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
We hear specifically about the calling of eight of the twelve deciples, but we don’t really have a lot of information on the others. We know that Simon was a zealot and it is suggested that Judas too may have been. We know James number two was the son of someone named Alphaeus, where Thomas and Thaddaeus were just names in the list. Actually, though he comes later, Bartholomew can also be added to Jesus’s deciples. Who were these men? What had their lives been before Jesus called them? Were they married? Did they have girlfriends or children or pet fish that they left behind? Was it a great sacrifice to follow Jesus? Or did He lead them out of bad places and into the safety of His presence?
We really don’t know. There are side texts and historical records that point to some of them, but there is nothing Biblical record. I suppose that is sort of what it is like to follow Jesus. Once you choose to go with Him who you were before does not really matter. Who you are once you give your life to Him, the things you do after, these are what count. Simon did not stay a zealot. Peter did not remain a fisherman. Matthew gave up being a tax collector. These were what had previously defined them. Now the only thing that defines them is Jesus.
Who you were does not matter. What you did before you met Jesus no longer counts. He has washed it all away, now you are someone new. Loved and chosen.

Packing for the road part 1
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Packing for the road part 1

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Acts 17:28-31 ESV
[28] for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ [29]  Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. [30] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, [31] because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

There are so many these days who want to jump in and claim that every tiny thing is a sign of the end. In fact there have been signs of the end off and on since Jesus died, was it not Paul who said that we are now living in the last days?
We can be afraid of what we see around us or we can look to God and His word. Petra has a song called last days. They say in it, that the last days are the final craze. It’s so true. These days we have had are crazy. It feels like people are losing their common sense let alone their sanity. When walking through the valley it can be easy to look at the crooked trees and the shadows. But if you look too long you will find that you have wandered off the path after them and now you are trapped. Don’t worry. The good shepherd has had lots of practice pulling his sheep from bramble. When these days come we need to focus on Jesus and only Him. He is the light that will guide us.
You will need five things to get you to the other side of the valley. Think of this as your ‘what to bring’ list for the road.

First you will need a map.
You will hear many people and preachers tell you things that sound true, yet the only way to know if they are truly true is to listen to God Himself. Take everything you hear and test it against the Bible.
I love my Bible. It has a nice big concordance in the back where I can look up every scripture on most topics. If I hear something I need clarity on, or something that just doesn’t sound right, I reach for my Bible and find the answers God gave us. The walk can be long and everything can begin to look the same, but a good map will show you the right way. You look at it and see the trees, mountains, rivers. You can tell by the landmarks which way to follow and what to avoid. God has always been the greatest cartographer, He has given us a map that does not simply show us where to go, but also how to get there. There is no fastest route on this map, it will be a long journey, life usually is, but you will get to your destination. When you get there you will not hear, “you have arrived.” You will hear, “well done good and faithful servant.”
Don’t forget to pack your map.

Standing in the storm?
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Standing in the storm?

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Sometimes, you have to go through the rain to see the blessings. Sometimes, you have to fish all night before Jesus tells you to throw your nets on the other side. Then after He has been in the tomb for three days and you are out on the water all night once again, with your faith wounded and your hearts broken and a man on the shore tells you to throw your nets one more time, and you know it’s Jesus, so you fling yourself over the side of the boat, knowing that you can walk on the water of He is with you. You grab Him and cry.
Sometimes, God will remind you of your first act of faith when you are in your hardest moments, so you remember how He answered you.

John 21:4-7 ESV
[4] Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” [6] He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. [7] That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

Luke 5:3-7 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Sometimes we go through the pains of a suffering we do not understand and we never truly see the reason. Sometimes we suffer and then see what God created through it. Sometimes our blessings cause our suffering. Sometimes our struggles do. But no matter what causes the pain, God has a purpose and will save you. No matter how you feel in the moment, don’t forget, ever, that God is good. He will never cause anything to happen to you that He does not plan to bring you out of, and many times He will bring something great of you.
Perhaps you will not become the deciple upon which God builds His church, like Peter.
Perhaps you will not be upright and righteous beyond any other in the Land, like Job.
But God, will bring you out and bring something great out of you!
Trust Him! He is always on your side.

I’ve got my own giants
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I’ve got my own giants

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I’ve got my own giants.

We had a pastor who used to say that you need to get out of only praying for yourself. But that’s hard. We pray for other people’s problems, but we become distracted by our own problems. Our giants are big too.
We worry over ourselves because we are on the frontline of our own lives. We don’t feel what others feel, but we definitely feel what we feel. Then, one day, a person goes through what you have been through, and you pray harder for that person than for any of the others because you understand. You have met their giants, and you know how awful they are. Sometimes, God let’s us go through things so we are prepared from the battle to help others with their battle. Perhaps God knows that we have the strength to endure with only Him, and the person we will meet will need a physical hand to hold. It’s what is grown in the battle that makes us who we are. But we get to choose if anything grows. Do we turn to binge watching TV? I know I do more than I should. Do we turn to friends? What is your escape plan for when the fight comes?
It is when we turn to Jesus that we grow. When we say, “I’m fighting through this because God is on my side!”
We say that you can do anything you put your mind to, but the fact is no, you can’t. There are things you can not do on your own. But there is nothing that God can not do. It’s when you give the battle to Him and follow behind His sword and shield that you see victory. We have our own giants. But don’t go saying that your sling and stone won the fight because you were a great shot. Or because you had better technology than the dead champion who had won countless battles and most likely met fighters as good as you and sling shots as fast and powerful. When you walk away from the fight, know it’s because God walked with you into the fight. Your giants are big. But your God is bigger.

How many times
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How many times

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How many times has God heard me say, “I can’t go on! I am so scared.”? More times than most who know me would imagine. Fear is such a constant thing in this life. Recently, my dog started stress chewing his feet. They are raw, and I have to stop him when I see him doing this. Why does he do this? Because we have had anxiety in our household, and he reacts with a stress release. The thing is, if we don’t turn to God when fear or anxiety hits, we will turn to something else. It might be harmless like chocolate or something dangerous to our health or spiritual health. To turn to Jesus means to face the fear head on, and none of us want to do that. To give it to God means to talk about it with Him, it means letting Him know how we feel and that involves acknowledging those feelings. If we don’t turn to Jesus, we will fall into a dark place. Turning to Jesus is turning toward the light. So many things stress us out and scare us. Exams, a scary boss, a health problem, financial issues. Go ahead, Add to that list, I’m sure there are plenty are more that could be brought up. There was an old song, I believe Andrea Crouche wrote it, it said ‘give them all to Jesus. Shattered dreams, ruined hearts, broken toys. Give them all to Jesus and He will turn your sorrow into joy.’                        It hurts and scares us sometimes, just going through this life, but the answer is not to find a paw to chew, we need to turn to Jesus and let Him show us the answers that He has planned.

I feel…. but.. it’s Christmas
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I feel…. but.. it’s Christmas

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Dear friends. Christmas is a time when we feel all the feels, and I mean ALL! We feel happy and sad and stressed and at peace because Christmas reminds us of what we love and who we have lost over the years. Just now, I almost cried because an image of a dog came onto my phone, and it was one of my Nana’s favorite breeds, and suddenly, I missed her. Why am I saying this? Because it’s okay to feel. Feel all of it and then let it go. The thing that makes that tangible and important is making sure that you don’t feel alone. Feel those feelings with Jesus. Rest in His embrace and let Him heal you. Panic comes, but Jesus calms the storms. Pain happens, but our Lord is healer. We have lost… sometimes more than we can bear, but God has prepared a home in Heaven. We feel peace at Christmas because the light of the world came. His angel said, “Fear not.” Jesus said, “peace I leave with you.” Why? Because He knew who we are. It hurts sometimes. We see no light at the end of the tunnel. But God. It will always be Jesus who shows us the way. We may think we cannot do it. But all things are possible through Him. Don’t feel guilty about having all the Feelings at Christmas. Just make sure you leave those feelings in the hands of the Messiah.

He is I Am part 2
Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · Love · no longer lost · power of God

He is I Am part 2

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The most high God. I love this. We get so caught up in our human problems that we become so stressed that many of us have ulcers. It’s as though we are making bread, and we can’t get it to rise. Why would that be? Because we forgot an important ingredient. Bread without yeast will not rise, and problems without God are tragedies. Without God, we have no solution. We have no one to go to. As Christians, we have God. He is there with His arms open, ready to take you into them. But we get so caught up with our problems that we forget to go to Jesus. We leave Him out of the recipe.
In Genesis, we find this name of God. Elyon.

Genesis 14:19-20 ESV
[19] And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; [20] and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. We forget that God is Most High. He possesses Heaven and Earth. We forget that we are small creatures compared to our big God. God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. God can and will deliver our enemies into our hands if only we will surrender to Him. Revival is not when people eventually find God. It’s when people finally stop fighting Him and let Him love them. God Most High will deliver your enemies into your hand if only you will give the battle to Him! God Most High who owns both heaven and earth wants to love you. He wants to help you. When hard times come, we let stress come over us, and we forget that God is part of our fight, He is the most important part of our recipe. God is El- Elyon.

He is always with you
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He is always with you

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Jehovah Shammah, He is the God who is always there.

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, more wonderful than knowing that God is always there. Always! I was reading a book on studies of the Bible that my dad gave me. I really enjoyed the part that spoke of God’s character. In summary, it said, “We know from the Bible that God loves us and is holy and all powerful. If we know this, then why do we assume that the God who loves us will leave us in confusion? He will guide us and show us and give us understanding because He loves us.”
When we hit hard times, we become confused. Terribly confused sometimes. We become confused about life, about ourselves, even about God and who He is. But God is always with us even in our confusion. He helps us and guides us. He will show us His path and will help us take it. He is not surprised or annoyed by your confusion, He gets it. He understands that when we are confused we are also frustrated. He gets that we need help. He let’s us know the He always with is because sometimes we forget that He is here. Sometimes we face great enough of pain that we think He has left us. Sometimes we think He is angry and is ignoring us. Sometimes our confusion and frustration blinds us to Him. He knew that would happen, so He let us know that He is always with us.

God’s names all contect. He is our provider, our healer, our banner, our shelter. Every name God calls Himself is a name that shows us His love and security. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our peace. And He is our righteousness. He is the great I Am!