VOTD

Contact with the Spirit in the Trinity – VOTD.06.12.17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:15

There’s a brilliant theological concept we call the Trinity, which amazingly, nearly all Christians agree upon. It’s simply a way to describe the ‘three in one’ nature of God: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. These three are One God. Not three parts of God, even though they can act individually. (It can get a lot deeper than that, but that’s all we need for this meditation.)

The ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ are concepts which we can understand pretty easily in the Bible. They have a sort of mental and emotional resonance with us and we can pretty much figure out how they act individually and in harmony with each other and with each of us.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is more difficult for many of us to grasp (just as Jesus implied when He spoke of those who are ‘born of the Spirit’ and how they would be (Jn 3:8).

The ‘Spirit’ or in the old English, ‘Ghost’… ‘Holy Ghost’ sounds alien and just a little spooky. So those of us who like to define and pigeonhole things into neat packages so that they are easily taught and understood are going to find the Holy Spirit pretty elusive because He isn’t easily defined—and that’s exactly what Jesus was saying to the theologically-bound Nicodemus in John 3 (v. 10). The Spirit works mysteriously but so tangibly…if we’re watching. (more…)

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Pentecost Realities – VOTD.06.06.17

Very truly I tell you, it is for your advantage that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7

In today’s verse, Jesus predicts the events of Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. None-the-less, many Christians believe in the Spirit that came at Pentecost, but they relate to Him the same way they might relate to their pituitary gland: Undoubtedly grateful it’s in there; remember from health classes that it’s essential for something; wouldn’t want to lose it…but they don’t really interact with it.

For these Christians, the Holy Spirit is not a moving, dynamic Person. He’s more of a theory than an experience.

Yet Jesus said the most shocking thing about the Holy Spirit in today’s verse; one so familiar, however, that many of us just gloss over it without considering its significance. He said it was to our ADVANTAGE that He leave us and sit at the Father’s right hand in heaven because it meant we could receive the Holy Spirit. (more…)

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Pentecost Substitutes – VOTD.06.05.17

Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord’s followers. He asked them, “When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?” “No!” they answered. “We did not even know that there was a Holy Spirit.” Acts 19:1-2

In case you missed it, yesterday was the Day of Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to abide within each of us. Many Christians are like the Ephesians in today’s verses. When Paul asked them if they’d receive the Holy Spirit when they believed, they replied, we did not even know that there was a Holy Spirit. Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them (v6).

Of course, today, most Christians are aware of the Holy Spirit’s existence, but for many, that knowledge does them little good because they haven’t been to their own Day of Pentecost.

They don’t understand the role of the Holy Spirit because they haven’t reached out and taken hold of the Spirit for themselves; they don’t experience the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I’ve heard present-day, North American Christianity described as “The Era of Pentecost Substitutes”. Lacking the real power—lacking the real fire from God— many try to produce their own fireworks.

Many whole churches today are fat, out of shape and out of breath. They are muscle-bound through over-organization, controlism, judgmentalism, honor-brokering, etc. What we need today is the wind and the flame of Pentecost. What we need is the Holy Spirit affecting our lives, not just our organization or theology.

Back to “Pentecost Substitutes”: We are living in the day of programs and promotions and pulpit stunts, trying to duplicate the excitement that God-the-Holy-Spirit did back in the New Testament. Much like Nadab and Abihu who offered fire that was unacceptable to the Lord (Num 26:61), we whip up our own flames, but we lack the reality and the warmth of the real thing. (more…)

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Pentecost and Transformation Power – VOTD.05.30.17

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37

This coming Sunday many Christians will celebrate Pentecost. In the Old Testament, Pentecost was a Jewish feast day celebrating the agricultural harvest. But in the New Testament, Pentecost celebrates an entirely different kind of harvest: It was on this day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 followers of Jesus who were gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15). The result was thousands found Jesus as their Lord.

Pentecost is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:15ff)— it happened fifty days after His resurrection. (more…)

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Restoring that Which was Lost: Acceptance – VOTD.05.23.17

Always be completely humble and gentle, patiently putting up with each other and loving each other. Ephesians 4:2
With compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bear with each other and forgive one another Colossians 3:12-13

The New Testament has an amazing number of passages about accepting each other. I could have picked from dozens of verses about acceptance. Paul wrote, “Accept one another just as Christ accepts you” (Rom 15:7). We must accept others even though they have faults and sins—just as God accepts us even though we have faults and sins.

To fail to accept each other is sinful, itself, because God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality with any of us (Rom 11.2)…If we don’t accept each other, we are setting ourselves up as their judge and that is God’s job, not ours (Rom 14:4).

Acceptance is the first ‘A’ in honoring the people around us. People we live with. People we work with. People we church with. Neighbors, friends, extended relatives…wait-staff, the guy at the gas station, the list goes on. Obviously, we have more opportunity (and authority) to honor some of those around us than others, but the characteristics I’m sharing, fit no matter who we find ourselves in contact with.

These people around us all have legitimate, God-given needs for “the 4 a’s” we talked about last time: Acceptance. Affection. Attention. Affirmation. Jesus intends for His followers to receive them from each other, laying a foundation of a healthy sense of their individual identity in Him and their place in His Kingdom. This is how we honor each other. Nothing will kill honor faster than seeing it as a one-way street. (more…)

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Judgment vs. Restoration – VOTD.05.22.17

Heaven was opened, and (Jesus) saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

We saw last time that love does not stratify the value of people. Judgment depends on that kind of stratification. The person judging is often seen as or wants to be seen as having a higher status than the person being judged. The need to be seen as or consider oneself as above or below others feeds this stratification and further judgment.

And it is to this that James refers when he writes that Christians must not show favoritism (2:1). The brand of favoritism he speaks of is wealth and most of us have seen that kind of favoritism in our local churches and perhaps in our own lives. But we’ve all seen the same thing in regards to any number of other judgments. (more…)

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Fake News: Judgment vs. Love – VOTD.05.16.17

Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13

One of the issues of our day is Fake News. Now, there’s nothing new about fake news. It’s just exposed in our day that your fake news is interfering with my fake news. So the realization that there’s fake news out there becomes unavoidable.

Fake news annoys people because we want to believe that our positions and decisions are based on facts rather than hype and spin. When we’re forced to admit that any news we hear or see is possibly, even likely, to be fake at some level, it makes us uncomfortable. And that’s exactly why our judgments of each other are so dangerous.

Our judgments of others is based on fake news; incomplete information; spin and assumption based on biases that fit in with our preconceptions. We don’t know all the facts; we make assumptions about why people are behaving the way they are with unreliable and sketchy data. Therefore the one we judge can’t even get a fair trial in our minds or hearts/attitudes.

So it’s no wonder Jesus drew His followers’ attention away from judgment and toward love. You might think Love and Judgment don’t have much to do with each other, but they are close opposites, so they have more to do with each other than we might think. (more…)

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The Judgmental and the Judge – VOTD.05.015.17

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Romans 14:4

Do you remember the prophet, Jonah? He was unwilling to spread God’s word of impending doom against the people of Ninivah, because he was afraid they might repent, and then God would have mercy on them and not bring the calamity He warned of.

Maybe that’s the problem. Like Jonah, we’re afraid God is going to be too lenient on those we scorn, so we have to judge them for ourselves. We can’t trust Jesus to judge them harshly enough. That may not be the motive in every case, but I’m pretty sure it is many times. We judge others because we don’t trust God to do it right.

And that makes some kind of sense, since in today’s verse Paul tells us that those of us who Jesus judges are going to stand. Not, by-the-way, because we are innocent. We’re not. Not one of us is. But because God is able to make us stand.

If we’re judging others, that’s bad news. But if we’re on the receiving end of judgment—in which case, today’ verse is really good news. Other’s are going to judge us. But rather than defend ourselves and judge back, we trust God to act and judge in our behalf.

The amazing thing that today’s verse tells us is that if we were to judge as Jesus judges, those we judge would stand. They would be acquitted…on the basis of Jesus shed blood atoning for them. That sort of changes the picture, doesn’t it? (more…)

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