Come Holy Spirit – Dont let me grieve you!!

To understand what it means to “grieve” the Spirit, we must first understand that this is a personality trait. Only a person can be “grieved”; therefore, the Spirit must be a person in order to have this emotion. Once we understand this aspect, we can better understand how He is “grieved,” mainly because we, too, are grieved. Ephesians tells us that we should not “grieve” the Spirit. Let’s stay in the passage to understand what Paul wants to tell us. We can ‘grieve’ the Spirit by living like the pagans, by yielding to our sin nature, by lying, by anger, by stealing, by cursing, by bitterness, by being unforgiving, by sexual immorality. To “grieve” the Spirit is to act out in a sinful manner.

Both “quenching” and “grieving” the Spirit are similar in their effects; both hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, and further away from the world and sin. Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to quench what is good – so we should not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit by refusing to listen to His leading.

We can know that the Holy Spirit is indeed a Person because He possesses a mind, emotions, and a will. The Holy Spirit thinks and knows . The Holy Spirit can be grieved. The Spirit intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit makes decisions according to His will. The Holy Spirit is God, the third “Person” of the Trinity. As God, the Holy Spirit can truly function as the Comforter and Counselor that Jesus promised He would be.

Ephesians 6:4!!!

Ephesians 6:4 is a summary word of instruction to parents, represented here by the father, stated in both a negative and positive way. “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” The negative aspect of this verse indicates that a father is not to foster negative passions of their children by severity, injustice, partiality, or unreasonable exercise of authority.

Harsh, unreasonable conduct towards a child will only serve to nurture evil in the heart. The word “provoke” means to irritate, exasperate, rub the wrong way, or incite. This is done by a wrong spirit and wrong methods—severity, unreasonableness, sternness, harshness, cruel demands, needless restrictions, and selfish insistence upon dictatorial authority. Such provocation will produce adverse reactions, deaden the child’s affection, check his desire for holiness, and make him feel that he can’t possibly please his parents. A wise parent seeks to make obedience desirable and attainable by love and gentleness.

The positive aspect is expressed in a comprehensive direction—educate them, bring them up, develop their conduct in all of life by the instruction and admonition of the Lord. This is the whole process of educating and discipline. The word “admonition” carries with it the idea of “putting the child in mind of,” which is the act of reminding the child of faults (constructively) or duties (responsibilities according to their level of age and understanding.) The Christian father is really the instrument in God’s hand.

Martin Luther said, “Keep an apple beside the rod to give the child when he does well.” 

Tell the Lord Yes!!!!

 

Psalm 105 – Many of the Psalms open on a low-key, then build up to a crescendo of worship.  but this one begins with a explosion of worship:)

 ¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; 
       make known among the nations what he has done.

 ² Sing to him, sing praise to him; 
       tell of all his wonderful acts.

 ³ Glory in his holy name; 
       let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

 ⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength; 
       seek his face always.

Give me God’s Eyes!!

As we approach Easter — its time to look at the work of Jesus through God’s eyes. Since salvation is the great spiritual work of God in respect to man, it is reasonable to believe that he has a definite purpose, plan, and program.  

By his prescience God was fully aware that man would fall into sin and become utterly ruined even before he created him.  Still, he created him for his glory and purpose and planned a way of redemption when he   “chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” .  The purpose is indicated in human nature and in the Scriptures.

The fall of man occasioned the loss of his original innocence and holiness, but it did not rob him of all his spiritual knowledge.  All men have some idea or conception of God, though it may vary greatly.  The Scriptures declare that men have this knowledge also on the testimony of the voice of creation.  The purpose of God to provide salvation for man is indicated in the remnant of the knowledge of God which he is allowed man to retain.

The knowledge of sin.  This is as universal as the knowledge of  God.  In Fact, it is possible to meet with men who claim to be agnostics and yet readily admit the existence of sin.  The presence of evil all around them is evidence too strong to be denied.  Even those who claim they are  ”good enough” and need no savior, do not go so far as to say they have never committed sin. The heathen may have conceptions of sin which do not harmonize with Scripture, but they believe that certain things offend the deity in which the believe.  All men have moral notions, even the modern man who by theory does not believe in morality.  Although the standard of moral judgments may be much lower than those set forth in the Bible, moral judgments are still constantly being made. –In the next post we will look at how the New Testament is the fulfillment and explanation of the Old and how that reveals God’s purpose.

Seven Shouts of Jesus!!!

 

The seven statements that Jesus Christ made on the cross were:

(1)Matthew tells us that about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Here, Jesus was expressing His feelings of abandonment as God placed the sins of the world on Him – and because of that, God had to “turn away” from Jesus. As Jesus was feeling that weight of sin, He was experiencing a separation from God for the only time in all of eternity. This was also a fulfillment of the prophetic statement in Psalm 22.

(2) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. Those who crucified Jesus were not aware of the full scope of what they were doing because they did not recognize Him as the Messiah. While their ignorance of divine truth did not mean they deserved forgiveness, Christ’s prayer in the midst of their mocking Him is an expression of the limitless compassion of divine grace. 

(3) “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise”. In this passage, Jesus is assuring one of the criminals on the cross that when he died, he would be with Jesus in heaven. This was granted because even at the hour of his death, the criminal had expressed his faith in Jesus, recognizing Him for who He was.

(4) “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit”. Here, Jesus is willingly giving up His soul into the Father’s hands, indicating that He was about to die – and that God had accepted His sacrifice. He “offered up Himself unblemished to God”.

(5) “Dear Woman, here is your son!” and “Here is your mother!” When Jesus saw His mother standing near the cross with the Apostle John, whom He loved, He committed His mother’s care into John’s hands. And from that hour John took her unto his own home. In this verse Jesus, ever the compassionate Son, is making sure His earthly mother is cared for after His death.

(6) “I am thirsty”. Jesus was here fulfilling the Messianic prophecy from Psalm 69: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” By saying He was thirsty, He prompted the Roman guards to give Him vinegar, which was customary at a crucifixion, thereby fulfilling the prophecy.

(7) “It is finished!  Jesus’ last words meant that His suffering was over and the whole work His Father had given Him to do, which was to preach the Gospel, work miracles, and obtain eternal salvation for His people, was done, accomplished, fulfilled. The debt of sin was paid.

My King – Dr. SM Lockridge

 

Dr. Lockridge, a retired Baptist pastor was spotted in the audience at the beginning of a Baptist convention. The organiser of the convention asked him to come up to the stage, and open in prayer.  What followed was a stunning description of what God means to Dr. Lockridge… 

My Jesus – Which one do you Follow?

Jesus suffered most severely throughout the trials, torture, and crucifixion. As horrible as His physical suffering was, it was nothing compared to the spiritual suffering He went through. 2 Corinthians, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus had the weight of the sins of the entire world on Him. It was sin that caused Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. So, as brutal as Jesus’ physical suffering was, it was nothing compared to spirtual suffering. Isaiah chapter 53, we see the prediction of Jesus’ suffering, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.