Holy Spirit Power

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”
Romans 15:18-19 NLT

Paul must have been an amazing man. He preached the Gospel throughout what we know as the Middle East, and in between times he wrote a large chunk of the New Testament and spent time in prison. He was often physically abused for his labours and was shipwrecked three times. And historical records seem to indicate that he finally died a violent death in Rome. But the one thing that stood out in his ministry was the “power of God’s Spirit”. His message to the Gentiles was supported and confirmed by “miraculous signs and wonders”. But we shouldn’t be surprised by this. We read in Mark 16:20, “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs”. 

The early church was no stranger to the miraculous. As just one example, we read of the contact between Peter and a beggar in Acts 3:6-8, “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them”. As we read through the Book of Acts we see other times where the message of the Good News about Jesus was accompanied by miraculous events. 

Some church groups and denominations today have no expectation for the work of the Holy Spirit being manifested through the miraculous. They think that these Holy Spirit works died away with the early Apostles, but in fact church history records miracles taking place throughout the first few centuries and at sporadic points ever since. In my lifetime I have observed at first hand some miraculous healings, including that of my own daughter, so nothing will convince me that the Holy Spirit is not alive and well in these times, and doing “miraculous signs and wonders”. The early disciples expected that when they preached there would be a confirmation by the Holy Spirit, giving their message authority. We read about Jesus’ preaching and teaching, and the miracles that accompanied Him, and see again how powerful the Holy Spirit can be. For example, in Matthew 9 we find the story of a paralysed man brought to Jesus on a stretcher by his friends. Jesus started by saying to the man that his sins were forgiven. This considerably upset the Jewish leaders who were there to keep an eye on this upstart itinerant preacher, and their theology stated that only God could forgive sins. Of course, they failed to accept that Jesus was the Messiah and had the authority to forgive sins. But then we read what Jesus said, “So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralysed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up and went home” (Matthew 9:6-7). 

Jesus Himself said that His disciples (including us) would have the power through the Holy Spirit to do greater works than even He did. We read what Jesus said in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father“. How did Jesus perform such wonderful “works”? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He lives within us too. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“. We are only limited by our lack of faith.

What are we going to do today in the power of the Holy Spirit? A sobering thought, because we are uncomfortable when it comes to sticking our heads above the parapets of the societies in which we live. Societies where we can face much abuse and rejection just for daring to be counter-culturally different for God. But those around us need the power of God to make a difference in their lives. The lonely. The rejected. The sick. The poor and needy. In our societies today it is all about the survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle applies. In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus repeated the prophecy of Isaiah about His mission. We read in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come“. We too are anointed to continue that mission, proclaiming the Good News with the “Spirit of the Lord” upon us as well. Pew warming is not an option in the Kingdom of God.

Dear Father God. Please visit us again, bringing a Holy Spirit revival to Your people. We need more of Your power and presence in our lives. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.


Enthusiasm

Posted on by korgrocker

“So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.“
Romans 15:17 NLT

Paul wrote in his letter that he was enthusiastic about all that Christ Jesus had done through him. Paul’s life wasn’t just about being an itinerant preacher. Going around from pulpit to pulpit, delivering messages and sermons to a receptive audience. He was a counter-cultural fire-brand speaking about God’s message of hope, the Gospel. He told his listeners about Jesus, the Son of God crucified for the salvation of Jews and Gentiles alike, and they mostly didn’t want to hear it, because it was a message that demanded a response. Paul wouldn’t have held back – his message was black and white. No room for compromise. It was Heaven or hell. Repentance or judgement. And the peoples of the societies in which he found himself largely rejected him, sometimes violently. 

In Ephesus, Paul’s message turned the city upside down, to the extent that the silversmiths making idols for the goddess Artemis were afraid that they were about to lose their livelihood. So they started a riot – we can read about it Acts 19. Paul’s message had quite an impact, I think we can all agree. Paul got into more bother in Philippi, where he ended up in gaol, having been beaten by the local law enforcers. We can read that story in Acts 16. It wasn’t just his message, it was the “enthusiastic” way he delivered it with power and with signs following. We read in Mark 16:20, “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs”. 

Sometimes I dream about being in meetings where the preaching of the word was so powerful that people were flocking to hear it and conviction of sin was universal. Where the Word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon people in the street, their workplaces, their homes. The Holy Spirit power and presence was such that God was real to everyone, and healings were commonplace. It’s never going to happen, the sceptic might say, but it did happen in the first century, and has happened at various times since. We pilgrims must pray for another visitation from God to this war-torn planet. 

How enthusiastic are we pilgrims in our Christian witness? Do we hold back, not wanting to offend anyone? Unfortunately, the Gospel is an offence to those who hear it, because it confronts them with their sins, and the fact that they are a broken people. The one solution involves repentance, death to themselves and future life devoted to God. The old is replaced by the new. We can speak enthusiastically about God’s saving grace through Jesus, but most people in our societies will reject both us and the message we are delivering. But enthusiastic we must be, because of Jesus and His love for us. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again”. 

The Message of the Cross is life changing and we must share Paul’s enthusiasm by sharing it in our generation. We have no other option.

Dear Lord Jesus. It is only You that spoke the words of eternal life. Please help us to echo them in our families and communities, in our schools and workplaces. In You precious names’ sake. Amen.

A Reminder

Posted on by korgrocker

“Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:15-16 NLT

Paul qualifies his statement in the previous verse, Romans 15:14, about teaching others, by saying something like, “I knew you would be good teachers, full of the goodness of God, but I was just reminding you in case it had slipped your minds”. And for good measure, he laid out his credentials about being Jesus Christ’s special messenger. Regarding the latter, if there was anyone who could make that claim of being special, it was Paul. Just read the account of his Damascus Road conversion in Acts 9. And the reason for Paul’s reminder was to make sure that the Roman Christians became “an acceptable offering to God“. An acceptable offering made holy by the Holy Spirit.

What reminders do we pilgrims need? Do we think sometimes that there are so many different things a Christian needs to remember that inevitably some seem to fall by the wayside? In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 we read, “When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit“. Paul was quite capable at making clever speeches – he was one of the greatest theologians of his day – but his focus was always on the good news of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion and resurrection. The Good News about God’s saving power through Jesus. For most of the time Paul was a one message evangelist. His message was incredibly repetitive – it was almost exclusively about Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. The Gospel, God’s message of hope and salvation, was always on his lips.

In the previous verses in Romans 14 and 15 Paul wrote about the importance of living together as Christians in a hostile environment. He reminded them about how they had to pull together, in loving one another, not criticising one another, being sensitive to one other, and all because he wanted to present them as an acceptable and holy offering to God.

Paul was very clear about his mission to the peoples of his world. He was so focused that at times he upset the status quo in the communities and workplaces in which he found himself. His message of God’s saving grace through Jesus was so radical that even the Jews, his own people, threw him out of their synagogues and he ended up being stoned and abused by hostile mobs. But the Holy Spirit was with him and his message of the good news was received gladly by many people. So it begs the question – are we pilgrims clear about our message to our families and the communities where we live?

Paul took the Good News wherever he went and so must we. Our messages of hope, our testimonies, may be by using words but they should also be by what we do and how we behave. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless“. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News“! Paul could speak about nothing else. He was a driven man, compelled to share the message of the Good News. We too must never miss the opportunity to share the Gospel – we may never see the fruit of it in this life, but when we get to Heaven perhaps someone will come up to us to thank us for taking the time to share what we knew about Jesus. Paul reminded the Roman Christians about their obligations to God and each other. Let us not forget that either.

Father God. You have placed us in communities and families. Please help us to look out for each other and grasp every opportunity to share the Good News of the Risen Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

‭‭

Being Full of Goodness

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.”
Romans 15:14 NLT
“Personally I am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another.”
Romans 15:14 AMP

There are two principles in Romans 15:14 that are worthy of note. Paul encourages the Roman Christians with the thought that they are “full of goodness”. How does he know that? After all, Paul had apparently never met anyone in the church in Rome when he wrote this letter. But in faith, he knows in his spirit, and by reports that had probably filtered through from travellers, that those Christians in Rome were great people. What did Paul mean by “goodness”? Qualities such as mercy, compassion, unselfishness and love come to mind. But a Christian is a reflection of God’s “goodness“, and every God-attribute builds together to develop a picture of “goodness”. In the end, though, “goodness” is really godliness. We add into the mix His qualities of purity, forgiveness, holiness, and righteousness. Jesus demonstrated His “goodness” at Calvary, where He put aside all so that we could find forgiveness with God. Paul was “fully convinced” that the Christians in Rome were “full of goodness”. Quite a statement but Paul knew that all followers of Christ would have “goodness” within them. 

Because of their “goodness“, Paul knew that those early believers could teach others around them, and reminded them of the second principle in Romans 15:14. The church in Rome was growing, and new converts needed the “goodness” qualities of the older Christians to show them the way in the faith. God in His mercy could of course teach His children about His ways and the correct path to Heaven without the help of others, and it would seem, according to Hebrews 10:25, that indeed some Christians had stopped fellowshipping. We read, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near“. We meet together as Christians for just the reason Paul wrote about. Teaching each other is not necessarily a formal “chalk and talk” session, but it is to do with shared life together. The Holy Spirit inspired much teaching about the “one another’s” in the Bible.

Here are some “one another’s” that come from “goodness”. “You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God” (Hebrews 3:13). Ephesians 4:32, “Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you“. ‭‭2 Corinthians 13:11, “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you“. And there are many others. They all speak to a shared life agenda.

We all need the encouragement or goodness in this world of badness. Sometimes we feel as though we are living in a strange place, hostile to God and His people. A place where all the qualities opposite to what God desires and exemplifies abound. A place where the devil is doing his utmost to discourage us and attack us. Breaking up our families. Destroying our finances. In fact he wants to stop believers from following God. But within us is this Holy Spirit glow of God’s goodness, equipping us to prevail over all the enemy throws at us. And we share the encouragement we feel with those around us, helping each other on our separate journeys to our promised land, life with God in Heaven. 

Dear Father. We pray the prayer that Jesus gave us, and which includes the words “deliver us from evil”. Thank You for Your goodness and mercy. Amen.

Paul’s Prayer

Posted on by korgrocker

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 NLT

The word “hope” appears twice in this verse, and it points out that the hope Paul is writing about is something that comes from God. So it isn’t a natural hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain today” or “I hope we have a good holiday”. Paul continues to pray in the next sentence that this “hope” is something full of confidence and powered by the Holy Spirit. And the consequence of this “hope” is a complete infilling with two qualities enjoyed by Christians – “joy and peace”. Perhaps when we consider this verse we are looking for a meaning to the word “hope” that is different from the world view.

As we look into other parts of the Bible we see that “hope” is a word often associated with “faith”. We read Hebrews 11:1 from the Amplified version, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]” (emphasis mine). It’s the fact that a Christian’s “hope” is “divinely guaranteed” that is exciting. We believe through faith that the promises of God will come to pass. We “trust in Him”, as Paul wrote.

What God-given promise is most likely to fill us with “joy and peace”? A “hope” that God has guaranteed? There are many such hopes written in the Bible, but where else can we initially turn to other than to John 3:16? We read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. The promise is that one day we will “have everlasting life”. Eternal life. Endless life spent in God’s presence. In Revelation 21:3-4, we receive a hint of what this future life will be like. “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” “Death or sorrow or crying or pain” just about sums up every negative human emotion and experience and we “hope” that one day God will deliver the promise to do away with them “forever”. And, poignantly, God will personally be involved with each one of us, wiping away our tears.

In the meantime, we have a “hope” in this life. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope“. As we journey through the years remaining in our natural lives, God reminds us that He has good plans for us. He sees our years laid out before us, and He knows what’s coming our way. Perhaps some people view this as a negative. Weary people populating a pew and waiting for the day when they cross the Great Divide and enter eternal life. But God has so much more for us in this life. Exciting things. Things that are the manifestation of our hope in Him. And Paul’s prayer was that we would experience “joy and peace” as we “trust in Him”. What a prayer! But what a Saviour!

Dear Lord. Thank You for showing a world without hope that there is a future. We are a part of Your plans, and so we declare our trust in You with our future, in this life and the next. Amen.

Hope and Encouragement

Posted on by korgrocker

“For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
Romans 15:3-4 NLT

How do we wake up in the morning? Depressed because there is another day, with all its hassles, that we have to face into? Or raring to go, full of energy and vigour, more than willing to take on anything the day ahead can throw at us? Too many of us will probably fall into the first category, dragging ourselves out of bed in obedience to the alarm clock or a strident voice echoing up the stairs. A parent once told me of an infallible way they used to get their reluctant teenagers out of bed in the morning. It was a variation of the cold wet flannel. Instead they used to threaten a teaspoon of cold water poured into whichever ear was uppermost. Just a threat was sufficient, they said.

What do we do when we get up in the morning? Is it a mad dash to get to the office on time, or a more leisurely start? Do we start the day on our smartphones, reviewing the emails and messages that came in overnight? Then do we check our bank accounts and scan the news headlines? All tasks soon followed by feelings of regret that we even bothered because the bank account suffered from overnight transactions and the news was all bad. All worthy things to do in themselves, but would we have been better off reading the Good News, and lifting up our spirits into Heavenly places? I know we can’t live in denial, but perhaps God’s Word will give us the perspective we need to see the world through God’s eyes.

So, one thing we definitely need most mornings is a dose of hope and encouragement. Paul wrote in Romans 15:4 that this can be found in Scripture. And so it can. A good start would be to turn to Jeremiah 29:11. A well worn verse we know, but full of encouragement. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Imagine it. God has plans for us. Good plans. And in them we have a “future and a hope“. And then we have Isaiah 41:9b-10, “ … For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand“. God said that we are His chosen ones, and as we look to Him, with our hands palms up to receive, He will provide the strength we will need for the day ahead. His “right hand” is a picture of that strength, and it is “victorious” as well, implying that He has defeated all the foes who have come against Him.

There may be times when we have gone to bed, discouraged and oppressed after a bad day. Well, read Lamentations 3:22-24, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him“”! 

Why do we wonder that we are depressed as the sun emerges in the dawn? When the morning breaks upon our consciousnesses? Paul wrote that we should be patiently waiting “for God’s promises to be fulfilled” and we can only do that as we take the trouble to find our what the promises are. When we neglect our spiritual well-being, the day, more often than not, becomes overcast with difficulties. A few minutes in God’s presence is worth far more than an extra hour or two spent in bed. In John 7:37b-38, Jesus said, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart‘”. A prayer I regularly pray in the mornings is this, “Jesus has been glorified and he is waiting for people to say, “I’m thirsty, Lord, desperately thirsty, and I’m going to go on coming to you until you give me something to drink deeply. I want living water inside. I am thirsty, and I want to be baptised inside, and I want within me a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” Praying the promises of God is a powerful way to start the day, filling it with hope and encouragement through the power of the Holy Spirit. And you never know – those around us will probably be impacted as well.

Father God, thank You for all the gracious and loving words of encouragement contained within Your Word. Amen.

Helping Others

Posted on by korgrocker

“We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.”
Romans 15:2 NLT

To put this verse in context, Paul is provide some instructions for how Christians should behave, particularly in relation to each other. It must be fairly obvious that helping “others do what is right” may not be the easiest of tasks. If one of our friends is doing something illegal we can, of course, try and warn them. Or if a random stranger is behaving badly, we can attempt to intervene. But in both cases we might find that our interferences and good intentions are rejected, with varying degrees of push back. 

Back to our verse context. Paul here is referring to fellow believers, and we have a relational bridge with them because of our common belief in Jesus. He is the One who has united us and who leads and guides us. So if we see a fellow believer in some sort of difficulty, we can offer to help. It may be through some practical assistance, such as doing a bit of shopping or giving someone a lift. But it may also be something spiritual, offering comfort or direction in times of stress. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ”. If we have a good relationship with one of our brothers and sisters, and we see them doing something that is unwise or even bordering on sin, we may have the opportunity to help them to deal with the issue. Or the other person might be struggling with, what is for them, an impossible situation. So we help them with this – we might just have the key that unlocks the burden they are carrying.

An important part in our lives of being a Christian is helping one another. We will all need help at one time or another. Natural or spiritual, it is all the same in God’s eyes. And in the process of helping others, Paul wrote that we should “build them up in the Lord”. There is nothing more encouraging than a kind word, or a loving touch, in building someone up. The thought they might have that they are just rubbish evaporates in the light of a comment that tells them the opposite. A person never singing because they think they are out of tune is transformed by someone telling them what a lovely voice they have. A mother struggling with a difficult child is encouraged by someone telling them that they are doing a good job. The list of opportunities to encourage one another is endless – we just need to discern the other person’s needs and pop in the right words. In Proverbs 25:11, we read, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken at the right time”. 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage and comfort one another and build up one another, just as you are doing”. 

It’s an important part of the Christian life, to build up others in the faith. And by so doing, as Paul said to the Galatians, we “obey the law of Christ”. What could be better than that?

Father God, You taught us about the “one another’s” in our lives. Please help us to find opportunities to help our fellow brothers and sisters. Day by day. Amen.

Be Strong

Posted on by korgrocker

“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.”
Romans 15:1 NLT

‭Paul continues to write about the importance of considering others, particular other Christians. But we pilgrims know that, of course. But what about ourselves? Are we the “strong” people in this verse? Believers strong in the faith and able to withstand shocks in times of stress and difficulty? People who are not impacted by what others say or do in our presence? In Matthew 24:9, Jesus said, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me”. Or would we react as Jesus described in the next verse – Matthew 24:10, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other”? A thought that must put fear into the heart of even the strongest believer. 

But I think Paul was making the point that the strength we have in God, through our faith relationship with Him, transcends all the mayhem and temptations that surround us. Another believer behaves in a way we think inconsiderate or even sinful, but we are not affected in ourselves by that. Instead we look for an opportunity to gently and lovingly help the other person. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”. 

Being “strong” as Paul expects, applies to our own behaviour. We are strong enough to control our lives so that what we do is not to please ourselves but to be pleasing to others. We pilgrims do not behave in a way that will have a negative impact on a fellow believer. We watch our speech, and the words we use. We are careful with the relationships we foster. The way we act in our families is beyond reproach. We make sure our emotions don’t take over our lives, particularly when we are provoked. 

Paul wrote about the tools we have at our disposal to make sure we can in fact be strong believers. Ephesians 6:10, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power“. And Paul goes on to list the items of spiritual armour that God has supplied. We can read about them in Ephesians 6. We must also realise that the perhaps overly sensitive brother or sister will be fighting their own battles against the forces of darkness that Paul wrote about. Those evil spirits in heavenly places. We are all on a journey through life, slaying our own “dragons” on the way. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit walks with us, helping us to stand firm, strong and unmoved in the face of the enemy’s onslaught. At the end of Jesus’ temptation, we read in Luke 4:13, “When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came“. A strong believer will find that the enemy and his minions will leave us if we stand firm. But we mustn’t forget, he’s always on the prowl, looking for an opportunity to oppress us some other time. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong“.

Dear Father God. We thank You that we are on the winning side, strengthened by You and Your Spirit, that lives within us. We stand firm in our faith, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Blessed Are Those …

Posted on by korgrocker

“You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
Romans 14:22-23 NLT

Paul wraps up his discourse on food offered to idols with another word of encouragement. In it he appeals to our consciences. Perhaps a glass of wine might illustrate the point he is making. As a Christian, I might decide that a glass of wine with a meal is not a problem to God, or me. A second or third glass might be, but one on its own is not. But we know that another Christian thinks that all glasses of wine are from the devil, thoughts probably initiated by being brought up in a family where their father regularly got drunk and came home to beat up their mother. So drinking that glass of wine in front of the other believer would cause them difficulties in their faith. The result is that, knowing the sensitivities of the other believer, I will not drink a glass of wine in his or her company, instead sticking to fruit juice or plain water. But Paul said that I am blessed to be able to think there is nothing wrong with that single glass of wine, because I have satisfied myself that, through my relationship with God, I am doing nothing wrong. 

However, if I now venture to having a second glass of wine with my meal, that might be something that I know I haven’t settled with God. Or, for a change, I might take a liqueur with my last coffee. Both situations where my conscience might kick in, because my previous conversations with God haven’t resulted in His approval. So I have now ventured into the realm of committing a sin. The doubts I may have about adding to my alcohol input have become sin. 

There are areas of the Bible where we don’t have a clear black and white set of rules. But neither should there be because we walk with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses“. 

If I am tempted by that second glass of wine or the end of meal liqueur then I might feel a prompt, a nudge, from the Holy Spirit. This is because when I became a Christian, I gave God permission to place His Spirit within me. Yes, I can overrule Him. But it wouldn’t be very wise. My conscience will only allow me a single glass of wine, and no more. Anything else wouldn’t be right and I’d be sinning. Paul wrote, “Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right”. We are blessed indeed to have a conscience and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There is no other religion that can claim their adherents have God Himself living within them. Something precious. Something unique. How can we violate something as wonderful as this?

Living the Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticised for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.”
Romans 14:15-19 NLT

Paul now moves on beyond writing about right and wrong foods to what really matters. He wrote that we should live a life of “goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. Rather than look around us at what other Christians are doing, we should instead get our own lives in order. And I’m sure if every believer focused on that, there would not be an opportunity to criticise others. We’d be too busy sorting ourselves out. We should always remember that we are not responsible for another believers’ walk with God. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12b-13, “ … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose”. Our journey through life hand in hand with the Holy Spirit is an intensely personal thing.

Paul also wrote the following to the Ephesian church, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). There is a lifetime of activity here. The “old man” within us died with Christ – Colossians 2:20, “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world..?” We are now a new creation “created to be like God”. So with His help that is what we do, casting aside all the things that we used to do and that hold us back.

Paul wrote the following to the Philippine church, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). That’s living the life. By doing so we can guarantee ourselves a life of “goodness and peace and joy“. And the Holy Spirit can live within us, enjoying the experience too. Paul went on to point out that living life in this way will please God. And other people around us will notice someone who is different and someone they will approve of.

It may be a big ask. We’re only human, some will say. Excuses such as “you don’t know what I’m going through”, or “my mental health isn’t good at the moment” will emerge. Did Paul write something that is impossible to keep? Was he setting the bar too high? The key is in the words, “in the Holy Spirit”. In our own strength, we don’t have a hope of always pleasing God. But with the Holy Spirit within us we have a chance. Isaiah 40:31, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint”. That’s really living the life!

Dear Father God. We really want to live a life that is pleasing to You. No “if’s” or “but’s”. Just a life lived in the Holy Spirit. Amen.