Change of Perspective-The "Good" Samaritan

So often in life, our perspectives are skewed or completely distorted. We live in our perspectives and think they are right until God brings us to the point of seeing that we are wrong. The truth will always win out over the lies that we and the world around us wants to carve onto the walls of our souls. So, I am reading about the story of the Good Samaritan for unknown number of times and God shows another angle, another perspective that is so profound. So let me retell the story that Jesus told. A Jewish man was on his way to Jericho when he was overcome by robbers, robbed, striped of his clothing, beaten and left for dead by the side of the road. A priest comes down traveling on this same road, sees the beaten, naked man and hurries on. What might he have been thinking? I have too much to do once I get to Jericho to stop and help this man. Someone else will come along and take care of him. Or maybe he is thinking, I have to be at that meeting at noon and I cannot be late. Someone else will have to take care of this man. Well, someone else does come by. He is a Levite and when he sees the man, perhaps his thoughts take a different path. Maybe he starts to get anxious and starts searching around the area to see if the robbers are still nearby. He thinks, I don't know where the robbers are but this could have just happened and I don't want to end up in this same condition. His fear motivates him to start walking faster and he tries to keep to the other side of the road near the bushes where he hopefully won't be seen. Alas, another someone comes by. This time it is a Samaritan. Samaritans and Jews did not like each other, in fact, call it more like they hated each other, something like the Democrats hating the Republicans and vice versa. There was so much bad blood between them that the thought of a Samaritan stopping to help a Jewish man was unthinkable but in this story he does the unthinkable. Now, interestingly enough Jesus never specifically called him the Good Samaritan. That is a label we have put on this man. I think the label is fair enough but this new perspective might make you think otherwise. So, I have felt the perspective of the priest being too busy or I have some place to be and don't have time to stop and help someone in need. I have also been the Levite who was too fearful to step in and doing anything. I had never put myself in the position of the naked, beaten Jewish man on the side of the road. Imagine you are that man. You have had everything taken from you, you have been left naked in humiliation and you have been hurt not only physically but emotionally, mentally, within the deepest parts of your heart and soul. And then, Jesus comes by the road and sees you. He comes across the road to you. He takes you in his arms and carries you to an inn. He cleanses and bandages your wounds. He pays the innkeeper and tells him he will be back to take care of anything else. Jesus has gone above and beyond what this man needed. He did that for us when he came down from heaven, lived among us, died the brutal death on the cross and rose from the dead and came out of hell as a conqueror. When we die on the cross with him in our repentance and faith in him, than we too rise from the dead and become a new creation. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit given to inhabit us, live with us in the very own temple of our body. But we can still be swayed by the sinful nature that is in us. We can still choose to let our busyness or our own selfish motives drive our behaviors and lead us to not stopping to help someone in need. Or we can choose to cower in our fear and let it hold us back from doing what we know is the right thing to do, to help the person in need. Or we can allow the Holy Spirit to direct us, to give us the other-centered outlook and attitude, to give us the trust and courage to conquer our fears and do what Jesus would do. He wouldn't care who it was or what he may or may not have done. He would take care of the man. He would take care of you. Jesus concluded his story with the command, "go and do likewise". We have him within us to help us to be the "Good" Samaritan or, in other words and perspective, to be like Jesus.

Day 15: Drawing Closer to God (Good vs Pefect)

It is a question that comes up sometimes in counseling of my clients. Why would God make us with weaknesses? I woke early this morning and tossed and turned in bed hoping to get back to sleep but ended up thinking about this question. My early morning thinking is by far the clearest and often God gives me such clarity on things in those early morning hours when I don't yet want to crawl out of bed. I rejoice in the Lord for this time of clarity on perfection and weakness. I, myself, have always just thought of humans as imperfect and we are but only because we have our sinful nature that has been passed down to each of us from Adam and Eve. But, this took me back to when God created Adam and Eve and the whole of creation. His comment about what he created wasn't it is perfect; he said "it is good". My answer to the question really remains the same as what I have been instructing my clients. God created a "good" creation that was designed to be in relationship with him. To have this relationship, we have connect to him through our spirit's because God is a spiritual being. Adam and Eve had that connection from the start. They had all of their needs met and any weaknesses they had were overcome solely because they were dependent on God. But they wanted their independence and our sinful nature had begun. Our sin keeps us from connecting spirit to spirit with our holy God. However, God knew even as he was creating Adam and Eve of what was to come and already had a plan in place to send his son to us, that we may regain the connection to his spirit and be back in real relationship with him. Jesus was the perfect man. This is possible because like Adam and Eve before the fall into sin, he was connected and relying on his Father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore he had the connection from the womb and on into our fallen world. It is through Jesus that we can regain the connection and allow the Holy Spirit to overcome our weaknesses, enhance our strengths and fulfill all our needs.

Day 3: Drawing Closer to God (Did God really say that?)

I am thinking back to what I read in the book called The Jesus Code about the questions that Satan posed to Adam and Eve. It definitely shows how devious Satan is because his manipulation is so subtle. That one question, did God really tell you not to eat from the tree of knowledge? Okay, that was in my own words based on my wishy washy memory but its not about the exact wording but about the implication of what Satan is saying through this question. He's giving the seed of doubt and just like the seed of truth that Jesus sows, if the soil takes hold of it and let's it grow, that seed of doubt will weaken our faith and trust. Knowing that Satan will be so cunning, we have to prepare the soil in our souls each day by watering it with the truth in God's Word, fertilizing it by calling on the Holy Spirit within us and letting the light that is God pour into us. When we do this, our easy automatic answer to this question will be "Yes, he did and I will trust and obey him."
Genesis 3: 1-5
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.' "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God know that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil."

What Is Your Power Source?

It is amazing the power we have within us called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like a generator. Most of us don’t have a generator but it is a power supply that people get as a back-up to the current power supply they already have. Generators are used in place of the normal power supply that you use. However, they do not automatically go on unless, of course, in my lack of complete knowledge on generators there are some that you can program to come on when your regular power source goes off. In any case, YOU have to make the choice to turn on the generator. Spiritually speaking, our regular power source is our own attempts to be God. This power source is based on a lie that Satan planted in Eve way back in the Garden of Eden and has been planted within all of us. Read Genesis 3: 1-6 to discover those first lies that Satan planted within us. He makes us question God and lies to us making us believe that we can be like God.  How many of us have heard this kind of self-talk and/or talk spoken by others: “I can do it on my own”, “I can do it by myself”, “I don’t need help”, “I’ve got this”, “I know what I am doing”. You may have your own statement you can add to this list. These are all lies we tell ourselves which are supposed to give us the power we need but when our power source is based on a lie the consequences will reflect this. Suppose I am a teacher and one of my students is having problems dealing with anger. As teachers, we often rely on the techniques we have learned on the job or in our education regarding teaching but as followers of Christ, we have to be cautious of what we are teaching. Teaching based on a lie will not ultimately help teach this student about how to handle his anger in ways pleasing to God. As a teacher, we, too, are to utilize the alternate power source given to us by God when we chose to believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s power is within us but it is a power that we need to call upon. It is the power that we need to learn to use in all circumstances throughout our lives because it is the power based on the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth told to us in John 14:16. So our choice each day and every moment in that day is to make the choice to turn on the generator, go to the Holy Spirit.  As it says in Zechariah 4:6 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord Almighty. So, if we use the power of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth, you will be led to the truth. What are the truths that will overcome those self-powered statements above: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”, “I cannot do it on my own but the Lord is always with me to lead me and give me wisdom”, “The Lord is my helper. Your power works best in my weakness”, “I don’t have this but when I put you before me, you will lead me”. Look within the Word of God for more truth that will overcome the lies that Satan puts in us. Share these truths with others that we may all become more aware of the power source we should be relying on, the Spirit of Truth.

**Journaling inspired by Jesus Calling by Sarah Young-October 4 and the Spirit of Truth.

Meditation Enlightens

I tried out the form of meditation outlined in the study guide for the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard J Foster. The basic premise of this biblical meditation is to focus on a piece of scripture and go through it imagining it happening. As you do this, you want to try to focus on adding the attention to detail by focusing on all the senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. I did this for the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Thoughts and questions just started coming and I rolled with it. The Holy Spirit showed me how it is impossible for humans to have faith on their own power. Despite all the miracles the disciplines had already seen by the time of the feeing of the 5000, they did not really believe completely that Jesus was the son of God. I have always thought “how could they not believe?” but now am clear on why they could not. They were blocked by their own expectations of who they thought the Messiah should be. They wanted Jesus to be the kind of Messiah that was going to liberate them from the authority of the Roman Empire. They could not understand the truth that Jesus didn’t come to save our bodies and our lives on Earth but came to save our souls and give us eternal life in Paradise. The disciple’s minds were filled up with the darkness of their own misconstrued expectations. But the gift of the Holy Spirit to them changed that. That is what the Holy Spirit does. He clears up our understanding of God’s Word so we can better live out our lives in service to our Lord which will in turn help plant more seeds so that more of God’s children can be reconciled back to Him. What about my expectations? Do they align with your will Lord? If I have expectations that are blocking me from a clear understanding of your Word and will, please shine your light on them so they can be shaped into your truth. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Try out your own meditation time with God’s word and let me know what the Holy Spirit shows you.

WHO'S IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT?

My final day of the Daniel Fast was yesterday. As I had my first cup of coffee in three weeks and read my bible, it was impressed upon me the analogy of the Holy Spirit being in the driver’s seat and we who are now believers sit in the passenger seat. Those who are still controlled by the sinful nature and do not have faith in Jesus are still driving their cars and they will only lead themselves to destruction by driving over a cliff or head on into another car. We who have chosen to believe in Jesus now sit in the passenger seat but our sinful nature that is connected the our bodies is still at war and will do what it can to persuade us to take our focus off looking out the front window which is where the Holy Spirit is leading us to, to looking out the side window at things on the side of the road. We see signs that are from the evil one that may say food and gas next exit and we are tempted to tell the Holy Spirit take this exit and may even go as far as grabbing the steering wheel to pull us off onto the exit. We are trying to control and guide ourselves.  We are trying to satisfy our needs and wants and we are not remembering that God will take care of all our needs, will bless us and is leading us to Himself. During this Daniel Fast, I realized I had put the Holy Spirit in total control of my eating. Those road signs that advertised homemade pie or frozen yogurt bar up ahead were not in control. I fully gave control and faith to the Holy Spirit and my needs were met. I discovered the sweet treat that God created in dates, I realized that meat is a yummy gift from God but it is not to be worshipped and discovered that caffeine is a blessing from God but again not to be worshipped. So as we step into our cars figuratively each day, we need to stop and say out loud to the Holy Spirit, take the wheel and lead me in this day that I may produce good fruits and glorify God in all I do and say. You may have to stop and tell the Holy Spirit this throughout your day to remind yourself that you are putting your faith in Him to guide you and keeping your focus out the front window and on the road ahead. It reminds me of that first year with my husband and having him drive. I was critical about how he drove and his ability to get us where we needed to go. I was constantly saying something or gritting my teeth and speaking those controlling thoughts in my mind but the trust in him was built up enough that I was able to let go of the controlling thoughts and be at peace knowing he was getting us safely to where we needed to go. Our trust in the Holy Spirit can be built up too through time spent in the Word of God, in prayer and worship. We must feed our spirits with spiritual food in order for us to be able to put a “stopping hand” to the evil one and looking ahead to the glory we will have in meeting Jesus in our final home that he is preparing for us. Imagine it! Him being a carpenter, he is designing the home I will live in specifically for me. A home with high ceilings, lots of light and views out the windows of mountains, beaches, sunrises, freshly fallen snow. A home with a kitchen that never needs cleaning and is always fully stocked with everything you need to cook up a feast for the family coming for dinner with Jesus at the head of the table. Imagine it. Believe it. Let the thought of your final home and hope guide your days here.

Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Quinoa cereal recipe

Cup cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons Date Honey (made by covering pitted dates with water in a saucepan and simmering pitted dates for 45 min. Blend and store)

1 tablespoon Nikki's Chocolate Hazelnut Coconut Butter (found on Amazon)

Combine all ingredients. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup almond milk and enjoy.

 

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 327

I have read some books about listening but the one I am reading now is about listening to the Word of God. The book is called Expository Listening by Ken Ramey. In the first chapter, he discusses how we are by nature not good listeners. It is because of the Fall and Sin that we don’t have the ability to hear God and obey him. Thankfully, we who believe in Jesus have the power of the Holy Spirit within us who will illuminate the Word of God for us and give us understanding and the power to obey God’s Word. This all makes perfect sense because of my study on temperament and how our soul is connected to our spirit but there is a wall up called sin that needs to be broken down with the inviting of Jesus into your heart. He will take a sledge hammer and break the wall down. But those bricks of sin will keep coming back and piling up so we have to call on the Holy Spirit to clean away those bricks of sin to allow our soul to truly connect with our spirit which is the way to connect to the Spirit of God.

Here is a section from the book:

We are all born without this key component (listening) that allows us to hear God’s Word. It’s as if we have been wired with an AM receiver, but God is broadcasting on FM. Without the indwelling and illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, all we are able to pick up is static.

 

Lord, help us to dial into your FM channel today and all our days to come. With you all things are possible. Amen.

Psalm 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 325

I started reading the next chapter in The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell; it is about the law of consistency. I so remember hearing that word a lot in those early days of motherhood. How consistency in discipline and setting up routines for your children are the key to building a good foundation based on order and obedience. Consistency really is the grounding factor. The attitude of the heart, the good works, the thoughtful prayers, the time taken to worship and praise the Lord can be done every day. We have the power within us by the Holy Spirit to consistently work at being more and more like Jesus. Maybe just maybe by the end of our lives, our grandchildren will say she was always there for me, always loving and always generous of heart. “Always” is what we strive for when we work on consistency.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 315

Admitting your weakness, that you need help or you can’t do it on your own is fairly common. It is the way God designed us. However, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can take this weakness and turn it into a strength that will glorify God. He made us with these potential weaknesses within our temperament so that we would turn to him and ask for help. He wants to help us in every way possible and nothing is impossible with God. I came across a person who didn’t like the idea that God would make us with weaknesses but it is only a weakness when it turns us away from God or creates barriers between us and God. He designed us to be in communion with Him. It is through our weaknesses that we are made strong with the help of the Holy Spirit. Do you have fears of failure, rejection or afraid nobody can love you? God does. He thinks you are fabulous. He thinks you are wonderful. He knows you can be a success with His guidance and wisdom. If a weakness is plaguing you, it is time to take it to God and ask for help. Let Him turn your weakness into strength.

2Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 306

 

The movie After Earth with Will Smith is filled with parallels of biblical concepts. There was one of a beautiful example of how the Holy Spirit is always with us. When we are really connected to God then the power of the Holy Spirit grows within us. The movie is about a father and son who find themselves back on planet Earth which is currently hostile to human survival. The father sends the son out on a mission to save them both otherwise they will die. But the son has a communication devise on his arm and a video devise on his back that keep him in contact with his father and the father is able to see everything that could try to harm his son. The son finds himself in dangerous frightening scenarios and the father calmly talks him through them, helping him calm his fears and focus.

Over the course of the mission, the son is growing in his confidence and finds himself rebelling against the father. The son ends up doing something very dangerous and ends up without his communication devise so he can’t talk to his father and hear his father. But his father can still see all that is happening and is still talking to him like he can hear him. There was a beautiful moment when the father was talking to the son to calm his fears and the son not being able to hear the father was grounded in what the father had taught him. So when the father says , “take a knee” , the son was taking a knee. In the end it was like the power of the Holy Spirit came to fruition within the son and gave him the power to conquer his fear. The father was with him every step of the way.  Our journey of faith is like this mission: we accept Jesus into our hearts, work on building a growth foundation and connecting relationship with God and the Holy Spirit will work within us and the fruit of that relationship will be demonstrated in our character. Fostering that relationship is the key to the fruit of the Spirit growing within us.

2Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 300

A quote from the show Once Upon a Time: “It seems like your love can't overcome your fear of rejection.” If only he had the power of the Holy Spirit within him, he would be able to belay his fears and have peace in his heart knowing that no matter what she says or feels he loves her. The Holy Spirit helps us become an overcomer as the Mandesa songs says. I am thankful to God for his gift of Jesus and giving us the Holy Spirit to help us battle the enemy and help us overcome.

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? … In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 56: 3,11

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 295

On Survivor last night, one of the women made a comment about another returning player who was very scheming and lots of other not so good things. On the first day, he told everyone he had changed but by day 4 all of them were well aware that he really hadn’t changed at all. This women made the comment about can a zebra change it’s stripes. Our temperaments are something we cannot change. We are who God made us to be but with the Holy Spirit we can be God-honoring, God-glorifying people. The “weaknesses” within our temperament can be changed to all God wants them to be by his spirit. Can this man change? He will always be what God made him to be but God can make more out of him if he lets Him in.  

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 286

There is something about cats that always make me think of God. I think the way they stare at you,y you just know they have to be thinking something. I was given the advise to grow some indoor pet grass for the cats as they will likely stay away from other herbs and plants you are growing. In thinking upon this, I thought about catnip and how it just gives a boost of energy to any cat. I am thinking the Holy Spirit is our catnip. Like catnip, the Holy Spirit can energize us and make us into a whole new person. And much like cats, when we are not connecting with the Holy Spirit everyday, we are going to become tired and lazy, letting life push us down. Have your daily dose of catnip and be energized to do and be all God wants you to be.
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.