Holy Spirit

I have felt condemned before when people have quoted Paul in Corinthians and said, "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" The implication is that if it is too dirty He will leave. This is not true. God has promised to never leave us or forget about us.

Paul was trying the opposite of condemnation. He was reminding people that God always lives with them. His power is always present to free them.

But there are still some who think the Holy Spirit comes and goes. This mentality causes people to miss out.

Ephesians 1:3

May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!

If the Holy Spirit is coming and going you will have a hard time every receiving. But thank God that Christ dwells in us!

Now I have heard people say, "Spiritual Blessings are just spiritual, not tangible." What does that even mean? And why would God waste his time with something that doesn't do anything for anyone?

The truth is God's blessings are always tangible in some shape or form. But if you want to know what God's blessings are like, the Bible does a pretty good job of giving us a list.

^{Psalm 103:2-5}

²Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits--

³Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases, ⁴Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; ⁵Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!
If God really does these things (these spiritual blessings), than there will certainly be tangible results. Jesus loves you. He is not ashamed of you. More than that, he is not ashamed to call you his family. He does not hold back any of His benefits from you!

Why are we begging?

I am under the impression that nothing in the Bible was written on accident. It is either the greatest hoax ever or it is truly inspired by God - His words.

I want to draw your attention to a story in Genesis 8. This is part of Noah's story with the ark and the flood. Most people have heard this story but Jesus reveals truth about Himself in all of the Law and Prophets (The Old Testament).

Let me summarize the part of the story I want to tell you about:

• Noah has already been on the boat for forty days.
• Noah sends out a dove to see if the water had begun to recede and it returns.
• He waits seven more days and sends it out and it returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf.
• He waits seven more days and sends it out and it doesn't return.

You might be thinking "What does this have to do with Jesus?" Let me tell you.

We know that the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:10-11) Noah in this story symbolizes God being in charge of creation and life.

1. In the old testament God would send His Spirit and presence places but only for a time. It would always return to heaven. It had no final resting place.
2. Then God sent His Spirit to Jesus and when Jesus' work was finished the Spirit brought Christ back to heaven. (Hence to fresh olive leaf in the beak of the dove. Olive oil was used to anoint or set people apart. Jesus was God's anointed son). But the spirit came back to heaven
3. Finally, on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) God sent His Spirit into our hearts to find its final resting place. The dove left and didn't come back.

So what is the point of all of this? Well, I want to ask why people think the Holy Spirit comes and goes? Why do they still ask Him to come? Why are people still thirsty for more?

Before you call me a heretic let's look at the words of Jesus.

John 4:14 - "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

And again:

John 7:37-39 - "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

So where does this put us? Well, Christ has brought us into His family and has commissioned us to bring other people in as well. We have to trust the Holy Spirit in us to be streams of living water to people. The unfortunate thing is that many Christians don't understand that the Holy Spirit lives in them. They believe He comes and goes. If you don't believe you already have the Spirit, it will be hard for you to let Him work through you.

We also receive through the Holy Spirit. It is God's presence. If it is not with us, then neither is God. If you want wisdom, healing, and all of the other promises of God, you receive them through the Holy Spirit.

Why are we still begging? We haven't guarded our hearts from unbelief (Proverbs 4:13).

God has promised never to leave us. Let's believe Him.

The Wrong Question

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?"

Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do." John 9:1-5 Message

Jesus gives us an amazing model of how we should minister to people one on one. Most of the time we are searching for reasons why people are having a hard time or are sick or struggling. Honestly, there is a time and place for counseling but there is no time to point fingers.

Remember that Jesus healed everyone who asked and sometimes ones that didn't. This is grace in action. God wants us to be whole (mentally, physically, and spiritually). It isn't a question of "Is this person good enough?" The question is "Does God love them?" The answer is yes.