Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Holy Spirit’

Temple of the Holy Spirit

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

The temple in Jerusalem was built with very detailed specifications. There was an outer court, an inner court, and then the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant, a dwelling place for God, was hidden and visited only once a year. Who lives in your holy of holies?

I Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, . . . [Amplified]

When I became a believer, I invited the Christ to come and dwell within my holiest place. I received the Holy Spirit as a gift from God and that transaction was possible because of the sacrifice God made of His Son to repair the breach between human souls and God. Paul confirms this.

I think we have all become too cavalier about the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are the “host” of this presence; it is a symbiotic relationship. Symbiosis is defined as “the living together of unlike organisms.” What’s interesting to me is that there are different types of symbiosis. In some cases, it’s mutualistic where the relationship benefits both organisms. In other cases, the relationship is essential to the survival of one of the organisms (called obligate) but not the other. There are organisms that are symbiotic and only one organism benefits while the other one is simply not affected at all. And finally, others are parasitic, where one organism benefits while the other one suffers.

Now, I ask myself, which one of these types of symbiosis describes my relationship with the Holy Spirit within? Am I taking advantage of the Spirit’s presence without doing my part of keeping my body’s environment healthy and nurturing? Am I a parasite?

Clearly, the best relationship with the Holy Spirit is mutualistic, but there are grave responsibilities that go with that symbiosis. Fresh air and light (windows and doors open), communication (prayer), peace, love, joy, honesty, hope, laughter, and kindness are just a few of the nutrients that allow the Holy Spirit to thrive within.

Now, it’s not like the Holy Spirit is passive. In fact, when I screw up, I see the Holy Spirit as my personal Joan of Arc doing battle on my behalf. She is my white blood cells. She is my conscience. She has my back.

According to Paul, one of the greatest attacks on the symbiotic relationship between human body and Holy Spirit is sexual immorality. I find that fascinating. Apparently, there is some kind of osmosis that happens in sex, seeds are planted with thoughts about sex, and so forth, which directly affects the Holy Spirit’s environment. I don’t begin to understand this, but if it’s true, then our culture itself is quite toxic.

In the end, our personal Holy of Holies is not unlike the inner sanctuary of the Temple. When we invite the Holy Spirit into that secret place, we are sharing space from that point forward. But, some people have lost their way and don’t even know how to find their own Holy place within. The space is dark, closed off, and empty. In these cases, the Holy Spirit is a guide, leading the lost soul back to the center of being.

Oh Lord, keep me mindful of your Holy Spirit within this day.

Read Full Post »

As You Really Are

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I keep forgetting who I really am. I mean, there is a core, where Spirit resides within, where the Redeemer mystery took place, and that nucleus is holy. And worse, in the same way I lose myself, I also lose the “sacred other”: same core, same potential for good.

I Corinthians 5:7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

If I could just hang on, daily, to the truth of the core, then the yeast of life’s challenges and bad choices wouldn’t find such a comfy environment to multiply. Instead of over-reacting to someone’s slight, I could draw on my shared center where the work was already done by the sacrificial lamb. I could forgive on the moment, instead of waiting for conscience to kick in later. Instead of replaying conversations, I could stay in conversation with the Spirit, a much more productive exchange. Instead of gossiping and tale-telling (oh, so cleverly), I could be building a new story with the God of Hope.

I am redeemed. I don’t have to be the ugly American, the chip on her shoulder worker, the judgmental observer, the pessimist.

Today’s yeast is no different than the biblical yeast: malice and wickedness. Do I really want that for my life? Do I want to allow my being to be consumed by this yeast unnecessarily? Or do I want to be that unleavened bread marked by sincerity and truth? [I Cor 5:8] The answer is a “no-brainer.”

Here’s what I have to do today: practice. That’s right. Practice sincerity and truth. Practice kindness and patience and self-control. Practice love. Believe in peace and joy and goodness. [Galatians 5:22]

These fruits are present already. They are the default harvest from the Holy Spirit within. The more I engage these fruits, the easier it will be to eat them and share them. Selah.

Read Full Post »

With You in Spirit

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

How many times have people casually said they can’t be with you, but “I’ll be with you in spirit.” Isn’t that just a nice way to say they’ll be thinking about you? But what if there is more? What if there is potential for power there?

I Corinthians 5:3a
As for my attitude, though I am absent [from you] in body, I am present in spirit, . . .

This section of I Corinthians is not easy for me. It’s a whole mess about sexual sin and “casting the sinner out” of the fellowship for sexual immorality and “handing him over to Satan.” Whoa! I just can’t begin to write about this in any reasonable way.

Instead, I want to consider the possibilities of power that come with being somewhere “in spirit.” Jesus is actually with us “in spirit.” This is not some off hand or incidental description. The presence of the Holy Spirit on earth is transformational. It is the strength of the Spirit that teaches, counsels, and guides us.

Paul implies that his relationship to the believers in Corinth bring his spirit in their midst as well. It is sharing the essence of a person and invoking him/her through ideas, words, and thought.

I imagine my own spirit a little like a pomegranate, with its many, many seeds. Can I give one seed of my spirit to another, to a group, to a place, where I would like to be present? Will my spirit seed make a difference?

I think of all the places I have lived and all the people I have known, paths that have intersected over the years. When it was time to say goodbye, could I consciously leave some small part of myself with them, in love?

In the same way that a parent can divide her heart to love all of her children, no matter how many, so can the spirit divide and divide again. When we give of ourselves in that way, there is actually a multiplication that happens (a paradox). Like a tree that is pruned and more branches grow, so is the deposit of our spirit seeds with others.

Today, I want to think about “being with you in spirit,” being with my kids, in spirit, my husband, my friends, my brother in Denver, my aunt in Germany, my half-sister in Tallinn.

I send them out my spirit like a milkweed seed, lightly and lovingly.

[Special thanks to Amy Lamb for use of her photograph, Milkweed Seed Pod.)]

Read Full Post »

It’s All About the Power

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The Amplified Bible translates “power” as the “moral power and excellence of soul.” But I am more inclined to think of power as authority because, from where I sit, authority trumps everything.

I Corinthians 4:19b-20
. . . I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

A person (or government) can acquire authority in a wide variety of ways such as inheritance or violence or even a gift.

When I accepted Christ the Redeemer, I gave the Holy Spirit full authority over me (of course, I keep trying to take back that gift when circumstances are not to my liking). Nonetheless, God does not take over human beings. God must be invited into the heart. That was part of the covenant, the original deal.

Evil, on the other hand, will take any and every opportunity to gain a foothold within. Evil wants to “take over the land,” and rule. Evil is like a cancer that destroys everything in its path, consuming all that is healthy, while removing strength and hope for healing or recovery.

I look around and consider the people who have authority in my life. There are the supervisors and managers at my work, be that a limited authority, because it’s within the confines of employment. I agreed to work there.

Some would say, as a married woman, my husband has authority over me [Ephesians 5:23 & I Corinthians 11:3]. I’ve never been particularly comfortable with this teaching based on position alone. However, like giving authority to Christ, it would be up to me to “give” authority to my husband for any power to have value. And if, like Christ, my husband sacrifices his life/desires for the family, undoubtedly the gift is easier to give. [Ephesians 5:28-29]

In our society, I agree to allow certain servants of the state to have authority over me: police, elected officials, etc. By living in a land of laws, I agree to give those laws the power to classify right from wrong, with consequences. When I vote, I agree to give authority to the winner of an election process.

In some countries, authority is wrenched from the people by violence and maintained through fear. When it is stripped from a person in this way, it is very difficult to believe in a loving invitation from God who desires control of the inner life while the despots control the outer life. I am grateful I do not live in such an environment. I am free to choose in both inner and outer arenas.

But what about my own authority? Do I allow others to choose to be under my authority or am I using “control” to lasso followers? Are my children under my authority willingly? My pets? My staff?

Jesus offered himself and his power draped in love: a truly benevolent dictator who can command the heavens as well as the heart. But without love, this kind of power doesn’t work. Love is the fuel. Jesus spent his lifetime teaching this message by example, by teaching, by humility.

The flow of power manifests as miracles and healings but it must be preceded by love. Only as we offer sacrificial love to others will there be true power or true authority to wield.

Why would I trust you with power if I don’t believe you love me?

Read Full Post »

God-Given Differences

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Some things are absolutely the same in all of us: the spirit-spark and the potential for union with God, our essential humanness. Upon that foundation, there are God-given differences, or gifts that drive our responses. It is here that uniqueness is born.

I Corinthians 4:7a
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?

My journey is a combination of essential human spirit, God’s gifts, and my interpreted embellishments. The combination of these three make me unique, but the first two, the Godly gifts, give me the ability to walk, run, or leap through life. My human spirit has the potential for anything. It is resilient and full of hope. It is like an ember of fire, ready to ignite.

God’s gifts are varied. Sometimes, the gifts enhance and sometimes the gifts limit. They are the things we cannot control. We were born to whom we were born. Those parents and families were enhancements or limitations. We came into the world with our skin (whatever color), our senses (whatever combination), our body, our country, our era, etc., all gifts from God, depending on the individual.

And so, as we live and grow, we respond to these gifts. Some of us are challenged to overcome poverty while others are challenged to overcome wealth (after all, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God . . . ” [Matthew 19:24]). Some of us are challenged with poor health or disease while others are challenged with hard hearts and fear.

Each one has his or her own cross. Who am I to say that my cross is more difficult or easier than another. Some claim the wealthy have it easy, but then, don’t they still die and suffer like the rest of us? Others say those in good health glide through life, not knowing their hearts are broken by grief and betrayal.

The more I do on my own, the more difficult my life will be. The more I “kick against the goads” [Acts 26:14], the more challenging the journey. The more I denounce my circumstances, particularly the God-given ones, the less likely I’ll integrate them.

I cannot go back and change my past. But starting today, I can accept what was before and embrace a newly crafted future with God. This is part of the Redeemer contract. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” [II Corinthians 5:17]

Read Full Post »

Deep Things of God

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

How do we know? Isn’t it highly presumptuous to imagine I can actually know the deeper things of God? The answer: I can’t know, except in one regard, the mystery of a Redeemer given for humankind . . . given for me.

I Corinthians 2:10
” . . . but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

So many mysteries in our world: some live while others die; some are weak while others are strong; some are rich while others are poor; and some are sensitized to the Spirit while others are not.

Why did it all make sense to me back in 1979? Why did words/ideas from the Bible suddenly jump out to me that day and speak to my inner being? I stepped over the line from unbelief to belief. At first it made no sense and the next day it did. My inner eye was opened. My mind was reset. My spirit found connection.

That place is the first step toward the deep things of God. That was my first mystery revealed. I couldn’t answer any of those other questions for anyone else. I only knew that moment was real for me. I encountered a real God: a real Spirit.

Where is reality? For my work, I just read a book that received the 2009 Printz Award for distinction in young adult literature called Going Bovine by Libba Bray. It’s not a particularly easy book to read nor is it particularly spiritual. But there is a current of thought through it about the world within. The boy is quite ill with Creuzfeld Jakob’s disease (Mad Cow disease) and is confined to a hospital bed and mostly unconscious. During that time, he lives through a great adventure, a quest. Was it real?

And so it is with the deep things of God. These things are also real and beyond our three dimensional understanding of time and space. We must let go to know. We must let go to live that bigger life within.

That which is redeemed is within.

Read Full Post »

What Is Not

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here it is: God takes the most lowly and insignificant thing/person and breaks apart the norm, the traditional, the comfort zones, and the “interpreted now.” He takes “what is not” and creates something new: from nothing–something.

I Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, . . .

There is a wonderful show on the History channel about the Shroud of Turn called the Real Face of Jesus. I recommend it. A scientific study has been going on for the last several years and only now are these results being made public. In the end, they still have no idea HOW the image manifested on the shroud. One theory is that it was created by a tremendous release of energy or light. Not too surprising for a believer to accept, more difficult for a team of scientists. They are faced with the power of “what was not” becoming something.

Healings are the same thing: bringing into our world something that was not: healthy body parts and organs.

This is all miracle stuff and the point is? Only God can make these things happen. Here’s our job, those called as witnesses, we are simply to look and acknowledge those moments when “what is not” is replaced by “what is.”

Sometimes these are physical transformations, but they can also be spiritual and mental transformations. Ask. Confess. Wait.

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” [Romans 8:11]

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »