Just One Thing

On By Innermost BeingIn Spiritual GrowthLeave a comment

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Christians should not be like everyone else. Our values and priorities should be different. We should be so changed by salvation, people might even think we’re weird.

In Craig Groeschel’s book Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working, he wrote about his weird approach to making New Year’s resolutions. He makes only one New Year’s resolution and that resolution is chosen by someone else. He prays constantly as the new year approaches asking how God wants his life to change.

Instead of having good intentions centered on the self, Groeschel says we should have God intentions centered on what God wants.

How do we know what God wants? We can ask God to reveal his intentions for us and listen for his response. Groeschel suggested some questions to help discern God’s will.

1. What one thing do you desire from God?
2. What one thing do you lack?
3. What one thing do you need to let go?
4. What one promise do you need to claim?

I reflected on these questions for a week and they helped clarify God’s intentions for me for the New Year.

The first question is easy for me to answer. More than anything else, I want my husband to have a relationship with Jesus. Last year, I became upset with him when he refused to go to a church dinner with me. I realized I have to let go and let God.

The second question is harder. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. But is there one thing that keeps me from whole-heartedly following The Good Shepherd? Is there one issue that God keeps putting on my heart?

I felt the Spirit’s conviction when I read what Groeschel had to say about being a people pleaser:

When we place the approval of other people ahead of doing what we know will please our Father, we’re creating a false idol. Not only does it impair our ability to know God, but it also sends us on a wild-goose chase for a golden egg that doesn’t exist.

Craig Groeschel

At times my desire for social approval keeps me from being myself, from freely sharing my faith. I compare myself to people who seem more successful, talented, or adventurous. I envy them. When I let other people define my worth, I conform to the ways of this world. Even worse, I am not being grateful for the unique talents God has given me.

What one thing do I need to let go to live with God-centered intentions? Groeschel suggested that it might be something from the past, perhaps hurts or failures. I think that measuring myself against other people is a sign of lingering self-esteem issues from my childhood.

Finally, what promise do I need to claim? There are so many promises in God’s word, it’s hard to choose one. I claim this promise:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11:13

Heavenly Father, forgive me for envying others. This year, I resolve to please You, my Creator, above all others and to reject the world’s standards of worthiness. I am grateful that you gave me unique talents and experiences. I embrace my weirdness. How wonderful it is that you love me and that You have a plan for me!

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Fill Me Up

On By Innermost BeingIn Holy Spirit2 Comments

I can still remember the old days when my dad would pull into a service station and tell the attendant to fill ‘er up. The attendant cleaned our windshield and if asked, would even check the oil. He’d prop up the hood, pull out the dipstick, wipe it off with a rag, then reinsert it.

It’s been years since I’ve been to a full service gas station but I’ve never forgotten the phrase “fill ‘er up.” It was a command directed to a person who could do what you could not do yourself.

In a sermon series on the Holy Spirit, my pastor focused on the phrase “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Then he gave us a mini grammar lesson. He pointed out that “be filled” is a command. Be filled is the passive voice – God does the filling. The verb’s aspect is imperfect, describing an action that is ongoing. We are to continually be filled with the Spirit.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:18-20

Being filled with the Spirit is a choice. We choose to be filled with the Spirit instead of being filled with other things. God can’t fill us with His spirit if we are already filled with something else.

The “something else” may be distractions of our daily lives. Do we make time for God? Or perhaps we are filled with thoughts and feelings that aren’t compatible with the Spirit. Paul urges us to not grieve the Spirit with sins of the heart.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:30-32

Paul suggested reciting Psalms and singing songs of praise. Make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks...

Holy Spirit, I love your presence. Come and fill me up.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

“Come And Fill Me Up” Brian Doerksen

I can feel You flowin’ through me
Holy Spirit, com’n’ fill me up
Come and fill me up
Love’n’ mercy fill my senses
I am thirsty for Your presence, Lord
Come and fill me up

Lord, let Your mercy wash away all of my sin
Fill me completely with Your love once again
I need You, I want You, I love Your Presence
I need You, I want You, I love Your Presence

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Photo credit: engin akyurt on Unsplash.com

The Messiah

On By Innermost BeingIn JesusLeave a comment

In my last Bible study, Who Do You Say That I Am, we explored who Christ is by examining his own statements about his identity. 

I went to the well in the heat of the day to avoid my neighbors. Some of them look right through me as if I am not there. If they do look at me, they don't even try to hide their disgust.

A man was sitting next to the well. He asked me for a drink of water. A Jew! I couldn't believe he would speak to me. So I asked him how he could ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink. He said that if I knew him, I would have asked him for living water! 

I asked him, "how are you going to reach this living water? This is a deep well and you don't have anything to draw water. Are you greater than our father Jacob?" 

He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never get thirsty. Indeed, the water I give them will become a spring of water that wells up to eternal life.” 

Wow, that would be amazing! I said, "Sir, give me this water so I don't have to keep coming to this well!"

He told me to go get my husband. "I don't have one, Sir" He said to me, "I know. The truth is, you have had five husbands and are not married to the man you're with."

There was no condemnation in his eyes. But he was a Jew and a Jew has never been a friend of mine.

I said, "It's obvious you're a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that we must worship in Jerusalem." 

He said, "Believe me, a time is coming when you won't worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans don't know who you worship. We Jews do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and is here already, when true worshipers will worship God in the Spirit and in truth. These are the kind of worshipers the Father wants. God is Spirit and his people must worship in the Spirit and in truth."   

I didn't come to the well to argue with a stranger and I wasn't about to argue with a prophet. So I said, "I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." He said, "I, the one you're talking to, "I am he."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was stunned. I ran into town and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?"

The prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah more than 700 years before Jesus was born!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

The woman at the well would have known about this prophesy.

Who do you say that I am?

Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Annointed One. You are Almighty God, the Everlasting Father. You are my Wonderful Counselor and the Prince of Peace. You are Immanuel, God With Me.

Who do you say that I am?

On By Innermost BeingIn Spiritual GrowthLeave a comment

My Bible study group just finished Becky Harling’s study Who Do You Say That I Am? Harling experienced a crisis of faith that led her to read the gospels with fresh eyes. She had been asking herself, where is Jesus? Why can’t I feel him? The study explores what she learned about who Jesus is based on what He said about himself. “Nothing describes Jesus’ identity as profoundly as His I Am statements.”

Harling noted that Jesus asked profound questions. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13). After the disciples responded, Jesus asked an important follow-up question: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”

What is so significant about Jesus’ I AM statements? When Moses asked God, what should I say to the people when they ask your name, God replied, I am.

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:13-14

I remember feeling out of touch with Jesus many years ago and I also read the gospels with fresh eyes. I asked myself, why wasn’t Jesus more present in my thoughts? I wanted a deeper connection with Him. 

Most of the I Am statements are recorded in the gospel of John.

I AM the Messiah. John 4:26
I AM the Bread of Life. John 6:35
I AM the Light of the world. John 8:12
I AM the Good Shepherd. John 10:11
I AM the resurrection and the life. John 11:25
I AM the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6
I AM the true vine. John 15:1
I AM the first and the last. Revelation 1:17

One of my favorite I Am statements is “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Jesus is my good shepherd. I lack nothing. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul! He guides me along the right paths. He is with me; his rod and his staff, they comfort me.

What about you? Who do you say that Jesus is?

The Fullness of God

On By Innermost BeingIn Holy SpiritLeave a comment

At the same time that my church began a sermon series on the Holy Spirit, my small group began to study Becky Harling’s Who Do You Say I Am? The pastor based a sermon on the Holy Spirit on Ephesians 3:16-19 and gave us copies of the verses to take home. Becky Harling told us to memorize these verses as we study who Jesus is.

I get the feeling that God trying to tell me something: write this prayer on your heart.

Paul’s prayer packs quite a punch. He prays that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith and that we may have power to grasp how huge Christ’s love is so that we may be filled with the fullness of God.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19

My psstor noted that Paul did not pray that the Ephesians would have the intelligence or cleverness to grasp Christ’s love. His love surpasses our knowledge!

When Christ dwells in our hearts, we are rooted and established in love.

The love of Jesus grounds me. His love is an anchor in the storms of life. When the world tries to tell me who I am or who I should be, his love establishes my true identity and my true purpose. I am a beloved child of God. I am to love others as he loves me.

Christ’s love is deep and wide, like a fountain flowing, deep and wide.

When I really get this, when I feel the power of God’s love deep down in my innermost being, I may be filled with all the fullness of God.

What is this fullness of God? A commentator described this fullness (or pleroma) as God’s controlling influence on your thoughts, emotions, desires, words, and actions. It is to be aware of God’s presence and to yield to his Spiritual authority and character (his holiness, righteousness, and love). It is to continually walk in the Spirit.

Lord, you put these words on my heart for a reason. I pray that I will be constantly aware of your presence and your guidance. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you. Amen.