The Omnipresent Holy Spirit & Trinity

The famous Biblical episode of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit during Pentecost in Acts 2 is a fulfillment of Jesus' promise of a Comforter and Counselor that will remind them (and us) of the work and salvation of Jesus (see John 14:26). But, this is not the first appearance and impact of the Holy Spirit:

• David knew the Holy Spirit abided in him (Psalm 51:11; Mark 12:36)
• Mary and Elizabeth were filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:28, 30; Luke 1:41)
• Simeon, via the Holy Spirit, recognized Jesus as the Christ, as God promised (Luke 2:25-35)
• The Holy Spirit abided with Jesus Himself (e.g. Luke 3:22; Luke 4:1)

The Trinity is that much more appreciated in light of various ways shown here that God impacted lives. From the very beginning, the Trinity existed (Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." [Genesis 1:26]). And, forever, the Trinity shall be. (Revelation 22:13)

Jesus' Mission (Should you choose to accept it)

As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
They replied, "The Lord needs it."

-Luke 19:29-34

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."
"Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.
He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

-Luke 22:7-13

I find both of these situations fascinating and amazing. Jesus has a plan in mind for what He wants to accomplish. So, He sends His disciples to carry out His instructions. Now, keep in mind: Jesus has not called an "event organizer" beforehand to prepare the details of these events. The owners of the colt don't know ahead of time that the disciples are coming to get it. Who are the man carrying the water jar and house owner? Those details are unknown and not needed. But, Jesus uses those nameless people and the resources they can provide to carry out His plans.

I mean, if some people came from up the street and took your bike from the side of your house, some explanation and hootin' & hollerin' may be necessary. But, these owners of the colt, upon hearing that the Lord needs it, gave their colt without further explanation! Moreover, Peter and John must have thought, "There are many people carrying water jars at this time. How will we know which one to talk to? Also, what random owner will allow us strangers to use his house for our meal?" Yet, as they entered the city, it all unfolded just as Jesus told them, furnished room and all, with the full cooperation of the man with the water jar and house owner. Wow...

God's will be done. God's plans be accomplished. Fully trusting in Jesus opens avenues that we think are impossible to go through, but He makes it happen. It may feel like you may be asked to do things that are way out of the ordinary and, dare I say, foolhardy. But, with God, NOTHING is impossible. In Him, we put our trust and hope. AMEN!

One true love this Valentine's Day

Today's Daily Bread article really stood out for me, so I thought I'd post here. Some powerful, inspirational verses which attests God's love for His children.

WRITTEN IN RED

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READ: 1 John 4:7-19

God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. —1 John 4:9

My first Bible was printed mostly in black type, but some of its words were in red. It didn’t take me long to discover that the ones in red had been spoken by Jesus.

More than 100 years ago, a man named Louis Klopsch published the first “red-letter” Bible. As he thought about Jesus’ words in Luke 22:20, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you,” he purposely used blood-red ink to call specific attention to His words.

The words of the Bible are priceless to us because they tell of the “love letter” God sent 2,000 years ago in the Person of His Son (1 John 4:10).

Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth as a Man was to die, to be sacrificed, to give His life for ours. God’s plan was written in red—written with “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Those of us who have accepted God’s gift of love are called to be “letters” to those who don’t know Him. We are epistles of Christ “written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3).

Long before a day in February was set aside to celebrate love, the world received a love letter—and that changed everything (John 3:16). — Cindy Hess Kasper

If you’d like to know the love of God the Father,
Come to Him through Jesus Christ, His loving Son;
He’ll forgive your sins and save your soul forever,
And you’ll love forevermore this faithful One. —Felten

Nothing speaks more clearly of God’s love than the cross of Jesus Christ.

Easier said AND done

Talk about a blog gap. New semester starts are always busy, and this one was no different. Gotta make sure that everything is delicately balanced. Thank God even for this little bit of blog time.

Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
- Luke 5:18-26

Remarkable! This miracle is really an establishment of Jesus' true authority. Just by His words alone is Jesus able to forgive us our sins: "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees disbelieve in this authority. So, Jesus, as only He does best, puts the Pharisees in their place by pretty much saying, "By my voice and my Father's purpose, anything is possible for the good of the people." Jesus gives priority to forgiving the sins of the paralytic over actually eliminating his paralysis. Jesus told the man to get up and walk and "[i]mmediately he stood up in front of them." Likewise, Jesus told the man, "Friend, your sins are forgiven," and immediately, his sins were forgiven. The power of Jesus' voice and authority ... phenomenal & instantaneous. The Pharisees had the visual evidence of Jesus' healing power and yet their hearts were hardened to think that He could possess redemption power. It's funny - Jesus must have been like, "So, you don't believe I can forgive sins (through the authority I have by my Father)? Ok, fine, I'll heal him instead." Yeah, that's commonplace... As if that were any less remarkable!

The power to heal. The power to save. Jesus could do it all ... so that all would believe. "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today.'"

And so have we...

"He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes."
-Deuteronomy 10:21

"Where is Jesus in all of this?"

I was blessed by the Lord with an opportunity to speak on behalf of Him through His Word at the St. John's MTC Christmas Coffeehouse this past Friday, 12/26. God gave me such a boldness to speak for Him that day - praise Him!! I'm tellin' ya - not even six hours prior to the event, I was still unsure as to how to effectively present what I had put together. Content was coming together, but the remainder of the content, connections, and applications were still up in the air. But, God just literally told me to be quiet, focus in on Him, and let Him take care of all the details. He revealed Scripture to me in ways I had not seen before, solidifying everything. As the wise proverb says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). How true that is! Thanks, God.

So, I've placed my notes for the message below. It might seem a little haphazard, but hopefully it'll be easy to piece together:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry Christmas, NOT Happy Holidays (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus [12/23]: a holiday for the "rest of us" popularized by Seinfeld's Frank Costanza) - Be proud and attest that assertion.
Notice how Christmas seems to be starting earlier each subsequent year (near Halloween now).
COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE HOLIDAY: Vacation time, Opening gifts, Family get-togethers, Pre-Christmas sales - 2 Black Fridays & 1 Cyber Monday (which is what draws people to Festivus)
Christmas in Japan (a traditionally Buddhist/Shinto nation) -> to promote goods and sales.
On the flip side, first public Christmas in Baghdad.
Multiple movie openings on Christmas Day:

1. Bedtime Stories (Adam Sandler)
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. The Spirit
4. Marley & Me
5. Valkyrie

Also, notice in previous Christmases the opening of a horror movie, without fail!

...Jesus in all of this?

So much talk about a Savior prior to His birth (via the prophets):

1. Isaiah 9:6-7
2. Isaiah 7:14-15
3. Isaiah 11:1-9
4. Zechariah 9:9

So much "hullabaloo" in the community when Jesus ministered and walked the earth:

1. Magi travelling thousands of miles from the East to see the newborn King
2. John the Baptist's proclamation (see Luke 3:16)
   
3. Crowds in the thousands following Jesus
4. Three-year ministry (crowds, Pharisees, Teachers of the Law, rich people, poor people)

But now, absolute silence about Jesus centuries after He ascended to heaven (You may argue that we talk about Jesus all the time at coffeehouse, praise nights, Sunday mornings at church, and the such. Great, but where else?)

Questions people ask nowadays are: Who is Jesus? What was Jesus? (As can be seen in the numerous Discovery Channel specials, such as "The Mystery of Jesus," "Decoding the Bible," "Bethlehem's Star," etc.)
The question should be: Where is Jesus?
To answer this, two people in the Bible provide one convincing answer.

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Paul - Acts 17:22-28

Paul's defenses of the Gospel against Felix, Festus, King Agrippa, the Sanhedrin, the Areopagus are like the trial portions of Law & Order episodes.
Paul spoke to the Areopagus like a skilled lawyer, making his case (recall the educated background of Paul).
vv. 27-28 -> All we need to do is turn and, lo and behold, He will be right there before us (He was there the whole time, right by your side.). (see also Revelation 3:20)
We live in Him! We move in Him! We have our being in Him! Every part and facet of us is enveloped in Him and by Him.

Jesus - John 14:8-11, 15-20

v. 8 -> Jesus actually answered Philip's request in the previous two verses, but his request should be our single-greatest request.
v. 10 -> Intimate relationship between Jesus & His Father. No relationship in history can match what is seen here. This puts into perspective (vividly clear) the agony that Jesus experienced in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, because of the pending separation He knew He would experience from His Father. If we have an intimate relationship with our Father, being separate from Him is not where we want to be. We long for the closeness.

** vv. 8-11 -> Dynamic relationship between Jesus & His Father
** vv. 15-20 -> Man's access to that dynamic relationship!

The Holy Spirit gives us access to that relationship. The sacrifice of Jesus tore the veil and we are not separate from our Father and His Son anymore. We are in Him, and He is in us! See where Jesus is now? He never left us our side. Barriers of sin and worldly desires cause blockages of view, but Jesus will never abandon the ones He love
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:20

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"And the name of the city from that time on will be:
The LORD is There." -Ezekiel 48:35

Reflect on 2008, go forward confidently in 2009. Wherever you are, whatever you do, THE LORD IS THERE!

Immanuel = GOD is with us

A blessed Christmas to one and all!

Though Christmas day 2008 may have passed by chronologically, celebrate this special birthday every day for the rest of our lives. The fulfillment of a promise, the extent of a Father's love, the beginning of the greatest ministry of all time all came into realization in that stinky stable in Bethlehem. Praise the Lord!

"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.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this." -Isaiah 9:6-7

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
-Isaiah 11:1-9

"John [the Baptist] answered them all, 'I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'" -Luke 3:16-17

Promise fulfilled. Proclaim it boldly! PTL!

From the "You have got to be kidding me..." department:

So, this is what the world is coming to... (Coming to? Sorry, it's already there and it's stubbornly refusing to turn back.)

Calif. Court: Would-Be Good Samaritan Can Be Sued

By PAUL ELIAS

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, the state's high court on Thursday said a would-be Good Samaritan accused of rendering her friend paraplegic by pulling her from a wrecked car "like a rag doll" can be sued.

California's Supreme Court ruled that the state's Good Samaritan law only protects people from liability if the are administering emergency medical care, and that Lisa Torti's attempted rescue of her friend didn't qualify.

Justice Carlos Moreno wrote for a unanimous court that a person is not obligated to come to someone's aid.

"If, however, a person elects to come to someone's aid, he or she has a duty to exercise due care," he wrote.

Torti had argued that she should still be protected from a lawsuit because she was giving "medical care" when she pulled her friend from a car wreck.

Alexandra Van Horn was in the front passenger seat of a car that slammed into a light pole at 45 mph on Nov. 1, 2004, according to her negligence lawsuit.

Torti was a passenger in a car that was following behind the vehicle and stopped after the crash. Torti said when she came across the wreck she feared the car was going to explode and pulled Van Horn out. Van Horn testified that Torti pulled her out of the wreckage "like a rag doll." Van Horn blamed her friend for her paralysis.

Whether Torti is ultimately liable is still to be determined, but Van Horn's lawsuit can go forward, the Supreme Court ruled.

Beverly Hills lawyer Robert Hutchinson, who represented Van Horn, said he's pleased with the ruling.

Torti's attorney, Ronald Kent, of Los Angeles didn't immediately return a telephone call.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

So, this is where we are at now? You can't help someone in a dire situation without looking over your shoulder in fear that you'll be sued. HELPING SOMEONE IS SUBJECT TO LITIGATION! Wow... What if the rescuer left the victim in the car and then the car exploded, as the rescuer feared? The victim would probably sue Torti for "inaction, leading to my death." Instead of being grateful for being alive, she focuses on her present state and needs to place blame on what has happened to her (Would I be the same way?) This litigious society is just getting ridiculous. And, of course, the Beverly Hills lawyer is "pleased with the ruling." Anything to make a buck...

Looking at the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus makes it clear. Any neighbor (the original roots of this word suggest anyone you would have a fellowship with) who is in need is our primary responsibility and we must do what it takes to fulfill that need. Look at verse 33 carefully: "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." No hesitation. As soon as the Samaritan saw the wounded man, his compassion was immediate. There is no indication that the Samaritan ever saw the fallen man prior to this encounter, but his response was automatic. Note that the wounded man is never given an identification about who he was or where he was from. On the other hand, all passers-by were of different types. Bottom line: Irrespective of who we are, if any man or woman needs help, we must answer that call, without hesitation. I might get sued, yes. But, I would rather be sued than bear the knowledge of not providing vital help to a fallen neighbor. Our whole being is naturally inclined for the betterment of others.

It's mercy, folks. Have mercy for your neighbors, just as the Lord has shown his mercy towards us. Go above and beyond for your fellow man or woman. Oh Lord, have mercy on us, your litigious-minded children!