Who is that 3rd Guy????

My belief

Even people who are NOT Christians have some idea who God and Jesus are. Whether or not they believe it, most people can at least articulate the idea that God created the world, and Jesus is the Son of God and died on the cross for our sins . But what about the third member of the God Trinity? I rarely ever hear a good description of the other member of the God Head from anyone, including true believers. I have been studying The Holy Spirit and what it means to live by means of the Spirit and this is JUST AS CRITICAL as any other part of God.

Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the helper that He would send  to each of us that believes in Him. God declares in the Bible that the Holy Spirit lives inside each true believer in Jesus Christ. Paul speaks extensively in Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians about living by means of the Holy Spirit so that we do not gratify the sinful desires of our flesh. I have been working hard to grind this idea down into a few usable tools that I can apply to my life. I have come up with 3 of them so far:

1. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our Sin and when we pray and ask for His help, He helps us to overcome our sin nature. As a followers of Christ I am plagued by my conscious when I disobey God and commit sin. I can personally attest that there is sin in my own life that I have not been able to overcome. I have tried with all my strength to change my own nature to no avail. BUT when I began offering this sin up to God and telling him that I needed the strength of His Holy Spirit to fill me up and help me overcome, it was not long before my life began to change. I felt able to obey God and the desire to sin had lost its power over me.

2. The Holy Spirit draws people to Jesus! Jesus says Himself that NO ONE comes to the Father except through Him, and NO ONE comes to Jesus unless the Holy Spirit draws them to Him. This means the Holy Spirit is the first step in salvation. My pastor says that no one gets saved unless someone is praying for them. He says that when a believer prays for a non believer it is like placing a magnifying glass on their life. Just like as a kid you focus the power of the sun on a particular point with such a device, prayer focuses the power of the Holy Spirit on a persons life and draws them to a decision for Christ. I personally pray for this before ever talking to someone about my faith in Jesus. The best argument in the world will not convince someone to come to the foot of the cross, but the Holy Spirit can put a spot light on their brokenness and need for a Savior.

3. The Holy Spirit helps the believer to understand how God’s Word applies to their life. I love when I read scripture and I feel like God is talking directly to me and my circumstances. There are so many times when am I am able to directly apply God’s Word to my daily life. I understand what Jesus means by denying myself and walking with Him daily, I understand what James means when he says Faith without works is dead, and I know what Paul is talking about when he says the Holy Spirit will keep you from giving into your sinful desires.

Scripture

John 14:26

²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Galatians 5:16-26

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

John 6:44

⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Application for Life

No one knows how the Trinity perfectly fits together and we won’t know until we get to heaven. Parts of the Bible show a subservient nature within the Trinity, and other parts specifically say that ALL parts are and make up GOD. This is what I know. God The Father made me, God the Son (Jesus) saved me, and God The Holy Spirit helps me. The Holy Spirit gives me power over my sinful human nature, He gives me opportunity to share my faith in Jesus with others, and He makes me to understand how God’s Word applies to my life.

Steve Jobs had it right!

My Belief

Last week when Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple and designer of the iPhone/iPod, past away I heard a very interesting speech that he had given. He was the key note speaker at a Yale graduation ceremony a few years ago and the clip the news played was intriguing. Mr. Jobs conveyed the idea to the Yale grads that the reason he was so successful was because he had found a way to focus and drowned out all fear and criticism. Steve knew he was sick and would not live a long life. He knew his years were numbered and that he wanted to do the most with the time he had left. Jobs said that when he compares everything against the reality of death, every bit of doubt fades. He was not afraid to DO because he did not want to waste what time he had left.

As a follower of Jesus I want to have a perspective very similar to this. I know that time on this earth is short. I will either die or be raptured by Christ in the next 50 years or so. Maybe even sooner. I know that God wants me to give him my all with the short amount of time I have left. I know that I am rapidly racing toward a departure from this earth into a glorious existence with God. When I step foot into the presence of Jesus my hope is to hear “Well done good and faithful servant”. In this context I know death is coming, but I am not afraid of it at all. I want to be focused here and now to take any opportunity to share Jesus with who ever God brings in my path. I want to be a servant to my wife, family and friends. While Steve Jobs did not know Jesus and was only motivated by his coming end, I look forward to an amazing hope after this life. All of the noise and criticism fades away in the reality of Jesus not only in death. Who cares what people think of me or say about me. Soon my time will end and I only care about what Jesus says about me.

Scripture

^{2Cor 5:8-10}

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Application for Life

One of my favorite quotes from pastor Lon Solomon is, “When your not afraid to die, then your not afraid to live”! Wow…think about that. If you are in Jesus, nothing can ever hurt you. Even if someone took my life, my situation only gets better. I desire to pray HARD that the Holy Spirit may fill me up and use me for God’s Glory. That I can be a light in a dark world. That I can speak boldly about Jesus. My heart aches for people who don’t have Jesus when time is up. Please Lord let me have a perspective that is urgent like Steve Jobs. Not because of death, but because of a life that has conquered death. Let me focus because time is short, and let me rejoice because my end is near!