your servant

IMG_1860Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
I remember the days of old,
I think about all your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
Answer me quickly, O LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Save me, O LORD, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.
For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant.
(Psalm 143, NRSV)

Hear me when I cry and help me.

Do not forsake me. Do not hide your face from me.

Save me O Lord from mine enemies.

All of these things are things we cry when we are in torment when we need the help of the Lord. We cry out for the creator of the whole world to save us and not forsake us, to not forget us or leave us alone in our troubles.

But do we remember that we also need to follow God in the good times? All of these things He does for us, because we are His servants, His children.

So allow God to be your master, and follow where He leads, and He will never leave you to fend for  yourself.

Cock crows

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times. (John 13:36-38, NRSV)

I will do anything for love, but I won’t do that…

Don’t know why those lyrics popped in my mind. But Peter seems to be intent on being with Jesus, and when Jesus tells him he will deny Jesus 3 times, I wonder what went through Peter’s mind.

We all think we would follow Jesus to the ends of the earth, but would we?

Jesus asks us to follow and to trust and that is hard. Peter in the face of death denied he knew Jesus, 3 times.

Would you say you know Jesus if it meant your life?

Do you say you know Jesus even when it doesn’t?

Why?

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:1-11, NRSV)

I always loved the question from the angels here: “why do you stand looking up towards heaven?”

Well actually, Jesus was just here talking to us, which in itself is a miracle considering He was dead, but now as He was talking He started floating up into the air! why would we not be watching Him float away!

This would really get me going though. I mean we just saw Him killed 40 days ago, and since then He has been retelling us all the stuff He told us before His death, and now here He goes again!

So this is what set the world on fire, 11 men who didn’t get it and now in 40 days are the ones who deliver the message to the world with zeal and conviction. Would we have had the same reaction?

unforgivable

holy-spirit“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;  but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8-12, NRSV)

The only unforgivable sin is not speaking against Jesus or using God’s name in vain.

It isn’t even one of the 10 Commandments!

It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So what does that mean?

To know what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, we need to know what blaspheme means, and according to Merriam-Webster online blaspheme means “to talk about God or religion in a way that does not show respect”. So to talk about the Holy Spirit in a way that doesn’t show respect.

Ok, so what does that mean?

To say the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a place in your life? Or the Holy Spirit isn’t a part of God?

I am really not sure what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit drives my life, even when I don’t understand it. I believe that the Spirit is God, even when I can’t understand it.

I can’t understand the Spirit at all, but I believe the Spirit is an integral part of my life.

So what is the unforgivable sin?

in you

Heart_of_Stone_by_TheComicFanBut I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your dealings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds. (Ezekiel 36:21-31, NRSV)

Not because of us, but because of His holy name, God will remove our hearts of stone, and give us a new heart and a new spirit He will put in us!

The Holy Spirit is living in you. He has taken your heart and replaced it with His and given you a new Spirit. One to lead you and guide you the rest of your days. Not because of you, but because of His Holy Name!

So allow His Spirit to lead you and His heart to beat in your life!