Tag: Holy Spirit

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control

Holy Spirit,
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Our society celebrates the pursuit of pleasure in excess and lives by an “if it feels good, do it” mantra. Yet even in Christian freedom, your Word reminds me that while everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial. When I can no longer say no to something, then I have become mastered by it.

To counter such extremes, Holy Spirit, grant me instead a spirit of discipline and self-control. Guide my thoughts, words, and actions to keep me from being enslaved by anything in this world. Lead me to pursue that which is virtuous and highly esteemed in your sight. Curb my sinful desires and strengthen me to say no when I need to. Give me the maturity to avoid whatever deceives me with the promise of instant gratification. Where I know I am weak, surround me with fellow believers who know my weaknesses and are willing to stand firmly beside me so that I do not fall. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Fruit of the Spirit: Love

Holy Spirit,
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Make me eager to bear more of this fruit in my life, beginning with love. Since love is what spurs on the increased production of all of this fruit in my life, I want to prioritize it in my words and actions. And, since my love for you and for others ripples outward only from the center of your love for me, fill me first and foremost with your love on a daily basis. 

Open the eyes of my heart to see the endless opportunities all around me to express love to my neighbor. Lend me your loving ears to listen to others who long to be heard. Open my lips to speak loving encouragement to those who are disheartened and discouraged. Align my actions with yours, Lord, that my loving deeds of service to others would be a timely blessing to them. In all things, may this fruit of love in my life serve as a reflection of your perfect love, so that others come to know your love through mine. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Not Alone

adbLeave a comment

(John 15:26-27; 16:4b-11)

They might be among some of the most damaging and destructive words we can hear. They have the power to turn someone’s world upside down.

“I’m leaving.”

Those words might be spoken by the coach or a player to his college or professional team, informing them that he has signed or taken an offer from another team. These could be the words coming from a long-time business partner who wants out or desires to pursue new ventures. And of course, perhaps among the most dreaded, these words might be the bombshell one spouse drops on the other.

So we try to understand the impact Jesus’ words had on his disciples when he informed them that he was leaving. Through the ups and downs of their three-year training during Jesus’ ministry, he had always been there. Even their slow-to-get-it faith at times wasn’t enough to lead Jesus to throw up his hands in frustration and be done with them. Even after he had rebuked them he had always reassured them in their continued commitment to ministry together. Nothing was ever so extreme that Jesus felt compelled to “clean house” and bring in an entirely new crew of disciples to turn things around. They all were with him from the beginning, and he had remained with them.

But soon that would change. Jesus informed his disciples, “Now I am going to him who sent me” (v.5a). He had come from the Father and was now going to be returning to the Father. On Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ arrival as the Savior born in Bethlehem. On Ascension, Jesus departed and carried out these words by returning to his Father in heaven. He would no longer be physically present in person to mentor and equip his disciples for ministry as he had been for the past three years. 

Nevertheless, Jesus also assured his disciples that his departure would bring blessing. “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away” (v.7a). That actually might be the more surprising element of Jesus’ words; not just that he was leaving, but that it would be for their good!

Yet, think of certain scenarios involving the relationship between children and parents. We can see how quickly a situation that looks to be like an undesirable case of departure can turn into something positive and exciting. Parents leave… to pick up grandma from the airport, or to bring home pizza for dinner. dinner. They aren’t leaving for good; they’re just leaving for something good, which will make the return even better! 

So it is with Jesus. He wasn’t leaving for good; he was leaving for something good, and that will ultimately make his return on the last day even better! Why? Because in the meantime he has sent the Holy Spirit to carry out his work.

And what does this gift, the Holy Spirit, do? He keeps our attention where it needs to be, on Jesus, our greatest gift. The disciples weren’t alone – Jesus gifted them his Holy Spirit to assure them of it. We need the same assurance that we aren’t alone. And in the Holy Spirit we have it!

It isn’t just cases of desertion or abandonment; isolation in general is leaving us reeling as a society. We have more ways than ever to connect with other people, yet we remain as disconnected as ever. We have fewer friends than we have in the past. We socialize and spend less time together with them than we have in the past. Sure, there are many contributing factors, and there’s plenty of room for healthy debate about why we’re seeing this trend, but there is little disagreement about the conclusion: it is negatively affecting us. We were not created nor are we wired to be alone or isolated.  

When God created Adam, his creation was good – flawless, perfect, lacking nothing in terms of how God had created him. Yet for Adam to function optimally, God gave him a companion – another human being. Even in our pet-loving society, God didn’t intend for animals to replace the role of human interaction that would enable Adam to thrive. So God gave Eve, his absolute best companion to Adam, to bring his creation to completion.

Even though Adam’s relationship with God was in perfect harmony, not marred in any way by sin, God went a blessed step further, guarding Adam from loneliness and isolation by giving him another human being. And even though our sinful self-centeredness after the Fall forever changed our relationships and how we interact with other people, we still need each other. In fact, one might contend that loneliness and isolation are even more dangerous threats because of the Fall. 

So today we find needed assurance in the Pentecost promise that we are not alone. Single? You aren’t alone. Empty nesters? You aren’t alone. Battling cancer by yourself? You aren’t alone. Surrounded by people but still feeling as lonely as ever? You aren’t alone. New job? New school next year? Not alone. You aren’t alone. 

Hear Jesus’ promise to you again: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me” (v.26). What is Jesus promising the Holy Spirit will do? “Testify about me,” he said! Jesus wasn’t going to become an afterthought at all! Quite the opposite – he was going to be receiving even more attention.

Recall how many times Jesus followed up a miracle by telling those healed not to tell anyone about it. Well that time had passed! Now that Jesus was promising to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s whole work is to make Jesus and his salvation known to everyone. The Spirit’s message was that in Jesus, we have a Savior for life, a Savior for eternal life, a Savior who will never leave us. The Spirit and the Savior are on the same team, comforting us with that simple promise: you aren’t alone.

Even the title applied to the HS – Advocate – indicates as much. Think of what it means to have an advocate, to have someone speak up for you is to have someone for you, and someone can’t be for you if they’re not with you, if they don’t know you. That’s what we have in the HS. What is the greatest way the HS can speak up for us as our advocate? By pointing us to Jesus! By reminding us we’re not alone. That is what he does in his Word. That is what he does in baptism. That is what he does in Communion. 

And this assurance doesn’t just apply to us when others have left or deserted us; it also applies when we’re the reason for our loneliness or isolation. It could be as simple as withdrawing and making no effort on our end to engage or connect with others, slowly turning sour because “no one ever cares enough about me to reach out and check on me.” Or, when others do reach out to connect, we’re always too busy or have other priorities.

Sometimes it’s worse than that. It’s our words or actions, our habitual behavior, our sin, that drives others away, leaving us isolated. Then, rather than make the effort toward reconciliation that would require our repentance, we keep to ourselves, ruminating on the situation that caused all of it. We allow it to linger and fester, and we spin the narrative in our own heads. This leads us to end up justifying our behavior and refuse to pursue peace and reconciliation because we dig in our heels waiting for the other person to initiate it. And we wonder why we’re isolated or lonely when we’ve manage to plug our noses to the stench of our own sin! 

And on top of all of that there is the guilt, the guilt we have from our own neglect of our relationships. Of course relationships with others matter, but we can only maintain so many of them. So when we don’t keep in touch with others and feel like a crummy friend, guilt settles in. When we don’t call our Mother’s on Mother’s Day, and we feel like horrible children. We can’t seem to follow through with that “let’s get together” that’s been going on for months or even years with someone else.

So on top of the isolation we feel, often self-imposed, our own actions have heaped a pile of guilt on us as we languish in our loneliness! But see what the Spirit reminds us of; see what he came to do and how he points us to the solution. “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness,  because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (v.8-11).

Sin doesn’t smother those who believe in Jesus, because in him it is washed away. In its place he grants us his righteousness. Judgment doesn’t crush us when we’re in Jesus, because look who stands condemned – it is not your name that Jesus inserts there, but the prince of this world, Satan. See how the Holy Spirit reminds us of the victory we have in Jesus! We aren’t cut off from him, even for cutting off others with our sin. It is forgiven and paid for in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will never tire of testifying that truth.  

And just as the Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would testify about him, so too, do we. “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (v.27). Yes, we testify to others by imitating the Holy Spirit and directing the attention to Jesus – through our words, of course. But often times, for our words to hit ears willing to listen, they must be preceded by action. 

Through our actions, we become the antidote to isolation and loneliness. We don’t need pills, we need people. We need each other. When we see that we understand the joy John expressed in his letters in seeing God’s people walk together in Christian lives filled with love and truth. Event planning brings together like-minded moms who not only maximize their efforts to organize a fantastic event, but keep loneliness at bay by connecting together in the process. Individuals separated by states connect online on a weekly basis to check in and dig in to the Word. The weakened body of a live alone cancer patient requires a hair cut and a light switch, to say nothing of company. In his church family he finds what he needs and isolation is avoided. A motorcycle repair job between two guys is a channel for teamwork and connection, offsetting loneliness in the process. We need each other, and we can give ourselves to each other because we’re not alone. 

And that time spend together, both internally with one another, but also in the important relationships we have with those outside the Christian faith, by our actions gives us permission to speak in a way that follows up our actions. And we can testify as the Holy Spirit did, that in Jesus we have what we need. We are not alone. We have Jesus. The Holy Spirit guarantees it.

Faith Gifts

adbLeave a comment

(1 Corinthians 12:3-11)

Years ago there was a movie that established quite a cult following by successfully poking fun at cubicles and corporate politics associated with working in the office. In one particular scene, two interviewers called in to help make corporate cuts are sitting with an employee as he explains exactly what he does in the office. It quickly becomes apparent to the viewer in a humorous way that this employee would be the perfect example of where to make cuts, as the employee struggled mightily to explain exactly what his responsibilities were. After all, if he couldn’t explain what he actually did, then why did he have a job there?

A similar question sometimes comes up regarding the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit: what exactly does he do? What is his job?

Most are quite clear on the role that God the Father has – after all, we address his name and his work in worship each week in the Lord’s Prayer. And Jesus will not be overlooked, either. Since his cross and his name are the focal points of the Christian faith, they are rightly emphasized in worship week, too. Jesus is what we’re all about. 

But what about the Holy Spirit? You probably don’t know the name John McCarthy (not the one associated with politics…). He was a computer scientist who lived and worked in the middle of the last century. Even if you don’t know his name, though, you have already benefited from his work and will continue to. John McCarthy is one of the pioneers of AI, artificial intelligence. It was his foundational groundwork that got us to where we are today and wherever the future of AI takes us. So even if you never knew McCarthy, you’ll still benefit from much of the work he did. 

That’s like the role of the Holy Spirit. When he is at work, you may not necessarily know him any better because of it, but you’ll benefit from his work: making Jesus known and believed. When the Holy Spirit is doing his work, you don’t know it because he’s not interested in jumping on stage into the spotlight. Rather, his work is to put Jesus there. His work is to make Jesus known. His work is to bring us to faith in Jesus and keep us in faith in Jesus. 

Paul emphasized that point in the first verse of our words from 1 Corinthians. “Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (v.3). Paul directly connected the work of the Holy Spirit not with making Jesus known and believed. And he stated how important the work of the Holy Spirit is by clarifying that no one can even come to faith in Jesus (which is what Paul means with the phrase “Jesus is Lord”) unless the Holy Spirit enables it by creating the faith to confess it. 

This is the primary work of the Holy Spirit. We call it conversion. When a person is brought from unbelief to saving faith in Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who has worked that faith. And he works that faith through what we call the “means of grace.” These means, his “instruments” or “tools” of grace, are the gospel (good news about Jesus) in Word and Sacrament. So any effort on our part to make disciples without using those means, without using the Word of God, will be fruitless. The Holy Spirit uses only the message of the Bible to bring people to faith.

When we remember how the Holy Spirit alone works faith through the Word alone, we see faith for what it truly is – a gift. We don’t achieve faith on our own when we work a certain work. We don’t achieve faith on our own when we pray a certain prayer. We don’t achieve faith on our own when we reach some higher level of intellectual or academic achievement. We don’t do anything to come by faith; the Holy Spirit does everything. And he does it through the Word. Faith is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit gives, for through it we receive not only forgiveness and salvation but all other spiritual blessings the Holy Spirit gifts through it as well.

Think of faith like your hand. If I want to give you something, I would place it into your hand. By nature, however, when it comes to our relationship with God, sin leaves our hands clenched in a fist at God. That is because our sin accuses us and shows us our failure at keeping his right ways.

So long as our hands are clenched we cannot receive anything from God. Through the Word, the message about our sin and how God sent his Son to deal with our sin, the Holy Spirit pries open our faithless fists. Then and only then is the open palm of our hand able to receive faith and its gifts from the Holy Spirit.

Although conversion to the Christian faith is the greatest gift the Holy Spirit gives, it is far from the only one. In an effort to make Jesus known to others, once the Holy Spirit gives the gift of faith, he just keeps on giving. He also gives believers spiritual gifts to serve each other and to aid in the process of building up the church with gifts that elevate Jesus to even greater heights.

Although not exhaustive, Paul provided a list of some of those Spirit-given gifts in the second portion of the verses from 1 Corinthians 12. There are a number of ways one might categorize those gifts. One of the simplest might be to just classify them as gifts pertaining to either speaking or serving. While there may be some overlap in gifts, generally most will relate more to speech or service.

Additionally, there are gifts that have been called charismatic gifts, special miraculous gifts given in abundance to the early Christian church. While the Holy Spirit is certainly able to continue dispensing such charismatic gifts to his Church today, that class of gifts does not appear to be as prevalent as it was early on. That is likely because we now have what they didn’t then – the entire written Word of God. 

By no means does that imply that the speaking and serving gifts given to the Church today are in any way inferior. If we should for some reason feel as if we’ve been shortchanged in the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, Paul rules out that faulty thinking. “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Cor. 12:11). The Holy Spirit gives out his gifts in just the right amounts to just the right people, and that includes every single believer. There are no second or third stringers in the church. There are no benchwarmers or backups. Everyone is contributing to the teamwork through which the Holy Spirit does his work.  

And, if we remember the main purpose of these gifts, we can appreciate any and all of the Spirit’s gifts. Paul said, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (v.7). “The common good” means everybody benefits. In other words, your gifts aren’t just for you! My gifts aren’t just for me. They aren’t for personal advantage or personal gain, but for the common good, meaning our gifts are for each other. 

The me-centered miser inside each of us needs that reminder. Sin wants to make everything – even undeserved gifts from the Spirit – all about me. “Look at my wisdom, my knowledge, my faith!” Our sin sees the Spirit’s gifts as an opportunity to shine the spotlight on self.

And that isn’t even the only way that sinful pride abuses the Spirit’s gifts! Yes, I see my gifts as being beneficial to me, but I also see your gifts as a service to me! That’s when we are more than happy to point out to others that they ought to be using their gifts for the common good, when often we really mean for my good. So my gifts are for me, and so are yours. See how expertly we make everything about us!

What happens if you forget the common good and use those gifts selfishly? Consider each individual block in a wall. The wall didn’t just start out like that. It is made up of many blocks stacked together. I suppose a person could leave all of those individual blocks spread out over a large area, but unless those blocks are stacked on top of each other, there will never be a wall. And the more blocks that are stacked on top of each other, the higher the wall reaches. When we use our gifts for the common good, we are stacking them together for the Spirit to build something amazing with his gifts. When we use them selfishly, one person at best benefits – just me.

Think of the paramedic or physician who went through years of training and schooling to acquire the knowledge and skills to help the injured and save lives. Now imagine never using those skills. Those gifts might come in handy for the individual to know how to treat an injury on their own, but no one else will benefit from those gifts. It’s even more damaging than that – not only will they miss out on the benefit when those gifts are neglected or unused; they’ll actually suffer because of it. Some injuries would be more serious than they needed to be, and in some cases, some would die unnecessarily! The body of Christ hurts, too, when the Holy Spirit’s gifts go unused because others suffer. 

On the other hand, what happens when all the body of Christ does put these faith gifts to use? When these gifts are built upon the all-important foundation of the greatest gift of faith, a faith that believes our selfishness is blotted out by the blood of Jesus, a faith that believes our pride is paid for by his sacrificial death, amazing things will happen!

That’s when the Spirit is able to use those gifts to draw attention to Jesus. Do you know the results of the Word at work in connection with the Spirit’s gifts being poured out on that first Pentecost? “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). Phenomenal!

That’s the goal, friends. That’s what the Spirit does. That’s why he gives his Word. That’s why he gives his gifts, so that they work for the common good to elevate Jesus to where as many as possible can see him with eyes of faith… until he returns on the last day and we see him with our physical eyes. 

While clinging to the gift of faith then, dear friends, let that faith manifest itself in the expression of your other faith gifts. Use the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit specialized you with so that Jesus might be elevated and others might be brought to faith. We have the Word. We have the work of the Spirit. We have the gifts to get it done. Put it all together and see what the Spirit can do with it at this time and in this place with and through you.