Focus

   Let’s return to the freeways of Southern California once more to draw the picture of walking with the Spirit.
   California SR 110 north from US 101 to Pasadena is the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway, the first freeway in the United States.  It is a winding, up and down thrill ride through the hills and arroyos north of LA city limits.  (Fifty-five mph on the 110 feels like 80 on nearly every other freeway.)  One of the ways SR 110 reveals that it is the nation’s oldest freeway is the length of its on and off ramps.  An off ramp’s yellow-orange speed limit sign that says “5 mph” or “10 mph” isn’t communicating a suggested speed.  Those signs are a command to obey unless one is driving a Porsche or Ferrari.
    The on ramp to SR 110 from Avenue 60 uses Shults Street.  It is a residential street a block in length, with a stop sign at the “T” with Arroyo.  On the other side of Arroyo is the 110 on ramp…all of 30, maybe 40 yards in length!
   That Avenue 60 on ramp to the 110 requires a different tactic than what is used for nearly every other SoCal freeway.  Those who use the ramp regularly stop at Arroyo.  When the intersection is clear, they stomp on the gas, cross the intersection and make the 90° right hand-turn onto the ramp.  Their focus is not on the traffic, rather, they give the speedometer all their attention until the car reaches 55 mph.  These drivers also presume that the renowned courtesy and tolerance of LA drivers will create space for another car entering the parkway.
   When describing how to live by the Spirit, Paul gives this understanding: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  (Romans 8:5-6 ESV, emphasis added)
   Like the focus on the speedometer by the driver who gets into the 110 freeway “flow,” the believer who lives by the Spirit is focused on the things of the Holy Spirit.  Living life by the Spirit is about a transformation of the focus of the believer.  The more the focus is on the things of the Spirit, the more the believer will live by the “flow” of the Spirit.
   We naturally focus on the flesh.  Our enemies, Satan and his forces, constantly seek to distract us with the things of the flesh.  In 1 John, the things of the flesh are summed up as the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and boastful pride of life.  While focusing on the flesh is easy and attractive, it brings death.  The things of the Spirit, however, bring life and peace.
   What are those “things of the Spirit” on which the believer is to focus?
   More to come!

Merge

It takes no small amount of driving skill and courage to negotiate the freeways of Southern California.  The flow of traffic bounces back and forth between two extremes at any time of day: either eighty miles an hour or creeping parking lot.  Lane changes happen in a blink of the eye and only require an opening the length of two cars.  Timing is everything and missing an exit or connector ramp condemns a driver to a labyrinth of misery.

For many newcomers to the Southland driving challenge, just getting on to the freeway is an overwhelming obstacle.  There appear to be no gaps among the onrushing cars to enter the freeway.  One can’t count on other drivers to yield to the freeway entrant…it is up to the entering driver to match the speed of his or her car with the flow of traffic and merge.  SoCal drivers expect and respect the driver who has the confidence to merge.  With the confidence to merge, the rest of freeway driving begins to become pretty easy.

It works the same way when it comes to Walking by the Spirit.  It is a matter of merging one’s life with the “flow” of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)

         The confidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in a believer comes from merging.  While it is an AWESOME and TERRIFYING truth that the Holy Spirit (God Himself!) lives in and with the believer, it is the very same Spirit’s will and work that makes it possible to live life by the Spirit.  The response of the believer is to merge head, heart, soul, and body to the “flow” of the will and work of the Spirit so that the believer will be in the will of God (His good pleasure).

         What then, must a believer do to merge his or her life with the “flow” of the Holy Spirit?

         More to come!

Ownership

What is the work of renewal the Holy Spirit does in believers?
   A helpful analogy can be drawn between what happens to believers in Jesus Christ in the spiritual realm and the realm of a British monarch who obtains a piece of property.  Once an English king or queen takes possession of the property, one of the very first actions taken is placing the crown’s insignia in a place that others will be able to see and know who owns the property.  After that, the work begins bringing the buildings and grounds up to the qualities worthy of royalty.
   Life by the Holy Spirit works in a very similar way.  At the time a person receives Jesus as Savior and Leader of his or her life, there is an insignia…more accurately…the seal of Jesus’ ownership put on the person.  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)  The Holy Spirit’s sealing of the believer makes clear for all eternity that the King of Kings, the ruler over all creation, owns the believer!
   The analogy, however, breaks down after Jesus takes possession of the believer.  While common workers of the lower class do the work of renovating a monarch’s property to royal standards, it is none other than the Holy Spirit Himself who brings renewal to the believer.  Because the Holy Spirit is God, His work of transformation will ultimately raise the believer’s level of spiritual qualities to that of Jesus Christ.
   How great is that?!  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)
    How can a believer know for sure that the Holy Spirit is doing the work of renewal as Jesus promised?
    More to come!

Hard To Grasp

I imagine that “Nick” pulled his cloak up around his cheeks the evening he went to talk to Jesus.  He had a question—the kind that demands to be answered—even if Nick risked losing his status as leader among the teachers of Israel.  Jesus must have publicly taught something that caught Nicodemus’ interest, and likely, created the insecurity that comes with misunderstanding and ignorance.  The Gospel writer John recorded the event.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”  (John 3:1-9 ESV)

Like Nicodemus, we religious types have a tough time understanding the role of the Holy Spirit!  As hard as it was for Nicodemus to grasp that eternal life comes by being born again through the Holy Spirit, similarly, it is tough for many, many believers to comprehend the meaning of the Holy Spirit who: “dwells with you and will be in you.”

It works this way: If a person is born again by the Holy Spirit and not by human effort, then it logically follows that the Christian life is lived, not by human efforts, but by the Spirit who is with and in the believer.  The normal Christian life, then, is life in the Holy Spirit.

Read the following passage from Titus 3 and focus on the underlined: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior….”  (Titus 3:4-6 NIV)

What is the work of renewal that the Holy Spirit will do in believers?

More to come!

Exact Comparison

            We have likely heard many times the phrase, “You are trying to compare apples to oranges.”  We use that statement to object when we think a person is trying to tie unrelated items together—like when kids try to say they should have the same rights and freedoms as their parents.  Wrong!  It doesn’t matter that both parents and children are humans, there is a difference between adults and kids…thank you very much!

         It is also not uncommon for us to have a similar thinking when it comes to the Holy Spirit in relationship to Jesus.  We see Jesus as God (apple), but we don’t quite see the Holy Spirit (orange) on the same level as Jesus.  Yes, we believe both are part of the godhead (fruit), but they are as different as apples and oranges.  Wrong!  That is not what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus spoke of “another Helper,” that word “another” is best translated from the original language, Greek, “another of the same kind.”

         In saying that the Father would give believers “another Helper,” Jesus is saying that believers will receive another Helper who is the same as Jesus.  It is almost too amazing to believe!  Jesus left the earth, but after departing, He gave believers another Who is the same as Him!

The wonder of what that means becomes fantastic when we grasp what Jesus also says about the Holy Spirit.  Focus on the underlined statement.  “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”  (John 14:16-17 ESV)

What do you think it means that the Holy Spirit is with believers and dwells (lives) in believers?

More to come!

Another Helper?

Can you fill in the blank to complete the name: Casper the Friendly ______?  If you filled in the blank before finishing the sentence, you probably have more gray hair than you care to admit!  And maybe you are like me—growing up you knew the name of two ghosts: Casper and Holy.  We watched Casper the Friendly Ghost on the TV in Saturday morning cartoons and then heard about the Holy Ghost on Sunday mornings at worship.

         Of course, “Holy Ghost” is an old school term for the Holy Spirit, and there is no connection between Casper and the Holy Spirit of God.  But confusion about the identity of God’s Holy Spirit isn’t just in the mind of children.  There are believers of all ages who are very unclear about the third person of the Godhead.  The confusion about the Holy Spirit is so great for some, that the instructions of Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” are nearly useless words.

Yet, the normal Christian life is “in step with the Spirit.”  To live in the Spirit or by the Spirit—two other ways of communicating the instruction of Galatians 5—requires knowing and understanding as much as possible about the Holy Spirit.  Over the next few months, we will pursue grasping who, what, why, when and, particularly, the how of living life in step with the Spirit.

One of the best passages on the identity of the Holy Spirit comes from John’s account of Jesus life.  Read the words of John 14:16-17 below and focus on the word, “another Helper.”

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Why do you think Jesus called the Holy Spirit “another Helper?”

More to come!