Tag Archives: The Love of God

Spirit of God

Lent

March 5, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, 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?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Who is this teacher, this Jesus, that performs miraculous signs? These signs are real and often related to healing human bodies, but he speaks in terms of Spiritual things we cannot see or touch but are somehow real. The Spirit of God was not a new concept to Nicodemus; it appears 14 times in the Hebrew Bible.

 Shakespeare, in his play Hamlet, may have said it best. In Act 1 Scene 5, Hamlet tells his friend: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Jesus is explaining the unexplainable, which is the beginning of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says it this way; Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

God’s love comes to us in many ways, but none more meaningful than the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the wonderous gift of your Spirit. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What is Prayer

Living in the Spirit

October 15, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

God hears our prayers, but what constitutes a prayer? I pray rather formally daily for my family, friends facing difficulties or health problems, and even myself. If I know something particular, I might mention it, but in most instances, I just ask God to bless them. I pray before my Sunday school class and the Bible study group I facilitate. I think these prayers are important even though I have no idea what God thinks about such prayers. My sense is God expects me to pray these prayers. I do not think God keeps a record of how many people prayed for something or someone and responds accordingly. I tend to think praying grows our love and sense of our interrelationship with God and all of God’s children.

The real guts of my prayers, however, come when I grapple with God about the right thing to do or why something is happening. These are not formal prayers. These are prayers of desperation where I see something amiss in my life or the world, and I do not know how to deal with it except to share my consternation with the One who created me and the world around me. Who is better to deal with life choices than the creator of life?

Prayer:
Guide me, O my great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but you are mighty;
hold me with your powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and evermore,
feed me now and evermore*. Amen.

First verse of Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah by William Williams See at https://hymnary.org/text/guide_me_o_thou_great_jehovah

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Seeking the Good

Living in the Spirit

July 25, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-39
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In times like these, we need this scripture. Books have been written based on it, and yet, it still speaks for itself. Read it today. Inhale it into every part of your being. Let the Spirit help in your weakness. Allow the Spirit to intercede for you in words you cannot form.

Look for the things that work together for good. The Oklahoma City bombing was one of the worst events I have ever witnessed. The renaissance of downtown Oklahoma City following the bombing is impressive. Evil destroyed but did not conquer.

Evil is splitting our nation in many different ways, trying to overthrow everything good. If we cling to and live in the promises of God, we will not be conquered by evil, because nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the good that is coming and to invest ourselves in hastening its arrival. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.