At the end of this week we will be celebrating the Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day in the United States. This is not just any Fourth of July though. It’s not just any year marking the birth of this nation. It is the 250th anniversary of that day when representatives from the 13 colonies forming the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence creating the United States of America. Our 250 year history has been one filled with courage, bravery, success and independence along with atrocities, cruelty, suffering, conflicts and disasters. All of these have grown and shaped our country over the last 250 years. I am admittedly biased, but think we are a great nation. No, we are not, nor have we ever been, perfect. Yes, we have made and will most likely continue to make many mistakes. While we should not deny or hide those, we also shouldn’t lose sight of the many great things that have been a part of our nation’s history either.

We have been blessed as a nation. To overlook, ignore, or deny those blessings is to have an ungrateful heart. I would hope in this week leading up to this great anniversary of the birth of our nation that we would take time to recognize the blessings that God has so graciously given our nation and us as individuals as well. In Job 12:23 we are reminded of this fact about God: “He makes the nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.” We exist, prosper, thrive, or cease to exist because of Him. This anniversary shows 250 years of God’s grace in establishing and sustaining our country. That alone is something to be grateful for.

I know that there are many differing opinions about the state of our nation right now. In fact, some of you might be even be reading this asking how can you say our nation is so great or that we are blessed don’t you see what a mess things are? You may think our President and the leaders have destroyed our nation, or that our President and leaders are being persecuted and people are trying to destroy them and our nation. If that is where you find your thoughts right now, I understand that, but I point you back to the verse in Job 12:23. Although leaders and other people can significantly affect our lives and nation, ultimately none of them can destroy it or make it great. That privilege and responsibility belongs to God and God alone.

It is easy and seems to have become a favorite pastime of Americans to criticize. We criticize our leaders. We criticize each other. We even have become weirdly critical of ourselves adding to the skyrocketing anxiety in our nation. As believers, I can’t recall a single command or calling for us to criticize others in the way we at times do. Instead I see these reminders and encouragements (along with many more):

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

So, instead of criticizing and complaining I see reminders to seek peace and prosperity for our city, and nation. I understand that we all probably have different ideas of what that looks like and how it should be accomplished and we can have and civilly share our opinions remembering that if we want others to listen to us then we should be willing to listen to them. We won’t all agree on the what and how of everything, but we don’t stop there.

We’ve also been called to pray for peace and prosperity. While we’re doing that, we are called to be subject to, or under the authority of, the governing authorities. If you are tempted to say that an authority figure you don’t like or agree with is not your leader, I’d caution you to think carefully and look back at Romans 13:1 where we are told that “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” The good ones, the bad ones, the ones we agree with and the ones we don’t have all been established by God for His purpose. We might not understand what that purpose is, but if we say we trust and follow God then we need to submit to His will and recognize His sovereignty. He is sovereign even over schemes of men and flaws of machines.

Finally, not only are we called to pray for the peace and prosperity of our cities and country, but we are reminded to make petitions (requests), prayers, intercessions (praying for their benefit), and thanksgiving for ALL people. I love the way the verse in 1 Timothy is written because just in case we’re not sure that they are included in ALL people, God specifies that these petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be made for kings and ALL those in authority. It even goes on to let us know that it pleases God.

With those important reminders, I would encourage you this week (and hopefully beyond) to take time to be grateful for our nation and specifically the Wonder of God’s Blessing on our Nation, but also take time to pray for it’s peace and prosperity. Seek that peace and make sure you are submitting to the authorities God has put in place and pray for them. Because as Billy Graham once beautifully stated, “The secret strength of a nation is found in the faith that abides in the hearts and homes of the country.”

We’ve talked before in a previous article about who the Holy Spirit is in regards to being one of the three Persons of the Triune God. If you missed that, you can check out that article here. Today, I want us to dive in a little deeper to what we know about who He is. We know these things from Scripture, so there will be a lot of verses that we will be looking at in today’s article. So, who is the Holy Spirit?the-wonder-of-the-holy-spirit.html

Let’s start with this. We know that the Holy Spirit is given to us by God and sent by Jesus. Now, you might be saying, wait a second, I thought He was God so how can He be given by God? That’s a great question and the answer to the first part is you are right the Holy Spirit is one of the Persons of the Triune God. My answer to the second part would be in much of the same way as I ended the article on that. My answer is: I don’t really know. I don’t fully understand how one Person of the Triune God gives us another Person of the Triune God and honestly when I spend a lot of time thinking about it my head often ends up hurting, but through faith I believe it’s true. Logically (but also through an element of faith), I also know that we’ve seen it before if we believe as John 3:16 says that “God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” the same Son who is also a part of the Triune God. Ultimately, if we trust God’s Word to be true we are shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Holy Spirit is given to us by God.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
(Luke 11:13)

“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
(Luke 24:49)

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
(John 14:16-17)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
(John 14:26)

“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
(Romans 5:5)
    
Just as it’s important for us to understand that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, it is also important for us to know that He is for all believers. We see this in Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and in the falling of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles in the home of Cornelius. We also see this clearly explained by Paul in Ephesians 1:13-14:

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Paul also helps us understand in Romans 8:6 that the Holy Spirit is life and peace.
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace”

Jesus taught His disciples that the Holy Spirit would be Truth and a Helper.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
(John 16:7-15)

And as Isaiah prophesied about Him, he helped us understand that the Holy Spirit would also embody wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. He said in Isaiah 11:12 that:

“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit, like each person of the Triune God, is pretty amazing. He is life, peace, truth, wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge & fear of the Lord, and a helper. What is even more amazing is that He has been given by God as a gift to all of us who believe! Let’s thank God for that amazing gift today!

As we continue this series on the Wonder of the Holy Spirit, this week and next week we will be taking a closer look at what the Holy Spirit does. He’s pretty active, so there was no way to get this all in one article. In fact, two articles will barely scratch the surface of what He does.

We are going to start with what is arguably His most important task. The Holy speaks what He hears, revealing the thoughts and words of God to us, teaching and guiding us, and glorifying God. We see examples of this throughout Scripture, but it is probably most clearly explained first by Jesus in John 16 and then by Paul in 1 Corinthians. Let’s take a look:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
(John 14:26)

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
(John 16:13-15)

“But just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

It’s important that we embrace the truth of these verses first, because knowing what the Spirit says to us is God’s truth helps us to fully embrace and understand the significance of so many of the other things that He does and says including this next one.

The Holy Spirit testifies that we are children and heirs of God. The very presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives indicates that God has given us this gift because we have been adopted into His family as His children and His heirs. Think of the significance of that.

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
(Ephesians 1:13-14)

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
(Romans 8:15-17)

We see in the Ephesians passage that this miraculous adoption and inheritance come after we listen to and believe the truth of the message of the gospel. The Holy Spirit plays a big role in this too, because this area of His responsibilities including convicting the world concerning sin. We see this in John 16:7-11 which says:

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

We can see already that the Holy Spirit has some serious responsibilities, and we will see even more of this in next week’s article. The significance of Him sharing God’s words and thoughts and that He is responsible for convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment help us to possibly understand why in Matthew 12:31-32 Jesus said this about the Spirit:

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Sprit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Because of who the Holy Spirit is and what He does, speaking against Him is speaking against the words and thoughts of God. We need to take His words and promptings seriously.

As believers, we are blessed to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. As He speaks to us, teaches us, guides us and directs us, we can be assured that He is doing that because we are God’s children and heirs and He loves us and wants the best for us. Let’s listen and obey in gratitude today.

This month’s featured book is Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss.

Once again, I was listening to a podcast when I first heard of this book. The title definitely intrigued me because I’m familiar with the overflowing shelves of books about leadership as well as the increasing number of books about anxiety. Putting those two together and talking about Leadership Anxiety seemed slightly unusual though. I like to think of myself as a leader and I know that I definitely have moments of anxiety, but is Leadership Anxiety actually a thing and if so what exactly is it and how in the world do I manage mine and others when I don’t know what it is. That thought alone can start bringing in a little bit of anxiety.

Thankfully in this book, Steve Cuss uses a his years of hospital chaplaincy and pastoring along with tools like Family Systems Theory to tackle the topic of anxiety from a spiritual perspective.  While this book is focused on anxiety in leadership situations, so much of it is applicable to all aspects in life. He begins the book with some explanations and tangible examples of anxiety and understanding it through the perspective of God’s grace. As he talks about the importance of recognizing and examining our areas of anxiety he says: “By paying attention to what was bubbling underneath and managing it, I discovered new levels of freedom and a profound encounter with God’s grace. I experienced genuine spiritual breakthroughs of patterns that had previously kept me stuck.”

Not only does Steve Cuss discuss the importance of identifying anxiety and give hope for the work God can do in our lives as we get to the roots of those anxieties, but he gives tangible tips and tools for how to recognize the causes of your anxiety in leadership and recognizing signs of anxiety in those you are leading. He speaks to causes of both internal anxiety and relational anxiety like the people we feel we need to live up to or not disappoint, blind spots, feeling judged, doubt, dealing with mixed messages, feeling like you’re in a lose-lose situation, stepping on unseen relational land-mines, and so many more. As he spends multiple chapters unpacking and explaining these many sources of anxiety for leaders, I could see situations that I or other leaders I know have found ourselves in.

After spending time unpacking these realities that leaders face, along with the impacts and anxiety that it causes for those around us as well, the author begins to share numerous strategies and tools to for how to manage or deescalate that anxiety. Many of these tools I was familiar with, but was reminded that they are in my toolbox and I should probably be using them a little more often. I was also blessed to be able to have several other new tools to manage relational and leadership issues that can easily cause anxiety for me and others. Tools like learning to pay closer attention to not just content, but to the process of how people are relating and behaving because that is where things tend to get stuck. I was also reminded of the importance of trying to see how I am personally contributing to stuck systems so I can help get us unstuck. Even more importantly than the great tools themselves though, was this reminder:

“The goal of managing anxiety is not simply for relief, it is to connect more fully with God and to raise awareness of what God is doing. Anxiety blocks our awareness of God because it takes our subconscious attention. This means that anxiety can be an early detection system that we’re depending on something other than God for our well-being.”

I found Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss to be a very helpful and insightful read. It was full of encouragement, tools, helpful explanations, and challenges to better equip the reader not just for leadership but for life. One of the closing reminders in the book was a quote from a group facilitator that the author works with who said: “This is hard work, but staying the same and not doing this work is hard too. It is just that you are familiar with the ‘hard’ you’re in now. You’ve become so accustomed to the anxiety you carry every day that you don’t realize how hard it is.”

If you’ve not read this book, I would encourage you to give it a read so you can gain some insight, encouragement and tools to hopefully make your life as leader just a little less hard in the future.

As we’ve talked in the last few weeks about the importance of rest and identifying the things we need in our lives, it reminds me of the importance of taking time to reflect and evaluate in general. Reflecting on where we are and where we want to be going, maybe at times reflecting on the past, and especially reflecting on God’s Word are all helpful as we seek to be the healthiest people and leaders that we can be.


In Proverbs 27:19 is says:

“As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.”


This is a great reminder for us that our what is in our heart truly reflects who we are. Sometimes we think what’s in our heart is our secret, but what’s in our heart has a way of coming out. In fact in Luke 6:45 Jesus explained it this way:

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

When we find ourselves doing or saying things we don’t like, or more importantly that don’t honor and glorify God, then it’s probably time for some reflection to figure out what sort of unhealthy things have made their way into our hearts.


This idea of reflection or examination can be found throughout Scripture. In Lamentations 3:40, it is stated very directly:
“Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord.”
So not only to we need to take time to take a close look at what we’re doing, but I find that word “probe” very interesting. “Probe” gives us this great image of pushing back at and digging into what we are seeing. To get to the real heart of issues that we are dealing with, reactions that we are having, or why we suddenly seem angry or bitter, we need to do some probing. We need to dig to get to the root of the issue.


I don’t enjoying dealing with weeds in my yard, but I also don’t enjoy a yard full of weeds. Sometimes when I notice weeds, I can go pull them and they pull out fairly easily, roots and all and that’s not too bad. It takes some effort, but it’s worth it and the task is accomplished fairly painlessly. Other times though, even when the weed isn’t that big and doesn’t seem like that big of deal, I begin tugging on it only to discover that the roots are far more entrenched than it appears on the surface. A couple things tend to happen when I come across these type of weeds. If I realize how strong these roots are, I start pulling on the weed a little more carefully so that it doesn’t just break off the part that is showing and leave the roots. Sometimes this careful pulling allows me to sense where the most resistance is and adjust my approach so that I can slowly pull the entire weed and roots up successfully. This takes patience, though, and more effort, but it gets the job done. Other times though, if I don’t realize how deep the roots go right away, sometimes I end up pulling the top part of the weed off, but the roots remain intact. At that point I have a choice. I can begin tediously digging into the soil to try to find and remove the roots that remain, or I can decide that it’s good enough and cover up what remains underground hoping that it will just die off. If I choose the second approach, it rarely works because the weed almost always regrows and when it does the roots are even stronger and harder to remove. It often seems easier to choose that second approach though because the first one takes so much effort and I don’t want to bother, but in the long-run I’m just creating more problems and work because I delayed what needed to be done.


Hopefully, you see the connection here. Just like weeds make our yards become a mess, weeds in our hearts do the same, and weeds in our hearts require much of the same attention, effort, thought, and patience that weeds in our yard do. Here is another connection though: I can help prevent or at least limit the growth of the weeds in my yard if I take the time and effort to carefully and faithfully use a pre-emergent to cover the ground and keep the weeds from growing in the first place. Psalm 1:1-2 gives us insight on a pre-emergent that God gives us for the weeds that might want to grow in our hearts:
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”
Meditating, or giving focused thought, on God’s Word and delighting in it helps to prevent the weeds of life from taking root in our hearts. The more faithful we are with this and the more we apply it to our life, then the more it guards our hearts against the seeds of doubt, insecurity, bitterness, envy, angry and more that the evil one tries to sow.


One of the things with pre-emergent though is that it states that for best results existing weeds need to be cleared away. Just like with our yards, just spending time in the Word alone is not enough. We need to put in the work of careful, intentional, patient reflection to remove the weeds that have already taken root in our hearts as soon as we notice them. This definitely isn’t easy, but it is necessary for us to live the lives of freedom, abundance, service, purpose and calling that God desires for us.


James reminds us of the importance of this along with image of reflection in James 1:22-25 where it says:


“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual does, this man will be blessed in what he does.”


So when we start seeing signs that we’ve heard the word but aren’t doing it, it’s definitely time to put the Wonder of Reflection to work in our lives so we can start seeing and pulling the weeds to reveal the beautiful, strong hearts God has placed in us and clear up the reflection we’re showing the world. I pray you will take sometime today to begin to reflect on the condition of your heart, and seek God’s guidance to get to the root of anything that shouldn’t be there.

The last couple of weeks we’ve talked about who the Holy Spirit is. We saw how Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit, promised His arrival, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for it.

In Acts chapter 2 we see that they’ve done just that. Then we see the Holy Spirit arriving among these believers in a dramatic way in Acts 2:1-8:

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language which we were born?’”

I have a pretty good imagination, but I will admit I struggle with being able to imagine just what it might have been like to be there on that day. “A noise like a violent rushing wind” took place and apparently it drew attention from all over the city. If that wasn’t enough “tongues as of fire” rested on each of the believers in the room. Then to top it all off the Spirit’s first work in them was giving them words to speak in languages that weren’t ones they normally spoke. I feel like the description of the crowd as “amazed and astonished” seems like it might have been understating it a bit. “Bewildered” definitely seems like a possibility. I would have to think that hearing and observing the whole thing for those outside the room would have been concerning, confusing, and maybe even a little fearful.

My imagination can easily picture all of that. What I have trouble imagining is what the experience must have been like for those in the room who had the tongues as of fire resting on them and found themselves speaking a language they didn’t know while feeling the Spirit in them for the first time ever. It is incomprehensible to me. While I know what it feels like to have the Spirit in me and the sense of peace and promptings and guidance that He gives, I also had others in my life who had received the Holy Spirit before me and taught me about Him. This was completely new for all of the them in the room, but of course they had just spent three years with the Master Teacher and had seen more amazing things than this with their own eyes especially during the previous few weeks.

In response to the crowd and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter begins to preach. He reminds the crowd what God said about sending His spirit in Joel 2:28-29:

“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Peter went on to explain how those listening could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well. In Acts 2:38-39 he says:

“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts 2 goes on to tell us that about 3,000 people believed and were baptized that day. They listened to Peter’s words and believed. Peter’s words there, prompted by the Spirit, had a deeper meaning than even he knew that day. As he said that the promise was for “all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself”, he probably didn’t imagine that a short time later, after seeing this rapid expansion of the number of believers within Jerusalem and even beyond that due to the rising persecution they were facing, he would have a vision from God that would once again change everything.

The vision and subsequent message that God brought to Peter on a rooftop in Acts chapter 10, led Peter to do the unthinkable for a Jewish man at the time and go and stay in the home of a centurion named Cornelius to share God’s message. Peter did as God asked him even though it probably didn’t make sense to him. He shared with Cornelius and all of those gathered there the message of Jesus. Acts 10:44-48 tells us that:

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, ‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

Not only had the Holy Spirit come upon the Jewish believers in a miraculous way at Pentecost, but now Peter got to witness the Holy Spirit fall upon Gentile believers for the first time as well. I find myself wondering if the words that Peter spoke at Pentecost came back to him in that moment. “For the promise if for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

As one who was once “far off”, I’m so thankful that the promise of the Gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit was for me (and you) too!

God’s greatest gift to us was Jesus’s death on the cross to pay for our sins and restore our relationship with God. This one gift would have been enough, but He has given us so many other amazing and undeserved gifts each and every day. I might argue that one of the greatest gifts right after Jesus’s sacrifice is the Wonder of the Gift of Rest.

Scientific research has shown the incredible importance that sleep and rest have for our bodies, our minds, and our overall health. Which once again demonstrates that science confirms what our Creator has said all along. He designed rest for us. It is His gift to us and something He knows we need.

We see this gift of rest come up in the very beginning when Genesis 2:2-3 tells us that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and everything in it, and blessed that day and made it holy, or set it apart. Then in Exodus 20 when God was giving the recently delivered Israelites some important commands on how to be a new nation of His holy people, he told them to “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.” He reinforced this in several other places in the Books of the Law and gave reminders of it’s importance through the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as well.

Somehow though, over the next few centuries this had become a burden for the people. It had gone from a command from God to take a day to rest and be blessed by spending time with Him to a detailed regulation and restrictions that had to be carefully followed. This law of blessing had become a rule of burden. This is not what God intended and we see that in the words of Jesus in Mark 2:27-28:

We are continuing in our series on the Wonder of the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the importance of embracing the concept of the Trinity and how God clearly demonstrated throughout Scripture that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the One God we worship and serve. Before we dive into the arrival of the Holy Spirit, I want us to take a look at how Jesus prepared His disciples. He didn’t just tell them at the last minute to wait for the Holy Spirit, but He had been teaching about Him and preparing them all along.


On more than a half dozen occasions during His time with the disciples, Jesus spent time talking with them about the Holy Spirit.


He explained that the Father would be giving them a good gift in the Holy Spirit:

​

Part of being able to Discern Wonder includes being able to discern what we need. We won’t have the capacity to discern the wonder around us or lead others to if we aren’t taking care of ourselves. As leaders in church, ministries, homes, and businesses, we have to begin by leading ourselves. We can’t lead others well if we’re not leading ourselves. Part of learning to lead yourself well means using discernment to determine what it is that you need.

Being able to discern what you need starts with knowing where you are in your relationship with God. How is that relationship? What do you need there? Do you need to spend more time with Him? Do you need to spend more time in the Word or more time in prayer? What does that look like for where you are in your relationship with God? What is he telling you in that area of your life?

Beyond that, we also need discernment in our rest. One of God’s commands is for us to take a Sabbath rest. While we find that in the Old Testament and some may say that is a part of the Law and we are no longer bound to it, we also see that Jesus frequently spoke about the Sabbath as well. In fact, He said that the Sabbath is for man and not man for the Sabbath. It’s not about following a legalistic view of Sabbath that restricts and binds us, but more about the fact that we need rest and time with God. Even modern scientific research backs up the fact that we need rest. If you’ve ever had a few sleepless nights, that fact becomes obvious. So we need to use discernment to figure out what we might need to do to help us rest well so that we can be recharged and ready to lead ourselves and others well.

Another area that we need to use some discernment in involves our time. How are you managing your time? Are you using discernment there? Are you spending too much time on work or too little? What about the time you spend in ministry, church, or with your family and friends? Discernment is so important in many areas of our life. When we talk about how to be discerning with our time, I go back to starting with God. Prayerfully seeking His guidance asking Him for discernment and wisdom for what and how He is directing you. I can’t help but think back to last week‘s article about the importance of dwelling with Him. The more we dwell with Him the more He gives us discernment in these areas. When we learn to hear that still, small voice speaking to us and telling us exactly what it is that we need and what it is that He has for us, we begin to see the path we need to walk to enjoy the abundant life He has promised. That definitely should be our starting place: dwelling with Him and seeking Him for our discernment.

Beyond that though, He gives us other tools to help us. The tool of wise counsel can be very helpful as we look for discernment in our time and other areas. Again, we need discernment to determine sources of wise counsel. Figuring out who to go to and who to listen to is important. I don’t know that we want to take advice in this particular area from someone who isn’t living in a way we want to follow. If someone is burned out or making poor decisions, they might not have the wisest counsel for us unless it is pitfalls to avoid.  We can look to people who are setting good examples of the way we want to live. They won’t be perfect examples, but seeking their counsel can be helpful.

There are other tools out there that can help us as well. One example is last month’s book review on Sacred Rest. There are also tools to help us take time to set or evaluate our priorities. I have gone through and helped others walk through exercises of focusing on what it is they feel called to do, how they’re using their time, and whether those priorities and their time management are aligning. This can be a very eye-opening exercise for all of us. We all go through tough seasons and have moments where we’re are living more in survival mode than anything else. During those seasons we’re doing what it takes to get us through, but if we stay in them for too long, we can easily start drifting and losing sight of our purpose and priorities. At times like that, it can be very helpful to take a step back to really think through and discern where God has us and what we are called to be doing. Taking a close look at what we’re doing and why we are doing it can help us realign with the priorities that God has for us.

If you ever find yourself in need of some reflection or tools to help you discern what it is you need, please consider using the contact page on this website to reach out for some personal coaching. I’d be happy to help walk you through some tools to help you lead yourself and others well.

Last week, we finished a series on encounters with Jesus after the resurrection. In the last one, we saw the disciples encounter with Jesus as He ascended to heaven. Before His ascension, He said to them: