We are currently in the middle of a series about the Wonder of Discernment. So far we’ve talked about the importance of taking time to slow down and spend time with God to seek discernment, putting it into practice, and training our discernment. Just looking at that can seem a little daunting, but there is good news. We don’t have to do it alone. In fact, we can’t do it in our own power. We need the Spirit to help us.


In 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, Paul was explaining to the church at Corinth:


“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”


True discernment comes from God and our understanding comes from Him as well. So to grow in our discernment means spending time with Him and listening to Him.


I love the words that Paul uses in verse twelve, “so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” He has given to us freely. He wants us to understand and then share what we have so freely been given. The Spirit is God’s gift to help us understand. If you want to learn more about this great gift from God, please check out the series of articles on the Holy Spirit on this website. There are so many great blessings that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives, but this aspect of His giving us understanding and discernment is definitely one of the more wonderful ones.


The Spirit illuminates the Word of God in our lives and helps us to understand God in new ways. As Paul described it He gives us not “words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” Sometimes as we exercise discernment we find ourselves thinking or saying something and wondering “how do I know that?” or “where did that come from?”.  As a believer, our discernment comes through God. The Spirit helps us to understand and gives us words when we don’t have them.


If you find yourself struggling with discernment, go back to where we started in the first article in this series: slow down and spend time with God seeking discernment. He is the source. The Spirit will help us understand and discern. That can’t happen if we aren’t spending time with Him. The more we dwell with Him, the more we will Wonder in Him and He will equip us to Wonder in the Discernment given by Him.

In last week’s article we start talking about some of the many things that the Holy Spirit does. This week we are concluding this series by taking a look at some of the many things that the Holy Spirit does in us and with us.

This first one might be the most important it because without it the rest of the work that the Holy Spirit does in us wouldn’t really be possible or effective. We know that the Holy Spirit abides in us and is with us forever. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says:

“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.”

As He abides with us, He is also pouring out the love of God in us. We see this in Romans 5:5 where it says:

“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.”

Through that love of God, the Holy Spirit transforms us giving us a new heart and spirit, bringing fruit in our lives.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
(Galatians 5:22-25)

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
(Ezekiel 36:26-28)

As we see in the verses from Ezekiel, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us reminding us of the Word and causing us to follow Jesus and obey Him. We also see this in John 14:26 in the words of Jesus:

“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.”

There are so many ways that Holy Spirit helps us. He intercedes for us and He helps in our weakness. In Romans 8:26-27, Paul describes it this way:
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Not only does the Holy Spirit help us in our weakness, but He also gives us power. He powers our hope and empowers us to witness.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”
(Acts 1:7-8)

He will do all this and more, but like Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5-8, we must be born of the Spirit.

“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit’”

So, as we wrap up this series about the Wonder of the Holy Spirit, my first challenge to you is this: if you’ve never done what Jesus said to Nicodemus and been born of the Spirit by choosing to believe in Jesus then please talk to someone about doing that today. If there is no one else in your life that you can do that with, then reach out to me via the contact form on the website.

If you have been born of the Spirit, then you know that the He dwells in you forever. We are blessed to have His Spirit in us doing all of the things we have discussed today. Take sometime to thank God for who the Holy Spirit is in you and what He has done and continues to do. What a gift!    

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!

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:

This is part of our Thursday series on the encounters with the Risen Savior that are shared in the four gospels. Today’s encounter is shared with us by John.
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Last week we looked at Jesus appearing to the disciples. As John finishes his account of that event, in chapter 20 verses 24- 29 he then goes on to say this:

I’m just going to say it. I think Thomas gets a bad rap. For centuries he has literally been referred to as “Doubting Thomas.” But based on last week’s readings, if we call him Doubting Thomas, then we should be calling the other apostles Doubting Peter, Doubting John, Doubting Andrew, Doubting James and so on. All of the disciples had two opportunities to believe without seeing that Jesus is alive, but they hadn’t. They didn’t believe Mary and the women. They didn’t believe the disciples from the Emmaus Road. None of them believed until they saw Jesus. In fact in Mark’s account of Jesus’s appearance to the disciples he says that Jesus “reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.”

Thomas was not alone in his disbelief, and when he saw Jesus like the others had he immediately confessed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus’s response to Thomas doesn’t come across too harsh, but still echoes that “reproach” that Mark talks about. Jesus said to Thomas:

The ones who were closest to Jesus, those He’d been teaching for three years, had been hesitant or scared to believe He had been resurrected. They had to see for themselves before they believed, but Jesus said that those who believe without seeing are blessed.

That is you and I if we are believers. We had to accept and come to the point of saying you are “My Lord and my God” to Him without physically seeing Him or being able to touch His wounds. It is what we call faith. As the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11:1,

​We did not see Him resurrected as the disciples did, but we have conviction of things we didn’t see. We have assurance in the hope of salvation, and Jesus calls us blessed.

But just as the disciples were far from perfect, so are we. We all have times and areas where we struggle with belief. We may not doubt His resurrection or our salvation, but maybe we have moments where we struggle to believe His love for us, His goodness, His faithfulness to equip us to do what He has called us to, and more. In those moments we need to show ourselves a little grace and realize that moments of unbelief didn’t disqualify the disciples and they don’t disqualify us either. In those moments we need to place our eyes on Jesus and cling to Him until we can find ourselves in midst of our struggles and disbelief finally recognizing the Truth and confessing as Thomas did, “My Lord and my God!”

Genesis 32 contains one of the most unique encounters with God that we see in all of Scripture. To be fair, most encounters with God in Scripture are each unique in their own ways, but this interaction between God and Jacob is definitely an original.

Jacob, his family, and his livestock had just fled his uncle Laban’s household, and he was about to see his brother Esau for the first time in a couple of decades. This is the same Esau whose blessing Jacob stole by deceiving their father, Isaac. Esau had threatened to kill Jacob because of this, and now Jacob was about to come face to face with him, and he was fearful.

Maybe you can relate to some of these family dynamics, or maybe it makes you appreciate that even though your family has it’s own share of dysfunction you’re not quite this bad. Either way, we can all relate to tough relationships, difficult dynamics, and past regrets. We’ve all experienced having to face awkward and even fearful meetings with people.

Jacob prayed. He confessed His unworthiness, recognized God’s faithfulness, and asked for God’s help. Then while spending the night on his own after sending the others ahead, Jacob had this unusual encounter:

There is so much that we see happening in these verses, but it struck me that Jacob walked away blessed, but scarred. He wrestled with God and was blessed by God, but walked away with a limp. So often it seems like the scars and the blessings really do come together. It can be out of some of the most difficult, challenging things in our life that we also end up receiving the greatest blessings.

In those difficult, scarring situations that we face in life, it seems like we always have a choice. We can allow the situation to stop us and make us give up, or like Jacob we can keeping going to seek God’s blessing. If we stop we’re just left with the pain, but if we persist in seeking God’s blessing in the pain then like Jacob we might be able to walk away with not just the scars, but also the blessing.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we always have to stay in the situation that is causing the pain, as we seek God’s blessing we also need to seek His wise guidance. There may be times he asks us to stay in something, but at other times that is clearly not what He wants for us. Even if we leave a scarring situation though, we are still carrying the scars with us as we go. The question becomes, will we carry painful, tender scars that still hurt when bumped, or will we carry healed scars that remind us not just of the pain but of God’s blessing?

Wrestling through the pain and seeking God’s blessing in the midst of it is not easy. We all want the blessing without the limps and scars that remain behind, but the growth and new understanding of who we are that comes from wrestling through these things with God are priceless.

So if you are in the midst of a challenging situation or season, be persistent in wrestling through it with God. In obedience, seek His blessing and the growth comes from it, letting the scars remind you of His faithfulness.