The Bible is so full of the amazing promises that come when we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives. Things like…
Anointing for service
Empowerment for telling other about Jesus
Answering those who criticize the gospel
Praying more intimately
Wisdom
Growing in Christlike character
Insight into difficult situations
Discernment
Creativity where there was stagnation
And on and on and on
With all of the blessings that come with the Holy Spirit’s move in our lives, why wouldn’t we pray more frequently, “Come Holy Spirit”?
Beginning this Sunday I will be talking about some of the roles the Holy Spirit plays in the lives of Christians. I hope you can join me each week at Calvary Assembly of God.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Two Ways To Handle A Crisis
A man must decide whether he will be identified with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will mean the turning out not only of the “old man,” but of the old responsible intelligence, the old bondage, the old legalism, the things which used to guide the life before, and the forming of a totally new mind.
It works out this way: in your practical life you come to a crisis where there are two distinct ways before you, one the way of ordinary, strong, moral, common sense and the other the way of waiting on God until the mind is formed which can understand His will.
Any amount of backing will be given you for the first line, the backing of worldly people and of semi-Christian people, but you will feel the warning, the drawing back of the Spirit of God, and if you wait on God, study His Word, and watch Him at work in your circumstances, you will be brought to a decision along God’s line, and your worldly “backers” and your semi-Christian “backers” will fall away from you with disgust and say, “It is absurd, you are getting fanatical.”
When you have to deal with a crisis, there are two options:
Use your common sense and the good ideas of others
Do it God’s way
God’s ways usually defy the world’s common sense.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts,” says God.(Isaiah 55:9)
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and…the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.(1 Corinthians 1:25; 3:19)
If you want to try to do it the “common sense” way, go ahead. God will let you try it, and a lot of people will encourage you to keep at it. But I think you will quickly find that the “God sense” way is so much better! Although very quickly your former “backers” and “cheerleaders” will look at you as a fanatic.
“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right then, have it your way.’” —C.S. Lewis
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Do you want to mature as a Christian? I do! So here’s the first step…
…you may be mature and complete not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God… (James 1:4-5).
The dictionary defines mature as “complete in natural growth or development; fully developed in body or mind as a person.” The Bible has a higher definition of maturity. The phrase mature and complete (the King James Version actually says perfect) is just one word in the Greek: teleios. It’s the same word Jesus uses when He sets this standard for maturity:
Be perfect [teleios], therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect [teleios]. (Matthew 5:48)
Yikes! Talk about a high standard! I certainly can’t reach that level of perfect maturity on my own! That’s why James says we should pray for wisdom. The kind of wisdom God gives is heavenly knowledge that is perfectly practical on earth. It fits with the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth, even as it is in Heaven.”
But there is more to maturity than just asking for wisdom. I have ASK for wisdom and then I have to ACT on that wisdom—but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt (James 1:6).
Growing in maturity is never a passive process; I must be actively engaged. God will not waste knowledge or experience. He won’t give it to me unless I’m going to be obedient enough to mature by its application.
Ask and act. God wants you to be teleios (perfectly mature) because it brings glory to Him. So ask for wisdom, but then be ready to act on it. This is the only path to godly maturity.
I know that all of us can benefit from an older, wiser person speaking into our lives, but I am especially concerned about pastors. Too many times pastors are seen by others as the “go-to guy” for anyone who needs help, and we pastors begin to believe that we don’t need to go to anyone else for help.
Check out this short 4-minute teaching from my friend Rev. Tim Dilena about the value of “grey heads” in our lives—
My fellow pastor, humble yourself and accept the help of a wise mentor. It will not only enhance your ministry, it could literally save your ministry from crumbling.
The word good means things that are beautiful, excellent, and praiseworthy. In other words, good is what is God-glorifying. And faith means that it’s not about my opinion or my advancement.
The bottom line: Don’t fight unless God’s Word or God’s character is being maligned.
Paul said, “Turn away from godless chatter and opposing ideas.” The King James Version describes these as vain and profane ideas. These sorts of battles are un-winnable and therefore unworthy of your time and effort.
My spiritual battles should not be chosen strategically, but biblically.
We need to put on our armor and fight, but the fight must be the good fight of faith. Don’t take the bait of those who just want to quibble over obscure and irrelevant opinions. But when the attack comes against God’s honor or seeks to diminish His glory, it’s time to storm the battlefield!
May God give us the wisdom to know the difference.
I’ve been encouraging people to join me in praying during the 40 days leading up to today’s Election Day. Now that the day is here, you need to do more than pray: You must vote!
Listen to these wise words spoken nearly a century ago—
All the opportunity for self-government through the rule of the people depends upon one single factor. That is the ballot box. . . . The people of our country are sovereign. If they do not vote they abdicate that sovereignty, and they may be entirely sure that if they relinquish it other forces will seize it, and if they fail to govern themselves some other power will rise up to govern them. The choice is always before them, whether they will be slaves or whether they will be free. The only way to be free is to exercise actively and energetically the privileges, and discharge faithfully the duties which make freedom. It is not to be secured by passive resistance. It is the result of energy and action….
Persons who have the right to vote are trustees for the benefit of their country and their countrymen. They have no right to say they do not care. They must care! They have no right to say that whatever the result of the election they can get along. They must remember that their country and their countrymen cannot get along, cannot remain sound, cannot preserve its institutions, cannot protect its citizens, cannot maintain its place in the world, unless those who have the right to vote do sustain and do guide the course of public affairs by the thoughtful exercise of that right on election day. —President Calvin Coolidge (November 3, 1924)
Please vote today for those candidates who most closely align with biblical values. And then don’t stop praying for our elected officials today, but pray every day that those officials would exercise God-glorifying, biblically-sound wisdom in discharging their duties.
These are my unedited notes in my personal journal after reading…
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:2-6)
Wisdom = sophia → heavenly wisdom that is earthly practical. I use this wisdom to “let my conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer everyone” (v. 6).
Every opportunity … always full of grace … answer everyone …
How do I stay “salty” and graceful?
Grace-full comes from being prayer-full, watch-full, and thank-full (v. 2). And these come from being devoted to those things. I am not grace-full by accident; it is the fruit of prayer-fullness, watch-fullness, and thank-fullness. I don’t accidentally pray, watch, and give thanks; those come because I am devoted to them.
Or rather, devoted to the One who is eternally grace-filled. The One who is supremely worthy to be worshiped, and adored, and served, and glorified. I worship Him and glorify Him best when I tell others about Him. After all, I don’t glorify and promote anything in which I’m only casually interested. My devotion to God spills out in my devotion to prayer, watching, and thanking. And this develops the fruit of grace-fullness, which draws others to God.
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. (Proverbs 4:5)
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! (Proverbs 16:16)
Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. (Proverbs 23:23)
I like T.M. Moore’s insight on this…
“Wisdom is that skill in living which comes as Christ is formed in us and lives His Word, in the power of His Spirit, through our lives. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Psalm 111:10). But we’ll have to work hard and in many different ways to bring wisdom to a higher state in our lives. Solomon prayed for wisdom, but he also applied himself diligently to studying and contemplating a good many subjects in order to acquire that which he was trusting the Lord to give him. So we too, if we would increase in wisdom, must devote ourselves to ‘getting’ it by all the ways God makes available to us.”
In other words, we can (and should) pray for wisdom, but then we need to get busy to actually get the wisdom. God won’t simply pour wisdom into our hearts and minds.
Wisdom is earned through experience
Godly wisdom is earned through experiences that the Holy Spirit helps us evaluate and assimilate. The experience might be pleasant, or it might be painful. It might come through reading your Bible, or it might come through prayer. It might come in a pastor’s message, or it might come in a friend’s words. You might get it by going to your job, you might get it while taking a stroll along the beach on your vacation.
God’s wisdom is constantly being revealed to us. Are you getting it?
As Jesus was approaching Jerusalem just prior to His passion, He told His disciples, “Everything that is written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31).
Nothing about Jesus Christ’s life was haphazard, or random, or coincidental. Everything was a part of a perfect plan. So in order for everything about His life to fulfill the prophesies, every word He spoke and every action He completed also had to be fulfilling. And they were (see John 12:49-50)!
Sadly, His followers “did not understand any of this” (Luke 18:34).
Sadly, many people today don’t understand their own life’s purpose.
Sadly, often times I don’t either.
But God has a perfect plan for you and me.
All the days ordered for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16)
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
I don’t have to lack understanding in this (John 14:16).
And Jesus Himself is praying for me to follow the Father’s plans (Hebrews 7:25).
God has great plans for my life—and for your life. Don’t be like the disciples that did not understand any of this. Pray … ask for God’s wisdom … ask for the Holy Spirit’s illumination … and trust in Christ’s interceding prayer for you.
May your words and actions today fulfill the plans God has for you!
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The Bible is so full of the amazing promises that come when we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives. Things like…
Craig T. Owens 