Posts Tagged 'Holy Spirit'

something to cheer for

Published February 6, 2012 Holy Spirit , living , prayer , spiritual Leave a Comment
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Now that the Superbowl is over, we get to look forward to March Madness and the NCAA tournament, with MLB right on the heels of March Madness.  For me, I totally love March Madness – I even got engaged during half time of one of the games during the tournie.  So when this time of year rolls around, I get a little excited.

What is getting me more excited, lately, is something that I’m feeling in my heart with God.  To me, it feels like God is working on something behind the scenes and is displaying smatterings of His glory in various locations and at various times.  While I can get semi-excited about sports, I get CRAZY EXCITED about God and what He’s doing in our world!!  If you watch and listen for God, I think that you can find Him moving all around us & even in our lives!! :D

i love summer fruit :)

Published July 28, 2011 cooking , fasting , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , spiritual Leave a Comment
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 I totally love the fruits that we get during the Summer – I love peaches, strawberries, cherries, rhubarb, apricots, figs, blueberries, . . . . I LOVE these fruits!!  I love to use them in pies, tortes, grilled, fresh, with cream, . . . . .  There have even been a few occasions when I’ve eaten so many of these that I’ve gotten sick :/  Nevertheless, Summer fruits are delicious!!  These are season fruits that can be harvested in the Summer.  So I try to eat as many of them as I can while they’re available.

But I also think about these fruits in relation to the fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul discusses in Galatians 5 – fruits like patience, love, peace, self-control, joy, gentleness, goodness, kindness and faithfulness.  I LOVE it when I have these fruits in my life – seems like life is more enjoyable & effective.  But here’s my challenge, I’ve tried to make myself be patient & boy was that a disaster!  I’ve tried to be more loving, only to find myself venting on someone who was undeserving of such wrath.  I’ve tried to be gentle, only to find myself bumbling through emotional land mines.  I’ve come to this conclusion – these things are the fruit of the SPIRIT, not the fruit of Sarah.  With this flash of brilliance, my main objective now, is to live increasingly sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  You see, the more I’m around the Holy Spirit, the more these consequences / fruits become observable in my life and the Fruit of the Spirit far surpasses any peach, strawberry, cherry, rhubarb, blueberry, apricot or fig ,)

Holy Spirit Do’s & Don’ts (1)

Published August 12, 2009 Holy Spirit 2 Comments
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We had a completely jaw-dropping service at church on Sun.  It blew me out of the water & Jesus was probably the only one happier than me.  I had the privilege of speaking about the Holy Spirit – the 3rd member of the Trinity that can sometimes be overlooked.  When i began looking at the Holy Spirit, it quickly became apparent to me that as a human there are 3 things I’m not supposed to do, as i relate to the HOly Spirit.  I’m planning to briefly talk about these 3 things & would be interested to get your feedback as to what we should do instead. 

The 1st thing we should never do is blaspheme the Holy Spirit.  In Luke 12:10, Jesus says that sins against the Son of God will be forgiven but blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.  This is a REALLY scarey  thing to me – its even more scarey when i think about how often i’ve heard blasphemy discussed.  When i looked up what blasphemy means, its a compound word (blapto – injure; feme – fame, reputation).  In its simplest form, it means to defame or injure the reputation of someone.  Also, in Matt when Jesus is talking about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, its in the context of people accusing Jesus of doing the work of Satan.  Let’s be super mindful that we honor & preserve the Holy Spirit’s reputation & that we also honor His work in our lives.  I pray for both you & me that we would be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit in our lives on a daily basis. :)

thoughts??

Id like to know your thoughts – maybe ;)

Published August 4, 2009 Uncategorized 3 Comments
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In the last few weeks I’ve been thinking lots about the Holy Spirit. Paul says that we should NOT grieve the Holy Spirit – so what does this mean? How do we grieve or even blaspheme the Holy Spirit? I don’t want to do either of these, so I’m interested to know what you think it means to grieve & or blaspheme hhe Holy Spirit. Pls leave a comment :)

Holy Spirit part 3

Published July 30, 2009 Holy Spirit , living , spiritual Leave a Comment
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While this might be simple, it helps me to connect with the Holy Spirit by what He does – He relates, communicates (see the preceding 2 posts) & He demonstrates.  The Holy Spirit demonstrates in many different ways – in 1 Cor 12 you can read about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophecy, speaking in tongues & interpretation of tongues – communication gifts;  discerning of spirits, faith, miracles & healing – power gifts). 

It is my sincere belief that the Holy Spirit wants to demonstrate Himself through us as believers in Jesus.  Not only do i believe that He wants to demonstrate His Gifts through us, but i also believe that He wants to demonstrate His character through us – as listed in the Fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-23 (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness). 

I think, however, that the key to His demonstration comes full circle back to our relationship with Him.  Perhaps the demonstration of the presence of the Holy Spirit is lacking in our lives, or maybe minimized, because we lack a vibrant relationship with Him.  Just something to consider :)

Holy Spirit part 2

Published July 29, 2009 living , spiritual 4 Comments
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The Holy Spirit is the master communicator – massively huge communicator.  When i started to think about this, it just totally amazed me.  When Jesus was introducing the Holy Spirit to His disciples, He talks about how the Holy Spirit will

  • teach,
  • remind,
  • convict & 
  • guide us, among other things. 

Jesus also tells us that the Holy Spirit will speak to us what He hears from our heavenly Father & that the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. 

It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is communicating with us perhaps more often than we realize.  I pray that today, you & i would be sensitive & receptive to the Holy Spirit speaking to & communicating with us – beyond our biases & limited understanding. :)

Can you think of some times when the Holy Spirit has communicated w you?  What was the outcome (s)?

empty versus full

Published June 2, 2009 living , spiritual Leave a Comment
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I’ve been thinking alot about what it means to be filled w the Holy Spirit & here’s some real gut-level honesty:  there are times when i feel “empty”.  I’ve been chatting w God about this, particularly in relation to what He says in Eph 1:23 – Jesus fills all things (in the context of “church”) in every way.  With this verse, the truth says that He fills all things, including me, in every way.  So if this is true, then why do i sometimes feel “empty”? 

milkHere’s what I sense Him saying to me:  if you fill up a glass w milk, you can see, feel & taste the milk.  If you empty the milk out of the glass, its not empty, but rather filled w something other than milk – air.  The glass isn’t empty, when there’s no milk, but to our senses, it is empty.  I think in a similar way, when Jesus lives in our heart, we’re never truly empty, but we are filled in a way that isn’t always flesh aware.  So with Jesus in my heart and as His student, i want to learn Him, interact w Him & become sensitized to Him.  I’m not nearly as empty as i may feel, from time to time  :)

Something for you to ponder  :)

amazing travels

Published May 22, 2009 Ethiopia , family , living , saving moses , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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I’m presently sitting between 2 of my kids, Isbell & David, thanking God for the most fantastic family – seriously!  God is indescribably amazing.  In the past 1.5 weeks, i’ve been to Ethiopia, Turkey (quickie), Jordan & Israel.  The best part of all of my travelling has been the fellowship i’ve had w God – such richness, depth & tantalizing closeness.  Sometimes, it really helps my walk w God to get out of the daily routine, out of my comfort zone, & increase my dependence on God. 

Ethiopia:  fantastic time with God, the orphanage we connect with & my friends.  The orphanage that we work with, over the last year, has really undertaken working w abandoned babies.  This was really touching, particularly as this is so close to my heart w the “saving Moses” campaign we’re launching w worldchild.  I also had the privilege of ministering in Pastor Eyob’s church in Addis & i can just summarize this by saying that my church family is now extended to include this church.  My time in Ethiopia has been rich in fellowship with not only family & friends but most importantly a rich depth with the Holy Spirit.  i can’t even begin to describe how completely riveting / captiving the Holy Spirit is to me, particularly during my time in Ethiopia.

Israel:  i joined the group trip w mom & had a great time getting to know some new people, reconnect w some old friends, share about God & see some cool places / ruins.  We visited Petra (in Jordan), Masada (in Israel), drove by the dead sea & then onto Jerusalem.  The group trip is going well & the travellers seem to be experiencing God in many different rich ways by being in many places discussed in the Bible.

Travelling:  i’ve been in lots of airports & on lots of airplanes – all total, in 10 days, i’ve been on no less than 10 planes & spent well over 100 hours on planes & in airports, to include 1 lost & now found blackberry. :)

if you’d like to check out some pics, pop over to my facebook & you can see some cool friends, places & experiences :)

Again, the best part of the last 1.5 wks has been the rich & deep fellowship w the Holy Spirit – the treasure of my life! :)

me & my brain

Published February 17, 2009 spiritual 5 Comments
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from time to time, i have these days when my brain is reving into the red zone & i’m thinking about many things (some deep & some not so deep) at the same time.  So here’s something i’ve been considering today:

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life today? i understand that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, that the Holy Spirit has gifts for us, as well as character improvements (fruit), but what about our 24 / 7 existence & the Holy Spirit’s interface?  Jesus told His disciples that it was better for Him to go away so that the Holy Spirit would come to be with us – like an “upgrade”.  How is the Holy Spirit an “upgrade” for us from the physical presence of Jesus w His disciples at that time & now? 

I’m asking because i’d like your input, so pls leave a comment.  :)

sarahbowling

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