Tag: holy-spirit

C10a Jesus Affirmed as God’s Son – Baptism

In the previous blog, I showed some of the ways that Jesus embodied the five characteristics of the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6, except that He didn’t set up His eternal kingdom of peace. During His trial, Jesus indicated His kingdom was not of THIS world (yet.)

WE who have believed are members of this spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. In addition to fulfilling prophecies and demonstrating signs of God’s anointing, there were three times when God Himself spoke in affirmation of Jesus. I’ll look at those three events in the next three blogs.

1. BAPTISM: The first heavenly affirmation was when Jesus was baptized by the prophet John ‘the Baptizer.’ John thought it should be the other way around, that Jesus should be baptizing John. But Jesus told him it was necessary, so John baptized Him. When Jesus came out of the water, the heavens opened…

The Mark and Luke versions of the baptism personalize the message from God, as though it is assurance from God to Jesus. The Matthew version presents the message as more of an announcement to those who are there.

John does not specifically cover the baptism of Jesus, but refers to it after the fact. (For more on why the gospels are different, see the upcoming blog, C11 – Origins of the Gospels.)

That is, later when Jesus is passing by, possibly after returning from His 40 days of fasting and temptation, John the Baptist declares,

The two disciples who were with John the Baptist at that time were Andrew, Simon Peter’s older brother, and the younger John, the writer of this gospel. They left from following John the Baptist and became the first followers of Jesus.

TAKEAWAY

As I was studying the four passages about Jesus’ baptism, I noticed there were a lot of moving parts associated with just this one event–the baptism of Jesus by John.

Many of these events were obviously put into motion and shepherded by God–but I’m sure there were many more than we actuality see recorded in the Bible. Let’s look just at at those surrounding the Baptism:

1. John was sent a mission by God to point out Jesus as being the Messiah and prepare the hearts of the Israelites to accept and believe in Him.

2. John was given a method to identify the Messiah. “I myself did not know Him, but…

3. God spoke an affirmation from heaven when John baptized Jesus that was heard by those present, including John himself, although to others it was only the sound of thunder.

4. And God provided a sign John was told to look out for, the Spirit of God coming upon Jesus in His fullness:

This all kicked off Jesus’ ministry, gave Jesus His first two disciples–Andrew and John. Andrew, the older of the two, used his experience as John’s disciples to became Jesus’ “major domo” and kept things running smoothly around Jesus. Young John became Jesus’ longest living Apostle. They both went and brought their brothers, testifying they had found the Messiah…, and so on and so on.

The point is, God had a plan and was intervening as needed to keep the plan in motion and on the right track. Does that mean everything was always ‘roses and champagne’? NO! There was opposition. That opposition was actually expected and figured into God’s plan.

WE are a part of God’s continuing plan to bring salvation through Jesus Christ to the entire world. Should we expect things to go smoothly? NO! Quite the contrary. What we CAN expect is that God is actively involved in moving His plan along–often out of our sight, behind the scenes, even in ways we can’t understand–and we need to keep forging ahead in our trust in Him and obedience to His commands.

Here’s a worship song that encourages me to believe in that. I hope that it encourages you too.

Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working…”

Is that easy for you to do? It certainly IS NOT for me! But we need to encourage each other to forge ahead. My blog is my way of trying to help you. I have brothers and sisters in the faith around me who keep me encouraged. I hope you have some of those around you too.

June 5, 2025

baptism, bible, christianity, faith, god, holy-spirit, jesus
C9 Ascension Day 2025

I wanted to take a break from writing my next post to celebrate Ascension Day, which is Thursday, May 29th in the Protestant liturgical calendar, 40 days after Easter.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven is a very important element of the Christian gospel. In reference to my previous posts, the Great Commission (series A) was given by Jesus to His disciples just before His Ascension.

In series C, the interlude about the Paraclete, Jesus told His disciples that it was better for them (and the world) that He leave, otherwise He would not be able to send the Holy Spirit promised by God to dwell within those of us who respond to the gospel and are saved. This promise was fulfilled 10 days after the Ascension during Pentecost.

The first chronological mention of Jesus ascending was by Luke at the beginning of his second book, “The Acts of the Apostles.” Luke wrote:

After Jesus had said these things, He was taken up before their very eyes, until a cloud hid Him from their sight.

The disciples were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two angels dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

The disciples then returned to the upper room where they had been staying in order to await the Holy Spirit as they had been instructed to do by Jesus.

This entire scenario, starting with Jesus’ promise in John 14 that He was going to prepare them a place in His “Father’s house,” and then come back for them so they may be with Him forever, mirrored the Jewish marriage practices of His day.

First there would be the betrothal ceremony and feast at the girl’s parents house. The bridegroom would return home and spend his spare time building an addition onto his parent’s home for them to live in.

When it was done and he was ready, about a year later, the bridegroom would return to his bride’s village, retrieve his bride and take her to his parents’ house where there would be a big wedding feast before the marriage was consummated in the room he had prepared.

John’s gospel, written later than Acts, quotes Jesus mentioning His departure several times, although John points out they really didn’t understand it because their expectation was the Messiah would come to set up the world-wide Kingdom of God in a physical sense.

The prophecy of the Messiah in Psalm 110 hints at the delay between the enthroning of the Messiah in heaven and the establishing of the world-wide kingdom:

The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

There is clear indication of a gap in time between when the Messiah sits down at the right hand of God and when He actually exercises rulership.

To summarize, the Ascension of Jesus is important for many reasons in the Christian faith. Most importantly, it completes the supernatural act that began with the resurrection of Jesus, that proved His actual deification from God limited to a man’s body, into a glorified Being, sitting at the right hand of God in heaven, having been given all authority on Earth, as well as in Heaven.

to Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by his descendents through Isaac. The prophecy of a Messiah that would rule all the world in peace. The supernatural birth and life of Jesus as the Savior of the World leading to His death burial and resurrection. The Great Commission Jesus gave to His disciples to carry this good news (gospel) of salvation throughout the world. The Ascension of Jesus, then outpouring of God’s Spirit onto all who had believed in Jesus, resulting in an empowerment to proclaim the gospel–all the way down to us.

We who have also believed in Jesus the Christ are beneficiaries of God’s plan of salvation to redeem as many people as possible from the kingdom of sin and darkness into His Kingdom of life and light.

Take advantage of this Ascension Day to thank God for His grace and mercy toward us and the world.

Thank Jesus for His willingness to suffer and die as a sinless sacrifice to God to pay the penalty for our sin and reconcile us to God.

Thank the Holy Spirit for dwelling within us, for putting up with our continuing sinfulness, for our often ignoring Him, for our selfish self-centeredness – yet still staying with us.

Thank Them that They stick with us, even when we walk away from Them, that in Their grace they gently call us back to Them, that They are always there, waiting for us with open arms and a heart filled with love, when we return.

But don’t just stop with yourself. Commit to be faithful to walk as a Christian, as a disciple of Jesus Christ–to learn, to grow, to mature as a disciple–to reach the point where you are participating in the Great Commission–sharing the gospel with those around you and…who knows? Maybe even to the ends of the Earth.

One day we too will ascend to meet the Lord Jesus in the air and be taken to the place in Heaven He has prepared for us who believe. Remember, we are a part of something bigger than ourselves now, let’s live like it.

May 29, 2025

ascension, bible, christianity, faith, god, holy-spirit, jesus
C7 Interlude – What’s in a Name part 2b, Paraclete

It is the Last Supper and the disciples were under a lot of stress. They were worried about the Jewish leaders’ plot to arrest and kill Jesus, and that they might be arrested and killed too. They were under a lot of stress because Jesus had been hinting more and more strongly that He was going to be leaving them, and they didn’t really understand. The Messiah was supposed to establish an eternal, worldwide government, wasn’t He?

They could also tell that Jesus was very troubled by what was about to happen to Him, even if they weren’t exactly sure what that was going to be. Jesus knew about His upcoming betrayal, His arrest, abandonment, mistreatment, rejection and ultimate crucifixion–and His general angst infected them too.

What a burden such foreknowledge must have been for Jesus as a man! How difficult it must have been to focus on accomplishing His final tasks with His disciples.

In the middle of this almost overwhelming tension, Jesus, being sensitive to what His disciples were experiencing, speaks words of comfort.

I like the amplified versions of the Bible that try to help us understand the meanings from the original language. Some other translations of the Greek could be:

“Do not let your hearts be agitated, disturbed, shaken up…”

The Greek word for ‘believe’ is another one that can benefit from being amplified. It can be interpreted in English in three ways. The other two ways would be,

“You trust in God, trust also in Me…”

“You have faith in God, have faith also in Me…”

Now Jesus has their attention. Here is the caring Teacher they have so faithfully followed for so long! Like drowning men clinging to a piece of driftwood, I imagine these men hanging on Jesus’ every word.

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, how could we possibly know the way?” John 14:5

Jesus deals with this question and gives them a lot of quality teaching, most of which probably didn’t penetrate the disciples’ understanding at the time, but that was okay, because God had a plan for that. Then comes:

Helper” translated here is the first use of the Greek word “Parackletos,” Anglicized as ‘Paraclete.’ We see several things right here:

The Paraclete will come from Father God,

The Paraclete is referred to as ‘another’ one,

The Paraclete will always be with them,

They know who He is because He already lives with them,

The Paraclete is called “The Spirit of Truth,” and

The Paraclete will live INSIDE of them.

There is a lot more that Jesus teaches about the Paraclete / Spirit, but I’ll save following that strand through the next chapters for another time.

Here’s a look at the more common translations for “Parakletos.”

ADVOCATE: ‘Paraclete’ was mainly used in Greek to refer to a legal advocate who accompanied a person to court to argue their case on their behalf. The Roman word for that person is where we get the English word ‘advocate’ from.

The actual Greek is a combination of ‘para-‘, alongside, like PARAlell lines run alongside each other and ‘kaleo’ which means to call. So technically, it means someone who is called, asked or invited to come stand alongside you. An Advocate certainly fits that description and matches the context of John 14, and is also used that way in John’s first epistle to refer to one of Jesus’ roles in heaven, but there is much, much more.

COMFORTER: The translators of the Old Testament Hebrew into the Greek Septuigent used parakaleo (the verb form) in Job to mean ‘to comfort, ‘ as when his friends came to be with him and console Job in his misery. Hence some translate Paraclete in John as ‘Comforter.’

Parakletos is also often translated “Counselor,’ which can be used as a synonym for an attorney–just another variation of a legal advocate, but can also be more general like a “life coach,” someone who advises you in every aspect of life and personalizes the advice for you.

Following the logic chain back, God’s Spirit is “God WITHIN us.”

Jesus was the ‘other’ Paraclete, so He had to have been “God WITH them,” in other words, the Hebrew ‘Immanuel.’ It was not a name as we think of them. It was a description of who He was…and I’m okay with that answer.

Waiting for decades for an answer was a principle of faith that I learned a long time ago. That is, when I see things happen in the world that I don’t understand, especially to me and to those I love, when I read something in the Bible that doesn’t make sense to me, instead of letting my questions stew in my mind causing doubt and disbelief to creep in and shake up my faith, I go back to my decision to trust God. I put my questions on the ‘back burner,’ and then move on.

Sometimes God will answer those questions to my satisfaction later. There are still many He hasn’t. That is why Jesus spoke those words of faith, “Trust Me…” to His shaken disciples, and that is when those words mean the most to me.

I have to be honest, I’ve been in and out of the faith, up and down in my fervor, and frankly, just all over the place in my life. But every time when I reach a point of realization that, “THIS is NOT how I want to live my life!”, I’ve felt the call of God to return to Him and I felt like He welcomed me with open arms and a heart full of love.

I think I know how the core disciples felt when Jesus asked them, “Will you leave Me too?” Peter answered for them all:

Only God/Jesus Christ has given me an abundant life now–a life that is fullfilling and worth living–and a promised eternal life of joy with Him after this one.

Where are you right now as a Christian? More on the trusting side or more on the troubled side? You CAN choose to trust…

May 24, 2025

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A8. Assembling Elements of the Great Commission

It’s always the small pieces that make the big picture. Don’t underestimate the little things in life! 🧩 Source Unknown

When I decided to start vegetable gardening, I looked for a book that would have all the information I needed. I did have some success following that book, but I realized there was much more I needed to know.

I’ve spent the years since reading every article on gardening I came across, watched every program on TV and talked to every gardener I met. Each time I learned at least one new thing I could add to the bigger picture I was forming of successful vegetable gardening.

Understanding the G.C. is a little like that. A record of Jesus giving the G.C. is contained at the end of each gospel and the beginning of Acts, but there are many more references to it in the Bible. Each of the 5 records are different from each other, but all have connections with the others, as well as unique elements. Here is my attempt at assembling these elements into a bigger, coherent picture.

The SENDING. The first word of the G.C. in Matthew is GO! We see in John how this is a bigger part of God’s plan when Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” And the scope of the sending is “all the nations,” “the world,” and more specifically we see in Luke/Acts they are to start in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the remotest parts of the Earth.

Tha SPEAKING. As the disciples spread throughout the world at Jesus’ command (and not just them, but their disciples and so on to each generation until our day and beyond), there were specific messages they were to proclaim which we can summarize under the word the ‘gospel’. Elements of the gospel include “Proclaim repentance for forgiveness of sins. ” Jesus specified that any sins they declared as forgiven would be forgiven. Jesus also said they were to be His witnesses, testifying to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ.)

The RESPONDING. It was expected that of those who heard the gospel message, some would believe and some would not. Those who believed were to be baptized as a sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Then they were to be taught to obey the commands of Jesus, as the disciples were taught by Jesus, and thus become disciples themselves, culminating in them obeying the final command–the Great Commission.

The EMPOWERING. Although this element tends to appear at the end of the G.C., it actually had to happen first. In Matthew, Jesus is recorded as saying, “I will be with you always.” In John chapters 14 to 16, we see this Prescence be in the form of the indwelling Spirit of God. We slao see this pouring out of God’s Spirit was prophesied by Joel as “the promise of the Father.” The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem for it to happen as it did 10 days later on the 50th day after the Passover, Pentecost. One other element of the G.C. was that miraculous signs would accompany those fulfilling the G.C., as we see they did in the book of Acts.

This initial outpouring of God’s Spirit on Christ’s disciples was a big, flashy, attention-getting event, as befit an inauguration. Something similar happened only a couple of other times to show that God’s promise of salvation was intended to go beyond the Jews. We who have believed also receive the indwelling Spirit, but it tends to grow within us as we grow in our faith and practice of discieship.

So, where are you in the Great Commission? Still working on the believing stage or are you learning and growing as a disciple? Are you maybe about ready to GO! No matter where we are in the Christian continuum, we are the product of and participating in the Great Commission.

May 3, 2025

bible, christianity, discipleship, god, great-commission, holy-spirit, jesus
A7. We are not alone, God is with us. We are NEVER alone, God is ALWAYS with us.

from song by Pepper Choplin, copyright 2005, Shawnee Classics.

In Jesus’ last teaching session with His disciples before His arrest, He told them. “I will not leave you alone as orphans…”

Woven throughout His final teachings, as recorded in John chapters 14, 15 and 16, is a coming person called in Greek a ‘paraclete.’ Only John uses this nominative form of a more common Greek word translated several different ways. For example as comfort/consolation = 36 times, hence translated as Comforter. As exhort/exhortation = 28 times, hence called the Exhorter. As beseech/entreat/pray = 29 times, hence as Advocate or Intercessor. Other translations use Helper, Teacher, Encourager and more.

At its most basic, Paraclete means one who “comes alongside.” As I began considering these meanings, the picture of a coach came to mind, so let me paint some word picture from my first coached experience playing little league baseball to illustrate these meanings.

The first thing I remember the coach doing was gathering us around him and teaching us the rules of baseball, what each position did and how we had to learn to play together as a team. He was being a Teacher.

I remember when I was having such a hard time learning to hit the ball and he came up beside me, put his hand on my shoulder gently and said, ‘You can do this. I have confidence in you.’ He was being an Encourager.

I also remember times when I wasn’t doing a very good job in my fielding and the coach came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder firmly, looked me in the face and told me I needed to do better. ‘We need you to be attentive out here. The rest of the team is depending on you to field the balls hit your way. We need you to do your best.’ He was being an Exhorter.

I also remember losing our first hard-fought game and I was even crying. The coach came up beside me, put his arm around my shoulders and said, ‘I know you did your best. It will be alright. I’m proud of you.’ He was being a Comforter.

And then there was the time when I slid into home plate and the umpire called me ‘Out.’ The coach came out of the dugout like he’d been shot out, stood beside me and argued with the ump that he was wrong, that I had beat the tag and so I was safe. Coach was being an Advocate on my behalf.

This Person John labels as the Paraclete is God’s Holy Spirit and He does all these things and more for us.

You see, even though the Holy Spirit doesn’t come upon us in the spectacular way He did for the disciples at Pentecost and a couple of times afterward, He comes to dwell within us at that moment we choose to believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior, repent of our sins, publicly profess Jesus as our Lord and are baptized.

The problem is the Spirit is gentle in His actions and hard to perceive to us who are so much more in touch with the physical world than the spiritual one. We need the help of Christians older in the faith and more sensitive to the Spirit who can guide us as we grow to that point ourselves.

THIS is what makes all the difference for us changing from a sinner, living in the kingdom of darkness at conversion, to being a mature disciple, living in God’s Kingdom and ready to carry out the Great Commission.

So, how can we lean into our relationship with God’s Holy Spirit within us, and thus maximize our spiritual growth?

April 29, 2025

bible, christianity, god, holy-spirit, jesus
A5. It’s Gods Spirit that Makes all the Difference.

God’s Spirit is a major player in the Bible. He appears from the beginning in Genesis 1 to the end in Revelation 22.

The Bible word used for ‘spirit’ is also used for breath, life, (if you’re breathing, you’re alive), and wind (a breath of air). Jesus uses this latter to talk about God’s Spirit in that we can’t see where it’s coming from, nor where it’s going, we can only see it’s effect around us like wind rustling the leaves of a tree.

Wind can be a gentile breeze or a raging storm. In 1 Kings 19, we see where God passes by the prophet Elijah at a time when he needed a new glimpse of the God he had been serving. First there was a windstorm like a tornado, but Elijah saw that God was not in the wind. Next was a great earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake either. Next was a firestorm, but God was not in the fire.

Then came a gentle blowing wind and Elijah recognized the Spirit of God that had been a part of his life as a prophet.

God’s Spirit touches the earth lightly. Mostly He indwells people, giving them supernatural insight and understanding, power to perform supernatural acts, provides glimpses of the future…

In Isaiah 11, a prophecy of the Messiah, six characteristics are listed from the Spirit of the Lord residing on Him: wisdom and understanding, insightful counsel and strength, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

In Isaiah 61, another prophecy of the Messiah, it says the Spirit if the Lord is upon Him because He has been annointed to bring good news to the afflicted…and more.

Actually we have an intersection of the Old Testament and New Testament here because recorded in Luke 4 we have Jesus visiting his home synagogue after His ministry had started, and He reads this very passage from Isaiah, then declares, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

God’s Spirit had descended and rested on Jesus at His baptism. THIS was the element the disciples lacked, even after their 3 1/2 years of intensive discipleship with Jesus.

God’s Spirit in a person has often been described as a lamp. If it doesn’t give off light, it’s just another decoration. Jesus had given His disciples a light bulb through His teachings, but without plugging the lamp’s cord into an electrical receptacle, still no light.

Hence Jesus last command to them, recorded at the end of Luke and beginning of Acts, was to stay in the city until God’s promise of an outpouring of His Spirit occurred.

And it did on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit changed Peter who, 7 weeks before, was so frightened for his life that he denied even knowing Jesus, to a powerful, confident orator who confronted the crowds who had gathered around the building and and he testified to the resurrection of Jesus.

The exciting part of this event to me was, it wasn’t just God’s Spirit empowering a single person as was typical in the O.T., but God’s Spirit was also working on the hearts of the crowd of Jews there from all around the world, to convict them of ‘sin righteous and judgment,’ just as Jesus said He would.

It’s God’s Spirit that makes all the difference. It requires more than a desire, more than a plan, more than a fancy presentation to carry out God’s Great Commission. As Zechariah prophesied, it’s ‘…by my Spirit says the Lord.’

April 26, 2025

bible, faith, god, great-commission, holy-spirit, jesus