Forgotten God (when Christians fail)

Today's posting is a personal one and I write this because when writing  on the subject matters that I write, it is easy to pretend that I do not commit the very sins I hammer away at; that I am somehow better, holier, or more developed than those of you who read my writings.  When in truth, I am simply a man trying and failing at being the man that God wants me to be.  Which is the exact reason Jesus died for me.

Tonight was my weekly Bible study, we are beginning a new study on the Holy Spirit (Forgotten God, by Francis Chan), which I have been looking forward to; it is a subject that intrigues me and that I wanted to throw myself into.   However, I had previously mistaken the date that I was to pick a friend up from the airport (it was today and not tomorrow), but being a man of my word, I was there to pick them up and drop them safely off at their hotel.   All of this put me behind schedule so  I was running late when I arrived at the Bible study, I was thankful that the leader had delayed starting the group until I managed to squeeze in a ½ hour late.   

There was one chair left empty and as I took it I noticed that the person sitting next to me was new. I then remembered that I had earlier in the week received a phone call from a woman who was asking about where she  go to attend a bible study, and I had recommended this one, because of the people in it and because of the new subject matter we were undertaking.   The leader for tonight had everyone introduce themselves and tell just a pinch about who they were, when it got to me, I said my name and then simply said ‘I am the one who stirs the pot’ (Which is true, I am the one who will challenge you on your feelings, your beliefs, your actions, always testing...) 

After introductions a short DVD was played and during it I noticed that the new woman was tearing up.  It was taking every bit of self control she had to not break down and begin to cry.  I reached over and asked her if she was alright, to which she gave me a brief explanation as to why she was emotional.  My response was to tell her that I would talk to her later, that I may be able to help her after the Bible study.  The DVD continued to play and as it was finishing up Francis Chan mentioned that we should keep ourselves open to the Holy Spirit interrupting what we had planned, to be open to the idea that perhaps God had something else planned for us, that it may not be the Holy Spirits desire that we finish this study right now.  I nodded my head in agreement

Shortly after the DVD was over she had to leave (we started late - remember).  As she was leaving, the leader of our Bible study walked her to the door and was briefly visiting with her as I approached to touch base with her.  It was obvious that she was troubled, and that she needed to talk, but just did not have any more time tonight.  I gave her my phone number and told her to call, and I would be glad to sit down and listen.   She said she would.  With that she left.

Tonight I failed!  Tonight I was so rushed, so self-absorbed, so self-focused, so self-centered, so self concerned about what I wanted to get out of tonight’s bible study that I missed the obvious.  Tonight I was there to step into the gap, tonight I was to do - rather then listen.  Tonight God had brought a hurting individual to the chair next to me; tonight God had brought someone who I am uniquely qualified to help to my very side.  Tonight, the Holy Spirit wanted me to be open to the idea of not starting the study tonight.  Tonight I failed.  

We all fail, and when we do we can view it in one of two ways.  The first, which is the easiest and by far the most popular, is to say that we are thankful that the Holy Spirit has convicted us of our missed opportunity and that we have learned from it; in other words we pat ourselves on the back for being aware of the fact that we did nothing.  The other way is to let the conviction penetrate your very soul, to acknowledge that you failed, that it was your sin that caused you to fail, and to not let yourself off the hook with being alright with the fact that you did nothing when you were asked to do something.  To ask for a second chance and mean it.  

It is my heartfelt prayer that I am given another opportunity to step forward into the gap, instead of standing still.   I know that God’s plan for this woman will not be altered by my failure to do what He wanted me to do, I might be given another opportunity, or God will simply send someone else to do what I did not. 

Tonight I forgot God, I was busy thinking about me.  Tonight I failed, but with the Holy Spirit's help, I will do better tomorrow.  

God calls us to step into the gap regardless of what we planned or want.  We are not just blessed, we are called to be a blessing.  

The Holy Spirit - the breath of life

There are many people who will only believe in and of that which they are able to see, to touch, to taste, to feel, to smell.  Yet they live in a world where the single most important  element to their existence remains unseen, they know it is there yet they can not see it, they can not taste it, they can not touch it, or smell it (okay they maybe you can  in Los Angles, Beijing,  Mexico City).  It can demolish a landscape, or ravage city in a matter of minutes when pushed by a hurricane or tornado.  Yet when harnessed it can lift airplanes (which is a good thing as I live in Hawaii and the only way anywhere is an airplane),  stop a train or a speeding truck in a matter of feet, break concrete, loosen the lug nuts of the wheels of your car, or lift an acre of granite ten inches thick ten feet in the air as easily as I lift a piece of paper.  It keeps you alive every moment of your life; we can not live without it.  It is an amazing, and powerful thing - this that we can not see, but can not live without – Air.   

Never think that because you can not see something that it does not exist or that it is weak.  The Bible talks a great deal about it, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit.  Much of what I write about is impossible for us to do on our own.  Jesus knows this, God knows this, that is why Jesus had to go away (in life, He could only be in one place at one time), so that the Holy Spirit could come and dwell among and in all of us. Where Jesus came in the visible form, the Holy Spirit comes in the invisible, for no faith is required to believe in that which you see.  But can you imagine the hell that this earth would be if the invisible Spirit of God were suddenly removed.  

I do not have to moralize to those who are immoral, they know they are immoral; I do not have to tell unbelievers that they lack faith, they know they are faithless, I do not have to do this because that is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit does not merely accuse men of sin he brings them an inescapable sense of guilt.  For some it is that guilt that brings us to God, for most they do everything in their power to hide from that guilt; and hide beneath a layer of alcohol, drugs, career, good works, or church. 

“Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”  John 16:7-15

The Holy Spirit is available and desires to be with us all, but not all desire Him, because to desire Him means to turn from your own desires and follow Him. Many want some of Him but not all of Him; they want to reap the benefits of the Holy Spirit without giving up their own desires.  The Holy Spirit will not force Himself into your life, you must seek Him, you must truly ask Him to dwell in you, if you truly do desire Him, truly desire to repent from your sins He will come to you.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you...”  John 14:15-18

Imagine what it means to have the presence of the living God within you. Pause and ponder this, the third member of the Godhead, the invisible, yet all-powerful representation of deity, is actually living inside your being.  His limitless capabilities are resident within you, since He indwells you.

Just before Jesus’s ascension back into heaven, He met with a group of His followers. To give us good news, Jesus’ last words to us was the crucial news regarding the Spirit who would soon come to take His place. 

“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8

You think you can’t handle what life throws at you? You think you can’t stand firm or, when necessary, stand alone in your life?  You think you can’t handle the lure of life’s temptations?  You are right, you certainly could not if you were all alone.  You—alone—can’t do that anymore than I can fly from Hawaii to South America alone.  But with the right kind of power put into operation, the very power and presence of God, you can handle it.  You can do it.  As a matter of fact, all the pressure will be shifted and the weight transferred from you to Him.  It’s a radically different way to live, and because He is God, He can handle it.

The Holy Spirit will either empower you or convict you.  He leaves the choice up to you, but every single day of your life you move closer to your own personal day of judgement.  The reason I write, the reason I do what I do is to encourage you to cross the bridge to His side of eternity.