May the Force NOT Be With You!

The Holy Spirit in the third part of the Trinity, and is not an it and is not some kind of force in the universe. The Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit speaks, not may the force be with you. We need to understand that and whenever we come across that in the Bible, when it refers to the Spirit, with a capital S, it is referring to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

Most people's views in the world are pretty narrow when it comes to death. They simply want to avoid the subject all together, but from a believer in Christ's point of view, the Bible is clear, "to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord. The world's view of their god is limited to this world because they don't want to believe that there is life after death. We are simply a breath away from the arms of God.

If you consider the entire birth process and how comfortable the environment is for a baby awaiting to be born. All of its needs are met and the temperature for the most part is a consistent 98.6 degrees. There is an adjustment that comes through the birthing process as they baby is physically expelled from the womb and the environment now changed drastically for that baby. Bright lights, cold, and the way the baby is handled from birth to being cleaned off is pretty harsh compared to what it has been used to. The baby simply doesn't understand that this harsh awakening offers a better life soon. As believers in Jesus, we are just passing through the doorway at that moment into the eternal presence of God.

Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in the Holy Spirit as an actual person so Revelation 14:13 should keep them up at night.

Revelation 14:13b ~ "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"

The Spirit referred to here is with a capital S, meaning the Holy Spirit. He is speaking. An it or a force can't speak. This is not Jesus, or God the Father speaking either, but the Holy Spirit. There are countless times in the Bible where the Holy Spirit spoke to people. It is here that the Holy Spirit comments! Notice that is in reference to labor (sufferings) and works (deeds).

Most parents with children who work with no time to spare, are the ones who serve the most in church and in ministry opportunities. It is the people with the most time who hardly serve at all. There is a rest coming to the people of God. Single people should be pouring their lives into serving in the church. The Bible commands it. A Spirit-filled life will produce biblical fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is the production of biblical works.

John 15:15-16 ~ "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."

Jesus wants to call us friends. Tell all your friends from other religions that!

John 15:8 ~ "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."

John 15:1-2 ~ "I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear much more fruit."

John 15:4-5 ~ "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing."

Galatians 5:22-23,25 ~ "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

Matthew 7:16 ~ "You will recognize them by their fruits."

Colossians 1:4-6 ~ "since we hard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing - as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth"

Ephesians 5:8-10 ~ "for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light  in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true). and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

Romans 6:22-23 ~ "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There is an expert witness regarding our lives that will testify and that is the Holy Spirit! He knows us!

Acts 1:4-8 ~ "And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they asked him,"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Zechariah 4:6 ~ "Then he said to me, This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts."

It is the Holy Spirit that guides us to the work that God has called us to do.

Acts 13:1-4 ~ "Now thee were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out, by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus."

Hebrews 6:10 ~ "For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do."

Romans 8:16 ~ "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."

Ephesians 2:10 ~ "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Galatians 6:9 ~ "And let us not grow weary for doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

You'll be blessed by well doing in your life, even if no one else notices. God does!

Do You Validate?

I just wonder if any of you when you pull into a parking garage actually stop somewhere just to get your parking ticket validated? I mean sometimes they will validate the whole time you are there, but most times it's only for a specified time. I saw the cutest YouTube video that a friend sent me! You really should see it! It's called "Validation" and you can search for it on You Tube! It's about people that stop in a parking garage, and seek out the validation person to have their parking tickets validated so their parking will be FREE!

What they get when they arrive is "validation". They receive the most sincerest compliments from the person who marks their tickets, but only after he provides them with just the right compliments they need for the day.

I find this so true, especially being a stay at home mom and sometimes wife whose hubby is gone for weeks at a time. He is usually home for a couple days and then leaves for another 3-5 week stint. Let's just say I could use some validation. My kids need rides to school, sports activities, the malls, friends house, church, youth group, last minute things at the store. Can you relate?

Well it's amazing how much a sincere compliment can completely change your attitude and change your day. Too often though we put some faith in wanting those compliments from people, when the only person who will give them to you all day long without waiting is God. "I am with you always." Jesus promises in Matthew 28:20. God's compliments are not only sincere but they are filled with love, joy and hope. It's because God always sees the best in us, believes in us not matter how many times we fail and will never forsake us no matter how many times we push him aside.

Tonight we shared a dinner with hubby while he was passing through town and we were discussing just how important it is to let people know honestly what you think of them. Just the good however! At least for now. I was explaining how I took the time today to send along a quick email to my home school teacher to thank her for supporting me, always being quick to respond to my issues as a home school parent, and just glad that we have her when I hear from my friends that they don't like their kids teachers. I took the time not only to write it but to be sincere in my compliments.

A few minutes later I received the nicest email of thanks from her saying just how important that email came at a really difficult time in her day and just by reading it, it changed her day. Sincerity in it's purest form. Today at dinner, my oldest daughter was telling us how irritating our waitress was because she would ask if we needed anything, and we would tell her we were OK, she would thank us. Caitlyn said why does she say thank you so much, and I informed her that she was displaying good manners in how she was responding to us, her customers.

By the end of dinner, Caitlyn expressed that our waitress really went out of her way to make sure our drinks were always filled, if we needed more bread, took away all our empty plates when we were finished and genuinely cared about us. We discussed that perhaps someone should know about her outstanding service, since too often you don't get that kind of attention anymore. My hubby did stop on our way out and asked to speak with the manager to let her know just how good our waitress Vanessa was! She said she would be heading back to talk to her since she was going that way.

It is now our families goal to validate someone each day in a genuine and sincere manner. We are hoping it will make a difference in their day and bring a true smile to their face and a bounce in their step.

I feel we all need to feel validated every day in some small way, we know that some days we just need to feel like we count, and I pray that each of you that reads this post will be encouraged by the Holy Spirit each day that God created you and has kept you right where you are because you are serving His special purpose! Nothing happens that doesn't filter through His hands and without His knowledge. You mean everything to God! Your ticket is now validated!

Do You Validate?

I just wonder if any of you when you pull into a parking garage actually stop somewhere just to get your parking ticket validated? I mean sometimes they will validate the whole time you are there, but most times it's only for a specified time. I saw the cutest YouTube video that a friend sent me! You really should see it! It's called "Validation" and you can search for it on You Tube! It's about people that stop in a parking garage, and seek out the validation person to have their parking tickets validated so their parking will be FREE!

What they get when they arrive is "validation". They receive the most sincerest compliments from the person who marks their tickets, but only after he provides them with just the right compliments they need for the day.

I find this so true, especially being a stay at home mom and sometimes wife whose hubby is gone for weeks at a time. He is usually home for a couple days and then leaves for another 3-5 week stint. Let's just say I could use some validation. My kids need rides to school, sports activities, the malls, friends house, church, youth group, last minute things at the store. Can you relate?

Well it's amazing how much a sincere compliment can completely change your attitude and change your day. Too often though we put some faith in wanting those compliments from people, when the only person who will give them to you all day long without waiting is God. "I am with you always." Jesus promises in Matthew 28:20. God's compliments are not only sincere but they are filled with love, joy and hope. It's because God always sees the best in us, believes in us not matter how many times we fail and will never forsake us no matter how many times we push him aside.

Tonight we shared a dinner with hubby while he was passing through town and we were discussing just how important it is to let people know honestly what you think of them. Just the good however! At least for now. I was explaining how I took the time today to send along a quick email to my home school teacher to thank her for supporting me, always being quick to respond to my issues as a home school parent, and just glad that we have her when I hear from my friends that they don't like their kids teachers. I took the time not only to write it but to be sincere in my compliments.

A few minutes later I received the nicest email of thanks from her saying just how important that email came at a really difficult time in her day and just by reading it, it changed her day. Sincerity in it's purest form. Today at dinner, my oldest daughter was telling us how irritating our waitress was because she would ask if we needed anything, and we would tell her we were OK, she would thank us. Caitlyn said why does she say thank you so much, and I informed her that she was displaying good manners in how she was responding to us, her customers.

By the end of dinner, Caitlyn expressed that our waitress really went out of her way to make sure our drinks were always filled, if we needed more bread, took away all our empty plates when we were finished and genuinely cared about us. We discussed that perhaps someone should know about her outstanding service, since too often you don't get that kind of attention anymore. My hubby did stop on our way out and asked to speak with the manager to let her know just how good our waitress Vanessa was! She said she would be heading back to talk to her since she was going that way.

It is now our families goal to validate someone each day in a genuine and sincere manner. We are hoping it will make a difference in their day and bring a true smile to their face and a bounce in their step.

I feel we all need to feel validated every day in some small way, we know that some days we just need to feel like we count, and I pray that each of you that reads this post will be encouraged by the Holy Spirit each day that God created you and has kept you right where you are because you are serving His special purpose! Nothing happens that doesn't filter through His hands and without His knowledge. You mean everything to God! Your ticket is now validated!

Honest to God!

What does it mean to be a Christian? Too often people hold up huge expectations of what Christians are supposed to do and not do, as a matter of fact they seem to judge Christians more harsher than they would someone who isn't a Christian. Suddenly when you announce to people that you are a Christian, it seems like the world suddenly puts a huge target on you! Now you are fair game but before no one really cared what you did.

Now people are putting you under a microscope and looking into the smallest details of what you do, who you hang out with, and what you say. They are the ones that begin to point out all your imperfections and call you a Hypocrite! Wrong!!! Just because you believe in something and fall short because we are human doesn't make us a Hypocrite, it makes us Christians!

Christians are to seek to believe in everything the Bible tells us, and act in a God-like manner. The difference between a hypocrite is that they wear a mask, an actor if you will, being someone they aren't. They don't believe in God at all, but act as if they do.

The problem is that it's better to be a sinner and admit it, then lie and pretend to be something you're not. It's not any one's job to judge people because you can't see into their hearts and really know what's going on. Only God can do that! We can't lie to God.

None of us can live a perfect life, because we live in a sin-filled world and we are human. By that very nature we are inclined to sin. It takes a daily walk of faith and sometimes minute by minute walk to try and do the will of God in our daily lives. Reading the Bible doesn't make you a believer, nor does going to church make you a Christian.

The only way you can be saved is to believe that God sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, and that He was raised on the third day and now sits at the right hand of the Father. It is only by the blood that Jesus shed for us, that we can be saved and it's that belief alone and not by anything we can do that we can go to heaven. You must also turn from your sins and try to do the will of God daily.

Sure we will fall, sure we will make mistakes, sometimes big ones, but we can ask forgiveness and only by the grace of God, can we know we are truly forgiven. I know of some that claim that faith, but refuse to make a changes in their lives. They haven't repented, which is what one must be willing to do. It's not a "name it and claim it" kind of faith. You have to want to do it and be willing to try and do it daily.

It's only by the fruit we produce that we can truly tell if we are walking in the path of God's will. What are the fruits? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. These things are truly present in the life of a true believer! Are these things present in your life?

The acts of a non believer are: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness and orgies. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us of these things and that those who live like this, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I hope that this helps both believers and non believers alike to not judge lest we be judged. NO ONE is perfect! Only Jesus Christ was! We need to try to be more like Him in everything we do!