Holy Spirit Archives - Paula Wiseman

A Study in Contrasts: Choosing a King

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

You may remember from beginning grammar that conjunctions are words that connect words or ideas. “But” is the conjunction that joins contrasting ideas. When “but” appears in Scripture, it highlights something God wants us to notice, to learn from. We’re looking at some of these contrasts.

In a familiar story in 1 Samuel 16, the prophet Samuel travels to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem because God has told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king over Israel. So, when Jesse’s oldest, Eliab, was presented to the prophet, Samuel thought, “This must be the one!”

God stopped him, though with the words in verse 7. Man looks on the outward appearance BUT the LORD looks on the heart. In that simple statement, the Lord teaches us quite a bit about Himself, and about us. Let’s looks at some of those lessons.

We are limited. God is not.
Our knowledge is limited to what we can tease out with our physical senses. And we are dependent on being able to correctly interpret that data. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen forms during my early morning run that turned out to be trash cans or mailboxes once I got a little closer or got a better perspective. And I’m sure many of us can recall situations where we would have made a different choice if we had all the information available.

God is not limited in any way. His eyes don’t play tricks on Him. He doesn’t get foggy-headed when He lacks sleep. He doesn’t make rash decisions in the heat of the moment. Because of that, we can have complete confidence in Him and His leading.

God sees us for who we really are.
We can fool a lot of people, including ourselves, but God always sees our true selves. In some ways this is unsettling. No excuses. No cover-ups. But it can also be reassuring. He is privy to the absolute worst in us … and that hasn’t caused His love for us to waver the slightest bit.

God also knows our real intentions when someone else might get the wrong idea. He knows the burdens and pain we carry that maybe no one else does. Because of that, we can rest assured of His unfailing love for us and His care of us.

We need to learn from God’s example.
We can’t suddenly become mind-readers (or heart-readers, for that matter) but we can recognize that there is much more to the people we encounter than what we see on the outside. We can treat others with the compassion God demonstrates.

While we may never have to choose a king, we do make decisions about people all the time. (Note, that’s decisions, not judgments.) We choose who we do business with. We choose who to form relationships with. We choose who gets our vote. Like Samuel, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us when we make those kinds of decisions rather than relying on the ‘eye test’.

In fact, James reminds us, we have that wisdom available to us.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6

Expectations

By Paula

So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Acts 3:5

We have a van with automatic doors. Push the button, the door slides open. Push it again, the door slides closed. Very cool invention.

When it works.

I think it’s reasonable to expect the door to work as promised. It’s reasonable to expect my M&Ms to taste like chocolate and not dirt. Expectations are a gift to help us prepare for and navigate the world around us. We expect the concrete to be solid under our feet. We expect the cars to stop when the light turns red. We develop those expectations from experience and adjust them as they are either met or not. If we don’t make those little adjustments or if we build our expectations purely from our imaginations, we can get into trouble.

We don’t just have expectations about the physical world. We have them about people. And they have them about us. At the beginning of Acts 3, a lame man has a set of expectations about Peter and John. Because they are going into the Temple to pray, they must be devout. If they are devout, they must be charitable. Other devout people have been charitable. Therefore, I can expect a donation.

See the pattern: assumption (and another assumption) and experience leads to expectation. Peter and John had no money, so in a sense, they did not meet the man’s expectations. Granted, it worked out because they healed him instead of giving him money. In that sense, they far exceeded the man’s expectations. Sometimes we knock one out of the park too, but often, we fall short. And in a customer-service culture that can be tough.

Here are three things to keep in mind when you feel like you have failed to meet someone’s expectations.

1. It is inevitable.
When messed up people try to do stuff in a messed up world, we mess up. We miscommunicate. We miscalculate. Or we simply miss. When that happens, it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. It proves you’re one of us.

2. You have no control over someone’s expectations of you.
Oh, I suppose if you have over-promised and then under-delivered, you could bear some responsibility, but more often than not, we don’t know what process of assumptions and experience went into building those expectations. Maybe the expectations were unreasonable and unfair to start with.

3. You’re in good company.
Jesus Himself constantly failed to meet the expectations of people, even those closest to Him. They expected a king. Mary and Martha expected Jesus to heal their sick brother. The Pharisees… well, they expected Jesus to stay dead. However, Jesus never allowed those expectations to distract Him from His mission. That’s the thing, if we get hung up on doing and being all that others expect us to be, we risk being pulled away from God and His vision for us.

God has a set of expectations for us, chiefly that we will be ever more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Because He did the work to bring us to salvation, and Holy Spirit living in us, His expectations are not at all unreasonable. Let’s make sure we are doing all we can to live up to them.

Parakaleo

By Paula

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Mourn.
In an era of hyperbole, perhaps we have lost the meaning of mourning.

It is not a response to inconvenience or frustration.

It is a response to suffering and injustice, knowing that sin is the root cause of both.
It is a realization of what awful price my own sin cost my Lord and yet I choose to sin again and again.
It is a resignation that things will not change until the Kingdom comes in its fullness and God reigns on earth as He does in heaven.

It is having a heart broken
For loss and separation.
For justice denied or justice that will not come.
For corruption of morals and character.
For the mistreatment of the innocent and the cowardice that fails to defend them.

Mourning is not fleeting or shallow.
Across distance or time, it connects our heart with the heart of another
And with the heart of God Himself.

And then He sends comfort.
The Greek root word is parakaleo.
The same word is used for the Holy Spirit when Jesus promised His coming in John’s gospel.
The Holy Spirit moves us to pray, to give, to reach out,
To be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that is suffering.

When we do that … the Kingdom is that much nearer.

PS – Parakaleo is one of my favorite words/ concepts in the New Testament. It makes a great study. Hmmm. In fact, it would make a good retreat topic. If you want to know more about retreats, or how to do one for yourself, check out this ebook The Personal Worship Retreat Guide.

You’ve Been Sealed

By Paula

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Ephesians 1:13

You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It’s not “sealed” like the marine mammal you see in circuses honking bicycle horns. And it’s not “sealed” like being trapped inside the mummy’s tomb forever … but that one is getting closer. So what is Paul getting at when he says we have been sealed? I think there are at least four things included in it.

Authenticity – Back in the days when software came on disks or CDs it often came with a certificate with a seal of authenticity to let you know you had the genuine item, that it wasn’t a pirated copy. You could be confident that it as going to function as expected and that it had all the features you wanted. The Holy Spirit ensures and attests that our salvation is the real deal and it rests in no one but the One True God accomplished by His Anointed. No fakes, no substitutes, no sub-contractors.

Security – If you have ever been drug-tested for work or had bloodwork, you may have noticed the technician or nurse putting a bunch of stickers on the sample containers or bags. Those are there to prove the samples have not been tampered with. They affirm the integrity of the sample so the results of the tests can be trusted. The Holy Spirit seals us so that our salvation cannot be tampered with. Because of that we know the results, like joy and peace and growth and answered prayers and so on can be trusted. Not only that, we can be confident that the end result of our salvation, our ultimate glorification in Christ’s presence is a sure thing.

Ownership – Cattlemen used to brand their herds so that even in a big group, it was easy for anyone to see which cows belonged to whom. Even now we mark our lunches, and our coffee cups and kids’ jackets so that ownership is clear. The Holy Spirit seals us so we never have to question who we belong to. Not only that, but it should be easy for anyone else to tell it as well.

Authority – Your high school or college diploma. Your driver’s license. Your building permit. All of them have some sort of seal affixed to them indicating that some governing entity with the requisite authority has conferred on you some right or privilege or standing. The Holy Spirit gives us the standing as children of God, joint heirs with Christ and further grants us the status as ambassadors for His kingdom.

You probably already knew it, but just for the record that’s an unbreakable seal.

Do We Treat the Holy Spirit Worse than a Houseguest?

By Paula

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14

We are in that tricky phase of parenting older (adult, even) children, which includes navigating relationships. Over Christmas break, that meant my daughter spent a few days with her boyfriend’s family, and then he spent a few days here with us before they both headed back to college for the term. Now the boyfriend is kind-hearted and gracious, seamlessly fitting into our family, and we enjoy having him here. On top of that, his family is a thousand or so miles away and I’m glad to offer him a break from the campus.

But what if we invited Curtis to our home but then totally ignored him?
What if we never included him in a conversation?
Or set a plate of food in front of him?
What if we headed out to the movies and left him at home?

He might have questions of his own.
Were they kidding when they invited me?
Was Lauren insincere when she expressed her feelings for me?
Am I in an episode of The Twilight Zone?

Of course, we would never do that, and I’m certain you would never ignore a guest in your home. We just wouldn’t.

On His last night with His disciples, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. He said, “You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17.) Throughout Romans 8, Paul emphasizes the Holy Spirit lives inside believers. He is far more than a just a houseguest. He is the seal of our salvation. He is the one empowering, reminding, directing, interceding for, convicting, and teaching us. And more.

While we would never be rude and obnoxious to an invited visitor in our home, I wonder if we might at times behave that way to the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Are there moments we refuse His instruction?
Do we ignore His warnings?
Could we crowd Him out?
Do we fail to even consider Him or acknowledge His presence?

I suspect the answer is yes.

If we offended or mistreated a houseguest, an apology would be in order, perhaps even followed by making it up to our guest somehow.

With the Holy Spirit, that means confession and repentance.

Using Our Resources

By Paula

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

I take the winters off from running. I do this for several reasons. It gives my body a couple of months of rest and time to recuperate. I get cold weather exercise-induced asthma and it saves me from an inhaler. (If you’ve never used one, blecch) But the overwhelming reason is that I do not like the cold. Period. Dragging myself out of my warm bed and into the cold air is the worst.

Last winter, though, rather than spend the entire two-month hiatus as a bed slug, I lifted weights in the basement. There are some real advantages to lifting. I can do it in my pajamas. I can be a lot less awake than I have to be if I’m running. Most of the time, I barely even have to open my eyes to lift. It works more muscles than running. It’s right in my basement. I don’t have to drive to a gym. There’s no danger of cars or dogs or even owls.

But for years, lots of years, that weight machine sat in my basement doing me absolutely no good because I never used it for anything more than a laundry rack. It was only when I (finally) took advantage of the great resource available to me that it benefited me at all.

God, in His grace, has given me a ton of resources to help me out as I live for Him.

He has given me His Holy Spirit living inside me. But, if I ignore His promptings …
He has given me the privilege of prayer. But if I don’t talk with Him as an integral part of my day …
He has given me His word. But if I don’t read, study, and practice what He’s told me …
He has given me the consolation of friends. But if I don’t call on them …
He has given me the Sabbath. But if I decide I’m too busy for rest and renewal and reconnection …

It’s worse than having an unused weight machine in a basement.

A Study in Contrasts: Choosing a King

Expectations

Parakaleo

You’ve Been Sealed

Do We Treat the Holy Spirit Worse than a Houseguest?

Using Our Resources

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series