eDevs: May 2023

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

EmmDev 2023-05-31 [Fruit lived out] 1. Love

1. Love

For the next series, I want to reflect on the Fruit of the Spirit.
If the Holy Spirit lives in us, then we bear fruit.
We need to consider that Jesus indicated that we will be known by our fruit and not by our gifts and if we are in Him, we will bear much fruit. This has led me to often say: "The gifts are optional, the fruit are compulsory."

Over the next nine devotions I am going to be as practical as I can possibly be about how we co-operate with the Spirit to bear fruit. While He is the one who plants and grows the fruit in us, we can co-operate or resist...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1Corinthians13:4-7)

Don Fransisco sings "Love is not a feeling, it's an act of the will!"
John, in ch.4 of his letter tells us that we should love one another, "for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

So who's right? Don or John?

Ironically they both are!

Love starts with God, who models love and unleashes love in us.
How does God "unleash love" in us? Simply by loving us!
We can only give what we have received...

But how should love look?
Paul is helpful:

There are metrics and rubrics for love:
It's patient and kind
There are warnings and limits:
It does not envy and boast, not is it rude or self-seeking
There are danger signs:
Being easily angered and bottling up lists of ways we've been wronged
There's direction:
Away from evil and towards truth
There are habits:
Love protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.

We aren't the origin of love.
We love because we are loved.
But we, with the Spirit's help, can love better...

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

EmmDev 2023-05-30 [Pentecost 2023] Which word?

Which word?

I am sorry that this one arrived late - you should have received it on Friday.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
...
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. (John14:15-31)

In the first episode of this mini-series, I explained the initial etymology ("linguistic origin") of the Greek word that Jesus used for the Holy Spirit. The word is Paraclete and comes from "para" (alongside) and "kletos" which means called. How this word has been understood has a really wide range.

When I looked at different translations I found different words used:

Advocate: An advocate is a representative and agent.
This works in both ways: He represents God to us and is the agent of the presence of the Father and Son. But He also He speaks on our behalf, empowers us and gives us the words we need.
Counselor: He guides us, gives discernment and comforts us.
Comforter: In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about the comfort of God that we can comfort others with. The Holy Spirit mediates this to us.
Helper: He gives gifts, fruit, guides, convicts, strengthens and so much more.
Friend: This is Eugene Peterson's word - but the Spirit we say "Abba Father".
Still small voice / conscience / convictor: This is when He prompts us about sin in our lives.
Intercessor: Such a powerful thought that we are prayed in and prayed for 24/7.
Strengthener: We can't do this without Him
Standby: Another nice word!

So which word is right? I think all of them are helpful and we should always be mindful of the "semantic range" of this amazing word "paraclete".

So which word is best? I think it depends on where you are at and what is going on in your life.
Sometimes I think we are in a place that we need an Advocate. Other times we need a Comforter.
And so on...

Can you think of any more words?

Thank you Holy Spirit that:
- we are not orphans
- You are the invisible overflow of the love of God
- You equip us
- we need so many words to describe all You do for us.

Help us to love YOU (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) more.
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I hope you have enjoyed this mini-series.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

EmmDev 2023-05-25 [Pentecost 2023] Equipping

Equipping

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
...
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." (John14:15-31)

Today's message is very simple, but very comforting...

Living the Christian life is not easy:
-We feel disconnected from God at times
-We don't always know what the right choice is.
-We go back to our old ways (we forget God's ways)
-We are bullied by our circumstances

The Good News is that the Holy Spirit comes to our aid:

He comes from the Father in the name of the Son. He is the presence of God in our lives and when we quiet down, we will experience His presence and love.
He will teach us all things. He will help us apply Biblical Truth to our modern circumstances and guide us in the right direction. We call this wisdom and the Spirit will help us discern the right way to go.
He will remind us of what we have learned. He'll keep us from drifting away. It's amazing how often a long-forgotten verse, a phrase from a sermon we heard long ago or a line from an old hymn comes to mind just when we need to hear it.
When our circumstances and the voices around us attempt to bully and intimidate us, the Spirit will give us deep and lasting peace. Not earthly peace (which is really just the absence of trouble) but peace that carries us in the storm.

Thank you Holy Spirit!

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

EmmDev 2023-05-24 [Pentecost 2023] Invisible Love

Invisible Love

The hardest part about the Holy Spirit is His invisibility.

Not only is there no empirical evidence ("the world neither sees Him or knows Him"), but His role is to be with and in us - we find this hard to understand. Jesus explained it to Nicodemus: "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Clear as mud right?

But bear with it...
Wind cannot be seen, but its effects can be felt and observed.
Interestingly, when you get to the science of it, wind is the result of a vacuum being filled.
Wind is the movement of air from a high pressure system (abundance) to a low pressure system (a vacuum).

The Father, Son and Spirit live in perfect harmony (unlike the love triangles in our soapies). The Son isn't jealous of the Father's love for the Spirit, the Spirit isn't jealous of Jesus' love for the Father and so on. In fact, the love the Father, Son and Spirit have for each other is so perfect that it is overflowingly abundant. When we say that God is love, this is not theoretical, it is a lived reality. Father, Son and Spirit love each other perfectly and their love overflows abundantly.

So abundantly, that it flows from the high pressure system of the Triune God to the low-pressure systems of our hearts. How is that love transferred? The Holy Spirit brings love to us in His presence in us.

What an incredible thought!

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

EmmDev 2023-05-23 [Pentecost 2023] Not Orphans

Not Orphans

Hi there...
I'm back after a longer than expected gap. It's Pentecost week. I thought I would do a mini-series on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does and over these next four devotions I'm going to plumb the depths of just one passage about Him.
I do hope it is helpful...

Many Christians struggle to describe the nature and person of the Holy Spirit. Some even talk about "What" instead of "Who". We talk a lot about what He does, like helping us bear fruit, giving us gifts and so on.

But who is the Spirit and what is He like?

Here's our first thought: The Holy Spirit is the one who ensures we are not orphans.

Jesus was preparing the disciples for His death, resurrection and ascension. They were devastated at the thought of His departure.

Jesus assures them. He talks about the Holy Spirit as the paraclete ("para"=alongside and "cletos"=the One who is called). The disciples knew the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon people for a season, enabling them to prophesy or to perform mighty deeds like Samson did.

But now Jesus promises them that they will not be orphans.
The Spirit will come to fill the "God-shaped vacuum inside us" (This is a phrase used by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal.)
As we read the passage carefully, we realise that the Holy Spirit is the One who connects us to the Father and the Son. He lives in us, He is the embodiment of Jesus' presence and peace. He is the expression of the Father's care.

Paul expresses it beautifully in Romans 8 where he indicates that the Spirit's presence in us enables us to connect to Almighty God as "Abba" ("Daddy").

Who is the Holy Spirit?
He is the connector - the one who will ensure that we never feel like orphans.
He represents and mediates the love of the Father and Son to us.
But He's not a "force" or a "connection" - He is the third beloved member of the God family who whispers to us about the Father and Son and whispers to them about us.