Spirit-filled Manhood

Under the Control of the Holy Spirit

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“I did not know Him, but for this reason I came baptizing with water: so that He might be revealed to Israel.” Then John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and have borne witness that He is the Son of God.”John 1:31-34 MEV.

We know very little about Jesus’ life during His teens and twenties, but all that changes at His baptism. The baptism of Jesus Christ is so significant that it appears in all four of the New Testament Gospels.

This event was not Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit for the first time. In the previous chapters Luke clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ from the womb. Mary, His mother, conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, at every moment of His journey into human history through the womb of Mary, the Spirit was present in power with Jesus.

Jesus’ baptism was not where He received the Spirit, but rather it was a public event where the Father “revealed” to the crowd what Jesus already knew—that He lived in loving and constant relationship with God the Father and God the Spirit (John 1:31).

Since there is no authority higher than God the Father, His public validation was the highest validation possible to launch Jesus’ public ministry following His baptism. The presence of the Spirit like a dove reminds us of the days of Noah. In that day salvation from God’s wrath came through deliverance via a wooden boat carrying God’s people, and in Jesus’ day salvation from God’s wrath would come via a wooden cross carried by God Himself.

One of the primary purposes of Jesus’ baptism was to publicly announce that Jesus’ entire ministry— including preaching, healing, and delivering—would be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In John 1:32–33 John the Baptizer says, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him…he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” The language of the Spirit “coming to rest” and “remain” on Jesus reveals an ongoing, abiding, and relational presence where everything in Jesus’ life will be under the control and by the power of the Spirit.

Are You Living Your Eternal Life Today?

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“LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how transient I am. Indeed, You have made my days as a handbreadth, and my age is as nothing before You; indeed every man at his best is as a breath.” Selah. Surely every man walks in a mere shadow; surely he goes as a breath; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.

– Psalm 39:4-7 MEV

Here’s a question for you: when does eternal life begin?

Is eternal life a duration of life that only begins once you die? If so, then Christianity is about dying and not much about living. Christianity is, therefore, something for old people to think about at the finish line and nothing for young people to fret about at the starting line. This may explain why churches are filled with grandparents but not their grandchildren.

On the other hand, is eternal life a quality of life that starts at the moment of your salvation, infects and effects all of your life, and culminates at your death? If so, then Christianity is about living a new life from the moment you meet Jesus and receive His Spirit that continues forever and ever. If eternal life is the Spirit-filled life of Jesus empowering your entire life, then any day lived any other way is a wasted day.

I believe in heaven. I look forward to heaven. I hope that in my resurrection body my hair will not be as thin as it is right now, venturing home to be with the Lord before the rest of me. I hope that my current two-inch vertical leap will be replaced by the ability to dunk a basketball and that when I sing it will not sound as if I was captured by al Qaeda as is currently the case. In heaven, I also look forward to skateboarding on the streets of gold and discovering what a perfect cheeseburger actually tastes like.

Even if there were no heaven, I would want to be a Christian solely for the benefits in this life. If I died and became nothing more than mulch, or if everyone went to hell including me, I would still want to know Jesus and be filled with the Spirit in this life because it is the only way to truly live.

The Spirit-filled life with Jesus is so wonderful that even one day of it makes life worth living. In the next chapter we will learn what this looks like for you and your family.

Spirit Filled Jesus: Week 1

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Are you wearing down and needing to plug in to God’s power? In this Sunday’s sermon, “Spirit-Filled Jesus”, you will learn the secret to Jesus’ life and how you can live by His power!

The Answer to Loneliness is a Personal Relationship with the Holy Spirit

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John 14:18-23 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

            Many people know the pain of being abandoned. A parent died or left when they were little. A spouse walked out of the marriage and never looked back. A friendship that felt deep suddenly disappeared. The loneliness of being abandoned is one of the most painful experiences anyone can endure.

            Does God abandon us?

            Jesus knew that the answer to that question was one that our hurt hearts needed to hear. God is in heaven; we are on earth. Jesus came down to be with us and build a relationship with us. People of the world hate and disobey Jesus. People of the Kingdom love and obey Jesus. Knowing He would soon die, rise, and return to Heaven, Jesus anticipated that those of us who love Him and are left in this world might feel abandoned as “orphans”.

            Jesus promised that God’s presence would continue with God’s people. This is why God the Holy Spirit descended upon His people after Jesus ascended to heaven.

            God is relational. The Father, Son, and Spirit have lived together in perfect love for all eternity without beginning or end. And, by having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit you can enjoy the presence of God in your life and live like an adored child rather than an abandoned orphan. When Jesus returned to heaven, He went to prepare a place for you and sent the Spirit to help you and lead you Home.

What things in your life (e.g. folly, rebellion, laziness) are possibly hindering your personal relationship with the Holy Spirit?

           

The Holy Spirit is Helpful

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Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. – John 14:13-17 

Have you ever been with someone as they were dying? When someone is near death, the final things they say to those they love are the things that matter most to them. In such moments, there is no time for idle chatting. Each word is measured, because it matters. 

On the brink of his death on the cross, Jesus gives a glimpse into the Trinity. Jesus says that as the “Son” He will be returning to the “Father” after His resurrection. Furthermore, they will send the “Spirit” to live in God’s people as their “Helper”. Jesus’ point is that we can live by the same power that He did and get the same help that He had. 

The Holy Spirit is the most underutilized power source in the world. This explains why we are weak, weary, and wounded. This explains why we are broken, burdened, and battered. How can you live by the Spirit’s power as your Helper? 

Believe in Jesus and trust in that relationship as the anchor for your entire life.  
Align with God’s will and seek the will of God no matter what it is. 
Ask God to help you love Him by obeying Him since love is what you do. 
Jesus promises that if these three things are present in our life, the Holy Spirit will come as our Helper as He was Jesus’ Helper. While on the earth in His humanity, Jesus needed help, so don’t feel bad when you need help. When you need help don’t settle for self-help, but strive for the Spirit’s help. 

Jesus does not want you to merely admire His life, He also invites you to experience it through the powerful presence of the person of the Spirit. It’s great to ask, “What would Jesus do?” But, it’s of no help unless we also ask, “How would Jesus do it?” The answer is by the power of the Helper! The ministry of the Spirit is to make you like Jesus! 
 
Where in your life today do you need the Helper to help you? Spend some time today inviting the Holy Spirit to help you in very specific ways as your Helper. 
 

The Life-Giving Holy Spirit

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“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit…” – John 7:37-39 

Our family of seven lives in the desert of Arizona. In the desert, the most important thing is to have water. Since the body dehydrates in the dry desert quickly and easily, we make sure that the entire family packs a large water container to take with them each day. When we hike, we make sure to bring with us sufficient water supplies.

On occasion, our hikes take us along rivers up in the mountains. Surrounding the rivers is nothing but a dry and dusty desert. But, wherever the water flows life erupts. Along the river up in the legendary town of Sedona, for example, is one of my favorite family hikes. The air is cooler and the landscape is greener because the water feeds life to everything it touches.

This world is, spiritually speaking, a desert. There is nothing in culture to nourish the life of your soul. Living in this worldly culture, your soul quickly becomes dehydrated–worn out, weary, parched, and thirsty. Jesus promises that those who belong to Him receive a never ending well of life giving flowing spiritual water called the Holy Spirit.  

In the Bible and in this world, there are two kinds of people.

Life draining people do not flow with life in the Spirit and as a result take life from you rather than put life in you. Throughout John’s gospel we see these people grumbling, arguing, and attacking. They do not bring life because they do not have the life of the Spirit. Being with them is like being in a desert.

Life giving people do flow with life in the Spirit and as a result put life in you. When you are with a life giving person, you can sense that the Spirit flows in them to make them life giving, and flows through them to bring life to others around them. Being with them is like hiking along a cool river shaded by trees as an oasis amidst a desert.

How about you? Are you more life giving or life draining? Do you flow with the Spirit, or live in the desert?

Every time you have something to drink, remember that your soul needs the Spirit at least as badly as your body needs the sip.

Jesus the Lion and Lamb

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Perhaps most everyone has an imbalanced view of Jesus’ emotional life. We tend to see Him as either Lion or Lamb, but not both. Those of us with more Lamb personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was meek, kind, patient, loving, and appears passive, if not even timid. Those of us with more Lion personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was strong, firm, urgent, controversial, and appears active, if not aggressive.

Are you more of a Lion or a Lamb? Do you see Jesus more as a Lion or a Lamb?

The Bible presents Jesus as both a Lion and a Lamb, sometimes in the same chapter. In John 2, we see Jesus as a Lamb making water into wine to help a young couple at their wedding. And, we see Jesus a Lion making a whip and driving animals and people from the Temple at Passover.

In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” A lion is the king of the jungle. A lion eats whatever it wants: buffalo, hogs, and even elephants or alligators. A male lion lives in a pride or pack with mainly females and children, and if another male comes around, the lion who is head of the pride will go to war and slaughter anything that threatens his pack. Sometimes, Jesus is a Lion.

In John 1:29 Jesus is called “the Lamb of God.” Lambs are meek creatures who run from danger and stick together with their flock because they are very social animals. Lambs are vulnerable and so comforting and safe that we invite our kids to count them at night until they fall asleep. Lambs are not a threat to other animals because they are vegetarians and mainly eat grass.

The key to your emotional life is having the Holy Spirit empower you to be both a lion when the time is right and a lamb when the time is right. Those who are only and always a lion not only protect others from harm, but they also harm those who are for them and with them. Those who are only and always a lamb are loving, kind, and safe people who avoid conflict while the lions rush in and devour the other lambs.

How about you? Are you more of a lion or a lamb? Do you see Jesus more as a Lion or a Lamb? Where do you need to invite the Holy Spirit to empower your emotional life so that what you feel is like the fullness of Jesus in your feelings?  

John #7 – Successful People Need Jesus: John 3:22-36

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This is a face-melting sermon about the repentance of sin, humility in ministry, Kingdom of God as the only alternative to the dumpster fire that is culture, and the wrath of God which is meted out by Jesus Christ as the King of both Heaven and Hell!

John #6 – Spiritual People Need Jesus: John 3:1-21

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What happens when a theology professor sits down to have a deep conversation with Jesus? They end up having a late-night mental boxing match about what it means to be “born again”. Jesus tells the Bible scholar that, in effect, you can memorize books of the Bible, tithe generously to the Lord, live a moral life, believe in God, and sit in church every week until you die and have your funeral in a church and still go to hell if you are not born again by the Holy Spirit. Prepare for a brain cramp in this sermon…

Jesus Is Spirit-Filled

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John 1:31–33 “I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ”

Jesus Christ is the most significant person in the history of the world.           

How did He perfectly say no to sin, walk in obedience to the Father, forgive His enemies, always tell the truth, and change the world?

By the power of God the Holy Spirit. While on the earth, Jesus was fully God, but He did not continually avail Himself to the use of His divine attributes. Most of the time, Jesus humbly chose to learn and live like we do in full humanity. He did this to sympathize with us and to be a perfect substitute for us.

When John the Baptizer refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ, he highlights one of the most important events in world history. Whereas sinners were baptized for remission of sin, Jesus was baptized to reveal Himself as their Savior. That is why John says, “I came baptizing with water… that he might be revealed to Israel.”           

Until this event, John was very well known, and Jesus was virtually unknown. All of that changed when the entire Trinity was revealed. Jesus came up out of water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father spoke from heaven declaring Jesus to be the Son of God. Since the Father is the highest authority there could possibly be, this unveiling of Jesus was the launching of His public ministry with ultimate authority.

John adds a helpful phrase that is not included in the other Gospel accounts. He says that the Spirit “remained on” Jesus Christ. This is to show that the Holy Spirit continually resided with Jesus, empowering His entire life and ministry. Amazingly, this is the same Holy Spirit that empowers every Christian to live by Jesus’ power as we become more and more like Him in our character and conduct.  

Is there any area of your life that you currently need more of the Holy Spirit’s power for? Take some time to invite the Holy Spirit to bring you His presence and power and then receive it.

John #5 – Religious People Need Jesus: John 2:13-25

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Jesus showed up at the Temple, got angry, made a whip, and started sending money flying and people running? Why? Because the religious leaders did not care about worship, Jesus, or relationships. This week Jesus the Lamb turns into Jesus the Lion for some good reasons we will study together.

John #2 – Start with Jesus to Understand Yourself: John 1:19-34

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How do we really come to understand ourselves? That question, perhaps more than any other, dominates our thinking as we use personality tests and other tools to discover the mystery that is me. There is a man named John the Baptizer whom Jesus called the greatest man who has ever lived. People tried to figure out who John was, and he said that the only way to really understand oneself is to first understand Jesus. In that day, like ours, many people were making the mistake of looking at themselves too much and looking at Jesus too little. If you want to understand who you are, the first thing you need to understand is who Jesus is.