God's Holy Spirit

Our recent course of study in doctrine in my Journey 24/7 group has brought us to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

READ John 14:16-17
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.

Here’s something to think about.

Agree or Disagree: By its definition as a “spirit,” the Holy Spirit has the spiritual attributes (characteristics) of God but not the personal ones.

We had an interesting discussion around that question the other night. It led me to think about some defining terms regarding the Holy Spirit of God. First, there are many terms describing the Holy Spirit. First and foremost is the term Holy Ghost.


One young man was puzzled by the term ghost used in reference to God. His concept of ghost was either evil or cartoonish (Casper).


And yet when you look at the definitions of the words, one can understand the use of Ghost when referring to the Spirit of God the Father and God the Son (more on that in a bit).

We listed on a board as many of the terms we could think of that refer in Scripture to the Holy Spirit: Comforter, Helper, the Third Person of the Trinity; Teacher, Giver of Gifts. The list went on…

When I looked up the two terms (holy and spirit), independently, I found the following definitions:

Hagios, in the Greek means “most holy thing.” The idea behind holy or holiness is a quality of perfection (a sinlessness and inability to sin that is possessed by God alone). That’s simple enough. But the word spirit was a bit more complicated.

Pnuema, in the Greek means a movement of air (literally “a gentle blast”), wind, or breath of nostrils or mouth. So based on this simple combination of the two words the Holy Spirit is the most holy breath of (in this case) God! That fits when you consider that the Holy Spirit is responsible for guiding (especially the apostles and prophets) into all truth.

READ 2 Peter 1:21
For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

But there’s more to the definition. Spirit can also mean the vital principal by which the human body is animated. Obviously, this is a human application that doesn’t necessarily apply to God. But when a human soul has left the body, it is referred to as a spirit. This explains the idea of “ghost” when referring to the Holy Spirit. When Christ died on the cross, it is said He gave up the Spirit. His Spirit (that which animated His physical body), left His material, human body. In the language of the King James Version, based on the original Greek texts, Holy Ghost worked to describe this concept of God and Christ’s Spirit.

Then continuing with the many levels of the definition, there’s the concept of a spirit higher than man but lower than God. This gives us an idea about angels.

The definition begins to get specific for our terms as it deals with the divine nature of Christ, higher than the highest angels and equal to God. Here’s where we get to a definition that deals with God’s power and activity distinguished from His essence and manifest by His influence upon we who make up His body (the church). This is God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, the giver of all spiritual gifts and fruit, and the source of any power, affection, emotion we employ as believers.

There’s plenty more to consider about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but that’s for another day. For now, let me leave you with the following challenge:

Have you ever been aware of the Holy Spirit working in your life?

As an evangelical fundamentalist, I do not apply a Charismatic application to that question. However, many in my camp have gone as far as almost eliminating the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives for fear of being labeled “Charismatic.” Speaking in tongues or being slain in the Spirit are not the only manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power in the lives of a believer. When was the last time you were aware that the Holy Spirit of God was guiding and directing you into truth through your study in God’s Word? The Spirit is responsible for give believers the power to do the work of His ministry. We as believers need to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and give God abundant praise. God’s Holy Spirit independently equips His church, perfecting and maturing all His saints. In performing His ministry He neither glorifies Himself nor the gifts He bestows, but glorifies Christ by putting into action His work of redeeming the lost and building up their faith.

GRACE 2 U ALL!

Best Friends

While teaching my Journey 24/7 group the other night, I challenged some of them to describe their best friend. You may want to do this too. However, I wanted a very precise description. These are the questions to be answered:

What is your best friend’s exact height?
What color are your best friend’s eyes (natural color, not contacts)?
How much does your best friend weigh (touchy question for the ladies, but when I asked this of two guys, they were way off)?
What’s your best friend’s least favorite vegetable?
What is the color of your best friend’s hair (again this would be natural color)?
When was the last time your best friend’s hair was cut?
What does your best friend aspire to be someday?
How old was your best friend when they learned to ride a bike?
What’s the best thing about your best friend?

Now all of this is fairly mundane, it’s certainly not profound, but I did it to underscore how much we don’t know about those we count as our best friends. I discovered last year, remarkably, that a man I had counted as my best friend for years, a man I knew to be a devout, committed believer and man of God, had never shared his testimony with me. Here I was, supposedly as close as a brother with the man, and we’d never sat down and shared with each other how we’d come to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior! Maybe it was just that we felt so familiar with one another, that we assumed we instinctively “knew” certain things about each other. I fear it’s that way sometimes with Christ. As we count Jesus as our Savior, I contended many times most Christians know considerably less about Him than they think they do. We assume we know Jesus. That’s all fine, but shouldn’t we be striving for a higher level of intimacy with the One Who loved us enough to sacrifice His life on the cross?

As Paul wrote the Colossian church, they were being threatened by a heresy (false doctrines or teachings that deny a foundational belief of the church). In this case the heresy denied Christ was deity (God). If that’s not a foundational belief for me and my church, I don’t know what is. Paul begins with some very key points about Who Jesus Christ is.

Read Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Paul says Christ is “the image or the invisible God.” The heresy of the time proposed that Christ was like an angel. If accepted, we would have to understand that since angels are created beings (Psalm 148:2-5) they are not equal in any way to God. They are, however, superior to human beings, have power and strength unmatched in mankind and superior intellect. But they are not all-powerful (omnipotent), all-present (omnipresent), nor all-knowing (omniscient). So what does Paul mean by calling Jesus the image of God? How can he be God’s image if He was a created being like all the angels? By image Paul means that Jesus is a copy or likeness of God. However, he further qualifies God by saying that He is unseen or can’t be seen. To know God, who is invisible, unseen to our temporal and material eyes, we must know Christ (which is basically what Jesus said in John 14:6). To know Jesus Christ is to know He is the perfect, exact likeness or image of God the Father. Jesus is fully God in every way (and he was fully man as He walked the earth).

But what does Paul mean by calling Him the “firstborn”? Doesn’t that indicate that Jesus was indeed created like the angels? Firstborn can mean born first in order, the first to be born of all creation, a created being. But that would be an inaccurate reading to the word. Firstborn can also mean top in rank or position. Jesus Christ’s position in God’s kingdom is over creation (firstborn over all creation); He existed before creation and is exalted over any created thing.

The spectacular thing about knowing Jesus is that he was fully God, but also fully man, otherwise we do not have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus was human! He was born, like we are (Luke 2:6-7). What an incredible experience for the prince of glory to be born into human flesh, unable to care for His slightest needs! He grew (Luke 2:52), not just in stature, but in wisdom and favor with men. What must it have been like fro Jesus to deal with the pains of human growth, the insecurities our frail flesh imposes upon us? He got tired (John 4:6)! Jesus, the agent of creation, got weary! He became fatigued from toil. He suffered from thirst (John 19:28). When His body was being deprived of the very blood that pumped through His veins, he experienced the parched torture of unquenched thirst. He Who had never experienced such need when He resided with His Father. Finally, as part of the Godhead, the Trinity, He experienced death (Matthew 15:37), perhaps the ultimate human experience.

You can probably recognize your best friend from across the street. They are almost immediately recognizable to you. Yet there are many things you don’t know about them. Would you recognize Jesus if you saw Him?


















If you read a description of your best friend, would you be able to identify who was being written about? Do you really understand what you read about Christ to get a clear picture of Who He really is?









The older I get, the more I realize there is so much more I need to know about Jesus before I can truly say I know Him. By His grace, I will be given that time. We’ve just scratched the surface here. Go get your Bible and dig in. Get about the work of knowing Jesus, better than your best friend!

Grace 2 U All!

Paul's Last Charge

Recently, I was blessed to speak at a youth camp for a local church. The setting was at Malibu Creek State Park, a beautiful place. I’ve ministered with this camp over the last five-six years. The kids are great; the sponsors are devoted men and women, seeking to see these young people trust Christ.

For the camp, I did a series of messages on the mentoring relationship between Paul and Timothy, as revealed in the book of II Timothy. As I went through the study, I was blessed to think about the various men and women God has placed in my life as mentors (I couldn’t resist the digressions, but can female mentors be called “women-tors”?). Men like Curt Correll made Christ and His teaching real to me, challenged me to live up to God’s standards, and allowed me to discover one of the gifts God gave me to use for His glory: teaching!

Knowledge of God’s Word is necessary if one is going to present It to the world. However, often Christians allow only a passing acquaintance with the Word to suffice for knowledge. Consider it: Who would you want operating on you? Someone who read a medical book 25 years ago, but had been working as a plumber for the past 20 years, or someone who studied medicine for over ten years and has been practicing the procedure about to be performed on you over a thousand times? The same thing is true when you consider the task of sharing Jesus Christ with someone. Who’s likely to do that effectively? Someone who rarely memorizes scriptures and only reads their Bible as if it’s some kind of drudgery or someone who studies and reads God’s word everyday with passion and enthusiasm and knows God personally and intimately?

Paul pulls no punches in the last chapter of II Timothy, as he gives his protégé some last words of encouragement and inspiration.

Read II Timothy 4:1-4
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

When Paul says “I charge you…” he’s giving Timothy a serious command, something he expects to be followed and carried out. The word is actually a military term. And look Who he gives the charge before: God and the Lord Jesus Christ! That adds to the weighty nature of the command. The charge is to “Preach the Word…” We think we know what it means to preach, but I wonder. What passes today for preaching is little more than rote formula for some. Paul is decidedly addressing a pastor, a shepherd, someone tasked with the responsibility of feeding the flock of God. However the charge has broader implications for the rest of us. I would not recommend everyone “preach.” In fact, I’d discourage many. But another meaning of the word is to proclaim God’s Word. To proclaim, to make known, to state publicly the Word of God, we must first know the Word of God; fully and intimately. This is not only preaching the Word, but leading and demonstrating obedience to it.

When I come before a group of young people or adults, for the purpose of exercising my God-give gift of teaching, I am placing myself open and exposed to my audience. It’s as if I am inviting them to look at my life as an example of what I am teaching. That’s why I’m as open as I can be about my shortcomings. I have not arrived! I am not a perfected saint. By God’s grace, I’ll be one when I stand before His throne, but until then, there are certainly some rough edges that need smoothing out. Nonetheless, my charge is to proclaim God’s truth in both word and deed.

Paul further challenges Timothy and me and you to be ready to proclaim the truth of God. These words, “be ready,” carry with them a force and urgency to be fully prepared; like a soldier about to go into battle, constantly alert for any surprise attack. We who have been given this command to proclaim God’s Word need to be vigilantly looking for the opportunity to share God’s truth at a moment’s notice, ”…in season and out…” The timing for proclaiming God’s Word is not governed by what is convenient. It is governed by God’s sovereign plan. We’re only the messenger, not the message.

You see, Paul foresaw a time when people would no longer tolerate the teaching of Truth. Instead, many who claim to believe will follow their own lusts and wants. This goes on today as people seek churches that offer God’s blessings without having to deal with sin, Christ free gift of salvation, or repentance.

Read II Timothy 4:5
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

To be watchful means to be sober, calm in spirit, self-controlled, unruffled, and prudent in all things. Mature believers are not emotional spectacles, but reflections of the Solid Rock we’ve trusted. We are to endure affliction. Know that if we accept the call to be a genuine believer, we will suffer trials. I wish I could tell you different, but I can’t. I can tell you that our job is to withstand those trials; to bear down and get through them, by the strength and provision of our Lord. Not everyone can do the work of an evangelist, because not everyone is gifted by God to be an evangelist. But we are all called to share our faith and lead others to trust Jesus Christ and that we can and should do.

Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

As I grow older, I am reminded every time I speak (in church, at a camp, to my Monday night Journey 24/7 group) that I’m not guaranteed another audience with these folks. I could be gone from this earth tomorrow. It’s all in God’s timing. Paul sensed his own mortal existence as he wrote these verses to Timothy. Remember, he was sitting in a stinking pit of a cell in the bowels deep within the Mamertine Prison.

When he says he’s being “poured out as a drink offering,” Paul is using an illustration from the OT sacrificial system. There were burnt offerings and grain offerings that were totally consumed. The drink offering was the final sacrifice offered, poured out, not a drop withheld.

Paul’s use of sport metaphors always intrigues me. Thousands of years ago, the diversion of sport was as universal as it is today. Paul says he fought the good fight. Paul never fought for his own rights, reputation, or honor, but for God’s glory. Paul sensed his fight was nearing an end. He finished the race. We each have a specific course God’s laid out for us. For some, it won’t be too hard. For others, God has chosen a steep mountain to climb, but will provide all the strength needed, every step of the way. Paul kept the faith. He guarded it from error and attack. He paid close attention to it, in order to teach and demonstrate it to Timothy.

What is God preparing you to do for His glory? Whatever it is, you can be certain Satan is waiting for you to slip up, to give in to temptation, or to give up. But God has chosen you to minister in His name, in your homes, your neighborhoods, your schools, your jobs. Consider praying to God and asking Him to do a work in your heart that will cause you to desire to live a life that draws people to Him. Ask Him to give you a desire to see others trust Christ. Ask Him to make you a blessing to someone (anyone of us can be a perfect pain to someone with very little help from anyone, but to be a blessing, that may take some divine intervention). God is ready to use you as His tool in leading and teaching others about the Gospel if you’ll but yield to His command.