Monday, February 9, 2009
The Spirit Of Jesus
It's quick and almost said in passing, but the implications for you and me are huge-and utterly amazing! In Acts 16:6 Luke writes about the Holy Spirit directing the journey of Paul and Silas (and who else?). In the next verse he mentions that again "the Spirit of Jesus did not allow". Ha!, there it is!! He uses interchangably the "Holy Spirit" and the "Spirit of Jesus". They are one and the same. Now, I'm not going to launch out into Trinitarian cosmology here (because I don't think human beings are capable of such a feat), but this is a wonderful revelation to those of us who have never laid eyes on Jesus, never had his voice cause our eardrums to vibrate, never felt his arms around us. What I teach is that when Jesus came he revealed through his life and teaching the will and personality of the Father. When he left the earth that same will and personality continued through the presence and experience of the Holy Spirit. What that means is that though we don't get Jesus in body, we do, by God, get him. The experience of God you and I have (or can) through our own personal relationship of love and trust is with Jesus! He is not just a character in a book, someone who we will only get to know someday in heaven. He is with us now; ours now. And this from the writing of Luke confirms it. The Holy Spirit is not some supernatural unknown entity. It is Jesus-with us! Hallelujah!!! And by the way, as for that "who else?", look again in chapter 16, verse 15. The last part of that verse says, "And she urged us until we agree. "we"? That could only have been the author. Who else was on that journey? Luke.
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As boring as some of the reading in Leviticus seemed to be, it was also intriguing all of the rules and regulations of that time that were put into place. And it's funny to me how even today, those same rules are used (at will) by cultures and religions. The comment about women being unclean and not allowed in the church (the Indians use that to this day). The part about eating swine because it's unclean (the Muslims use that) as well as other individuals looking for a reason to justify their eating habits. Then there are those of us who say, it was for that time and that time alone but I think that it still shows structure and reverance for the church and for God himself. No matter how 'over the top' these laws may have seemed, it does show me that God should be set apart (in a special place) in our daily lives. He's not to get just the everyday happenings that we give to each other but instead an offering of sacrifice (whatever that may be for you).
ReplyDeleteThis was just my thoughts.... : )