Constantly Refocusing
Everything is 20/20 in HindsightArchive for June, 2010
Focusing on Simple
Sometime it is hard to keep things simple in our complex world. In our attempts to “wow” “out do” “be safe” & “analyze” we often build complexity upon complexity instead of just getting to the point. It has become hard for us in our daily lives to see the forest for all the trees.
Complexity has become the antagonist of my life. I recently tried to network my home and am happy to say that I was mostly successful. The fact that I could even be “mostly successful” shows just how complex something like networking a home is.
Complexity has crept into every area of our lives. You only need to look at your pay stub or work on your taxes to be reminded of how complex our world is. Just stop and look at your online checking account or stop and watch TV and see what they are selling you in order to “simplify” your life.
Complexity is the natural result of capitalism. One of the best business models has to be “create the problem and then sell the solution.” In a way this is the very model of capitalism. Our capitalistic society wants to own and do everything. But that makes life busy and complicated. So the solution is to sell you more things that “simplify” your life and give you more time. Which means you have to earn more money and have less time in order to have more time. It really a vicious cycle when you stop to think about it.
What’s my point in this anything but simple post? Find some simplicity in your life and enjoy it. Don’t over schedule your vacation this summer. Keep your home life simple. Keep your work as simple as possible. Make your designs or marketing programs simple. Live in this moment and not for the 50 things you have to do later today. Enjoy simplicity now not later.
When the Spirit is gone.
My reflection and study of the Bible the past couple of weeks has focused on the Holy Spirit and is activity or lack there of in personal lives. I’ve struggled with the idea of the Holy Spirit for much of my life as a Christian and have not always been fully convinced of is indwelling at least on an active level. At times I viewed the Spirit as a passive dormant part of God that like a hibernating bear simply dwelt in the cave of myself until He would be awaked by the storms of life to give me peace and direction.
I of course have not really understood the spirit and have only relied upon the infrequent and feeble attempts of teaching on the Spirit that I have had in the past. I decided to take up the task myself and have feebly come to a better understanding of some of the Who What When How and Why of the Spirit. So I share it with you now.
Who? The Spirit is Part of the Eternal God. He acts as God’s Heavenly stamp of approval (approval for use) and ownership upon people and has done so through out recorded history.
What? He is a revelation of God and empowers men to do the will of God.
When? In the OT He empowered men as specific times to accomplish God’s will. In the NT He has come as the comforter (replacement for Christ) and the seal of God’s ownership upon believers.
How? (How does he work?) He works to intercede for believers to the Father. He gives us words to speak (mat 10:19) and direction. (especially in times of spiritual questioning) He gives us understanding and remembrance of scripture. He empowers believers with boldness and helps us obey the will of the Father.
Why? To the Glory of God the Father, because we are weak and frail and helpless.
I’ve also realized that we “quench the spirit” and His ability to work in and through us in a visible & tangible way. How do we do this? The easy answer is sin, and I knew this but didn’t really understand it.
I thought (and was taught) that you quench the Spirit when you repeatedly sin and keep going back to it and ignore the “urging of the spirit to stop.”
I think that may be some of how we quench Him, but more often it starts with sins of omission or things that we don’t do than things we do do. (yes I just wrote “do do” you can laugh… ok now stop:)
We quench the Spirit or turn Him into that Hibernating Bear when we ignore his voice telling us to witness to that person we talked to in line at the store or when we fail to give a word of edification to a fellow believer even though we “felt like we should have.” We quench the Spirit when we fail to feed Him with scripture and earnestly seek to follow God’s known will. (obeying scripture) We fail to “See God” ‘s Spirit working because we are not “pure in heart” and honestly have no desire to be. (Mat 5:8)
Ultimately, I believe that our lack of seeing the Spirit working in our lives and churches is because of unbelief or a lack of faith. Do we limit God? No. Do we limit God from using us and our churches? Everyday.
So what is the answer for seeing, feeling and hearing the spirit in our lives?
It’s not some great secret its just plain hard for us feeble humans..
1. Read – the Word of God
2. Believe – the Word of God
3. Obey – the Word of God
I leave you with the words of Jesus written by His friend John(c14:21-31).
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to 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 abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and (S)I will come to you ‘ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
“Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me Get up, let us go from here.
