Holy Spirit – Missionary Sojourn

Polarization

I am grateful to have the opportunity to commune with You, Holy Spirit!

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ – Jeremiah 29:11

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. – John 16:13

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!

Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!

Me:
The enemy, I know, is constantly waging a propaganda war, detracting from the message of Truth and hope. He even has his mouthpieces spouting that their particular lie is the truth, that we should be incensed about whatever they are harping about and revolt against that which, I can often see, is proceeding according to Your plan.

Holy Spirit:
This is not new. It has been this way since he showed up in the garden to tempt Adam and Eve. Jesus spoke of it in Jerusalem:

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. – John 8:44

Those who will turn their hearts to Me and put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6) will be able to extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one by the shield of faith. As the schemes of the devil progress, you will continue to see stronger polarization in beliefs. I am watching over My Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). I say I am working a plan to provide for your future and to give you reason to hope. Have I not said it, and will it not come to pass (Numbers 11:23, Psalm 33:9, Isaiah 55:11)? Those who are open to Me will have the opportunity to walk in the Truth that I Am revealing to them constantly.

Those who reject My voice, will be like those Jesus was speaking to in John 8. Their hearts are hardened. This was predicted:

“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. – Ezekiel 12:2

Me:
Thank You Holy Spirit! Thank You for Your guidance, for revealing the truth and the promise of the future, for giving hope! My faith is in You, God, for You are good and nothing that stands against You will prevail! I love You!

Holy Spirit:
You are welcome! I love you!

Courage Within from Above

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Me:

Good morning Holy Spirit!

Holy Spirit:

Good morning Jon!

Me:

Thank you for the reassurances that Your work involves giving courage to do that which You call me to do, even when the truth is unpopular and the enemy appears to make inroads of corruption into every life. We hear so many lies that we become accustomed to them. What a contrast to You unfaltering truth and to Your reliability!

Holy Spirit:

Consider this psalm: Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. Psalm 56:9 I Am listening for the cry of your heart. My help does not require you to foresee the plan or the method. If you seek Me for what I Am doing, and you run to wherever I show you that My banner is raised, there you will see the mighty hand of Jehovah Nissi, God your Banner. The battle is fierce and the enemy is ruthless and he misleads many after him, but My victory is assured and all who can find courage in Me will see triumph and will play a part even in snatching the perishing from the flames.

Me:

Oh, let me keep my eyes on the Lord and walk in confidence in You! Often the enemy reminds me how I fall short. Thank You that the strength required is Yours and not mine! In You I trust! Only you can get through to us when we are blinded by our willfulness. Only Your voice can penetrate our ears deafened by falsehood. I cannot count the times that You have spoken gently to me when I deserved only condemnation; when You have shown light into dark dungeons of fear in which I was bound. I treasure the freedom that is granted in Jesus! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for enabling a new life of liberty!

I love You!

Holy Spirit:

You are welcome! I love You!

Authority – Some Rightful, Some Usurped

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Romans 13:1-2

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!

Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!

Me:
For years, I have struggled with the 13^th chapter of Romans.

Holy Spirit:
I know.

Me:
I see Your way, clearly laid out in Galatians 5 – self-control as the produce of a life infused by Your power and subject to Your desire.

Holy Spirit:
What about those who have no intention of being subject to My desire? A purpose of appointed authorities is to restrain those who serve the destroyer from wronging others.

Me:
I’m perfectly OK with that. It is when the authorities themselves appear to be serving the enemy that I am troubled by Romans 13; giving hearty approval to abortion, for instance, and vilifying those who would oppose that abomination.

Holy Spirit:
You are asking how that type of authority could possibly be established by Me?

Me:
Yes.

Do I prevent you from sinning, or do I permit you to choose?

Holy Spirit:
You, appear to give me free will to obey or to not obey.

Me:
If you do not obey, on whose authority are you acting?

That is a hard question. I see that You permit the choice, but cannot imagine You being in favor of a bad choice.

Holy Spirit:
Bad choices grieve Me (Ephesians 4:30).

Your freedom to choose is embedded in the fact that you are created in the image of God. I Am free to choose. I choose always according to My nature. That is why the scripture tells you that I Am light and that in Me there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). I desire you to choose according to My nature in you. Since I Am in you, the only way for you to do otherwise is to quench the fire of My truth that is resonating in your heart and charge ahead in spite of what I Am telling you. You know how that feels, just as you know how it feels to obey and grow and love and rejoice.

Me:
And the government or other authorities are groups of people with the same choice: whose authority will they exercise?

Holy Spirit:
There is only One Authority. But it is possible to choose to act outside of My authority or the authority that I delegate. Those who act wrongfully are usurpers.

Me:
I know Jesus told Pilate that he would have no power over Him except it had been given from above. I know how dependent I am on Jesus’ sacrifice in submitting to the crucifixion carried out at Pilate’s order and the insistence of the Jewish leaders.

Holy Spirit:
I make all things work together for good for those who love me, for those who are called according to My purpose (Romans 8). All things include the actions of usurpers.

Me:
Thank You that you are above all earthly powers and that my life is wholly in your hand. You are only good and merciful continually! I love You!

Holy Spirit:

You are welcome! I love you!

Ungrasping

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!

Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!

Me:
The scripture tells me that You will bring things to remembrance that Jesus has told me and that You will reveal all things to me (I think He meant all things He wanted to say to me).

Holy Spirit:
I AM One with the ministry of revealing the hidden.

Me:
It seems funny to me to think of You as One who ministers mysteries.

Holy Spirit:
The Shepherd takes care of the sheep. I AM One who helps you with great and mighty things that you know not. Jesus told you that it was through Me that He got reacquainted with His relationship with the Father after leaving that intimate knowing behind to arrive in a manger.

Me:
He also told me to meditate upon His humility and that though He was, in fact, God become man; He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2:5-7) while he was on the earth. He also said that humility was key to having Him bear the load when we “take His yoke” upon us. That verse said learn of Me, too. Would You help me with that?

Holy Spirit:
I would love to! First off, what is the definition of humility? The so-called simple modern definition is “not considering yourself as better than others”. This definition shows how shallow the typical understanding has become when it comes to humility. Look at Websters “full definition”.

Me:

OK. I looked it up.

1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission
3: ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious : not costly or luxurious

Wow! Usually, only one part of a definition applies. Jesus really encompassed humility in ways I had never dreamed of considering. (And You! You give good insights!)

Holy Spirit:
Aw. Ain’t nothin’ special.

Me:
You are demonstrating how unlike God “false” humility is, aren’t You?

Holy Spirit:
It doesn’t become Me?

Me:
Ha! You know!

Holy Spirit:
Was Jesus assertive? Yes, as to the Truth. For the Truth is the Way. Shading the truth might look like a “kinder, gentler, way” on the surface. But in the long run, such lies are neither kind nor gentle. The human industry of “little white lies” is not of God. You know who the father of lies is, don’t you?

Me:
Yes, of course. The Devil.

Holy Spirit:
Telling the Truth in a way that does not offend is often hard work, for the one who is off the mark has their own deceptions in play. The enemy asserts that the lie is simply more expedient. For that matter, giving in to any sin is portrayed by him as the easier path. Know that the payday at the end of that path yields a bitter wage.

Sometimes telling the truth offends no matter what, and that is as it should be, too. Think of Jesus calling the religious leaders “whitewashed tombs”. Calling their behavior out for what it is proves there was true love behind the warning, precisely pointing out they were putting a “respectable” veneer over that which leads to death.

Yet, as regards people’s free will, Jesus deferred to the Father’s intention that everyone’s decisions are their own, even though He was on a mission to convince the blind of the Light. We have talked before about the fact that true love is not possible under any other system. Persuasion, loving persuasion – yes, with all diligence. Control over others, that is the way of the narcissist and the aim of Satan; that is not the way of the humble.

Let’s talk about this movement in the culture to think humility is not considering oneself as better than others. That definition is troubled by being couched from the negative. There is an (almost) infinite range of things, that a thing is not. Surely, if a person considers himself “better” than another, that is an affront to Our sovereign will in creating them. We value each one. We love each one. We desire to meet with each one. We desire to redeem each one. All are made in Our image, yet all are unique. Who is man to say one is better in Our sight than another?

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22: 24-27)

Do you consider yourself a “benefactor”? Do you have the attitude that no one else can do the thing that needs doing and do it right? Do you think if you don’t do it, it won’t get done? Consider whether you are applying yourself diligently to the thing I Am calling you to do. Recognize that you have nothing to give except that which you have been given. Look to Jesus’ example. Follow Him. Remember the yoke; work alongside, don’t try to pull ahead. The one who pulls ahead shoulders the load. Neither lag behind. I Am helping you.

Me:
Thank You Holy Spirit! This has been a marvelous time we have had together! Thank You for teaching me!

Holy Spirit:
You’re welcome! I love you!

His Choosing

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!
Me:
I am blessed to be chosen for salvation, even from the beginning!
Holy Spirit:
I see you are still somewhat puzzled by that language. It is not exclusory, as is human choosing.
Me:
I looked up the word for ‘chosen’ in the Greek. It is not ambiguous. It means simply to lay hold of by personal choice.
Holy Spirit:
Your calling by Me and to Me is by My personal, completely informed, and passionate decision. You cooperate by desiring to be selected. If one does not want to be selected, that free-will decision is honored by Me. Since my choice is completely and eternally informed, that one is excluded simply by My having honored his will. My passionate desire for a relationship with such a resister is not diminished and is no less personal than for you. My ardor toward him does not diminish as time passes for him nor does his doom become fixed prior to his physical death. Unfortunately for him, having rejected the Spirit of Truth, he is laid open to the spirit of untruth and his training in the lies of the darkness only solidifies the habits of his mind and heart with long practice. Pray for him, when you meet him. Remember My love for him is in no way dimmed. Allow My heart for him to be your heart for him.
Me:
I will try to keep that in view and attempt to be more faithful to pray. Please keep reminding me if I forget! Thank you for being the active agent in my sanctification!
Holy Spirit:
Your continuing desire for Me to do that is the sole guidance for the direction of your life; your faith will either develop in the Truth resulting in more a more abundant life and more peace and more joy and more love and more self-control, or if I am not your desire, life will decay under the plan of the one who comes to steal and kill and destroy.
Me:
Thank You Holy Spirit! I love You!
Holy Spirit:
You’re welcome! I love you!

Dwelling Places, so to Speak

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Ps 46:4-7

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!
Me:
I read this passage and it makes me think of You. The river flowing out from the throne spoken of in Revelation in my understanding represents You and Your flow. I love this reference to the river “making glad” the city of God.
Holy Spirit:
But of the fruit Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Me:
Taken all those things together that flow from you, “making glad” seems an apt description.
Holy Spirit:
In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:23)

These “dwelling places” are reference to the fact that we can be together in an intimate setting – at home together, as it were. Safe and secure, no matter what. Most think this talks about some kind of afterlife apartment. There is much loss in that understanding. Jesus said there are many dwelling places. The word translated ‘are’ has the same root as I AM. We are together right now. Jesus’ talk about “going to prepare” was about His death in the disciples (and your) stead which had not yet taken place. He could have said “I am going to the cross to prepare a place for you.” He was not going on about unfinished drywall in heaven. It is you that have to be made ready; not the dwelling place. He was speaking of preparing a place in the sense of “home”. Home is not a location where you normally feel “there is no place for me here” because you do not fit. The ‘dwelling place’ is a metaphor for being in/one with Him. Rejoice that you are ‘dwelling’ at-one with Us, in the River, made Glad! When Jesus said ‘I will come again to receive you to Myself’, he was not looking down through time to the last trumpet of Revelation. He was looking forward to in-dwelling fellowship with sin atoned for and no longer blocking the relationship.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Neither the individual you, nor the collective ‘you’ of all who ‘dwell’ will be moved, though nations make an uproar until kingdoms totter or natural disasters proliferate.

Me:
Thank You for this explanation! I love You!
Holy Spirit:
You’re welcome! I love You!

A Great Advantage

If you are a believer in Jesus, He has provided a great advantage through the grace of the Holy Spirit in your life. I say grace, for surely, outside the atoning work of Christ, none of us could avoid being consumed by having the Holy Spirit of Almighty God dwell within us. Is He making a difference in you? Is He making a difference in Me?

Our enemy, the devil, has a standard litany of lies he tells anyone who desires to turn their hearts and minds over to the Spirit’s help. Those who succumb to doubt – about whether they are “doing it right” or “hearing right” or whether they have “quenched the Spirit”– become like the unstable double-minded man who should not expect to receive anything from God. Satan’s list of lies is practically endless. You are no doubt familiar with some.   Rather than dwell on such a dismal litany, I want to share a list of promises from the Bible to counter them with, whatever doubt he sends:
•   But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7
•   And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in 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 have said to you. John 14:16-17,26
•   And when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11
•   And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people and I shall be their God. Ezekiel 11:18
•   ‘And it shall be in the last days’, God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, any your old men shall dream dreams; Even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’. Acts 2:17-21

Does the tone of the quote in Acts sound like the Spirit will spend time counseling men to salve their fears by engaging in the latest self-help technique? No, He counsels everyone to call upon the name of the Lord. For there is no other Name given under heaven, whereby men may be saved.

I asked before, in so many words, “Am I different today than I was yesterday, or merely fooling myself?” Those promise passages make it clear that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit because without His help, I would be unable to stand in the trials that are coming.
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Father, how can I offer high enough thanks for such promises? You have provided for Your pure and Holy Spirit to occupy my vessel of earth! Though You formed me from the dust of the ground, You the Potter are sanctifying your children for holy use by the Name of the Son, that Name which is above every other name. Jesus! Thank You! I know each moment presents a choice: will I believe Your witness or listen to the enemy’s propaganda? Your Word tells me that the enemy comes but to steal and kill and destroy. I know that listening to You leads to victory and glory and eternal life. Oh, let me be attuned to Your voice always and at every moment! Let me know that the shield of faith is effective. Let no lingering doubts creep in disguised as doubts of self, but actually stinking as an affront to belief in Your promises! I love You, Holy Spirit! Thank You for dwelling with me. Teach me to be steadfast in my faith, let my belief in Your promises be quicker than thought, build it into my heart!