Recently I attended my Bible Study and a few girls were missing. One was out on account of surgery, and the other for pnemonia. They asked me to take notes for them, instead I wrote out what I got from the lesson. I would like to share it as my first post. I think it fits, simply because this is what we have gotten away from, and something I hope can, not necessarily be restored, because it was never broken; rather, I want it to be about finding it again... I hope you enjoy.
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Hey Girls!
I'm sorry you are both feeling under
the weather this week. Something we discussed last night was how easy
it is for us to get in a rut, and think, “Why God? Why are you
doing this to me? Why do I have to go through this?” Rather than
thinking why NOT me? After we did the lesson, we began to discuss
this topic, and I thought it fit, that you are both going through
some pretty traumatic health experiences, yet you know and understand
that your God is faithful, and that He will get you through this! At
least I hope you trust that. :)
Who are we as mere humans, to ask the
God of all creation, why me? The God that has control over our whole
lives and that controls where the oceans and lakes and rivers stop,
and where land begins, and who controls where lightening will strike,
etc. Why do we doubt that He has a plan? Rather than focusing on the
negative aspect of whatever it is that we go through, why don't we
focus on the goodness of God in the situation? We watched a Rob Bell
video called Whirlwind,
and it explained this so much better than I am. I hope that you both
will find a way to watch this. I of course teared up... Ha!
Anyway, you both know how scattered some of our topics get at BS,
and last night was no exception. The only people there were, Austin,
Logan and myself. Our conversation began with a discussion over
magicians and illusionists and being able to discern when they are
dealing with black magic, and how to guard our hearts from letting
evil thoughts enter our minds. We talked a little about sports, and
throwing Logan in the pool... Too bad it didn't actually happen. :)
Finally,
we decided, that despite the fact that we were the only ones there,
that we would go ahead and do the lesson. I'm glad Kelly asked me to
take notes, because as much as you probably don't
want to read page after page, I think this will help me elaborate a
little more on my own thoughts about the lesson. We watched the next
video in the Frances Chan series we have been watching, and this video was about
the Holy Spirit.
When I take notes, I ask questions or make statements rather than
answering or taking actual notes. So, here are the “notes” I
pulled from the message.
- We claim to be Christians, but where is the Holy Spirit in us? Why aren't our lives more like that of Jesus if we do have the Holy Spirit?
- Jesus tells us He has to leave this world so that something better then Himself can come into the world. Can you imagine anything better than a Savior??
- Why is a church service so predictable? Why is it that we rush through a service and shun this amazing supernatural spirit from our hearts? Why don't we let it in and let it move us?
- This Holy Spirit is like a wave. You can't fight it, change it, or manipulate where it goes. All you can do is jump on the wave, ride it, and let it change you.
- Do you think the same Holy Spirit exists that same way it did 2000 years ago, when Jesus first left this world?
- What would the church look like today if we stopped controlling it and let the Holy Spirit move us? Would we be where God wants us to be?
After the video was over we went back to the scriptures that Frances
Chan used as examples. They were Acts 2:1-4 and Acts 2:40-47. I
suggest you check those out, because I'm not putting them in here.
But I will talk about them. (I'll put links at the bottom of the page).
The
first verse discusses the miracles of the Holy Spirit, when
he/she/it, I don't know what to call it, came to the earth. Tongues
like fire touched all these people that had followed Jesus and they
were filled with the Holy Spirit, and their friends saw it and they
began to gather there, where this was taking place. So our question
here was, “Do you think the only reason people gather in Christs
name is because of the miracles they see?” Clearly you can have
your own opinion, but my mind went back to the question, “Do you
think the same Holy Spirit exists that same way it did 2000 years
ago, when Jesus first left this world?” And honestly I disagree
with miracles being the only reason, and yes I do think the Holy
Spirit exists the same way, but I think we treat it differently in
our society. Let me explain... Go up to anyone in our church and ask
them why they are here. I bet most of them would probably say either
because of their family or friends, or because that's all they know.
Which is why I think that while the Holy Spirit is still the same,
and it still dwells amongst us, but it's different because in our
society, people seem to gather in Christs name because they are
looking for acceptance or to build relationships
with somebody. Notice the key word being relationships...
So why isn't it about the miracles of the Holy Spirit? Why isn't
that why we follow Christ? Here is why I think that we come for the
relationships, rather than the miracles... It is because in our
generation and many generations past, when we see God perform a
miracle through a person, we look at the person and call THEM healer.
Even though it was through God's power that the miracle was
performed. We have taken the miracles out of God's hand and made it
about the person. “Oh, you were healed of cancer? You must have a
great doctor.” Isn't that usually how it goes...? I'm not saying
that coming to Christ through relationships is bad, in fact, I
wouldn't be here if it were not for relationships, but that's not how
it happened in the beginning. Just something to think about...
In the second verse, which I'm also not putting in here, it
discusses those relationships. It talks about these people that were
filled with this spirit having, “EVERYTHING IN COMMON.” I will
not repeat myself. Let that soak in. What if everyone in our church
had everything in common? Sounds kinda boring right? I agree, but to
these people, in this time, having everything in common meant knowing
each other... Really knowing each other... Knowing where a person was
spiritually, physically, mentally, and then taking care of each
other. Breaking bread together, having compassion for one another,
and sharing everything! What if we all knew what each other needed
and we had the tools to help them through their struggles? Why is it
that today we are so lost to the needs of others? Why don't we share
our hearts? Why don't we share our possessions and our money and all
the extra things we have that we don't need?
Here is my conclusion to the million questions I've thrown out there, I hope it all makes sense. First, it is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to build relationships. Even when we do not feel like we have the Holy Spirit, it is constantly dwelling with us. It is guiding us to certain people and building relationships, because that is the plan that God has for us. It is constantly performing miracles that we never even see...
Second, how do we get the church to recognize that we are nothing
without the Holy Spirit? How do we bring it back? How do we get people to stay and build relationships rather than rush out after the service ends? Well, we give and
forgive, and share and care, and become really real with each other.
We build intimate relations where we aren't scared to share our
struggles, and we help each other through them. We give when someone
needs, we forgive when someone hurts us, we share our love and our
wisdom and our possessions, and we truly care for all of the people,
even the ones we can't stand... We grow together, we hold each other
up, and we always know and understand. But above all things, we
understand that this is part of God's amazing master plan...
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What did you think? Let me know.
Thanks for being a part of this progression with me.
Sending His Love,
Symone L. Hurd
