How does the Holy Spirit (the Helper) use His power to help?

 

Holy Spirit used His power to Help Jesus accomplish the Father’s will in His earthly ministry. Here are several examples.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

By the Holy Spirit’s power Jesus was able to endure a long fast and still resist all of satan’s temptations, physical, emotional and spiritual. Jesus was victorious and overcame him. And by God the Holy Spirit’s power, Jesus’ needs were taken care of. Here is another example. 

Luke 4:17-21 (NIV)

¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

All these things came true.  Filled with the Holy Spirit’s power,  Jesus preached the gospel to the poor. Most were poor physically, but all were poor spiritually.  Jesus preached the good news of freedom from the penalty of sin, and of being with God forever. His healing set people free who were oppressed physically by disease, and by deafness and blindness. He freed people from spiritual oppression by casting out demons. The power of the Holy Spirit enabled Jesus to fulfill the Father’s will in His time among us.

In upcoming blogs,  I’ll show some examples of how the power of the Holy Spirit is used to help Jesus in His role as the head of the church, and how Spirit uses His power to help believers.

 

In Jesus’ love and ministry,

Pastor George

 

Copyright 2019, Pastors George and Sharon Billington,  All Rights Reserved

 

Does God still love you when you’re crabby?

Hi spiritual family.  How does God feel about you when you are emotionally or spiritually out of sorts?  Those of you who are moms and dads know the answer to this.  You love your kids regardless of how they act or behave, but sometimes your frustration and even anger show themselves.  But will you stop loving them?  No way!  That’s the way it is with God, too.  He might get distressed when we don’t live the fruits of the spirit like in Galatians 5:22-23 and instead slip into carnal behavior as mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21.  God can fix that slip for you when you ask Him to change you to be more like Him.

Galatians 5:22-23 New King James Version 

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:19-21 New King James Version 

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:35, 39 New King James Version 

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

Not that I’m encouraging you to be crabby, but I am telling you that nothing and no one can separate us from Christ’s love.  Know it, believe it and live it!

 

copyright 2019, Pastors George and Sharon Billington, All Rights Reserved

Husbands, love your wives

Ephesians 5:25 New King James Version 

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

Colossians 3:19 New King James Version ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Hi, spiritual family.  Yesterday, three women from our fellowship came to visit.  They noticed the roses displayed on the middle of our dining room table and were so very pleased to hear that they were a gift from my sweet husband.  One woman shared that her husband does not gift her with flowers, and it saddened me that such gifts were not part of her experience.  We went on to discuss other matters and left this topic behind.  Today, God leads me to share about this so that all women can feel blessed and cherished in the same way I do through this act of love.

Note that both verses transcend personal thoughts and desires and point to understanding what pleases us as a fellowship and as a woman.  Never mind how the guy feels and thinks.  It’s about attending to the church and her needs (Jesus did die so that we can live with Him for eternity) and the woman and her needs.  The man is admonished to “dwell with her with understanding” and not be bitter against her.  That’s many times physically difficult or even impossible for any person to do in the natural.  It takes God’s leading and empowering in the supernatural to give that kind of love.

Men, ask God to grant you His love so that you can see the woman as He does.  Ask Him to help you minister to her needs.  And it is a need for us women to receive that kind of love.  It may not seem to be a big deal to you, but, trust me, it is a huge deal!

Pray with me, please:  Father God, You are the God of relationships.  Your word teaches about love in so many ways.  You said You created us in Your image.  Help us to love like You do. Thanks for helping us appreciate the differences between men and women and helping us all to live Your love.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

copyright 2019, Pastors George and Sharon Billington, All Rights Reserved

Where does Faith come from?

If you asked a Christian what is a definition of faith, you’ll likely be referred to Chapter 11 and verse 1 of the letter to the Hebrews. But does faith come from the believer or from God?  So to understand that verse, or any of the verses in Hebrews 11(also known as the faith chapter) we need to know where faith comes from.  Consider these scriptures from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

Here grace and faith are linked together as being God’s gift to us. We do not have either one by our own efforts.  With that in mind let’s look at Hebrews 11: 1.

 

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 

What is the substance, or proof, of things hoped for? What do we have from God that convinces us that He will keep His promises?  The answer is faith.  What evidence do we have from God that what we cannot see, God Himself, His kingdom, eternal life with Him really exist? The answer is faith.

Consider first in verses 4-35 of this chapter what the men and women of God had to experience.  No amount of human belief would have enabled them to trust God and obey Him in these situations. Only God’s supernatural gift to them, faith, made it possible. Miracles by themselves do not create  faith. During the exodus from Egypt the Israelites experienced many miracles. After each one they believed God for a little while, then they didn’t. They didn’t have that supernatural gift from God.

Verses 4-35 show the tremendous amount of faith that God granted those people. Aside from verse 1 these are the best known verses from the chapter. But were these men and women of God given the most faith? Or were those described in verses 36-38 given even more? Some of them at least didn’t receive deliverance, in faith they gave up their life for God. And what do all these believers and Christians today have in common?

 

Hebrews 11:39-40 (NKJV)

³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

 

All of God’s people, past, present and future, have that Divine gift of faith. Pastor Sharon and I encourage you to ask God for the amount of faith needed to fulfill His will in your life.

 

Copyright 2019, Pastors George and Sharon Billington,  All rights reserved

God wants you to know……………

what are His promises in scripture and whether they apply to you. Some of His promises indeed apply to you, but others you may have been taught don’t apply and never have. Scriptures can be misunderstood and misread or they can indeed exist as promises, but it’s misunderstood to whom those promises apply or applied. Follow along with me, and I pray you can discern between all these scriptures. Here are some examples.

One promise that definitely applies to all believers is found in Matthew 6:33. Jesus makes plain the conditions to receiving the promise that your physical needs will be taken care of. Pastor Oral Roberts shared that he, his mother and brother had no food to eat. They all ministered to the needs of another family and returned home in the evening only to find the door to their home blocked by a huge weight. They found that the door was blocked by a box filled with uncooked food. Pastor Robert’s mom cooked for hours and laid a sumptuous meal before herself and her kids. God was surely involved in this miracle, and they gave Him much thanks and praise. I (Pastor S) was approached by a spiritual leader from Africa who faced a physical crisis. She was about to be homeless, and I encouraged her to live Matthew 6:33. A few weeks later, she told me what happened. A woman in her congregation was nudged by God the Holy Spirit to immediately go to the spiritual leader and give her the sum He guided her to give. My colleague rejoiced when she received double the amount she needed, and the problem was joyfully resolved. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

A much misunderstood scripture is found in 3 John 2. John is writing to encourage a friend and says he hopes that Gaius’ health and finances would be as in good shape as his spiritual life. Spiritual family, we all want the best for those we care about. No amount of wishing will change life’s circumstances. Only God can bless our health and wealth. Some mistakenly take this scripture to mean that we have the power and authority to alter circumstances. God never gave us this authority individually or collectively.

3 John 2 (NKJV)
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Many times, believers read actual promises in scripture without considering to whom the words did apply and the context in which they were written. That’s the case with Jeremiah 29:11. What happened here was that Jeremiah wrote these words to captives giving them hope that God was with them and that He would bless them and return them to their homeland. This is not a universal promise for every believer, and it certainly does not apply to us today.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Pastor G and I pray that this blog post helps you see scripture the way God wants you to see it, not adding meaning where it does not appear in the text. Ask God for discernment and the help you need so you can tell which are indeed His promises, which are misunderstandings, and which are taken out of meaning and context. Be blessed.

copyright 2019,Pastors George and Sharon Billington, All Rights Reserved

Grace: God’s love does what we can’t.

The bible dictionary that I have gives this definition of grace[my paraphrase]. Because God loves us, He does things for us knowing that we can’t do them ourselves, and that we don’t deserve them. Consider theses verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Romans 5:8-9 (NKJV)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Jesus paying the death penalty for sin was something that no human can do. If we gave our own life for our sins, it would’t do us any good, because we would be dead. So even though we can’t do it, and certainly don’t deserve it, God’s grace gives us eternal life through His Son Jesus. Here are some more verses to consider from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 5:19-23 (NKJV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Here we have a list of works of the flesh, and a list of Fruits of the Spirit. Now the first list are attitudes and behaviors that we can do all by ourselves. The problem is that the penalty for those is death, and by ourselves we can’t stop doing them. The second list is the attitudes and behavior that please God. The problem here is that we can’t do them by ourselves, and we don’t deserve them either.

Once again God’s love does what we can’t. The Holy Spirit lives in us Christians. He not only produces those spiritual fruits, but over time, changes our character from a fleshly nature to a Godly nature. That’s what God in love does, He delivers us out of hopeless situations. Pastor Sharon and I encourage you to trust God to do what you can’t. And believe us, in the Christian life there are lots of opportunities for God to do that.

copyright 2019, Pastors George and Sharon Billington, All Rights Reserved

God wants you to know……..

what it means to be created in His image. Scripture gives us hints. God is love. God is merciful. God forgives. He is compassionate. That’s what He means. So many miss His point. He created us so that we can grow into His character, His very way of being. What we look like is sort of His image, but you can see that there is much more to it than that. That’s only outward appearance, and that’s not what matters to God.

Genesis 1:26 New King James Version (NKJV)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Some fellowships and denominations think that we are to literally become God, to literally be His family. Being and becoming God is the devil’s desire. Jesus indicated who His family is when He looked around the crowd and asked who His mother, sisters and brothers actually were . He replied that those who obeyed (yielded to) the will of the Father fit that definition spiritually. It’s not that we are granted special powers and abilities like things being created just because you think about them. Only God can do that. God the Holy Spirit gifts and empowers us spiritually so that we can be and do all that He has for us to be and do. You will find a partial list in I Corinthinans 12.

Matthew 12:48-50 New King James Version (NKJV)
48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

1 Corinthians 12 New King James Version (NKJV)
Spiritual Gifts: Unity in Diversity
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

7 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

God wants you to know and spiritually meditate on more like our extending mercy and being merciful. He also wants us to focus on judgment and justice His way.

Pastor G and I pray that this post has indeed helped you to understand God and His ways better. May He be with you as you seek better spiritual understanding.

copyright 2016, Pastors George and Sharon Billington, All Rights Reserved.