The Spirit of Truth

The Spirit of truth.

The Helper, the mentor, the promise and the guarantee of every thing Jesus, living in us….in our bodies.

Our bodies, His temple, His HOLY place. The same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead doing that in us....quickening us. How amazing is that? It was His PROMISE. “I will send another Helper, the Spirit of truth, who will be with you and in you, who will take of mine and reveal it to you, who will lead you into me, the truth, the life, the way….and into the community that we, Father Son and Holy Spirit share. This is so spectacular that you will not even miss me when He comes. You will not be orphaned. It is better that he be here than me in person. In fact if I don’t go He won’t come. It is so for your best! He will guide you into all truth, He will take of what is mine and reveal it to and in you. This is going to be way cool.”

That was the promise Jesus made to the bedraggled, weary, forlorn, confused disciples the night he was betrayed. And that night He took care of everything. He was made to be sin for us. He purchased our Redemption with blood…and accomplished on our behalf every thing necessary for Life and Godliness. Brenan Manning call’s the cross His signature. Love beyond measure. He died and was buried and the earth groaned. Sadness and sorrow enveloped the land. Darkness crept in and Satan rejoiced thinking he had won the day.

…But there was a promise.

This is so cool. Jesus knew the Spirit of Truth. But bigger than that He believed… and died in Faith. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it dies it will produce much fruit”. These were His own words. He believed that the Holy Ghost (the good ghost) would come and He chose to prove that what He had said was more than theory. This was the test, the proving ground. This was the day that all of the ancient’s had foretold, the culminating focal point in all of history. Jesus trusted His father and put to test the theory. He became the test pilot for all of mankind. Satan with held none of the vilest weapons in his arsenal. Mel Gibson’s The Passion depicted it well. But Jesus had a bigger promise, the person called Holy Ghost. In an amazing act of faith and love He offered up His body. The torn and broken body of Jesus was then removed from the cross and placed in a tomb.

But just as He had promised, the Holy Ghost ( the amazingly good ghost) appeared on the scene and went into that tomb and quickened Jesus body. WOW! And He arose from the dead conquering all of hell on our account.

It is said that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He believed the promise and took the promise to the ultimate test and became a living demonstration of the power of the Holy Ghost.

He appeared over a period of time to His disciples and then left them with this instruction “go and wait for the promise of the Father “which you have heard from me…you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”

And then, our moment in history arrived. Just like He promised, He came. Who? The Holy Ghost (the good ghost), and with Him, everything Jesus.

It say’s in the story called the Acts of the early disciples that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all in one accord and in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting and there appeared tongues of fire upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began speaking in different languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. How cool is that? It is very interesting that from that day onward the disciples did not speak of the good old days of when Jesus was here among us. They didn’t sit around and reminisce of better days. They looked at each other with disbelief, “He is here! He has come!” What Jesus had promised in their regard was fulfilled that eventful day and is fulfilled in us the moment we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth, the Spirit who makes Jesus real in us and brings us into the fellowship and community of the trinity, the spirit who is at work in our lives as truth, the spirit who is daily in the process of transforming us into the image of Jesus,” until Christ be formed in us!”

Paul asked “ Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? You were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s. I don’t belong to me. I have been purchased. I am owned by Him. I am actually His new creation, a unique piece of work, His workmanship, crafted by and filled with Him. Again “do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? For the temple of God is Holy, which temple you are.” You want to know some thing. This is true beyond feeling. It is true regardless of how I feel or what I see in my life right now. It is true regardless of my circumstance. This is the truth made real by the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost, (the good Ghost) He is the guarantee….the first fruit of our inheritance. He is in me and I am in Him. This is the promise fulfilled and it becomes more true every day. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory just as by the Sprit of the Lord….therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day (transformed),”…for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are being transformed into the image of Christ! We are called to grow up into Him in all things. Jesus is our true potential. You and I have been chosen to Re-Present him in this world, the here and now and this is the work of the Helper, the promised Spirit of truth. Come Holy Spirit.

And What Does He Look Like?

Again go back to the promise. Every thing Jesus. LOVE!

Part 3

August , 16, 09

What a purchase! And what a price!

Created in His image, after His likeness, screwed up by the fall…redeemed by His blood, purchased by blood and brought back to my original value. How valuable am I? Worth the blood of Jesus! How do I know? Because when His blood was poured out on that cross, He was screaming in the loudest of voices “I love you” and I was being released into my full created potential. It was the most dramatic event in all of history….effecting my past present and future and releasing me into my fullest potential. But why did he love me so? Because I was created in His image and after His likeness. I am His original.

I am His great idea….born in this time, to represent a uniqueness in the deep heart of God that only I can express. He loved me and wanted me back. That is the basis for my value…why I am special, and so worthy of his blood. There is no one like me before or after that was created to express Him in the way that only I do.

Now I know that this isn’t my daily experience. The problem is that I have let my daily experience influence my doctrine. Instead of truth becoming my daily experience, I have chosen to believe my daily experience and have relinquished my true potential. I have been deceived into walking by sight. I have become a sensual Christian, interpreting life and living live in the natural, convinced more by my failures than the truth of my created value.

All of God’s promises had been relinquished and I had chosen to live the normal life of every other earthling...waiting for heaven and hoping secretly for the day He might show up in real time and space. I was doing good things and trying to be nice to the jerks, I mean the people in my world. Self centered, self indulged, mediocre, mundane, religious nut case, deceived into thinking this is my life.

I have heard the stories of God at work in the world and wondered why and how I missed out on all of the excitement, thinking God and life had passed me by. Occasionally I would get a glimpse of reality, feel His presence, feel loved and special, Kind of like the feeling of good sex or good coffee. That moment was great and I would swoon over the thought that I was truly loved only to lose that feeling in the tough realities of a shrinking economy, failing business ventures, a diminishing bank account, law suits and loneliness.

My life was all over the road. I loved God and knew I was loved, not really sure why but had been told it enough all of my life that it must be true. I wasn’t living in condemnation over my mediocrity, at least not a whole lot. I was trying not to be mediocre, reading the word, listening to men who I could see were living my dream life, wishing I had been in their shoes…wondering why I wasn’t… men that were not religious or building their own kingdoms but doing the amazing works of Christ in the here and now.

I began to read John 13 through 17 over and over and over for months, asking God to open it up to me. The promises Jesus made to his followers which included me were amazing but so beyond my experience. Why would He promise such things if it were not true. And if it is true, what piece am I missing that my life is so unreflected of what He promised. I have heard it said that God hides things for us, not from us. But why was He hiding so well and when would I find His answers.

My daughter invited my wife and I to a meeting in Nashville where we heard a man speak who actually scared me some. He actually believed what he was teaching. It was like he had become the message. He wasn’t sermonizing. I was some uncomfortable with his delivery, humor and confidence. But I was desperate and my spirit was responding more than my mind. At the end of his speaking he provided an opportunity for unbelievers to respond and give their lives to God. To my embarrassment, I was the first one standing and then my wife stood immediately beside me. We were the only one’s standing. My spirit was crying out “YES, YES, I WANT THIS”. I was so surprised and we were making such a spectacle of ourselves. It was awkward and uncomfortable and I kicked my self the rest of the day.

But that day God gave me a new set of glasses, and little by little I began to gain a new perspective on every thing Jesus.. Circumstances have changed some. We are still in a tight place in many regards but little by little our eyes are being enlightened to the wonders of his word. Paul actually prayed this for me…that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened, that I would know the hope of my calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in me. I am finding the Helper, the Spirit of truth, our mentor, breathing afresh on familiar texts and illuminating what He accomplished for us and in us on that dark day in History… the day of such paradox. A visual of failure and embarrassment, suffering and sorrow, yet the pivotal point in all of history from which every good and perfect plan of the God of the ages finds it’s fulfillment in the earth and in and through our lives….yours and mine.

Part 2

August 7-09

Could we say that Jesus spent His three years with the disciples showing them what the Father was like and giving them a taste of the Kingdom, heaven on earth…imparting destiny and illustrating for them how God imagined and intended for man to live on the earth?

I believe so! It was the riskiest of adventures born out of love. If there was no chance of failure it would not be said of Jesus that He was tempted in all points like us. But even more interesting is the risk he took with leaving the unfinished kingdom business in the hands of rookies, ordinary human earthlings like the disciples. He placed all of His hopes, dreams and aspirations in them and ultimately in you and me … the riskiest of ventures ever made. It was a venture like no other before or after… risk beyond measure. Paul say’s we are God’s field, His building, His workmanship. He calls us His holy temple and His inheritance. And he purchased us, invested every thing in us, paid with the blood of His Son. Talk about going out on a limb. What a purchase and what a price.

They were His dream team. They were to become his antidote for every thing wrong with this world and if Satan had any insight he would not have crucified the Lord of Glory because in so doing Jesus brought His dream into the realm of possibility, Something so completely absurd, illogical and impossible was now in the realm of possibility through His death and resurrection.

Every thing He shared in His last words was to prepare them for the change’s He was about to accomplish inside of them …. Beyond their wildest imaginations. No knots were tied, no plans were completed, no guarantees of safety, only some amazing thoughts and introductions to subjects that they were chosen to become a part of… His amazing plan was still in it’s formative stages. They were to be the key players in the plan of the ages. It was their story now and ultimately our story NOW.

Talk about confidence in your team. He was completely at ease with the team He had chosen and continues to be in His choice of each of us.

In the big heart of God there is a vacuum with your shape in it. We already know that there is a God shaped vacuum in your heart but before you became you, you were already in God’s heart. He dreamed you into existence. You are no accident. You were created in his likeness and after His image. You have incredible value to Him. I am getting ahead of the story.

The night he was betrayed He met with his disciples for dinner and a movie. He was trying to broach the subject of His leaving. John records ”Where I am going, you cannot come right now but you will follow after”. They were confused and grieving over His comment. Peter and the rest reaffirmed their commitment to Him. Peter boldly declared that he would die with Him if necessary and he meant it as he proved later in the garden when he drew his sword in the presence of armed soldiers. ( He was aiming for the throat and got the guy’s ear.) Jesus was clear “you can’t come with me, you don’t have the ability to follow me…you are incapable and I am OK with that, in fact Peter you will deny me three times before the cock crows….but don’t worry about it, do not let your heart be troubled and don’t be afraid because I am going to fix the problem. I am going to Fathers house. In his house are many abiding places. In fact if this were not the truth I would have told you. Peter I am going to prepare a place for you so that you can come and be with me where I am. It isn’t possible now but I am fixing this thing once and for all. There are many places in Fathers heart, one for each of my created son’s and daughters and tonight Peter I am preparing a unique place in Father’s heart with your name on it.” WOW.

And then, he begins an open ended discussion with them hinting at difficulties lurking in the future but completely confident that they were going to be OK, and better than OK.

In truth it was for their best he was leaving because if He did the helper, the Spirit of truth would come and take them to places that would have been near impossible for them to go.. (I am using the word near because only a few characters in history to date had come close, Enoch, Moses, David and a few others)

He talks about the Father, how in seeing Him they had seen the Father….that getting a good look at Him was the exact same thing as looking at the Father,

That out of this oneness with Him and His father they would be now able to see, do and live beyond the realm of possibility.

That the intimacy of the unique community of the Father Son and Holy Spirit was theirs to enjoy and that they would never be alone again no matter what they felt.

That Love was the language of heaven and heaven on earth and that they would learn to speak the language fluently.

That the Helper was the Spirit of truth. That truth is stronger than every feeling of fear, loneliness, despair and discouragement and is the over riding denominator of every circumstance

That Difficult times would come which could not effect their cheer because of what he was accomplishing and that nothing would be impossible to them.

That joy would be the side benefit of intimacy in their relationship

That the Holy Ghost, the good Ghost was now their helper and mentor and would continue his input by opening up the nature and likeness of God to them experimentally.

And that ultimately Jesus was praying for them, believing in them and would accomplish through them every thing that He had started in His brief three years of ministry.

All of this was just the beginning of their story and ultimately our story, yours and mine.

We have just begun the biggest adventure of all time.

A few years back I remember hearing of a girl who had just won 100 million dollars in the state lottery. When being interviewed she was asked what her plans were. She said that she was going to buy her and her family a brand new double wide.

We have an inheritance in Christ of which most of us have no comprehension. Eye has not seen nor ear heard the things that God has prepared for us. But he will reveal them to us by His Spirit. We have won the biggest of this world’s lotteries… Beyond your imagination. Let Jason give you a peek into the potential that is now yours as a son and daughter of God. The earth is groaning in travail awaiting your manifestation….your maturity…your growing up into Him in all things….your transformation.

Part 1

Today I am at the bottom looking up….have been here for the past couple of weeks, actually since I realized that my hearing of God appears so very impaired…and my hopes continuing to go up in flames. Bad choice of renter for our MS home, bad choice of door display area for doors (after all of the expense and hard work we closed it down this past week) ….after what appears to be 5 years of poor choices, most of which I felt at the time were God’s best choice with the options presented. All of which have left me very skeptical and cautious at investing in any future options, hopes and dreams. I used to be able to say I am right at least 50% of the time but I am afraid my average has deteriorated. Depression wants to come over me like a wet blanket…the Word of God seems distant. I still believe He is good and I want to believe He sees me and cares… like the foot prints in the sand story.

Romans 8 – No Condemnation…because the law of the spirit super cedes the law of sin and death….actually making me free…for what the law tried and failed at because of my weak flesh God took care of through His death… so the requirements of the law could be fulfilled in me by His Spirit living in me…the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. No matter the effort, we cannot make a difference out side of his Spirit living in us. We who have been adopted into His family are now children of God and have a daddy in God who has made us his heir along with his first born by placing his Spirit in us. From this vantage point of special privilege and favor as family and joint heirs with Jesus, suffering with Him is also our privilege that we might be glorified with Him. We find ourselves groaning with creation waiting for the glory of God to be revealed in us and through us…and the Spirit who lives in us helps us persevere through our daily disappointments and troubles, interceding for us according to the will of God so that we can be assured that all things will work together for good to those who love and are loved by God. The glory will be revealed in us because whom he fore knew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, the first born of many brothers.

What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? All things are ours in Christ. If God is for us who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through him who loves us. Who or what can separate us from his love? Nothing!!!

He will finish what he started. I will be OK because I am so loved by God! I am so worthy of the blood of Jesus. Predestined for Glory! Creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We were saved into this hope, a new creation in Christ. We hope for what we do not see… we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Full Circle

“Be diligent… and rest…. everything else is manipulation”

Each day has enough trouble of it’s own…. and for each day grace is available.

I will stand…. having failed at standing… His Spirit lives in me.

I will hope…having given up …His Spirit lives in me.

I will dream again…bigger than before….His Spirit lives in me.

I will love and be loved again today.