spirit – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Filled and sent out

It seems like there was quite a bit of confusion and disbelief among the 11 and the others gathered in the upper room that Sunday.

Here was Mary, the women, the two followers of Jesus, and Peter himself saying that they had seen the Lord. And even then, many of the other disciples simply could not bring themselves to believe.

And then Jesus appeared. Understandably, they were freaked out, thinking he was a ghost, particularly those that hadn’t seen him up to that point. And Jesus said, “Peace with you.”

That was actually a very common greeting, like “Hi.” I wonder if that’s how he meant it the first time. “Hi guys.”

But everyone freaks out thinking he is a ghost so he says it again more seriously, “Hey relax. Be at peace. It really is me.”

He then shows them his hands and feet and even eats some fish to prove he is not a ghost.

I can imagine that everyone wanted to touch him to make sure it was really him, and when they did, they were filled with unspeakable joy.

Then Jesus explained to them how all that had happened to him had been prophesied in the Old Testament, and he probably reminded them of his own words to them as well.

Having said these things, he then told them,

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (John 20:21)

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:48-49)

At that point, he breathed on them, and said,

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:22-23)

It kind of reminds me of another event in Genesis, where God breathed physical life into Adam.

Here, Jesus breathed spiritual life into his disciples. The Holy Spirit came into them as a seal of their salvation, and as Jesus promised, he would teach them all they needed to know and would be with them wherever they went.

Not only that, we find in Acts that he would fill them with power to do all that he asked, to take the gospel to every nation.

In the same way, Jesus breathes life into us when we receive him as Savior and Lord. His Holy Spirit comes into us to lead us and guide us. More, he gives us the power to live the life he calls us to, and to accomplish purposes.

In short, we are not alone. The Christian life is not about trying to please God and accomplish his purposes in our own strength and by our own efforts.

Rather God himself, through the Holy Spirit dwells in us, he fills us, and gives us everything we need for life, for godliness, and for his service.

And the main task he has given us is to spread the gospel. To declare to those who repent and turn to Jesus that their sins have now been forgiven. And to warn people of the judgment to come if they refuse to repent.

God has given us the keys to the kingdom. When we share his gospel, we open the doors wide open to those who would walk in. So let us go out, filled with his Spirit, and open those doors to a lost and dying world.

True worship

In the midst of the dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well, we see an interesting sidelight into worship.

The woman stung by the truth of her own life, tries to divert Jesus, saying, “I see you’re a prophet. You know, our ancestors worshiped God here, but you Jews say we have to worship in Jerusalem. What do you say?”

This argument was one of the big disputes between the Jews and the Samaritans, and perhaps this woman was looking to anger Jesus by bringing this topic up.

But instead Jesus answered compassionately, saying,

Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24)

In short, Jesus said, “It doesn’t matter anymore where you worship. What matters now is how you worship.”

What did Jesus mean?

First, our worship needs to be based on God’s truth. The problem with the Samaritans’ way of worship was that they worshiped “what they didn’t know.”

Years before, when the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and exiled, other groups of people came to inhabit Israel and intermarried with the remaining Jews.

In doing so, however, they had not only mixed races, but had mixed religions. As a result, they had a confused view of God, and you can’t worship God that way.

But God also desires that we worship from our spirits. He’s not just interested in our “form.” He wants us to worship from our hearts.

More than that, he desires that our whole lives be praise to him. That as we live each day, living for him, and touching the lives around us, that our whole lives would sing out his glory. That’s what it means to worship in spirit.

How about you? Are you worshiping in truth?

You cannot worship in truth if you have a wrong view of God as the Samaritans did. You need to accept God as he has revealed himself, not as you want him to be.

How has God revealed himself? Through his written Word, and the living Word that is his Son.

The apostle Paul wrote,

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9)

If you want to know who God is, look at Christ.

Are you worshiping God in spirit? Not just in song, but with your whole life?

A song my friend wrote has stuck with me throughout the years. One line. One prayer.

Let my life to You be praise.

May you worship God in spirit and in truth this day, and every day.