'Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.'
George S. Patton
As leaders we should always look for opportunity to allow people to shine, allow the best to come out in people and allow people to rise to any given occasion.
I believe in life, people are simply looking for a way to use the gifts and abilities that they have been blessed with and developed.
It is the leaders responsibility to harness the gifts of those around them and this can only be performed through the intentional use of empowerment.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE #5
Jesus didn’t just breathe on the disciples 2,000 years ago. Every time we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, it is God’s breath on us. Just imagine that. It is not a one-time thing.
I think Christians today have gotten into the baptism of the Holy Spirit as some kind of one off event. We have got that in Acts chapter 2, but we fail to look forward to Acts chapter 4 where they get baptized in the Holy Spirit again. It says very clearly in Acts chapter 4 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit as they were in a prayer meeting: "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." So it is not just in Acts chapter 2; it is also in Acts chapter 4. This means we can be filled with the Spirit continually.
We don’t have to walk around as if there are some moments when we’re filled with the Spirit and other moments when we’re not. We can be continually filled with His Presence. It all has to do with how we think about it. If we actually think that in Him we live and move and have our being, that our very breath as we breathe in, we can be filled with God Almighty, just imagine how that will transform your life! The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event. It can be a continuous thing for all who believe.
I want you to take that thought with you through the day, through the rest of this week, through the month, through the year. I think Christians now more than ever need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, need to be filled with His authority, really need to have the power of God working in their lives. We live in perilous times. It is not a time for us to take off the Armor of God and go relax. We need to be fully armed, fully prepared with the Holy Spirit.
Let me conclude with this. It’s the conclusion that is found in the 150th Psalm. It’s the very last word in Psalms. It’s the very last Psalm. There are a 150 of them, and here’s the very end of it. It says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"
Significance can be found in a simple breath and God is the air we breathe.
Amen.
I think Christians today have gotten into the baptism of the Holy Spirit as some kind of one off event. We have got that in Acts chapter 2, but we fail to look forward to Acts chapter 4 where they get baptized in the Holy Spirit again. It says very clearly in Acts chapter 4 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit as they were in a prayer meeting: "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." So it is not just in Acts chapter 2; it is also in Acts chapter 4. This means we can be filled with the Spirit continually.
We don’t have to walk around as if there are some moments when we’re filled with the Spirit and other moments when we’re not. We can be continually filled with His Presence. It all has to do with how we think about it. If we actually think that in Him we live and move and have our being, that our very breath as we breathe in, we can be filled with God Almighty, just imagine how that will transform your life! The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event. It can be a continuous thing for all who believe.
I want you to take that thought with you through the day, through the rest of this week, through the month, through the year. I think Christians now more than ever need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, need to be filled with His authority, really need to have the power of God working in their lives. We live in perilous times. It is not a time for us to take off the Armor of God and go relax. We need to be fully armed, fully prepared with the Holy Spirit.
Let me conclude with this. It’s the conclusion that is found in the 150th Psalm. It’s the very last word in Psalms. It’s the very last Psalm. There are a 150 of them, and here’s the very end of it. It says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!"
Significance can be found in a simple breath and God is the air we breathe.
Amen.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE #4
Who is the Holy Spirit?
How should we approach Him? What are His attributes? What does the Bible say about Him?
Let’s start off with the introduction of the Holy Spirit. It’s found right in the first chapter of Genesis in the second verse: "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light." At the very beginning of Genesis, you have God’s Word, Jesus; you have God the Father; and you have the Holy Spirit: the Trinity all represented in creation.
The interesting part of this is the Hebrew word for spirit. We almost get a little spooky talking about the Holy Ghost, but the Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, and it means "air in motion." It is the same word for "breath." It also means "life." By resemblance to breath and air in motion, it means "spirit."
That’s where we get the translation, and the Hebrew word contains all those different meanings. If we just look at it with our English meaning "spirit," we’re not getting the full attributes of what the Bible is trying to describe. It’s trying to describe that there’s a breath involved.
Going back to that first chapter in Genesis, if the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep, and then God said, "Let there be light," when you speak, it’s through your breath that the words take form.
Just imagine that: God speaking, His breath comes out, and there you have the Word of God, "Let there be light." That is where the Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." They are all separate, but at the same time, they are all one, just as when you breathe and you speak, your words can be one with you.
Let’s take this into the New Testament because we have almost the same thing where Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. He says in John chapter 3, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit".
Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, and He’s saying it is like wind. When you get into the Greek behind that, the Greek word is pneuma, which again means "a current of air," "breath," or a "breeze, " and again by analogy, "a spirit." So both the Hebrew and the Greek word are talking about breath. It’s talking about wind.
Back in Creation, back in Genesis, you’ve got how we were made. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:6-7, NKJV). Some translations call that "a living soul." It’s from the breath of God that we actually get our life. And so now you get the linkage of how we were created. How we were created in the image of God is because of our breath, and it is because of the breath of God coming into us.
The same thing happens when we are born of the Spirit. When we are re-born, it is from the breath of God. In the Gospel of John, where He is giving to His disciples the Holy Spirit, just as God breathed on Adam and gave him the breath of life, Jesus breathed on His disciples in John chapter 20: "'Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'".
The Holy Spirit, the breath of God. When you get into that kind of analogy, you now understand better what the attributes are. It’s no longer something spooky, but it’s something very close to you. It’s as close to you as your very breath. The Bible says, "In Him we live and move and have our being." I love the praise song that says "You are the air I breathe, Your holy Presence in me." We can literally breathe in the Presence of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit with each and every breath we take.
How should we approach Him? What are His attributes? What does the Bible say about Him?
Let’s start off with the introduction of the Holy Spirit. It’s found right in the first chapter of Genesis in the second verse: "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light." At the very beginning of Genesis, you have God’s Word, Jesus; you have God the Father; and you have the Holy Spirit: the Trinity all represented in creation.
The interesting part of this is the Hebrew word for spirit. We almost get a little spooky talking about the Holy Ghost, but the Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, and it means "air in motion." It is the same word for "breath." It also means "life." By resemblance to breath and air in motion, it means "spirit."
That’s where we get the translation, and the Hebrew word contains all those different meanings. If we just look at it with our English meaning "spirit," we’re not getting the full attributes of what the Bible is trying to describe. It’s trying to describe that there’s a breath involved.
Going back to that first chapter in Genesis, if the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep, and then God said, "Let there be light," when you speak, it’s through your breath that the words take form.
Just imagine that: God speaking, His breath comes out, and there you have the Word of God, "Let there be light." That is where the Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." They are all separate, but at the same time, they are all one, just as when you breathe and you speak, your words can be one with you.
Let’s take this into the New Testament because we have almost the same thing where Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. He says in John chapter 3, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit".
Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, and He’s saying it is like wind. When you get into the Greek behind that, the Greek word is pneuma, which again means "a current of air," "breath," or a "breeze, " and again by analogy, "a spirit." So both the Hebrew and the Greek word are talking about breath. It’s talking about wind.
Back in Creation, back in Genesis, you’ve got how we were made. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:6-7, NKJV). Some translations call that "a living soul." It’s from the breath of God that we actually get our life. And so now you get the linkage of how we were created. How we were created in the image of God is because of our breath, and it is because of the breath of God coming into us.
The same thing happens when we are born of the Spirit. When we are re-born, it is from the breath of God. In the Gospel of John, where He is giving to His disciples the Holy Spirit, just as God breathed on Adam and gave him the breath of life, Jesus breathed on His disciples in John chapter 20: "'Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'".
The Holy Spirit, the breath of God. When you get into that kind of analogy, you now understand better what the attributes are. It’s no longer something spooky, but it’s something very close to you. It’s as close to you as your very breath. The Bible says, "In Him we live and move and have our being." I love the praise song that says "You are the air I breathe, Your holy Presence in me." We can literally breathe in the Presence of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit with each and every breath we take.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE #3
CONNECTED TO THE EARTH
In Genesis 1:24 we are told that God said, "Let the land produce living creatures...." and it was so.
The earth brought forth life when God commanded that it should. As it produced the animals, the earth has produced us too. We were made from the dust of the earth, and the same chemicals that make up other living things make up our bodies. We are connected to the earth. Our physical bodies are important. There was no curse on the dust of the earth at this point. It's not sinful to have been made from the earth, it's a good thing. We didn't arrive on a spaceship from some other dimension to be given dominion over the earth. We were given dominion over an earth from which we originated.
BORN OF GOD'S BREATH
We didn’t just come from the earth. God gathered together the dust of the earth, formed it into a human body, and then breathed on it. "Spirit" and "breath" are the same word in a number of languages, including Greek and Hebrew. God's breath is his Spirit.
Could it be that God’s spirit that makes us significant, that brings us love, can be found in the very air that we breathe?
God exhaled his breath, and the figure that he had formed inhaled it and became a living being. Human beings have not only an earthly origin but a divine origin. His image and his likeness, something that corresponds to God, has been given to us from the very beginning with thanks from the breath of God.
How did God form us? God rolled his big sleeves up, and he took the clay, formed it as he wanted, and then breathed on it. And the first thing that the man saw when he awakened was the face of God, near enough to be breathing on him.
Have you ever kissed a baby awake? (I mean a three- or four-month-old baby who is old enough to recognize your face.) Sometimes you spend forever trying to get them to sleep, rocking them until they fall asleep in your arms. Then you don't want to wake them up, so you sit together until nap time is over. Finally when the little one starts to move around, you bend down with a kiss. That little face looks up at yours and breaks into a smile. I think that's the best way to demonstrate what I am talking about here. God kissed Adam awake, and Adam's first vision was filled with God.
Yahweh made a garden for the ones he loved, a perfect place, Our race began in the most intimate of settings with God. And if we long to be ‘the intimate’ of someone, to be connected someplace, if our hearts cry out for a life to be shared with someone, or if we are even fools for love, it is because we were made to be loved. The first experience that a human had was to see the face of God when he awoke.
Romans 8 also tells us this: "For you did not receive a spirit [breath] that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
So what has God done for us so we can feel significance in his sight, so we can feel love in his presence? I believe the God sized void for us to feel significant, for us to feel loved, is filled by the Holy Spirit received by the very breath of God.
In Genesis 1:24 we are told that God said, "Let the land produce living creatures...." and it was so.
The earth brought forth life when God commanded that it should. As it produced the animals, the earth has produced us too. We were made from the dust of the earth, and the same chemicals that make up other living things make up our bodies. We are connected to the earth. Our physical bodies are important. There was no curse on the dust of the earth at this point. It's not sinful to have been made from the earth, it's a good thing. We didn't arrive on a spaceship from some other dimension to be given dominion over the earth. We were given dominion over an earth from which we originated.
BORN OF GOD'S BREATH
We didn’t just come from the earth. God gathered together the dust of the earth, formed it into a human body, and then breathed on it. "Spirit" and "breath" are the same word in a number of languages, including Greek and Hebrew. God's breath is his Spirit.
Could it be that God’s spirit that makes us significant, that brings us love, can be found in the very air that we breathe?
God exhaled his breath, and the figure that he had formed inhaled it and became a living being. Human beings have not only an earthly origin but a divine origin. His image and his likeness, something that corresponds to God, has been given to us from the very beginning with thanks from the breath of God.
How did God form us? God rolled his big sleeves up, and he took the clay, formed it as he wanted, and then breathed on it. And the first thing that the man saw when he awakened was the face of God, near enough to be breathing on him.
Have you ever kissed a baby awake? (I mean a three- or four-month-old baby who is old enough to recognize your face.) Sometimes you spend forever trying to get them to sleep, rocking them until they fall asleep in your arms. Then you don't want to wake them up, so you sit together until nap time is over. Finally when the little one starts to move around, you bend down with a kiss. That little face looks up at yours and breaks into a smile. I think that's the best way to demonstrate what I am talking about here. God kissed Adam awake, and Adam's first vision was filled with God.
Yahweh made a garden for the ones he loved, a perfect place, Our race began in the most intimate of settings with God. And if we long to be ‘the intimate’ of someone, to be connected someplace, if our hearts cry out for a life to be shared with someone, or if we are even fools for love, it is because we were made to be loved. The first experience that a human had was to see the face of God when he awoke.
Romans 8 also tells us this: "For you did not receive a spirit [breath] that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
So what has God done for us so we can feel significance in his sight, so we can feel love in his presence? I believe the God sized void for us to feel significant, for us to feel loved, is filled by the Holy Spirit received by the very breath of God.
Monday, August 18, 2008
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE #2
A second gospel story, found in John 8, is that of a woman caught in adultery, dragged before Jesus, exposed, and encircled by a condemning mob who wanted to frame Jesus with her sin.
She was someone who wished to be, and longed to be, loved. She longed for significance through love.
Most people who make fools of themselves sexually or who destroy themselves with bad choices in relationships do so because they want love and desire to be loved.
How many of us haven't been fools for love at some point? How many of us haven't done something embarrassing, longing to be connected to another, in the circle, appreciated, touched, known?
Jesus was able to disburse the condemning crowd that had brought the adulterous woman with this penetrating response: "The one who is without sin may throw the first stone."
Do you know why we long to be loved? Because God created us to be loved from the very beginning.
She was someone who wished to be, and longed to be, loved. She longed for significance through love.
Most people who make fools of themselves sexually or who destroy themselves with bad choices in relationships do so because they want love and desire to be loved.
How many of us haven't been fools for love at some point? How many of us haven't done something embarrassing, longing to be connected to another, in the circle, appreciated, touched, known?
Jesus was able to disburse the condemning crowd that had brought the adulterous woman with this penetrating response: "The one who is without sin may throw the first stone."
Do you know why we long to be loved? Because God created us to be loved from the very beginning.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE
Over the next few days I will share a number of points from a message I shared at our recent 'Kings in Christ' Men's Camp.
Consider the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19
You may remember that Zacchaeus was a short man. Zacchaeus was also a traitor to his people, a tax-collector who served Rome. He was a heartless thief. But we can imagine Zacchaeus' life before he grew into this kind of man.
It's true of many people who are belittled, rejected, or laughed at (not just for being of small stature) that they fight back to win respect even if for negative reasons. I think that was Zacchaeus' longing in life. He didn't want to be put down, to be a nobody. He was going to make all the people who belittled him sorry.
And so when Zacchaeus became an adult, he was smart, ruthless, rich, and lost. He climbed a tree to see Jesus because the crowd who hated him would never let him near the inner ring around Jesus.
But everything changed when Jesus stopped and addressed the tax collector: "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Then he finally turned to the crowd when they objected and said, "...This man, too, is a son of Abraham."
Jesus gave Zacchaeus the significance and standing that he longed for.
Genesis 1 tells us that God - who made the vast universe, the stars of the heavens, life, and light, who separated land from water, who brought about everything - found human beings his fascination.
We are the ones in whom the image of God resides, who are given dominion over the earth.
The reason we have longed for significance since the fall is that God intended us to have it from the beginning. Nothing that he ever made is more important than human life. When your soul cries out for significance, you're longing for something God intended for you to always have.
Consider the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19
You may remember that Zacchaeus was a short man. Zacchaeus was also a traitor to his people, a tax-collector who served Rome. He was a heartless thief. But we can imagine Zacchaeus' life before he grew into this kind of man.
It's true of many people who are belittled, rejected, or laughed at (not just for being of small stature) that they fight back to win respect even if for negative reasons. I think that was Zacchaeus' longing in life. He didn't want to be put down, to be a nobody. He was going to make all the people who belittled him sorry.
And so when Zacchaeus became an adult, he was smart, ruthless, rich, and lost. He climbed a tree to see Jesus because the crowd who hated him would never let him near the inner ring around Jesus.
But everything changed when Jesus stopped and addressed the tax collector: "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Then he finally turned to the crowd when they objected and said, "...This man, too, is a son of Abraham."
Jesus gave Zacchaeus the significance and standing that he longed for.
Genesis 1 tells us that God - who made the vast universe, the stars of the heavens, life, and light, who separated land from water, who brought about everything - found human beings his fascination.
We are the ones in whom the image of God resides, who are given dominion over the earth.
The reason we have longed for significance since the fall is that God intended us to have it from the beginning. Nothing that he ever made is more important than human life. When your soul cries out for significance, you're longing for something God intended for you to always have.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
THE WONDER OF FACEBOOK
I have managed to get the Internet going in our new home so regular updates should become increasingly regular again here at jeremygreening.com
What a creation Facebook is... so much so that myspace is quickly starting to mimic a number of the features that this website offers...
I think its simply incredible that all your friend circles can come back into connection through this web interface and you can rekindle old friendships and catch up with more recent acquaintances.
I love this quote from author Edith Wharton: 'There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it'.
It is a privilege to live my life for the great cause that is Jesus Christ and my prayer is that through mediums like Facebook I can not only be a candle that spreads light from a single source being the wick... but I can actually use mediums like Facebook that enable me to be a mirror to many that reflects the love of Christ far beyond the normal boundaries of my physical existence.
To quote an old Sunday school song...
This little light of mine... I'm gonna let it shine
Until next time... all our love
Jeremy and Anita
What a creation Facebook is... so much so that myspace is quickly starting to mimic a number of the features that this website offers...
I think its simply incredible that all your friend circles can come back into connection through this web interface and you can rekindle old friendships and catch up with more recent acquaintances.
I love this quote from author Edith Wharton: 'There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it'.
It is a privilege to live my life for the great cause that is Jesus Christ and my prayer is that through mediums like Facebook I can not only be a candle that spreads light from a single source being the wick... but I can actually use mediums like Facebook that enable me to be a mirror to many that reflects the love of Christ far beyond the normal boundaries of my physical existence.
To quote an old Sunday school song...
This little light of mine... I'm gonna let it shine
Until next time... all our love
Jeremy and Anita
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