This week I’ve had a few thoughts roaming around my mind. At first I thought they were too simplistic to share, but now I think there is beauty in the simplicity and I should share.

My simple thoughts go something like this:

• He really did live
• He really is the Son of God
• He really did die
• He really did go into the grave
• He really did rise after 3 days
• He really did it for you and me

I have been a follower of Jesus since the age of 4. I have grown up in church and think I have a reasonable grasp on the content of the Bible. I love nothing better than unravelling meaning from portions of scripture into something that makes Jesus come to life to me in a whole new way. There are treasures of wisdom just waiting to be unfurled.

I love these words by the influential author, Spurgeon

We can never outgrow Scripture. There will always be a new fresh revelation to uncover.

So if there are great depths to be mined then why are these simple truths wowing me all over again?

Sometimes, I think Jesus just likes to take us back to the start.

In Western Christian culture, especially in Northern Ireland, we grow up hearing Jesus stories like children’s fairytales. For some Jesus is only the cute baby in the school nativity play. We can become desensitised to the reality that everything the Bible says about Jesus is really true.

Grant a moment for the following ideas to sink into your thoughts and then to drop down into your heart.

Jesus came from Heaven to earth to live among men, as a man and yet still God. On this earth, Jesus was a man who lived and spoke with great love and wisdom that caused people to leave everything to follow Him (because He was God); yet He died an undeserved death which caused Him great anguish and pain (because He was a man). Jesus really did go down into the grave like every man who had died before Him. But after 3 days He did what He promised He would and He rose again!

Jesus didn’t do it so that He would look good, He didn’t do it begrudgingly. He did it because He loves us He did it to give us things that we could never give ourselves.  Forgiveness, freedom and life to mention just a few!

Can we really grasp the significance of these simple truths?

I am convinced beyond doubt that Jesus really did this and He did it for me.

 He really did!

It is not just a nice religious story or a children’s fairytale.

C S Lewis challenges me when he writes

Christianity can never be moderately important because Jesus Christ and what He did are not moderately important. What He did is of infinite importance. Literally!

My final thought is this: If I truly have a deep conviction that this is all real and of utmost importance, then what is that going to look like in my every day, ordinary life?

I keep coming back to the same word: uncompromising.

In Proverbs chapter 10 the author, contrasts the life, the actions, the words and the priorities of the godly to the ungodly. Depending on the translation you will find “the godly” translated as the wise or the righteous. In the Amplified Translation you will find the translation “the uncompromisingly righteous” where righteousness is described as “moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation” or as those who are “in right standing with God”.

I am convinced beyond doubt that Jesus has made me righteous (in right standing with God) because of what he did at the cross.  I resolve to live a life that reflects that belief. I choose to purposefully follow Jesus with “moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation”.

Thank God, that even in this He will help us. Our determination alone cannot endure through the challenges of life. But with God’s help we can live a godly life without compromise.

In closing, let me ask you. What do you believe about these foundational biblical truths? Where do you stand with God? If, like me, you believe it with all your heart, then what does it look like in your everyday life? Are you living like these truths are of infinite importance? Do you act with godly resolve? Do you speak with purpose? Are you living uncompromisingly?

Do you believe that He really did?

Christianity can never be “moderately important” so I don’t believe that we can ever be moderate Christians. If we believe that He really did all that the Bible says and if we believe that He really is all that He says He is, that should influence everything that we are, say and do.

For me, I know that it’s time for my life to look more and sound more like I am convinced that Jesus really did and He still really does!

More on “Uncompromising Christianity” in the next blog.

Last time I discussed some thoughts about

1Chronicles 14:2

“And David realised that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of the people Israel.” NLT

And I asked the question that Martin Luther King so simply said,

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”

So if it really is life’s most persistent question then I want to continue asking myself that very question.

What is it that I have been given? What have I received? And what do I carry that I can give to others and that I can use to help others?

So I looked in my Greek Dictionary of Bible Words at the word receive, and what I found has fascinated me and held my attention for the past few weeks.

Lambano is the Greek transliteration of the verb to receive.  It can also mean to obtain; to procure; to lay a hold of; to seize; to grasp with the hand; not to refuse or reject.

This is a broad range of meaning for one word. Simply, it can be used to describe passively receive a gift that is given. Or it can be used to describe actively taking a hold of something with your hands.

 

Reading Acts 19:1-7 has really helped me to understand the concept of receiving much better.

In Acts 19 Paul is travelling on his 3^rd missionary journey.  He arrives at the city of Ephesus where he comes across about 12 men who were believers in Jesus. The first thing he asks them is,

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” NLT

What a confusing question to ask, when Paul himself teaches in Ephesians 1:13 that when we believe in Jesus, God gives us the Holy Spirit as a mark of identity in Him!

The theologian, John Gill, explains the text in his exposition of Acts 19:2 when Paul asks, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” like this,

“Meaning, not the special regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost, for that is supposed in their being disciples and believers, but the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost,

Simply put, the Christians at Ephesus had, like every other believer, already received the gift of the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus.  The person of the Holy Spirit had, after all, existed since the beginning of time, He wasn’t’ a new idea.  However there was more for them to receive from the Holy Spirit.

Whatever your belief about the Holy Spirit, baptism in the spirit, speaking in tongues and prophesy (and I know it can be a contentious issue!) this text clearly shows a difference between receiving and RECEIVING the Holy Spirit.

The former is a free gift that we receive. The action of the verb is all on the part of the giver. God is the giver of the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus.  He does all the giving, we are the passive recipients.

However the latter suggests more action required by the one receiving the gift. In the case of Acts 19, The Holy Spirit had already been given yet there were many more gifts to be found in Him that the believers needed to lay a hold of so that they could be effective in all the work that Jesus had planned for them, that is

I believe with all my heart that God is good, that He gives us good things so that we can share them with our world, but I recognise that some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are going to require me to run after Him and take a hold of Him in a way that I have never done before.

Consider Romans 5:1-5 in the Message Translation

“…We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us…we’re never left feeling short-changed. Quite the contrary-we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!”

I never want to suggest that there is something we have to do to be worthy of more from God. That would not be a true representation of our gracious God who gives Jesus as a free gift to all. However in Romans 5 I see a clear picture of a Jesus follower awakening to the idea that the more we open our doors to God the more He wants to generously give to us; His door is already wide open waiting for us to RECEIVE through the Holy Spirit.

Let’s review some of the spiritual gifts that are available to believers through the Holy Spirit as listed in 1Corinthians 12:7-10

The ability to give wise advice; special knowledge and understanding; great faith to believe God for answers to prayer and the power to perform miracles are just some of the gifts listed. These are just the start!

On the blog of Frank Viola you can find a list of 50 things the Holy Spirit does, which you might find useful.

http://frankviola.org/2010/11/18/50-things-the-holy-spirit-does/

I just know that I don’t want to get to heaven where I imagine God will ask me why I only opened the door just enough to let Jesus squeeze in, when I could have thrown the door open wide to RECEIVE all the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He so generously wanted to give me. How lame would that look and feel??? What a waste of a life!

I want to conclude by looking again at 1 Corinthians 12. In preface to the list of spiritual gifts, verse 7 says this,

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”

This is it!

As followers of Jesus we want the people in our world to see Jesus and love Him like we do. We want them to experience His love and approval. We want them to be amazed by His wisdom and power and ultimately we want them to be convinced that He is completely worthy of trust as their Saviour.

How can this be if we haven’t taken hold of all of His spiritual gifts? If we don’t carry all His fullness and show all His power how will people know that He makes a difference in our lives?

It is not pride or arrogance to claim to carry and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is our privilege and duty to throw open the doors and actively lay a hold of and welcome the many gifts the Spirit offers, to make us more and more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18).Ultimately it is our responsibility and commission to use them to help each other.

My heart’s desire is that we become like the believers in Romans 5; struggling to find enough containers to hold and RECEIVE all the Spirit’s love, hope, approval, wisdom, comfort, ability ….the list goes on…and to share it for the good of the others in our world.