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Category Archives: Holy Spirit


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The Spirit Speaks – of Life

Life

Your life is such a special gift, given especially to you. Yet God did not intend this gift to be horded selfishly. I, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ask you to share your life with others, and with me.

Yet life is often very difficult. You have periods of peace and comfort. And you have times of pain and suffering. You know this; you’ve experienced it. This mix of peace and pain, sometimes out of balance to the pain side, is just what life is, within the broken world of humanity. Yet again, it’s not what I intended. Sin entered into humanity and brought with it pain.

And some people choose to escape this broken world, and leave this life. Yet no matter how broken you may feel – your life, everyone’s life, is infinitely special and important. For through you, I can walk the earth yet again, on your two feet, with you.

If you feel that walking through life alone is too difficult, if you’ve ever thought about giving up on your life and running away, then please look to me. Instead of surrendering to fatigue and despair, surrender to me. Let me fully enter into your life, and make my home with your soul. And you never need to take another tiring step alone, for I will be walking with you, within you.

Just pray – look to me. Awaken your mind and soul, to stare on me. And soon I will come into focus and you will see me clearly, not with your eyes, but with your feelings, within you.


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The Spirit Speaks – of Emptiness

emptiness

Do you feel empty? Does it feel to you like something is missing from your life? Look to me, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and I will fill you with my presence. I will fill you with my love, my compassion, my humbleness, and my peace. The peace I bring to you is not the fragile peace you find in your world; it’s an enduring and strong peace, able to stand against the stormy winds of life.

Your sense of emptiness is your soul speaking to your mind, telling you that it’s hungry for companionship, that it’s hungry for me.

Look to me, and I will fill you up.

 

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10)


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The Spirit Speaks – of Love and Friendship

Friendship

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command. And I, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, have only this command… love each other.

You are my friends if you love one another. Look, I’ve already taken all your burdens upon myself; I’ve already paid the penalty for your sins. All I ask of you, the only burden I leave with you, is to believe and to love.

What does it mean to you to be a friend? Does it mean being there when your friend needs you? Does it mean caring for what your friend cares about? Does it mean feeling pain, when they are in pain? Does it mean celebrating their joys, when they are joyful? Does it mean being a listener, when they need someone to share their concerns with?

This is what it means to me to be your friend. This is what I offer you, as your friend; I offer you love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, and a shoulder to cry on. And I’m always right here, by you side. More than by your side, I’m within you, living with your soul. Look inside yourself; your feelings will tell you of my presence. If you feel I’m not there, just look inside. This act of faith will open the door of your heart and I will enter.

 

“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17)


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The Spirit Speaks – of Love

Holy Spirit & Love

Dear one, I long to fill you with my love. I am the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As God is love, so am I. To have my Spirit within you is to have love filling every part of you. To know me is to know true love – unconditional, humble, other-centered love. My love, true love, knows no limits and imposes no requirements. It just is.

Yet do you sometimes hold back my love, as a dam holds back a wall of water? Look inside yourself. Is there a wall within? My loved ones often build such walls, with stones of pride, and fear, and doubt, selfishness, greed, guilt, and the world. Gently lower your wall and my love will flow and flood your entire being. My love will overflow you, and splash onto those around you.

Do you feel empty at times? That empty feeling is your soul, hungry for my love. Please, let me in.


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The Spirit Speaks – Seek & Find

seek and find

Do you wonder at my existence? Are you uncertain, yet curious? Am I really the Spirit of Jesus Christ? Do I really exist within your being, sharing your body with your very soul?

If such questions occupy your mind, maybe that’s because I occupy a space in your heart. Such questions come from me, within you. Your earth-bound rational mind will doubt, yet there is part of you that is able to escape the limits of your humanity and look beyond the things you can see, to me.

Look for my story within the pages of the Bible. Look for me within you. Seek, and you will find me in prayer. For prayer is where you and I come together. Prayer is where wonder and curiosity becomes reality… with me, within you.


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Avoiding The Mess

garbage

Look at all the evil going on in the world. Then there’s selfishness, hate, anger, stress, fear, arrogance, bigotry… on and on. My personal opinion is that humanity is a big malignant mess. And since I’m a typical human, I only add to the mess, even when I try not to. It’s just part of my prideful human nature. I also think all the messes have their roots in our natural pride and selfishness. Yet, is there a way for me to live without adding to the mess? Yes.

That’s why I try to surrender my life to Jesus so that His Spirit can live through me. I want my “self” to step aside, making room for Jesus to fill me with His Self. Then, this person called CJ can be a part of humanity without adding to the mess. It’s not easy, for me anyway. But it’s my hope.

What do you think about this?


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The Spirit Speaks – of the One True Church

One true church

When I walked the earth as Jesus Christ, space and time trapped me by their physical limits. You know how this feels. Yet I now have no limits. I can be everywhere, within everyone, all at the same time.

In this way, I can bring unity to humanity. With me within you, and if I’m also within your neighbor, then you and your neighbor are firmly connected to each other, through me.

This is the true Church of Jesus Christ… all Spirit-filled believers, united by their common bond with me. The true church is not a building or an organization run by men. The church is you, if you believe in me and recognize my presence within you.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? … for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17)


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The Spirit Speaks – I’m Always With You

Holy Spirit in you

Dear friend,

I, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, am forever and always with you. My eyes never close. My mind is never somewhere else. I focus my being on you.

Your mind scampers from one thing to another throughout the day, sometimes landing on me. Yet you will soon step off and chase after other thoughts. Such is the way in the world – it can be difficult to stay with me for more than a moment. Then at night while you sleep, you lose all control of your mind, and you may rarely come to me in your dreams.

But I’m forever and always looking upon you. I’m standing right here, next to your conscious mind, waiting for you to turn to me. How does that feel, to know that I’m always here within your very being, hand-in-hand with your soul?


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The Spirit Speaks – From Within You

Holy Spirit inside

I, the living Spirit of Jesus Christ… I know how hungry life is for all your conscious thoughts. The world around you is greedy, not content with anything less than your full attention. And I know how difficult it can be to wrest your mind away from the world and look to me.

But I’m always here, just below the surface of your thoughts, waiting for you to look my way. Look inside yourself – you will find me there. While I walked the earth as Jesus Christ, I promised all of humanity that I would send my Spirit to live within you. Not walking with you, side by side, but living in you, sharing your body with you. Your soul and my Spirit living together as one, just as our Father and I are one – this is my promise to you.

Does it feel like you don’t know me? Do you doubt my reality? Then please, look inside yourself – you will find the truth of me there, living within you, patiently waiting for you to look my way.


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The Spirit Speaks … to You

Holy Spirit

When your alarm goes off and you pull yourself out of bed, you’re not alone. As you go about your day, you’re never alone. All day long, I am there with you – the living Spirit of your eternal friend, Jesus Christ. I died for you – I now live with you.

Do you not believe in me, or does your belief feel weak and uncertain? My love for you is not a measure of your belief. My love for you is overflowing and unchanging. And my love is patient – I will not chase after you. My love will wait for you to turn to me.

Yet when you turn, you will find me right there. You are never alone. I’m always here with you, just a thought away.


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Catholic vs. Catholic vs. Protestant vs. Baptist vs. Presbyterian

[Look, something brought you to this blog post. If it was a mistake—sorry. But if you’d like to see something that is probably more worth your time, please check out the blurb about my soon-to-be-published novel on my new website. It’s basically about seeing a different perspective of Jesus, through the eyes of some background characters in the Bible. New website: cjpenn.com]

comparing churches

My friend had just been to a potluck dinner, the house filled with good food and great friends. Everyone attended the same church. As the evening progressed, little discussion groups started forming. As my friend later told me, the discussions in each group all followed a similar theme.

One group was comparing Roman Catholicism to Anglican Catholicism. The second group was comparing Catholicism to Protestantism. The third group was comparing the Baptist Church to the Presbyterian Church. Heavy stuff, especially compared to things I usually talk about at a dinner party.

Each discussion was comparing different forms of the Christian Church. But no one was talking about the real Church. No one was talking about Jesus. No one was talking about the Spirit of Jesus living within those who believe. That’s the real Church… the Holy Spirit within you. And no one was talking about that.

My reaction is sadness. I think Jesus and His true Church deserve more attention. Am I making too big a deal out of this? Maybe. What do you think?


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Heaven on Earth

heaven on earth

The other day I wrote about Hell within the Church (see it here). Much of life down here in this pain-filled pit of humanity can often feel like hell. But we’re not alone down here in this pit. Even while up to our knees in muck, we can find joy from within. We can find heaven down here in this pit of daily suffering.

Heaven on Earth – paradise in the middle of our mortal turmoil is available to all. And you can find heaven right inside yourself; it’s the Holy Spirit living within you. Heaven is the Holy Spirit of God and Jesus, sharing this life with you. And this relationship is available to all of us. This is THE truth that will set you free.


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Feeling Disconnected from God

reaching out to God

I have a Facebook friend whom I’ve never met, who recently posted this question to my FB page: “I haven’t been to church in 2 months and feel very disconnected from God. I’ve talked to my Pastor who says this is normal and all Christians go through this at some point or another. Any suggestions?”

Wow! As I read this, I felt a surge of nervousness rise up within me. Though I enjoy posting my personal experiences and such on my blog, I don’t feel qualified to give individual and personal advice. But my FB friend was asking for help. And I felt I should do my best to honor their request. So, this is what I said…

“I went through the same thing. So many doubts. My only suggestion is to find as much quiet time as you can to pray and try to feel the very presence of God within your self. This is what I did, and try to do every day. And when I find and truly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit within me – well, it’s the peace that goes beyond human understanding, that Jesus promised us. Yet for me, it seemed to take a long time to feel the Spirits presence; I tend to be a slow learner. But be persistent and never give up, as Jesus encouraged us to be.”

In looking back on this advice, which is not really advice from me but from Jesus, I believe it’s good everyday advice for all of us.

Do you feel disconnected from God? Follow Jesus’ advice, and seek Him with all your heart. And you will find Him there, within you.


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Hell Within the Church

hell within the church

I just checked the dictionary definitions of hell, and they all amount to the same thing… separation from God. Hell is a void, a vacuum, emptiness, loneliness. This is life without God.

The Barna Group conducted a survey of Christians who no longer attend church, looking for possible reasons why these people left the church. The survey found that 20% of these de-churched Christians said, “God seems missing from their experience of church.” *

God seems missing… this is hell, within the church.

Unfortunately, the hell within is driving Christians out. That’s partly why I no longer attend church. Yet maybe the solution is not to leave the church, but to bring God back in. We can all find God within our selves, in our own intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit within us. Then we can bring Him with us when we go to church. When enough people do this, God will fill the sanctuary again. And the vacuum of hell will be filled with the presence of God.

 

* “Churchless; Understanding Today’s Unchurched and How to Connect with Them,” George Barna and David Kinnaman (The Barna Group), Tyndale House, 2014, page 99, www.barna.org (used by permission)


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Another Day in the Parking Lot

parking lot

Another lunch hour when I’m able to free myself from the hungry grip of work and grap some time alone. But not really alone. I drove to the nearby office park with the half-empty parking lot. My usual tree-shaded parking space is open. It takes a few minutes to quiet my mind and flush out all the work noise. But soon, here comes the Holy Spirit into my thoughts, here to share my lunch with me, and my writing time. I enjoy taking these writing breaks in the middle of my workday, when I can.

Oh, here come those two women who like to walk the loop around this large parking lot. The dark-haired one is doing the talking, as usual. And she’s whining again about something. She’s always whining, at least every time I see her. I feel sorry for her. She seems to have so much to complain about.

Dear Jesus, please help the dark-haired woman find peace. Please help her find freedom from complaining. I suspect you won’t remove her problems, the things she likes to complain about. But she could find true joy in the freedom that comes from letting go of her problems.

Lord, you’ve opened my eyes to this freedom and joy. Oh, I still complain, but not as much as I used to, before I let you into my heart. Thank you for coming in and healing my self-inflicted wounds. I’m so grateful.


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Being a WWJD Christian

WWJD

Do you want to be an imitator of God? “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.” (Ephesians 5:1) Do you want to be a WWJD Christian, every moment doing what Jesus would do? You can’t… on your own.

The only way you can is to let Jesus live within you, doing what He would do through you. You can be a WWJD Christian if you let Him. But it’s not “What Would Jesus Do,” as if you are trying to imitate Him. It’s “What Will Jesus Do,” as He lives and acts and speaks from within you – His Holy Spirit sharing your body, mind, and soul. We can be more than imitators of God. And I’m so grateful.


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What Does it Mean to be Christian?

unChristian

I didn’t expect to start my Friday with a sad discovery. But that’s what I found as I again picked up the book I just started reading, “unChristian; What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters,” by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. This book is based on extensive research by the Barna Group, where they conducted studies to find out what “outsiders” feel about Christians and Christianity.

I’m struggling to find the words to convey what I’m thinking, without coming across as judgmental. By the way, 87% of young adults see Christians as judgmental.

Anyway, the results of one particular survey question left me feeling sad… sad for Christians and Christian churches. The surveyors asked born-again Christians to describe what the most important priorities are for being a Christian. The top of the list was being good and not sinning, followed by discipleship, evangelism, worship, relationships with others, service and stewardship. What made me sad is that I don’t see the most important thing about being a Christian.

Yet who am I to say? I’m no expert. I’m just a flawed human like everyone else. How do I give my answer to this question about being Christian without sounding snotty and arrogant? I don’t know, so I’ll just go for it.

I believe the most important priority for being a Christian is a personal and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. I believe the most important good deed or form of worship is to give your life, to surrender your “self” to the Holy Spirit, to give control to the Spirit. As Paul said in his letter to those in Rome…

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

The entire Bible is about a personal relationship with God, especially the New Testament. But it looks like Christian churches have not made that clear. And Christians suffer because of that. This too makes me sad.


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The Quiet Voice Within

Quiet voice

Three years of helping lead the church Junior High Youth Group – that’s all I had energy for. I graduated to the Senior High Group along with my youngest son, and the time was right for me because I was exhausted. Junior highers sometimes have an energy level that seems to be from another dimension.

Early on in my three years with the junior high group, I learned a trick from a battle-tested fellow leader. At first, I had tried to get the kids attention by being louder than them. This always failed because they just ratcheted up the volume beyond what my voice was capable of. Instead of being louder, the trick was to be quiet and soft-spoken. When the kids see a leader talking to them, yet they can’t hear his voice, they quiet down until they can hear. It takes effort on their part, a huge amount of effort for junior high kids. And it takes concentration. Yet they hear better this way.

I think that’s why the Spirit of God within me is so soft-spoken. Sometimes I wish He’d yell at me to wrest my attention away from all the junk in life that distracts me. But I believe He’s quiet because that’s His way of urging me to become quiet myself, and listen more intently. I think I hear God better because of His quiet voice within me. And I’m grateful.


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Where to go to Church?

church

It’s Sunday morning – time to get ready to go to church. Do you have a church to go to? Do you have a way to get there? If not, maybe do as I’m doing on this Sunday. Instead of looking to others for “church,” look within yourself.

Find a quiet place to be alone, but not truly alone. As Paul said, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

The one true Church, the Church that Jesus built, is not a building or a manmade organization. The true Church is the body in which the Holy Spirit of Jesus lives… my body, your body, the collective bodies of all who choose to believe and accept the gift of Jesus’ salvation and presence.

Manmade church can be great – I’ve grown a lot by going to such a church. But it’s not the true Church that Jesus built.

Do you want to go to Church today? Then quiet your mind, close your eyes, and look inside yourself … to the Spirit of Jesus within you. That’s where you can truly worship and praise Him. And maybe even sing a song for Him. I bet He’d enjoy such a one-person choir.

“But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” (Hebrews 3:6)

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22)


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Living in the Wrong Time

clock

I often spend too much time in the past,

with my companion Regret.

Or, I hang out in the future,

where also lives Worry.

The best days are when I live in the present,

with my friend, the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

With Him, there is no room for Regret or Worry.

Only Peace, Love, and Joy.