I Know You Are, But What Am I?

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

I know you are up in the sky,

Shining oh so bright.

God put you there, way up high

To guide us in the night.

I know you are, but what am I?

I know you are so tall and wide

God put you in the ground.

Your branches reach from side to side,

We climb them to look around.

I know you are, but what am I?

I know you are so deep and blue,

God made you on day three.

Ships are made to sail on you,

And you stretch farther than I can see.

I know you are, but what am I?

I am black and I am white,

I'm like the star that burns at night.

I am a child that needs you love,

Created by the God above.

I am red and I am brown,

I'm like the tree that's in the ground.

I am a child that needs to grow,

I want to learn, His word to know.

I have a purpose and a light,

I want to shine, forever bright.

Help plant me firmly, safe and sound,

A vessel lost, but now is found.

What's the Point of being a Christian?

     If you’re a Christian, have you ever wondered what the point is? Is it just to have something to believe in, or is there more to it? I accepted Christ as my savior as a young lady of twelve. At twelve I was sure I knew what I was doing and why I accepted Christ. As an adult, I was encouraged by my amazing husband to really look at why I believe. Was it because I went to the same church from the time I was in daycare until my senior year in high school and I thought that is what was expected of me? For a while I thought that may have been true. After taking some time to look back at the day I publicly accepted Christ and remembering the way I felt at the time, I realized that I really did accept Christ because of what He did on the cross for my sins, and not just because it was what was expected of me. I truly believed, but I didn’t change, not right away.

     Do you believe what you believe because that is what was expected of you? Are you allowing Christ to work in you and change you because you believe in Him and what He wants to do in your life? Or do you simply believe so that you are assured of not going to hell or just so you can say you believe in something? I’m sorry if those statements seems harsh, but if we are not being changed by God’s gift of grace, given through His son and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we aren’t living the way God planned for us. It took me over ten years of considering myself a Christian to start letting God work in my life and really change me. What about you?
     My pastor has spent some time recently talking about how Christianity is dying in America and how we as Christians are not being changed. The first is a direct result of the last. If we are continuing to live like we did before we accepted Christ, continuing to sin and treat others badly, what kind of example are we giving? Are we living in a way that would make others say, “Yeah, I want what she has,” or would they say, “They're no different than me, why should I believe that?” Here's a scary thought: Will your own children become believers based on how you are living, or do they see any change in you at all?

     I would like you to imagine for a moment that you are a believer in Christ, but that doesn’t really change the way you live (if indeed you are changing?). You continue along the same path, not sharing His word with others or living like you believe. Then you die and go to heaven. What if, as part of your judgment, God lets you take a look into hell and see the people you had contact with, possibly even your own family? They are suffering in agony for eternity and He asks you why you didn’t share Him with those people and save them from their torment? Could you handle that? I know I couldn’t.

     As believers in Christ, we have something that no one else does. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit. I have said this before and it bears repeating. We have the power of the Holy Spirit in us, just waiting for us to let it take hold and make changes. We can’t change on our own and God knows that. That is why He sent Jesus to the cross. So we could be saved and have the power to live in a way that honors Him. All we have to do is seek God and ask Him to help us change. He will and He won’t let us down. It will take time though, so don’t lose heart! No one can completely change over night, but we can commit to change and strive to change every waking minute that we have. Eventually the difference will become visible. It might take years, but God will be there with us the whole way, encouraging us and giving us the strength, through His Holy Spirit, to really be changed.

     So what is the point of being a Christian? It’s to be changed, through the power of God, so that we can share His word with others and hopefully, change them.

The Gift of the Spirit- What does it mean?

     As Christians, we have something that no one else does. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. This concept was, I'll admit, a bit vague to me until recently. I knew that when I accepted Christ as my savior that the Holy Spirit was supposed to be living in me, but I didn't feel it. I thought that I should feel some physical change that would assure me of the gift of the Spirit that Christ promised in John 14:16-17 when he said "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you" (NIV). But I really didn't feel any different. Or so I thought.

     The apostle Paul shed a lot of light on this subject for me in his first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter two Paul explains what it means to have wisdom from the Spirit. He says "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

     By reminding me that no one knows my thoughts except my spirit, Paul made it more clear to me how to see the Holy Spirit working in me (I definitely recommend reading from 1 Corinthians 1:18 thru the end of chapter 2 for some context on wisdom from Christ and the Holy Spirit). Those thoughts that are self seeking and immoral are not from the Spirit of God but are of my own sinful nature. The power that I have to overcome those thoughts and to keep from acting on them and even keep them from returning is the Holy Spirit's doing. The Holy Spirit has been slowly changing me from the selfish person that I was when I first received Christ to a more loving person that thinks of others more often. I can still be selfish, but again, that is my sin nature, and yours as well. We are not ever going to get it perfectly right. We will always be fighting against our nature but that is why God gave us the Holy Spirit.

     The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us strength directly from God to help overcome our sinful nature and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. The Spirit is also there to help us discern what God wants us to do to help further His kingdom. These are the gifts that God has given us through grace: things like prophesy, serving, teaching, encouraging, helping the needy, leadership, and mercy (see Romans 12:3-8). The Holy Spirit helps us to see what we can do best for God while we are here. Think about something that you really love to do and do well. What is it? There is an excellent chance that this gift is something from God and that you are to use it for His glory. 

     I am not sure if this helped you to understand a little more about how the Holy Spirit works and how to see it working in you. I know it helped me tremendously so I thought I would share it with you. I would love to hear your comments so please feel free to share. Maybe even share what your gifts are and how you are using them to please our Father. I would love to hear from you.