Refresh
Do you ever feel a need to gather with people? Have you been isolated or feeling alone and need to get connected?
November 2, 2011
Greetings to all you dear women!
How about if we all catch up on what we did in Refresh last week, Nov. 2.
Our topic was Who has seen the Wind?
...and our homework was to read Romans 8, preferable every day! It's a bit long, so maybe you want to break it down into smaller sections. It's a very rich text and as we read it again and again, it sinks into our understanding better. So read Romans 8! What do you learn? Tell us about what you learned--or email me!
When we were kids, we might have heard the poem: Who has seen the Wind?
- By Christina Rossetti published 1893 in a children's nursery rhyme book.
- Who has seen the wind?
- Neither I nor you:
- But when the leaves hang trembling,
- The wind is passing through.
- Who has seen the wind?
- Neither you nor I:
- But when the trees bow down their heads,
- The wind is passing by.
- There's a haunting tune, one of many, at
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvXvQ9qaI50&feature=related
In secondary school, you may have had to read the book Who has seen the Wind? by the Canadian novelist W.O.Mitchell. It's about a boy Brian who is moved by a force that he cannot see directly.
Indeed, who has seen the wind? We've all seen and felt its presence and action, but seen it? No.
Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit being like a wind in his late-night conversation with Nicodemus, a truth-seeking Pharisee. You can read about this conversation in John 3:1-21.
The story is left hanging, and we can't tell what Nicodemus thought about what Jesus said, that to enter the Kingdom of God, one must be born again of the Spirit.
However, we catch a glimpse into what happened to Nicodemus in John 19:38. After Jesus' death, he with another man asked the Roman governor for permission to take Jesus' body for burial. So we can be quite certain that Nicodemus did become a believer, a follower of Jesus and experienced being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So too, when people become Christians today, it is only by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is in all Christians. You can read about this in John 3:5,6. Ephesians 1:13-14. and Titus 3:5.
The Holy Spirit has several different names in the Bible, like Advocate, Counselor, Encourager, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Christ, Spirit of God.
He has quite a few jobs to do in this world.
Your can read about these in: John 16:7-15. John 14:16-17. John 14:26 and many other places in the Bible. Here are some of the jobs of the Spirit:
1. He leads believers into all truth.
2. He will tell about Jesus. He points to Jesus.
3. He lives in you now and empowers you for right living.
4. He tells about the future.
5. He teaches you.
6. He reminds you.
7. He prays to the Father for you when you don't know how to pray.
8. He convicts the world of sin. He corrects our wrong actions and attitudes.
9. He convicts the world of the Father's righteousness.
10. He comforts and encourages.
11. He gives assurance of salvation.
12. He produces spiritual fruit in the believer's life. Note that this is fruit singular--one fruit--not many fruits. You can read what this fruit is in Galatians 5:22-23.
And there are more! We'll learn about one other important thing the Spirit does in this week's study! Don't miss it!
So a couple of questions asked:
1. What is our role, if any, in the Spirit producing fruit in us? In John 15:5, Jesus said: 添es, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.Someone asked a great question about what it means for Jesus to remain in me and for me to remain in Jesus.It was noted, its a matter of choice. Jesus has already made his choice to remain in the believer--and he's not changing his mind! So it's up to us to remain in Jesus by continuing as a Christian, to continue to be in God's presence, to follow the way Jesus taught and showed, to study and read the Bible with others or alone. You can read more about how to be a partner with the Holy Spirit in the production of fruit in Galatians 5:16-26.
2. How do you know the Holy Spirit is present in your life today?
3. How do you need or desire the Holy Spirit to be present, active, and powerful in your life today? Pray about that!
Well, that's what we talked about in Refresh on Nov.2. Hope you enjoyed it and learned from it.
Come and join us this week if you are able...we'd love to meet you if you are looking for a place to get connected, or if you are past attendee...we'd welcome you back.
Blessings on you.
November 9, 2011
Among good food and lively chatter our evening began around the long tables of the kitchen of the newly renovated women's center. Everyone introduced herself by telling the group what was the best gift she ever received. Then, everyone was given a gift: unmarked, in an opaque bag, taped or tied up. We all opened them together to reveal various baking ingredients: brown sugar, oatmeal, flour, raisins, and a recipe. The recipe was read aloud and everyone contributed what they had received as a gift. When it all was done, 24 muffins were ready for the oven. The discussion ensued around our worksheet about the Holy Spirit. Some points raised were, that God has supplied his body the church wonderfully well with different gifts for different needs. The Holy Spirit gives the gifts to whomever he determines, and they are given out for the good of fellow believers. Of course, we have the option of whether we will use these gifts or not, or whether we will just keep them for ourselves. We discussed the analogy of the human body having many parts, and those parts that are vulnerable are given more protection. We talked about drunkenness contrasted with being filled with the holy spirit, and then about living in a way that pleases and does not grieve the Holy Spirit. One of the behaviors to avoid is bitterness and un-forgiveness, the discussion ensued about how to forgive those who have done us harm, how to choose to forgive, and what the consequences are if we choose not to forgive. We concluded with prayer and a deep breath inhaling the sweet smell of
muffins knowing that our lives, when we use the gifts God has given us, are a "Christ-like fragrance rising up to God".
January 2012
GROWING IN CHARACTER
1. God's desire for us as we continue to grow is to BE HOLY AS HE IS HOLY in all our conduct. 1 Peter 1:15-16
2. Scripture reveals several different areas in which character will be revealed in our lives through:
Our minds - what we think & meditate on - Philippians 4:8
Our speech - what we say & how we say it - Colossians 4:6
Our actions - what we do & how we live - 1 Peter 2:12
3. Of these three areas mentioned above ... the mind is most important because the mind is where our thoughts begin to take life - the good person out of the good in his heart produces good & evil person out of the evil in his heart produces evil - Luke 6:45
4. As we grow in character, our thoughts will be renewed as we choose to put on the new self that is created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:23-24. SCRIPTURE MEMORY is key to growing in character because the Holy Spirit can remind us of how we ought to live.
5. On examining 2 Peter 1:1-8 we see how it deals with Christian character:
a. God has equipped us to grow in Christ through - His grace & knowledge of God and through His promises so we could become partakers of His divine nature & escape the corruption in this world because of evil desires - verses 2-4
b. Verse 8 says that these qualities are OURS & they are ever increasing & WILL keep us from being ineffective & unfruitful in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.