A Lesson on How to be Ready to Receive the Holy Spirit

Busy Friday afternoon, cleaning up the dorm room, - after a worship and picnic with Southern Connections.  Only an hour or so till vespers!  As I worked on cleaning, I couldn't help but think of how much higher my standards of neatness were than my suite mates.  No matter how clean I cleaned things, they wouldn't say anything about it, and the bathroom would still get messy again.  My room couldn't be the paramount of cleanliness, beauty and order as I can how tidy my room mate wants to be.  As I evaluated my train of thought I realized how much I was missing the point!  It was all about what I wanted, and how much better I was for cleaning.  My motives were all wrong.  Just a few hours before I had posted on face book "Ran to town this morning to do some errands, left my clothes in the dryer not expecting to be gone log.  Came back to my clothes folded!  Thank you to the person who will likely never read this!  I love thoughtful people!  I will have to remember to return the favor."  Now here I was with the opportunity, and instead I was having a begrudging spirit!

After finishing cleaning and changing my clothes for vespers I realized I was running late, I quickly checked my email to see where I was going (since I'd never been there or heard of it before.)  Needless to say, I spent fifteen minutes driving past it not seeing it because it was back in the woods.  Frustrated, I sent a text message to someone there to get directions....swallow my pride and admit it's nice to get directions from someone else sometimes!

"What a way to begin the Sabbath!"  I thought to myself!  "Struggling with a bad attitude, and then late to a vespers!"  As I thought about it hit me:  God was bringing out just the weaknesses in my character that I needed to submit to him to be right with Him, and draw closer!  First the holier than thou attitude/begrudging spirit, and secondly my tendency to not want to ask anyone else for help.  In Corinthians it talks about how God loves a cheerful giver, was I giving my time cheerfully when I was going above what the necessary standard of cleanliness was?  What was my motive anyway?  Just too look good?  God created us to live in communities, and learn from each other and help each other.  That's an easier concept for me to accept when I'm NOT on the receiving line.  Volunteer to help me and most of the time I'll bulk, tell me I need to ask for help, and I'll think "no I can handle it myself!"

The Sabbath School lesson this morning was about preparing to receive the latter rain of the Holy Spirit.  How beautiful of the Lord to reveal my weaknesses and my need of a Character transformation!  When I'm willing to open my heart to God he has great things in store for me!  "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall com e from the presence of the Lord;" Acts 3:18.  How I'm looking forward to and praying for that time of refreshing!  What a merciful God we serve!

So next time you feel like you're at the end of your rope, and circumstances bring out the worst in you, step back, take a breath, say a prayer, and ask the Lord what he wants you to learn through it.  Look at it as an opportunity to draw closer to Him and let Him prepare your heart for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

  

Bible Study!!

"We are still a few minutes early", I said, "well let's pray", my outreach partner suggested.  So that is what we did, we prayed for a good 15 minutes, pouring out our hearts, interceding for our new Bible study contacts.  The focus of our prayers was Mrs. A, we were about to knock on her door and study with her for the first time.  We were especially praying that she would be home and we could study the Bible with her!

It all started two weeks, ago...no actually...it started months ago...wait, years ago?

Rushville, IL, 2005.  I was twelve, a speaker had just visited our church for a weekend seminar, he spoke on the importance of sharing our faith with others, how probation was soon to close, and the signs that showed we are nearing the end.  "But I'm not really capable of sharing, and I don't have any one to share with, and I don't know enough to share!", I thought to myself.  I remember talking to the speaker and he quoted Proverbs 11:25, "he that watereth shall be watered also himself."

Fast forward...Summer 2013, Maple Plain, MN.  I was working as a canvassing leader. Towards the end of the summer I had a lot of time to canvass on my own as the other students knew what they were doing.  I was really struggling trusting my future to God.  I wanted a plan so bad.  As the last two weeks of canvassing rounded up I met ten people interested in studying the Bible.  Through the experiences God lead me to go to SALT at Southern Adventist University.  (By the way it's excellent training, you should go through it if you want to become better equipped to study the Bible with others!)

East Ridge, TN...My outreach partner and I walked up a hill to some apartments, it was my turn to canvass.  A nice lady came to the door and opened the door and invited us in.  She had her grandson at home with her, and she shared with us that her and her husband were in the middle of getting custody of him.  She said in through the tough experience she had been reading the Bible more and it was giving her just the strength she needed.  It was so exciting to have a Bible study contact who I could tell was really interested!  We scheduled the study two weeks from that day.  

Back to this afternoon....Our prayer time ended and we went up to find her apartment.  She came to the door and invited us in!  Praise the Lord!  We went in and started visiting with her.  "I haven't studied the lesson yet," she confided, that's okay, we assured her, we will go over it together.  We continued to visit, and then asked for prayer requests.  She asked for prayer for strength with what she was going through with her daughter, in getting custody of her grandson.  As we started the lesson she told us that she had had more peace since we had come to visit her two weeks ago.  What an answer to prayer!  "I really appreciate you coming."  "I have been sick with pneumonia, she told us, "but today I am felling better"....what providence, I thought!  

As we began to get into the Word, she was really interested.  As we talked about the image in Daniel 2, she said "That is cool, these metals match up perfect with like the bronze age, etc., in history!"  "Are you a history buff?", Jaime asked,  "Yes a little bit."   She also told us, "I am just getting into the Bible all over again.  This reminds me of studying the Bible every Sunday when I was younger, my Dad was a deacon in church.  We tend to turn to the Bible when hard things come into our lives."  She shared.  Through the study her husband confided that he was starting to turn to the Bible as well.  "When we got married I decided to not push my religion on my husband", she said.  "I'm listening too", her husband insisted, "I just need to help entertain our grandson and keep the dogs quiet for you."  

As we continued to study she asked the question, "I wonder how long it will actually be till that kingdom comes, how do we know?"   "That's a great question!  We will be covering it in our next Bible study!"  I ended the study by reading John 14:1-3, and pointing to our hope for a Christ's kingdom that will last forever.  "John is a great book to read for devotions," I threw in, "its so focused on Jesus!"  "We will have to remember that", she said!  We ended and set up a time to come back.

As I was thinking back over our study together, I couldn't help but remember two weeks ago hurriedly filling out the same Bible study guide for class, it was really easy, "I already know all this, it is so simple!"  I remember thinking.  I honestly didn't get anything out of it.  But this time sharing it with someone else, the Word was coming ALIVE, we were all INTO the Word!

It was the most amazing experience ever!  I left with a joy that I haven't felt since my baptism.  The words came into my mind "he that watereth shall be watered also himself."  Proverbs 25:11

God's word is truly powerful!

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it"

Isaiah 55:11

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

What is it about climbing?  Rocks, mountains?  I just love them!

This past Sunday my room mate and I went for a walk and ended up at the Wellness Center; "Let's try the walk wall!" she said enthusiastically.  I finally agreed...homework can wait till the morning.  As I climbed up, one hand hold at a time, one step at a time, I thought of what it really takes to make it to the top - and the spiritual object lessons as well.  First you have to keep going not matter what.  You have to keep looking up, - higher and higher - at where your going to place your hand next.  I found that for the harder climbs it was helpful to watch what handholds other people had used.  The hardest part for me honestly was letting go, I would hold on tightly to the handholds - even if I wasn't sure where to go next - but to just let go and let the rope hold me and take me back down when I was done climbing...now that was a little scary!  It made me realize how much I really do struggle with trust.  Can I really trust the rope?  Would it really hold me?  What would it feel like to have my hands on nothing and just be hanging in the mid air?

How often do I have the same attitude in my spiritual life?  Yes, there's a climb, but where is my trust?  Is it in the almighty arm that holds me up?  Is it the tie of my Jesus' love that holds me up to my Heavenly Father?Or is it my grip on where I'm at right now?  Could it be that in the Christian race, the climb, the journey, I may get so focused on where I'm at right now - just trying to hold on with a tight grip - that I forget who is holding me?  One of my favorite quotes says of Jesus:  "In taking our nature, the Savior has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken.  Through the eternal ages He is linked with us.  "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." John 3:16"  Desire of Ages 25.  I have every reason in the world to trust myself to my Savior!

The other vital principles were looking up (not down!), and watching how others climbed.  This weekend we had a beautiful retreat for the class "Intro to Ministry".  For one of our activities on Sabbath afternoon we were to write out all the different life experiences that had impacted us.  In the discussion that concluded Dr. Tryon told us that the purpose is to keep going forward (although we need to learn from our past), as Paul said:   "But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."  Phil. 3:13-14.  In climbing looking down only makes you dizzy and totally loose focus on where your are headed up next!

Friday night at retreat we read the Hebrews 13:7:  "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow...." and talked about the importance of learning from the spiritual leaders God has placed in our lives.  It is always helpful to learn from observing other people!  As Paul says to the Corinthians:  "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

1 Cor. 11:1 

As I begin a new week of classes, the restful Sabbath hours ended, the pressures of assignments and deadlines to meet, I have to challenge myself, am I looking up?  Am I following the foot steps of my Master who I walked this way before hand?  Am I holding on to the tie that can never be broken?  How thankful I am that the love our master rock climber has for us is a love that "neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from.  Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us!"  Romans 8: 38, 39, 37

"A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, A wonderful Savior to me, He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, Where rivers of pleasure I see.  He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock That shadows a dry, thirsty land; He hideth my life in the depths of His love, And covers me there with His hand, And covers me there with His hand." 

-Fanny Crosby

11:30 p.m.  "I am never doing this again!  My brain is dead!"  I said to myself!  I had been up since 6 in the morning, left campus for outreach classes and door knocking at 8:30 and then didn't get back till 8pm!  It had been way too long of a day for me!

The first two weeks of classes were pretty easy.  I could wrap my mind around the homework and I was just all excited about the opportunity to learn again, make new friends, etc.  It was a little like the honeymoon experience after you have made a commitment to something new.  But yesterday it really hit me...the rubber met the road.  I hadn't studied for my quiz, I hadn't done all the reading I was supposed to for classes, the enjoyable weekend had threw me off.  I wrote out all my homework for the next day of class on my daily planner and wondered how I would finish it all!

There was a paper due for the next day, "I guess I'll start writing it now, I can finish it tomorrow morning".  (It was an easy paper, not an essay.)  As I downloaded the instructions for the assignment off eclass, I realized it was due that night in just three hours-not tomorrow!  I began to write away, and to my dismay didn't get to bed till 11:30!  That is totally against everything I have been taught-every right principle, against what my body needs, against my college resolutions! "I can't do this to myself again", I thought, as I went to sleep!  I was too tired to be stressed out, and I was sure I would get a decent grade on that assignment; but my thoughts rolled to homework. "How am I really going to be able to keep up with all these assignments this semester?  I have other things to do to! There's outreach, the new Bible study contacts, my new job teaching violin lessons, and the small group Bible study I will be starting soon.  Something is going to have to go....Do I just pick a class to get a C in and skip some assignments?  Do I try hard to manage my time better?  Do I cut out social time and take less time eating?  Going to bed late is just not an option....And neither is stress I need a battle plan!!"

This morning as I woke up I decided to do Scripturetyper (a website for memorizing and reviewing Bible verses by typing them), for my devotions to keep my Bible memory up to par.  Before I started I prayed, "Lord I don't want to just type these from memory please speak to me through your word what I need to hear."

2 Chronicles 20:17 "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle set yourselves stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you; O Judah and Jerusalem fear not nor be dismayed to morrow go out against them for the Lord will be with you, for the battle is not yours but God's."

It was a beautiful reminder, a gentle rebuke to me that what I am facing:-the battle to keep above drowning in homework...the battle to keep a balanced life and remember that relationships are more important than grades...the battle to come higher in my walk with Jesus this semester and put him and sharing him first before my own responsibilities-all of this is not my battle it is the Lord's.  I know God brought me here, and he is saying "Don't be dismayed Leah, don't worry this is My responsibility, I will fight your battles for you!" What a beautiful assurance!!

The amazing thing is God didn't even tell them "Get up go fight right now, here's how your battle plan, I'll be with you."  That would be my picture of working with God- do it immediately, and yes he'll be with you but you've really got to still fight hard!  But that isn't the picture here!  Instead it's a picture of rest "stand still", see the salvation of the Lord.  It's not about seeing the salvation of Leah, the good grades, etc.  No God is calling me to stand still.  And he said "Tomorrow go out against them."  Why tomorrow?  All I can say is that God's timing is perfect and when he says tomorrow not today that is what he means.  It reminds me of the story of the disciples after Jesus went back to heaven, He had told them to tarry at Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  Now you would think to just go out there and evangelize the world, I mean how exciting Jesus had rose again!  Let's get the boll rolling, right?  But no again in scripture there was a pause, a demand in fact to pause and pray and wait for the Holy Spirit.

I have to ask my self "Am I standing still enough to really see the salvation of the Lord?  Am I taking a significant amount of time to pray and let the Holy Spirit come into my life each morning before I hurry off to breakfast, and finish a few assignments before starting class at 8:30?"

Life will never "calm down".  College is a great place for me to learn how to prioritize.  My prayer is "Lord help me to remember to be still and know that you are God!  Remind me to stand still and see your salvation!  Thank you that this semester is yours, that you have a plan for me.  Thank you for bringing me here and teaching me to depend upon You and not my own strength!  I give You permission to take over my life!  Thank you!  Amen"

It was a lazy Friday...virtually nothing to do but homework.  I had a lot of time to think and reflect (one of my favorite things to do).  As I thought of the events of the past weeks, and how God had lead me to Southern Adventist University, I realized "I have not been one bit homesick since I left my home!"  Not that I was expecting to be of course, but it was more than that, I had been filled with joy-not just happy but truly joyful-ever since I had started the SALT program (Soul-winning and Leadership Training).  I hadn't thought a lot about it until my room mate invited me to a girls Bible study Thursday night.  The young ladies were sharing how God had been with them in the tough things they had went through when the had first came to college, the tears, the loneliness.  It was then that I realized, "I have really been blessed!"  "Father", I prayed, "I don't want to be out of touch with those who are hurting, I remember what it was like being a freshmen two years ago when I first went to college, it was hard, I haven't always had this must joy, I know it is what you have given me.  You must be giving me this joy and security in you so I can reach out to others.  Please help me to be able to do that and help me to be able to weep with those who weep."  The day went on, but God didn't forget my prayer.....

I sat in prayer at a wonderful church members home, in a circle praying for the Holy Spirit, praying for the church.  It was a wonderful experience!  As we finished prayer time, the golden red sun was just setting over the hazy grey-blue mountain tops.  We gazed out the picture windows and as we all began to sing, "Day is Dying in the West".  I wanted to stay and continue to soak in the beauty of the moment but I had to leave and go to vespers at the University church.  The speaker was powerful.  He spoke on how the Holy Spirit will empower the youth to do a work for Him.  One thing that stood out in my mind that he said was that no one in the church is supposed to just be God has a plan for each of us.

Before the message began the congregation had broke up into groups and prayed together.  My prayer partner asked that we pray for the students, that each one would find their niche in campus ministries.  As I listened to the message my heart was moved for the youth.  I closed my eyes and started praying earnestly for the students and for my own heart that God would open me up to His leading and use me to reach others!

The message came to a close and I went out to the booths of campus ministry.  It was a rich evening!  There were only a few ministries I could honestly say wouldn't "fit me".  But the majority I had a lot of interest in.  I was thinking and brainstorming..."I know I can't do everything but maybe I could do a little of this and this and this..."

My heart was full as I walked back to my room in the girls dorm just a few minutes before 11 pm.  I despise going to bed late..."I will have to get up early the next morning to drive to church...but oh well, tonight was worth it"...such were my thoughts as I rounded the last bend of stairs and opened the door to the 3rd floor. As I opened the door I saw a young lady curled up on the sofa in the lobby with a cell phone in her hand sobbing her heart out!  The young lady in front of me walked on by but I couldn't...something compelled me, I couldn't pass her by...she's hurting...she needs a friend...she needs a hug...she needs a prayer....I sat down on the couch next to her and wrapped my arms around her.  She dropped her phone onto her lap and flung her arms around me and we held each other close.

Now what do you say what do you pray?  I had no idea what she was going through, I had never met her before...but the promises rang true in this instance:  "...the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us..." and, "Take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."  Romans 8:26; Matthew 10:19-20.

First, you be just be honest to God and bring the case before Him.  And so that's what I did.  "Lord I don't know what my dear sister is going through but I just uplift her to you, I pray you will wrap your arms of comfort around her and may she feel your presence near her"....That's all I can remember of my prayer, but it didn't stop there....I would pause for a moment and then a Bible promise would come to my mind and I would pray that promise for her.  All I remember is that when I claimed the promises I did so with confidence, with boldness, and assurance. "I claim this for my sister here in the name of Jesus" I would say!  The sobs calmed down and I ended our time together.  "Thank you", she said "that is just what I needed."

I left partly awe stricken....you just have to be silent before the presence of God after something like that.  I can't describe it...all I can say is that is a beautiful thing to be used by God....To just be there for someone.  I then remembered my prayer from earlier that morning....God hears!

Next morning in Sabbath School again I was just basking in the moment,  thoroughly enjoying the Bible study, with a room full of peers.  Such a privilege after being in a church with very few peers for the past year!  Our study lead us to the verse in Matthew Thomas was doubting that Jesus has rose from the dead.  As we discussed the verse and contemplated it's meaning for us today it struck me, "I have been a Thomas!"  "I said the same thing...I am not going to stay at the University unless this and this and this......"  I realize now that all the walls I had put up for why I wasn't sure I was supposed to stay past one semester, were just the things that God was working out!  For example, I had really wanted to be a part of evangelism, I wanted to be at a place where I could grow spiritually,  where I could really reach out to other young people.  And already the Lord was opening many doors for just that!  Who am I to try to plan where I think is the best place for me to be at to grow spiritually?  How merciful God is to let us feel and see Him, even in our moments of doubt!

There's nothing like serving Jesus...there's just NOTHING LIKE IT!  How I wish I just had the power to convince everyone that there's just no better way to live your life than with the King of the Universe who is willing to make his humble abode in our hearts!

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11