Holy Spirit

Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations” (Revelation 15:3).

Have you ever received a call from a loved one or friend and been told, “I just prayed to receive Christ”? I recall one particular time when someone called me and said those words. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. Why? 

Just like a lifeless bulb appears to be dead, when we die we appear to be dead. Nothing is further from the truth, however. Just as there is life in a bulb as is evidenced when the stalk and flower emerge, there is life in each person even though their body dies. God created us as living souls and we each emerge to live forever with God or apart from Him eternally.

God, the Heavenly Father, is the God of all people. As Revelation 15:3 states, He is King of the nations. The Bible consistently warns that there are not many ways to heaven. There is only one God we are to worship. 

God’s gift of eternal life in heaven comes to us through the forgiveness of our sins by Jesus’ death on the cross. John 3:16 could not be more true. “For God so loved the world…” Yes, God is King of the Nations. Jesus is Savior of the world. If you have never responded to God’s gift of salvation, please pray the following prayer. 

Lord God, KING OF THE NATIONS, I call on You to save me. I know I’ve sinned and fall short of Your glory. I ask You to forgive me through Jesus’ death on the cross. Please cleanse me and give me Your Holy Spirit. Seal me for eternity with You in heaven. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.  

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“I’m thirsty!” How many times have we said that? Our bodies need water. But, what about our spirits? According to Jesus, they need spiritual water, Living Water, the Holy Spirit.

Listen to Jesus’ words. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39).

In these verses, Jesus tells us an important truth. Just as our body needs water, so does our spirit. Unhappy? Grumpy? Dry as a prune? If so, you could be spiritually thirsty. Go to your Heavenly Father. Tell Him, “I thirst. I feel spiritually dry.” Ask Him to refresh you. Open your heart and ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His glorious, refreshing, life-giving Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 reinforces Jesus’ words with the command that believers be filled continually with the Spirit. So yes, when your body is dry, reach for a glass of water. When your spirit is dry, reach for the Lord’s filling.

Jesus, thank You for giving me the LIVING WATER of Your Spirit who cleanses and refreshes me; who fills and energizes me to serve You. I love You, Lord. 

Click HERE to watch all of Debbie’s teaching on John 7, where Jesus says that whoever believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from within them, referring to the Holy Spirit. You can also listen to the podcast teaching by clicking HERE. 

Have you ever felt at your wit’s end…puzzled and perplexed about a situation? Perhaps you don’t know what to do with a child or your marriage. You may feel at your wit’s end in regard to a work situation or friendship. When we feel at our wit’s end it is often because we’ve exhausted our resources. We’ve tried everything we know to do and haven’t come up with a solution. Talking things over with a friend or family member hasn’t helped. Recommended books and resources haven’t provided the answer. 

When we’re at our wit’s end, we do well to “stop, drop, and pray” as I write in “Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.” Stop and drop to our knees. Why? If we’re already “dead in our tracks” about what to do, what better place and before whom could we better stop? We bow because we are humbly aware that we need a higher power and His name is Jesus Christ. 

We stop and drop to our knees because we want to hear from the Lord, who says in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go.” 

We’re bowed and quiet, looking up for divine help. We’re listening to what some call a still small voice and is, in fact, the Holy Spirit speaking into our spirit. 

If you’ve never tried it before, I encourage you to stop, drop, and pray, “Lord, instruct me and teach me the way I should go… with my job, with this project, with my child, in my marriage, with this health concern.” 

Lord Jesus, my INSTRUCTOR, I love and adore You and thank You for the promise that You will instruct me and teach me the way in which I should go. Help me listen well. 

Would you like to develop a deeper prayer life? Get a copy of Debbie’s book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, to learn how.

On this National Cancer Survivors Day, we pause to celebrate every survivor, and to give glory to our faithful Lord for healing Debbie of stage 3 lung cancer. Whether you’re a survivor, currently in the fight, or standing beside a loved one, may you know the hope, peace, and salvation found in Christ alone. If you don’t know Jesus and would like to learn more about Him, click HERE.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).

Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, He prepared His disciples for His departure; comforting them that the Holy Spirit would come to them. Can you imagine their confusion? Their frame of reference for the Holy Spirit was the Holy Spirit anointing individuals for divine work. The names Elijah and Elisha certainly came to mind. But them? “Dazed and confused” might have described the disciples as they listened to Jesus tell them about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would be their Helper. God the Father would send Him in Christ’s name. The Holy Spirit would teach them “all things” and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus said to them. Holy. Spirit. Isn’t that what God knows each of us needs? So, He sent Him, a who, not a what, to live in us. Are we treating the heavenly presence who abides in us as a welcomed, Holy guest?

I praise You, God the HOLY SPIRIT, sent in Christ’s name, to be with me forever. 

Want to deepen your understanding of the Holy Spirit? Check out Debbie’s Bible study, Listen UP! 31 Points Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit. This study will help you understand the Holy Spirit’s role in the Christian life and respond to His leading and presence. Click HERE to listen. 

Have you ever felt uncertain about what to do? I have. Probably one of the most challenging times was when I was 29 years old and received a letter from M.D. Anderson saying I had stage 1a ovarian cancer. The oncologist I was seeing agreed that it would be wise for me to get a second opinion. When I did, I was told I did not have cancer. In spite of the second opinion, my oncologist’s advice was to follow M.D. Anderson’s diagnosis and have a hysterectomy.

We had one child, but wanted more. If we followed M.D. Anderson’s advice, I’d immediately have a hysterectomy. My husband and I didn’t know what to do. We turned to the Lord.

Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them.” God is our guide to eternal life, but He’s also our guide for daily life.

When we pray, which is what Keith and I did along with many family and friends who prayed for us, God guided us and we felt peace about what to do. Instead of immediately having a hysterectomy, we were blessed by being able to quickly conceive and have our daughter, Lauren; then followed up with the hysterectomy. 

Difficult, stressful, tearful times occur, but in each and every one of those times, we can be assured we are not alone. Our Heavenly, triune God—the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit—is present to guide us. Look to Him. Follow His will. 

Thank You, Lord, for being our ever-present GUIDE. I love You and thank You for caring for me and for guiding me. 

God cares about you and what’s going on in your life. Would you like to learn more about giving your worries over to Him? Watch Debbie’s teaching on 1 Peter 5 HERE or listen to it HERE. 

If and when you had toddlers at home or perhaps worked with them in a preschool, did you ever give them a sippy cup of water? No doubt, it was the right size for them. But what about when you are thirsty? Do you reach for a sippy cup? While we might think the question ridiculous and the answer obvious, perhaps we should consider it in light of the reference to God as the fountain of life (not a sippy cup). 

“For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light, Psalm 36:9. Or in light of Jesus’ words, “’Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive’” (John 7:37-39).

When we come to God for new life in Christ, He gives us more than a sippy cup of His Spirit. He gives us a Fountain who flows in our innermost being. Yet, could it be said of us as it was the Israelites, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). 

The Lord is a fountain of life. Are we drinking richly of Him when we rise, throughout the day, and until we fall asleep? Rather than be drained because we’re drinking from a sippy cup of His Spirit or because we’re doing things in our own flesh as the Israelites who “hewed for themselves broken cisterns,” we can live by the refreshing fountain of life. From what, from whom will you drink today? 

Lord, You are the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. Thank You for Your Spirit from Whom I can drink richly.

In John 7, Jesus spoke of living water again. To learn more, watch Debbie’s teaching on John 7 HERE or listen to it HERE. 

Are you familiar with Jesus’ teaching, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” Matthew 7:7? Ask means to call for, to request of someone. Jesus teaches us to request of the Father what we need. But Jesus not only teaches us to ask God for desired needs, but He also asks God for things. In John 14:16, Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Paraclete), that He may be with you forever…” Who is the Paraclete? He’s the Holy Spirit (Helper) who is with us forever.

Studying the Greek definition of the word “Helper” or “Paraclete”—ummm—helps. Consider the following definition of Paraclete: 

• Someone summoned, called to one’s side, especially called to one’s aid.
• One who pleads another’s cause before a judge, counsel for defense, an advocate.
• Of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after His ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.¹ 

It’s staggering when we think of the magnitude of God’s provisions for us. Our Heavenly Father not only took it upon Himself to send His Son to save us but also sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to be an abiding divine presence within us. We never walk alone.

Heavenly Father, Son, and PARACLETE, the blessing of Your Presence is something I will only fully realize when I am in Heaven. Thank You, Lord!

Want to learn more about the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, and how to discern His voice? Listen HERE.

Merry Christmas! We hope your day is filled with the joy that only our sweet Savior can bring. May His presence fill your heart and home as you celebrate the greatest gift of all—Jesus Christ. 

¹  “Strong’s G3875 – paraklētos,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed July 26, 2023, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3875/kjv/tr/0-1/.

A person who is not a Christian once challenged me and asked why believers talk about God’s love but never His wrath. I thought about his question and realized that I, too, am guilty of this very thing. Think about all the wonderful ways we look at God’s love, gentleness, and favor. Today, however, let’s consider the context in which God’s actions are described as wondrously marvelous in reference to His judgment on people who claim His name, but simply give lip service to Him.

God uses the prophet Isaiah to call these people out in Isaiah 29:13-14. “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, therefore, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous.'” He goes on to warn them of the consequences of their lip service and rote worship.

We might want to relegate our Creator’s wrath to the Old Testament, but Revelation 16 speaks of God’s judgment being poured out in a future day. We may wonder, “Is mankind’s behavior and sincerity of worship a big deal to God?” The answer is, “yes.”

One of the ways we can avoid giving lip service to God is by listening to and being led by His Spirit. If you’d like to learn more, listen to this free podcast teaching: Listen UP! 31 Points Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit.

Do you know all that God has prepared for you in eternity? The answer is “no, we don’t know.” First Corinthians 2:9 says, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Does that bless your heart? Our earthly days may be rough, but God has prepared a future beyond our imagination. 

First Corinthians 2:10-12 goes on to explain that no one knows God’s thoughts except God’s Spirit. “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.”

Do these verses about the Spirit make you want to have a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit and how you can walk by His promptings? If so, I encourage you to listen to “Listen UP! 31 Points Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to Christians. Know Him. Listen to Him. Love and adore Him, for He is the Spirit of Christ abiding in you.

Heavenly Father, Your gift to us of the SPIRIT WHO SEARCHES ALL THINGS, is the most amazing gift. Thank You! Help us faithfully walk by Your Spirit.

Listen now: Listen UP! 31 Points Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit.