Friday, August 8, 2008

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit help us to manifest the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives,
enabling us to be more like Jesus.

He is our Helper.
In Romans 8:26, Paul says that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. Writing to the Philippians he says, "I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance." (Phil 1:19, NIV) Writing to his beloved son in the ministry, Timothy, Paul said, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." (2 Tim 1:14, NIV).

He is our Counselor and Advocate.
This word brings to mind a defense attorney who is pleading our case before a judge, or one who strengthens and fortifies us. Or one who guides us and advises us. "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26 NIV)

He is our Comforter.
When our hearts are heavy and we don't even know how to pray or what to pray for, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes along side us.
"If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves." (Romans 8:26-27, The Message)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Wrong For A 1000 Years !

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.
Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot . . . So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him.
He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing.
"We missed the R ! "
"We missed the R !"
"We missed the R !"
His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably.
The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"
With a choking voice, the old abbot replies,
"The word was... "CELEBRATE !!!"