Three in One: Getting to Know the Trinity

          God has really been opening my eyes lately to the power of the Trinity - God in three separate persons. It's one of those things that I've always known about, and always believed to be true, but never really understood or truly grasped the meaning of. Well last week God laid it out to me like this...

God: My Father

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

-Romans 8:15

          
          As a father watches over and protects His children, so does God watch over and protect us. And as a child is taught to respect and obey his father, so should we respect and obey our heavenly Father. The word Abba is Arabic for father, but it is accompanied by another word which also means father. Therefore Abba is often believed to have been more of a childlike term of endearment - almost like the word "Daddy" in English. I believe God uses the word "Abba" to try and teach us that we need to depend on Him like a little child depends on his daddy. We need cry out to God to fix our boo-boo's when we get hurt. We need to call out to Him when we need someone to get the monsters out from under the bed. When the kids on the playground are making fun of us, we need to run to our Daddy. It's all about that childlike faith. But we can't forget that Abba is also accompanied by the word "Father" because when we run away from home and realize we can't make it on our own, it's our Father we need to run back to with shame and humility. When get out in the real world and it knocks us down to our knees a few times, it's our Father we need to call for advice on how to get back up on our feet again. When He speaks, we listen. And what He tells us to do, we do without argument. The relationship between a father/son or father/daughter is all about respect and obedience - or at least it should be. Children seem to be constantly searching for approval from their parents. When they are younger they want their artwork to be displayed on refrigerator for all to see. When they are older they want to see that look of pride and feel that pat on the back when it comes time for family introductions. Search for that same approval from God, and always live your life in a way that would make your Father proud. Come to Him with childlike faith and endearment, but at the same time offer Him the respect and reverence He deserves, and obey His commands when He speaks.

Jesus Christ: My Prince
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
-John 15:13

          

          Jesus is the lover of ours souls, and He loves with an unconditional love. He demonstrated this love when He laid down His life on Calvary (Romans 5:8). Before He offered up His life, Christ prayed to His Father. This prayer is found in John 17 and in it He prays first for Himself, then for the disciples, then for us who had yet to believe. Christ came to be our intercessor, so that we could have a direct communication line with the Father. But before we were even brought into being, He was already making intercession for us! He ends His prayer by saying "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." He is basically saying "I want the love that You (God the Father) have for me, Your perfect and blameless (only begotten) Son, to be in them (the sinful beings who are about to betray and crucify me)." Wow! There is truly no greater love. Now Christ has ascended and we are awaiting His return. He is the Bridegroom and we are his bride, anxiously awaiting the marriage supper around His throne (Revelation 19:6-10). This comparison between Christ and the Church and the relationship between a husband and wife can be found in Ephesians 5:23-25. We are to submit to the will of Christ, just as the wife is to submit to her husband. We must humble ourselves before Him, cast our cares at His feet, and surrender our lives to Him in humble obedience. How could we not demonstrate our love for Him in these acts of service after He demonstrated His love for us on the cross at Calvary? We need to give Him the praise He deserves, it is the very least we can do. And just as in any other relationship - communication is the key. We must stay in a state of constant communication with Christ in order for our relationship with Him to remain strong. The Word of God is His love letter to us. He speaks His love to us daily through His Word, through nature, through others, and through that still small voice. Our prayers, worship, and service are our love letters back to Him. Have you told Him lately that you love Him? 

Holy Spirit: My Best Friend
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
-John 15:26

          

          I have been amazed by what all I've learned about the Holy Spirit this year. I was able to be a part of a ladies bible study and our focus for the study was the Holy Spirit. Most of the inspiration for the study came from Forgotten God by Francis Chan and though I haven't yet got a chance to read the book I was left in awe by how much we truly seem to have forgotten the third person of the Trinity. We take Him for granted, and so often forget that He is also a separate being just as The Father and Son are separate beings. In fact, one scripture in particular that left me dumbfounded was John 16:7 in which Jesus Christ Himself said, "It is expedient (advantageous) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." I have often thought that life would be so much easier if Jesus were here with us in person. But John 14:17 gives an explanation for why it is so advantageous for Him to go, "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth in you, and shall be in you." The world could see Jesus Christ in the flesh, and they still rejected Him. The Spirit, however, dwells within us. Jesus in the flesh could walk and talk, but He could only walk and talk as far as His human voice would allow and His human legs would take Him. Therefore He taught His message to twelve men who would carry the message after He was gone. But even those twelve men, though they could see Him with their eyes and hear His voice with their ears, often failed to let His words sink into their hearts. The Holy Spirit, however, is not contained to a fleshly body. He dwells within us and can speak directly to our hearts. He is everywhere, at all times. He can speak to hearts in Africa, and at the same time speak to my heart thousands of miles away. He is our helper, our comforter, and  He is with us always. We simply have to call upon His name. The Holy Spirit is our evidence that Jesus Christ is very much alive and living. The Holy Spirit is our evidence that God cares for us and loves us with an everlasting love. The world doesn't understand because they can't see Him with their eyes or touch Him with their hands. But we know He's there  because we can feel Him in our hearts. He is our very best friend, so we need to treat Him like. Talk to Him and spend time with Him - don't take His friendship for granted!

Eyes of Faith

"... faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God." - A.W. Tozer

          Many non-believers use the phrase "seeing is believing" to defend their beliefs. However, I am a believer, and therefore I prefer to twist this statement up a little. I like to say that believing is seeing, because in order to see God you must first believe that He exists. Seeing can be believing, but only if you're looking through the eyes of faith rather than worldly eyes. Look with your heart and then you will begin to see. Open your eyes to the invisible things of God. For as Hebrews 11:3 says, "Things which are seen were not made by things which do appear". In other words, the things of this earth are only made visible through the invisible things of God. So how can we see things that can't be seen? Faith makes it possible. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is "the evidence of things not seen" so when you look through the eyes of faith you will begin to see things that did not seem visible before, and belief in those invisible things will naturally follow. 

          A.W. Tozer seeks to provide a definition for faith in chapter 7 of "The Pursuit of God". Tozer comes to the conclusion that "looking" and "believing" are synonyms. He says that looking is done through external eyes, but believing is done through the heart. He then says that faith is when you focus your eyes on the things of God and look to Him in all things. He used Psalm 34:5, 123:1-2, and Matthew 14:19 to support this definition. As I read through these verses and through Tozer's explanation, I was utterly amazed. I began to read Hebrews 11 (aka "The Hall of Faith") and God began to speak. As He spoke, my eyes were opened and I began to view faith in a different way than I had ever seen it before. 

          First of all, I think it is important to point out that in Biblical numerology the number 11 means "chaos" and the number 40 means "some sort of probation or trial period". Hebrews 11 is a book devoted to defining the word faith and it consists of 40 verses total. So before I even begin reading this chapter I have already determined that faith is defined (and refined) through a chaotic trial period.
          The chapter provides several examples of Old Testament figures who demonstrated true and genuine faith even in the midst of trial and chaos. For example, verse 7 says "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." And verse 17 says "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son... Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead." These men, along with the others listed in this chapter, endured and conquered great trials because they looked at their situation through the eyes of faith.  They knew the promises of God and they took Him for His word, never doubting or wavering. Although they had not yet received the promise, they embraced and clung to it because they knew that God was faithful and they believed wholeheartedly that He would not suffer them to be tempted beyond that which they could bear.
          Imagine if they had not looked through the eyes of faith. Imagine if Noah had said, "I have to see the first raindrop before I'll begin building the ark." He and his whole family would have been destroyed and life would have ceased to exist. But Noah never doubted God. Scripture says he "moved with fear" and began to prepare for what he could not see with external eyes. He hadn't yet received the promise, but He saw it in the distance because he was looking through the eyes of faith. He looked to the Heavens and believed in what could not be seen. In the end, God provided a rainbow in the sky as evidence of His promise.
          If you're having trouble seeing through the eyes of faith today, look to Christ for strength and place your trust in Him. Be assured that even if you can't see God's promise today, it's waiting patiently in your future. So embrace the journey, because God will prove Himself faithful in the end... and He may even provide a rainbow as evidence of His faithfulness. Then you will be able to use your rainbow to give a little hope to someone else and help them to also be able to see through the eyes of faith.