The Holy Spirit in You Is Already Patient

            I just stood there, in the middle of the classroom I worked in last summer, wanting to pull my hair out.

All I could do was bite my lip in frustration. The rain had kept us inside all week and the volume of the students had exceeded my ears’ limitations. That morning had begun a day of never-ending complaints that I couldn’t handle anymore, and the patience I had just taught my four-year-olds about seemed like a foreign concept that I couldn’t grasp in that moment—so, I prayed.

            --And prayed some more.

            I begged God for the one fruit so many people tell me not to pray for or “I’ll regret it”—patience. As I stood before “my” children, I remembered who they were: young, innocent, and loving. In no way were they trying to frustrate me, and they definitely didn’t deserve any agitation aimed at them, but, as I said, my patience was waning; I was desperate for God to intervene.

            Then, the Holy Spirit spoke to my soul and reminded me or rather made me aware of a truth I believe so many of us Christians have overlooked. Acts 1 talks about the Holy Spirit coming upon us, that we will be baptized in the Holy Spirit when we become followers of Christ (NIV, Acts 1:5). When we receive Christ’s salvation, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells within us. Meaning, (get this) we have the power of GOD living within us, and if we let Him take over, we will be living by His power, not our own.

            If we have all of the Holy Spirit, then all of the fruit of the Spirit are within us as well. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (ESV, Gal. 5:22-23). If the Spirit is inside us, we have the capability to be patient because He is patient in us.

            So, yeah, you and I on our own may not be able to be or display patience, but the glorious truth is that we are not alone. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit who is entirely patient.

            Rely on Him and His patience to get you through. His power is in you if you have received His gift of salvation.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Loving Others as Ourselves

         “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”(Mark 12:29-31, NIV).

            For the past few years, I’ve recited these verses, and the more I repeat these commandments, the more insight the Spirit seems to give me. I understand that we are to love God and love others. From reading the two greatest commandments, I’m sure everyone gets that fact, but many times, I think we overlook the two words “as yourself.”

            God hasn’t just called us to love our neighbors any such way. He has commanded us to love them as we love ourselves, but what if you love yourself incorrectly? Can you truly love your neighbor well?

            I mean, if I don’t believe that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) how can I love others as fearfully and wonderfully made. If I criticize my body when I look in the mirror, how much easier is it going to be to criticize the girl I meet on the street? If I don’t see myself as a valuable human being who is loved by God completely, how will I ever see others that way? If I constantly put on “Rebecca glasses” to view myself and define myself, can I biblically love someone?

            So many times, I think we fail at loving others because we haven’t accepted the love we’ve been offered. We feel unworthy, so we don’t know how to love like God loves. As my pastor often says, “If we want to love others as ourselves, we need to first love ourselves correctly.”

            God tells me that I am beloved, set apart, a child of God, a coheir with Christ, beautiful, known, forgiven, and valuable. Dig into the Word of God and find out what He says about you and how deeply He loves you.

His love will change you, and it will change how you love people.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

He Will Call My Name

            “I will rise when He calls my name. . .” (Chris Tomlin)

                The words to this famous Chris Tomlin Song “I will Rise” echoed throughout the church building this past Sunday as I stood among friends worshiping together. As the music whirled around my head, I remembered a word of advice someone gave me once: “don’t sing the words unless you mean them.”

            This recollection of quotes was strange in the context of the song, but I realized how weak I was singing this song of triumph, life, liberty, hope, love, and grace. I was spouting out lyrics of a song about the day I’ll be forever ushered into the presence of the Most High God who gave Himself for me like I sing a song about monkeys to children I watch. When I started to listen to the words, truly listen, my heart started knocking against my chest because I couldn’t contain my joy in the rhythm of the song being played. My perfect, holy, and righteous God is going to call my name one day.

            This roll call won’t be to banish me from His sight, but to welcome me into His presence forever. I’m humbled by that thought and left in awe at His name. He is going to call me, Rebecca Thomas, a girl who has sinned countless times and will sin in the future. My name will be called because He loves and cherishes me.      

            Not only do I get to be love Him and be loved by Him for all of eternity, but He’s also even wiping out my pain, shame, and suffering. NO MORE. No more watching people who you love slowly waste away. NO MORE feeling hurt and alone. NO MORE worry, pain, tears, heartache, or struggles.

            We get to be called into His eternal family forever, and that truth is something to celebrate and be hopeful about. So, next time you have a memory lapse about the hope and knowledge of being called into this eternal glory, remember 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, which states,  “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (NIV).

 

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

*Music Lyrics by Chris Tomlin

But, He Chose to Use Us

           “Why doesn’t He just write His name in the sky? That would be easier, right?”

            That question or a variation of it has been asked numerous times by a multitude of people I can’t even begin to list. We wonder why God doesn’t choose another method to spread His Kingdom. Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to announce it over the internet or through the cosmos? Wouldn’t everyone believe then, if they heard a voice from above?

            We can ask ourselves or others those questions until eternity begins, but the fact is that God chooses to use us, human beings, to advance His Kingdom. No, He doesn’t really need us, but that’s been His design since the beginning. In Genesis 1, God creates man and woman in His own image and then, tells them to be “fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). From the start, we were to multiply His image throughout the earth. He chose us.

            Then, after the fall and Jesus came and died and rose, Jesus told His disciples that they were to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19). Later in Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us that we are to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NIV).

            We are a part of His master plan to bring people into His Kingdom. He chose us to be the hands and feet of Christ. We get the opportunity to be the body of Christ and be a part of His story. I don’t know about you, but I’m humbled to be chosen by a perfect God to be a part of His plan of redemption.

            So, remember, God didn’t choose to write His message in the sky or tell it Himself over radio waves. He selected us to tell our family, neighbors, enemies, friends, acquaintances, and strangers the Good News. We don’t need to pray about whether or not He wants us to take action and take part in the advancement of His Kingdom. He already told us in His Word to go.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Choose Your Words Wisely

            “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

            And with those spoken words, earth’s canvas flickered to life. God spoke, and the world responded.

            Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated with words. These small, sometimes big, compilations of letters pack so much meaning. Words have the power to build up and at the same time, bring destruction. I’ve experienced receiving both types of words, and I’ve also participated in speaking them to others.

            Spoken words set into motion every animal and plant that we have the joy of marveling at. God chose to use words to create. Not only did God choose words to start our world, but He also chose to describe Jesus as the Word (John 1:1). I’d say those little codes are pretty powerful and important. The neat fact is God isn’t the only one who gets to use language to communicate; He also gave us the ability to speak, but with that gift comes a great responsibility.

            Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the tongue has the power to bring death and life (NIV). Sometimes, I’ve naively told myself that what I say doesn’t really matter, that it can’t really hurt someone. Haven’t you heard the famous saying? “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” I’ve heard that saying whispered to children, to me, from me, and everywhere else  I can think of. The problem with that quote is that it’s pretty much a lie. Words are powerful, and they can also bring death. That’s why we must be careful with our tongue.

            Someone once told me I looked anorexic because I was (am) so skinny, and some days those words creep up and haunt me six, long years later. Words do have the power to bring life and death. Don’t be mistaken.

            Ephesians 4:29 states, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (NLT).

            When we speak, our words should be chosen wisely. Think about the eternal impact your words can have on someone. You can either encourage them to live life to the fullest, or you can scar their mind and become a broken record to be played over and over in their heads.

            We can choose to spread death or we can choose to cultivate life. It’s our choice.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

When You Can't Even Pray

           Tears come streaming down my face as I clinch my hair between my pale fingers. My knees dig craters into the carpet. Words tremble out of my mouth making incomprehensible patterns as I realize that I’m speechless.

            I can’t even pray. So, I let the salty droplets race down my cheeks to the fibers covering the floor and wait.

—˜™–

            Many days (or middle of the nights) I’ve held this posture in prayer—speechless and desperate for comfort and answers.

            Sometimes, I’ve had a really bad week and am just stressed out to the max or my heart is heavy over a loved one who’s messed up in one way or another or I’m broken over the brokenness in our world or I’ve slipped away and need to come back again, but whatever the situation, in these moments, I have no idea what to pray or how to.

            Maybe you’ve been in this situation before (or will be) and you feel as if all hope is gone. Maybe you need someone to sort things out and deliver the message to God because you don’t understand the situation yourself. Well, the good news is that someone is capable of interpreting your blurry words and speechless souls. He doesn’t need your words or your understanding. He knows your needs and wants, and He knows exactly how to express them when you can’t.

            Romans 8:26 states, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (NIV).

            The Holy Spirit powers through our weakness and delivers a more accurate message to God than what we could ever think up. He knows our needs and intercedes for us.

            Even when you’re at your weakest, He is strong and wise. Never forget that someone is praying for you even if you can’t pray for yourself, and the One who does, loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Independence Day

            Freedom is a costly thing.

            Men and women across this entire world have bled and breathed their last for people like me to experience freedom. Children have lost their parents so other children can be taught how to ride their bike as their dad holds on tight then lets go of the handle bars for the first time.

            We live for freedom, and we die for it.

            Freedom means something more. We hope that this freedom from oppression will bring us satisfaction and rest and everything else we have hoped for.

            But how many people who have this earthly freedom actually find satisfaction and rest. How many are actually free?

            Our paychecks and lifestyles bind us. Our bills pin us down to a job. Other people tell us we have to be this or we have to be that in order to be accepted: we’re too fat or too skinny, too outspoken or too quiet. No matter what we do, it seems we can’t win; we can’t be free from this world and worry.

            Or can we?

            About two thousand years ago the fight for freedom looked like a sinless man being betrayed with a kiss from one of His best friends. Freedom’s fight was this same sinless-man standing before a screaming crowd calling for His death by the cruelest cross. People laughed at Him and even misunderstood Him; He fought for the ultimate freedom.

            The cause for freedom ripped into His flesh with jagged thorns and bits of metal on leather whips. Layer of skin, after layer of skin were shredded from his body as His lifeblood poured from His body onto a dusty street. A heavy cross was placed upon His now frail body to be carried to His death. People spit on Him, and He was the Son of God-God in human form.

            Jesus’ chest heaved as He reached up with His nail-pierced hands to push a last bit of air through His strained lungs. As people mocked Him for his freedom cry, Jesus called for forgiveness for them all.

            The Son of God had done nothing to deserve death; yet, He hung on a cross so we could be free from sin and death, and three days later, He rose from the dead and beat the grave. We can have freedom.

            2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV). Freedom from sin, death, worry, restlessness, incompletion, sorrow, shame, and defeat.

Through the blood of Jesus, we have the freedom to live life to the full because no longer are we defined by our sins and shortcomings; we are defined by Christ’s righteousness.

The greatest fight for freedom was not won on a battle field between two opposing countries but on a cross.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas