Daily Bread - October 5, 2020 (The Sixth Day - Genesis 1:20-23)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Monday, 05 October 2020 12:20

Habakkuk 2:4 - Behold he who is lifted up, his soul is not upright in him; but the righteous shall live by his faith. What is faith? At its foundation, faith is trust in God. It is trusting: that what God said He will do, will surely come to pass. One of the great modern-day tragedies is how many people in the Church think faith is merely a set of subjective views of God and of life. To many people, faith is little more than their individual preferences and philosophical beliefs. However, these are not what faith is! Faith is supplied to us by God, and begins in our lives by simply trusting God. How do we trust God? We believe what He has said in His Word. As we walk with God, there is an ever-increasing supernatural supply of faith given to us by the Holy Spirit. The grace of God has provided us with a proportion of faith (Romans 12:6). As we are faithful to God with what He has given, we are supplied with more! If you are going to walk uprightly before the Lord, then you are going to have to believe what God has said - and trust He will not fail you. Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4 in the New Testament to establish that the saints of God must live by faith if they are to be numbered among the righteous (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). When we consider the Hebrew used in this passage (emuna) and what it means, we come to a better understanding of the foundational meaning of faith. The Hebrew word is translated "steady or firm" in Exodus 17:12. It is used in Deuteronomy to describe God's total dependability, and is translated "truth" (Deuteronomy 32:4). It is used to describe God's faithfulness in 1 Samuel 26:23, Psalm 36:5, Psalm 40:10, and Lamentations 3:22-23. It is also used to describe God's works and His words in Psalm 33:4, Psalm 119:86, and Psalm 143:1. God, Who is faithful, expects to see those who have entered into relationship with Him remain faithful to Him as well (Proverbs 12:22; 2 Chronicles 19:9). Keeping in mind Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 as the basis to describe being made righteous by faith, we come to understand more about the relationship between obedience to God and trust in God - that connection must exist in those who have been brought into relationship with God. We may safely say faith is a faithful trusting in God's promises. It is also faithfulness on the part of the believer to know God is faithful to do those things which He has promised to do (Hebrews 10:23; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23).

 

Daily Bread - October 3, 2020 (The Sixth Day - Genesis 1:20-23)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Saturday, 03 October 2020 11:45

Acts 9:31 - Then all of the church’s had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria - being built up and moving in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit multiplied. The comfort, or encouragement (paraklesis), of the Holy Spirit is only one of the many different things the Holy Spirit does. He is called the ‘Parakletos’ in John 14:16. Parakletos is difficult to translate because it has such a wide area of meaning such as helper, encourager, comforter, mediator, advocate, intercessor, etc. The most outstanding reality of the ‘Parakletos’ is that He was sent to take the place of Jesus as another ‘Parakletos’. Now, instead of the Lord Jesus teaching the apostles and being their companion, the Holy Spirit was the One in that place. Although there was one governing body of the Church as depicted in Acts - of which the apostles were the overseers, there were many different local churches as expressed by the plural ‘ekklesiai’. The Old Testament teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). The Psalmist taught that through the fear of the Lord, we would learn to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking guile. The fear of the Lord causes a person to depart from evil and pursue peace (Psalms 34:11-14). The fear of the Lord is the hating of evil, arrogance, and pride (Proverbs 8:13). The expression, "the fear of the Lord", is only found one time in the New Testament, but an equivalent expression, “the fear of God”, is found three times in 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:17. Peter, also quotes Psalms 34:11-14 in the context of inheriting a blessing. The most common characteristic of the fear of the Lord is the hating of evil and the loving of righteousness. Jesus, above all others, modeled this consecration to life and the ways of the Father and was given the testimony, "You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of extreme joy above Your fellows.” (Hebrews 1:9; Psalms 45:6-7).

 

Daily Bread - October 2, 2020 (The Sixth Day - Genesis 1:20-23)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Saturday, 03 October 2020 11:42

Luke 24:49 - And behold I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. Jesus sent the glorious Promise of the Father to rest upon the Church, and to remain with the Church throughout its existence: the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,26, 15:16, 16:7). It must grieve the heart of the Father so deeply how many who occupy the ranks of His Church refuse to acknowledge the Promise of the Father (John 7:38-39; Acts 1:8, 2:4). They refuse to acknowledge the position and activity of the One Who has come to reveal and glorify Jesus - the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15). For the Church to be the Body of Christ - the manifestation of the living ministry of Jesus - it must by necessity be anointed with the same Holy Spirit Jesus was empowered with (Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Acts 2:33; 1 Corinthians 12:7,11). It certainly is hard to imagine we would call ourselves the Church, yet refuse the ministry of Jesus, Who baptizes His people in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 11:16, 19:4-6). How can anyone refuse this great honor and precious Gift of God? We have been given the best Teacher, Guide, and Mentor that could have ever been imagined: the Holy Spirit. He wants you to know Him. He wants to teach you all about Jesus and all about the ways of the Kingdom of God - won't you surrender to Him today, and let Him lead you - and tabernacle in your life? (Romans 8:14,16; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Galatians 5:16,25).

 

Daily Bread - October 1, 2020 (The Fifth Day - Genesis 1:20-23)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Thursday, 01 October 2020 11:37

John 14:26 - But the Paraclete, Who is the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, He is the One Who will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have spoken to you. The Holy Spirit is God, and is one with God (Matthew 28:19; 1 John 5:6-7). He was sent to each believer from the Father because of what Jesus did for us through His death, burial, and resurrection (John 7:39, 14:17, 15:26; Acts 2:33). The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Teacher, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of the Son, and the Paraclete (or Helper/Comforter). He is the One Who testifies of Christ, and shows us all that belongs to Christ Jesus and the Father. He is the One Who produces the miracle of salvation and empowers the believer to do the works of Christ. His authority in the Church and over us is absolute and essential for salvation (John 3:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:11). He is the One we are to follow, to obey, and to both live by and live through (Romans 8:1,4,9,14,16; Galatians 5:16,25). It is the Holy Spirit Who teaches us the ways of God and shows us how to walk in the divine nature (1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 John 2:20,27; John 16:13-15; 2 Peter 1:3-11). The Holy Spirit was the One Who empowered Jesus with the ability to do the works that He did, and it was Holy Spirit Who was the focus of the ministry given to Jesus (John 1:32-33, 3:5-6, 4:23, 7:38-39, 20:22; Matthew 12:28).

 

Daily Bread - September 30, 2020 (The Fourth Day - Genesis 1:14-19)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Wednesday, 30 September 2020 07:00

John 14:16-17 - And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete Who will remain with you forever. He is the Spirit of Truth Whom the world will not be able to receive, because it neither sees Him nor recognizes Him. You know Him, because He remains beside you and shall be in you. The Holy Spirit came to take the place of Jesus with the believer. 'Paraclete' is a title of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It occurs four more times - three times in the Gospel of John and once in the First Epistle of John. There has not been a Hebrew or Aramaic equivalent found for this title. The closest Hebrew suggestion is 'melis' which means interpreter. 'Parakletos' as a passive form may be understood in the form para/kalein (to call alongside); thus, "called alongside to help" suggests the Old Latin 'advocatus' (advocate) as a translation. Parakletos in an active sense reflecting parakalein means to intercede, entreat, or appeal; thus, intercessor, mediator, or spokesman. Also, in an active sense parakletos can mean 'to comfort'; thus, a comforter or counselor. The noun may be used to describe exhortation and encouragement as found in preaching. There is no single word that captures the meaning of Parkletos. We may simply say the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, Helper, Advocate, Interpreter, Intercessor, Mediator, Spokesman, Comforter, Counselor, Encourager, Exhorter, Leader, Guide, Inspiration, Witness, Testifier, Strength, Ability, River, Power, Life, and God! The Holy Spirit, Who took the place of Jesus among the disciples and subsequently among the Church, came to dwell in them and also in all who will believe. This passage is the first time it is made very clear just how the disciples will be one with Jesus and the Father. Although Jesus had previously revealed to them "they who are born of the Spirit are Spirit", now He makes it clearer by announcing that God, the Holy Spirit, will come to live on the inside of all who believe. John also communicated this fact later in his First Epistle when he revealed that Jesus dwells on the inside of the believer "by the Spirit which He has given unto us" (1 John 3:24). According to 1 John 3:24, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit results in our being one with Jesus. Subsequently, because we are one with Jesus, we are also one with the Father (John 14:23, 17:20-23). This unspeakable gift and blessing comes to us through simple obedience to God's Word. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen