Turkey Bacon

 

“Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” John 3:6

The rancher ducked his head before the city slicker could see his smirk. He gestured toward the open barn door and invited his guest to peek inside. “Yep,” the rancher continued. “That sow was bred with a rooster and that’s where you get turkey bacon. This here is a turkey bacon farm, and yer the first to see it.” He winked at one of his cowhands while his puzzled visitor peered more closely into the barn. The rancher shook his head. He would never have believed he could get away with a story like that until he saw it with his own eyes. People sure were gullible.

We smirk along with the rancher, because we all know pigs can’t give birth to turkeys or any other species. It is genetically impossible. Yet, spiritually we act like city slickers. We think we can create spiritual life through fleshly effort. We grimace at the shoddy condition of our lives, so we roll up our sleeves and say things like: “I need to start going to church, reading my Bible, get baptized…” We hope that enough outward actions will produce spiritual life. But the opposite is true. Only spiritual birth can produce spiritual life. We can fake it for a while, but eventually we give up in frustration because the flesh cannot produce godliness (Romans 8:8). It is genetically impossible. 

Only the Holy Spirit can transform us. Only His life can change our desires, our outlook, and our actions. Without spiritual rebirth, we are trying to get turkey bacon from a pig.

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The Annointing

 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”  Luke 4:18

The overly-tanned speaker in the silk leisure suit flashes a set of perfectly capped teeth and adjusts His face in what he assumes is a pious expression. “Naaaw, breth-ren!” he shouts. “I fe-e-el th’ anointin’ comin upon me!” He then proceeds to fleece the flock and sell $99 chances to receive the same “anointing” he claims to have. Unfortunately, people are falling all over each other to “sow” their hard-earned money into this “ministry.” What he calls “th’ anointin’” is indeed found in scripture, but not in the way he thinks. Second Peter 2 gives a scathing review of charlatans like this.

In contrast, the genuine anointing by the Holy Spirit is described in Luke 4. Jesus stood in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah, concluding with the startling announcement that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy. He then spent three years demonstrating what true anointing looked like: loving the unlovely, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, and proclaiming salvation and forgiveness to all who believed in Him. His anointing led him straight to the cross—not to a gold-plated mansion financed by the sick and the desperate. He gave everything and took nothing. His anointing empowered Him to carry out the plan of God, because His reward was not limited to this material world. He offers that anointing to anyone who will receive it.

For what purpose has God anointed you? Have you received it? 
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Welcoming Temptation

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee… Luke 4:14

Temptation had been fierce. Every option that the devil offered to Jesus was appealing. For forty days and forty nights, the Son of God had been attacked mercilessly by Satan. Jesus’ human side cried out to be satisfied. Satan’s suggestions were not necessarily sinful actions; they were merely deviations from the will of God. But Jesus stayed true to the plan of God, and the result of His steadfast obedience was new power and authority. He had been anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism, but His faithful obedience put that anointing into practice. It was that anointing that empowered Him to walk in victory, speak with authority, and perform miraculous deeds that fulfilled the prophecies about Him. In conquering temptation, He showed us how to conquer it as well.

Our temptations do not always involve overtly sinful action. A temptation is an opportunity to direct one’s own path and veer away from the plan of God. Even Spirit-filled people struggle with temptation. The temptation itself is not sin; what we do about can be. Spiritual empowerment starts with crucifying our flesh (Rom. 6:6). When the Bible talks about our “flesh,” it means our old sin nature that refuses to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. To walk “in the power of the Spirit” like Jesus did means that our flesh no longer gets a vote on our life choices. Instead, we obey God, even while temptation rages. We can even thank God for temptation, because it is an opportunity to say to Jesus, “I love you more.”

 Have you viewed temptation as an opportunity to demonstrate your love for Jesus?

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Power Source

“…stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

The directions on the box said to press the red button and the blender would come on. You’ve been pressing it for 20 minutes and nothing. Frustration takes over and you stuff it back into the box, grab your receipt, and head to the store. “This thing doesn’t work!” you inform the puzzled clerk. “I did exactly what the instructions said to do and nothing. I want my money back.” The clerk opens the box, takes out the blender, and plugs it in. The motor hums to life while embarrassment washes over you. “Did you plug it in?” the clerk asks. Red-faced, you back out of the store with your perfectly fine blender, hoping you never see the clerk again. There was nothing wrong with the blender or the instructions. You just forgot where the power came from.

Sometimes we forget where our spiritual power comes from. Imagine how bewildered the disciples felt when Jesus told them to stay in the city. What? Hadn’t He just told them to go into the world and preach the gospel? They were ready to go! But Jesus knew something they did not know: only the power of God can transform a life. He does not rely upon coercion, persuasive words, or beautiful music to convict, heal, and save. It would be the Holy Spirit who built the church, working through lives surrendered to Him. If Jesus’ followers had not waited upon that power, their efforts would have been in vain.

Are you plugged in? Wait on the Holy Spirit to do His work through you. The results will astound you.

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Cleaining Up

...Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

When the Holy Spirit comes to clean house, He brings His own supplies. Our personal efforts to clean ourselves up were a pitiful failure. Our fixer-upper hearts don’t look much better, even after all our best efforts at self-improvement. What we thought was improvement turned out to be pride, legalism, and selfishness.

Fortunately, God doesn’t just strip us of everything bad. He replaces the bad with good. When he peels off the old character flaws, he adds His own character. When he sands off the bitterness, He uses forgiveness as a tool. The harsh words, anger, and slander are filed away and made smooth with tenderheartedness and sensitivity to God and others. When the junk has been carted away, He then fills our hearts with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22). And He shows us how to use these new tools. When we want to lash out at someone, He quietly reminds us of how much we have been forgiven by Him. When we try to pout, He offers peace and joy instead. Only the Holy Spirit can redecorate our hearts the way He likes them so that He enjoys being there.

We are all fixer-uppers. How is your life-remodeling project coming along? 

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Phone plans. 

Such a confusing array of options! They get more confusing as technology improves. Every few weeks more choices clamor for a decision: internet or not, camera, memory, texting, rollover minutes, roaming...

I was in England once and when it came time to pay for our fast food, we held out a handful of what looked like play money and let the clerk take what she needed! I feel the same way when I try to understand the latest options in technology.

If all you want is a phone on which you can give and receive calls (good luck with that!) your options come down to two: pay as you go or buy a monthly plan that allows you unlimited access. Most people discover that paying as you go is not the way to go. With an unlimited plan, you can call all you like 24/7 without worrying about whether your bill is getting too high.

The Holy Spirit works a little like that. Many Christians, upon receiving the Holy Spirit when they are saved, believe that is all there is. When they face times of crisis or spiritual battle, they call upon the power of the Holy Spirit to receive strength to overcome, sortof like paying as you go. But the rest of the time, they struggle through the Christian life in their own strength. They rely upon their knowledge of right and wrong to resist temptation. They determine to be faithful to the "Christian disciplines" of Bible reading, prayer, and worship--whether they want to or not. They plug into the Holy Spirit on an "as-needed" basis. The result is often limited effectiveness, weak worship, and fleshly attempts to serve the Lord.

What is shamefully overlooked in many Christian circles is the Biblical truth that God offers so much more to the seeking heart. John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matt. 3:11) It is that baptism in the Holy Spirit that turbo-charges the Christian life.

Receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit is like choosing the unlimited phone plan. The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Trinity, but He is often overlooked or treated more like a "God Fog." Jesus  desires to baptize us with Him, to so immerse us in his presence that we gladly let SELF drown. This baptism is usually a second experience that follows salvation and occurs when a seeking heart sheds fleshly interests and wants more and more of God. A. W. Tozer said, "None of the persons in the Bible and none that I can find in Church history or biography was ever filled with the Holy Spirit who didn't know when he was filled."

R. A. Torrey, a contemporary of D. L. Moody and a great evangelist of the 1800's, said, "...it is one thing to be born again, and something further, something additional, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit." He states also in his book The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does that when he received this baptism, "the result was a transformed life and a transformed ministry."

D. L. Moody described his experience as "waves of liquid love" that came pouring through his spirit and from then on, his ministry took on new power and thousands were saved. Sadly, this is a doctrine that has been stripped from orthodox Christianity and as a result, the church of today has very little power to accomplish what God has left us here to do. 

Too often, the church has become a self-absorbed, 

inward-focused group of legalists or grace-abusers. 

This is what happens to Christianity 
when it separates itself from

the power of the Holy Spirit.

I can attest to the fact that without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, my attempts to please God and live righteously were done in my own human strength. There was no joy, peace, or power in my service. Most of what I did for God was done out of duty and mental determination. But since Jesus Himself baptized me with his Holy Spirit, my life has never been the same. Instantly everything changed and has never gone back. I would not return to that old Lea Ann for all the gold in the world.

Are you using the Holy Spirit like a pay-per-minute phone plan? 
Do you often wonder why your Christian service lacks joy and zeal?

It could be that you need the baptism Jesus came to give you. 
Prepare your heart, offer up your will, and then ask him for it.

For a helpful illustration of this concept, see this post.
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Get in the Spirit!

Okay, I may ruffle some feathers with this, but here we go...

I had a friend once who refused to go to the church I attended because he wanted "to experience more of the Holy Spirit's power" than my church supposedly allowed.

As he said that, he was puffing on his fifth cigarette of the day, lying about his work situation, and I knew his closet held a stack of porn magazines. Oddly, he did not see the inconsistency.

Have you heard things like this before?

Too many people consider the working of the Holy Spirit as some sort of magic show and they want in on it. They want the flashy, exciting evidences of spirituality, as though that encapsulated the power of God. He does work with power and might. He does do miracles, give supernatural gifts, and empower his children to do more than they could do on their own.

But if you mention His power to defeat personal sin strongholds, His convicting power, His power for victory over the flesh...the audience thins instantly.


Sincere believers have different perspectives on exactly how the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in believer's lives today, but there are some things we can all agree upon. An honest search of the Scriptures reveals some true evidences of the Holy Spirit's power in a Christian's life. Consider the following evidences of a Spirit-filled life:

• Do you love to sing and worship God?(Col. 3:16)
• Are you thankful? (1 Thess. 5:17-19)
• Is your life free from besetting sins? (Eph. 5)
• Are you humbly submitting to those in authority over you? (Eph. 5:21)
• Does the Word of God come alive to you when you read it?
• Is all sin, including yours, repulsive to you? (Rom. 6, Luke 5:8, Is. 6:5)
• Do you seek God and his righteousness with all your heart? (Jer. 29:12-14)
• Are you exhibiting the nine fruits of the Spirit regularly and without fleshly effort? (Gal. 5:22)
• Does your passion and free time center on the things of God?

God gave his Holy Spirit to indwell those whose hearts are wholly his, to empower them for greater service, and to enable them to commune intimately with Him on His terms. He teaches us what real worship is and brings us into proper relationship with God. To expect Him to put on a show at our command like some sort of magician is not only preposterous, it is blasphemy.
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We've all see the decadence on television and heard the heresies spouted by supposedly "spirit-filled" leaders, but when we hold those lives up beside the quiet servitude of the Lord Jesus, the truth is painfully obvious.
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The Holy Spirit gives us the power and desire to become more and more like Jesus. So it's really not difficult to identify a false prophet: If you don't see the character of Jesus in someone's life, neither are you seeing the Holy Spirit.

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Is Your Glass Half Full?

Polly lifted the mud-filled bowl so that her mother could see the problem. "I wanna put water in here. It won't go."

Mom took the bowl gingerly between two fingers. "It's full of mud, honey. See?"

She handed it back to her daughter. "You can't put anything else in there when it's already full. Empty out all the mud and then you can fill it with water."

Seems simple, doesn't it?

So why do we have such a hard time with it?

Many Christians wonder why they feel so far from God most of the time. They want to be closer. They want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as we are commanded to be. They pray, they try. But nothing happens.

The problem?
They are like the muddy bowl. They are already full.

Philippians 2 shows us to the starting gate. "Let this be your attitude, the same one Jesus had. He was God, yet he voluntarily set that aside and emptied himself, took on human flesh, and became one of us." (my paraphrase)

Notice the first thing He did. He emptied himself of all rights and privileges that made Him the "darling of Heaven." (Darlene Zscheche, Worthy is the Lamb) Before he could become like us in our weakness and frailty, he had to first empty himself of everything that separated him from us.

And we are to do the same.

Before the Holy Spirit can completely fill and empower us, we have to empty ourselves of everything that keeps us separate from God: our will, our opinion, our rights, our agenda. Just as Jesus did.

Jesus had to empty himself before He could step down to dwell with us. We have to empty ourselves before we can be lifted up to dwell in the "secret place of the Most High." (Psalm 91) We cannot soar on wings of eagles while anchored firmly to earth. If we are still captivated by this world's goodies, still living with tunnel vision as though our little lives were the center of the universe, we are too full. We force the Holy Spirit to ride in the overcrowded luggage compartment.

To empty yourself means you voluntarily set aside everything that makes you YOU, just as Jesus did. Not that everything about you is wrong. It's just in the way.

The Holy Spirit cannot fill a vessel that is already filled with YOU. Until your will is lost in His, until you are "hidden with Christ" (Col. 3:3), until God is your delight and single-minded focus, you are a glass half-filled with mud.

There are many areas of life that you don't get to choose, but you get to choose what fills you.

So how's your bowl? Is it ready for water?

Maybe you need to empty it first.

Is He Your Guest Or Is He the Owner?

He was here! He'd moved in and life would never be the same! So thrilling and new! She prepared the best guest room, hoping he'd like it, and fluttered around, asking questions, getting to know him, waiting on him hand and foot.
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To think, he'd honored her with his presence! She could scarcely believe it. She threw a party and showed him off to some of her friends. Others she didn't invite. They wouldn't understand.
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 Days became weeks. Months. Years. He never left. He was always there, mostly in his room, but sometimes she'd invite him out to tour the rest of the house, show off a little, ask his advice.  
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But it was embarrassing. She didn't keep the rest of the house as beautifully decorated as she did his room. In fact, from the outside you couldn't even tell he lived there. Maybe he didn't mind. He never said much about it, just got a funny look on his face. It was something of a relief when he finally went back to his room and she could feel comfortable again. 
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And then one day it happened. The house was falling down around her ears. The upkeep was out of control, the responsibility too much. She'd thought having him here would make things easier, but instead, it was worse. She tried so hard to please him, but why hadn't someone told her how exhausting it would be? 
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She cast furtive glances at the guest room. She'd been afraid to ask. What if...? . No, it was fine like it was, wasn't it? He wasn't supposed to run things, just hang around and be her friend. At least that's what she'd always thought. 
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She glanced at the cracked ceiling and heard the creak of the pipes in the wall. Whatever he did couldn't be worse than this, could it? The place was going to ruin. She couldn't live like this a minute longer.
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With pounding heart, she rummaged through her file box and pulled out the one thing she'd never thought she'd part with.
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Her hands were moist as she knocked on his door. The paper rattled in her hand and to her surprise, she burst into tears as she handed it to him. 
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By the end of the week, things had changed. She now occupied the guest room and watched as he tore out walls, ripped up moldy carpet, and repainted stained walls. The place was already shaping up and the 
stress was over. Why hadn't she given him the deed a long time ago? 
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Is the Holy Spirit a guest in your life or have you given him the deed? It makes all the difference in the world. .

And that is the difference between receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit later on.
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