Douglas Mead

Our Partnership with the Holy Spirit

Again, we know there is tremendous diversity of thought when it comes to the topic of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives today. This is true inside our own churches. I have discovered that many preachers and scholarly people in other faith traditions make declarations about the role of the Holy Spirit which I believe are not supported by Scripture.

Some people assert the Holy Spirit has a controlling, and overriding role in our lives. I suspect that we all hear Christian people say “God is in Control” fairly frequently. The question is, what do people mean when they say this? Unfortunately, they rarely explain what they mean when they say this. The problem is, this is a phrase that has multiple meanings. So, we can’t really know what a person means unless he or she explains themselves.

There has been a debate going on regarding the concept of the “Sovereignty of God” and the “Free Will of Man” for centuries. It has been characterized as one of the great debates of all time.

There are primarily two camps in this debate. One is made up of those who firmly believe that God is sovereign and takes control of everything that happens. Those who align with Calvinist doctrine are among those who stand here.

The other camp is made up of those who firmly believe that God is sovereign, but that He does not want to control everything. Instead, God delegates to mankind the power to make independent free will decisions. I believe this reflects the partnership relationship God establishes with mankind.

It’s a false argument to say that either God does it all and we just need to get out of the way versus we do it all and God needs to get out of the way. Neither of these options is the Scriptural way.

I propose that the way to a meaningful, purposeful and authentic relationship with God is to engage earnestly in the partnership relationship we have with Him. It is us in conjunction with God. This is the way God designed things to be from the very beginning. It is where we base our actions and expectations on Scriptures – the whole of Scriptures – not just picking and choosing selective verses here or there.

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Our Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit

What was new at Pentecost is not that miracles happened such as speaking in tongues. The fact of miracles happening is nothing new. That was not the main event. The main event of Pentecost was the coming of the Holy Spirit as an abiding, indwelling presence for the new age.

With this we are told that our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit. We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

If God meant simply to convey the idea that the Spirit lives within the believer, He could well have used words such as “home,” “house,” or “residence.” But by choosing the word “temple” to describe the Spirit’s dwelling, He conveys the idea that our bodies are like a shrine, or a sacred place, in which the Spirit not only lives, but is revered and honored.

So why does temple imagery fit well with the bodies God has given us? And how can we treat our bodies like a temple?

To the Israelites in the Old Testament, the temple was their sacred meeting place with God. They worshipped there, made sacrifices there, and presented their requests to God. It wasn’t actually until Solomon’s reign as king that the Israelites built a temple (1 Kings 3:1).
Before the Israelites had a temple, they had a tabernacle. Part of the charge as they wandered through the wilderness was to build the tabernacle. This was so that God’s people had a constant reminder of His presence with them.
A tabernacle was a tent that could be mobile. It was referred to as a tent of meeting – to host the presence of the Lord. It would be taken down when the Israelites moved their location and pitched again.
When Jesus came, he eliminated the need for a temple being in a single location. Each Christian now becomes the temple of God. Because the blood of Jesus made us clean, we can now be considered pure and holy enough to have God’s Spirit live in us. The believer’s body has become the inner sanctum of the Holy Spirit. We have become a meeting place between heaven and earth to bring other people in to commune with God. Our bodies are now a sacred house.

As we are to pursue holiness, our bodies are set apart for a particular use. We should do all we can to live worthy of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Therefore, how we behave, think and speak, and what we let into the temple through our eyes and ears becomes critically important as well, for every thought, word and deed is in His view.

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

More on the Holy Spirit

We all know that the Holy Spirit was present and working throughout the Old Testament era.

The Old Testament has a rich record of the work of the Spirit, but He was not poured out on all flesh under the Old Covenant. Instead, certain men were filled with the Spirit at certain times and only for certain duties. The Holy Spirit would come upon people, like the judges, like Samson or Gideon, to do some great act, some great feat. But then He would leave them. It was rather selective.

1. Joseph was filled with the Spirit of God (Genesis 41:38).
2. The craftsmen who built the tabernacle were filled with the Spirit of God (Exodus 31:3).
3. Joshua was filled with the Spirit of God (Numbers 27:18).
4. The judge Othniel was filled with the Spirit of God (Judges 3:10).
5. The judge Gideon was filled with the Spirit of God (Judges 6:34).
6. The judge Jephthah was filled with the Spirit of God (Judges 11:29).
7. The judge Samson was filled with the Spirit of God (Judges 13:5, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14).
8. Saul was filled with the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 10:9-10).
9. David was filled with the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 16:13).

But in the Old Testament era, there are several significant prophesies of a future age that would be marked by a new and special presence of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 44:3 says:

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.”

We read in Ezekiel 36:27:

“I will put my Spirit within you.”

Joel 2:29-29

It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind…

All of the prophesies and promises were pointing ahead to something that will be new and different compared to the way the Holy Spirit was working in the Old Covenant. The blessing of the Spirit to come would be something truly grand and wonderful. We all know that the Old Testament prophecies began their fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in the second chapter of Acts.

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The first thing to acknowledge is that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. He is not an “It.” The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead: God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. As part of the Godhead, some have called the Holy Spirit the “Executor” of the Trinity, the one who carries out God’s work in our world.

It is safe to say that the work of the Holy Spirit is always in accordance with the purposes of God. Therefore, when we come across the Holy Spirit in the Bible, we find God in action. As an example of this, we see the Holy Spirit at work from the very beginning in the creation story in Genesis chapter 1.

We know the Holy Spirit is to be understood in the context of how we understand God and Jesus. The Holy Spirit has the attributes of God and Jesus which means the Holy Spirit cannot be fully understood, controlled or manipulated.

Let’s identify some of the attributes of the Holy Spirit we find in Scripture:
• He is eternal: Hebrews 9:14 – How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God.
• He is omnipresent: Psalm 139:7-8 – Where can I go from your Spirit, Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
• He is omniscient: 1 Corinthians 2:11 – …no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
• He is holy: Romans 1:4 – …who through the Spirit of holiness was declared to be the Son of God.
• He is love: Romans 5:5 – …because God poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…

We could take all the attributes of God and apply them to the Holy Spirit. We call the Holy Spirit a person because He has the properties and qualities of personhood. He has intelligence, a mind, a will and emotions.

Though Jesus was going to return to heaven, he promised to send the Holy Spirit to take His place. In John 14:16 Jesus says: “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” The Greek word for “another” means another of the same kind. He will be the “Paraclete” which means Helper, Counselor, Comforter and Advocate.

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

How We Understand Suffering Overall

From the very beginning of the Bible, we see the Scriptures speaking to how sin entered the world.

When Adam and Eve disregarded God’s command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “the eyes of both of them were opened” (Genesis 3:7), and death, along with all the suffering the reality of death implies, came into the world (Genesis 2:16–17). The results of sin are explained in Genesis 3:14–19. Sin affected humanity’s relationship with God, with each other, and with the animals. Even the ground was cursed (see also Romans 8:20–21). Sin would specifically result in increased pain in childbearing, laborious toil in work, and contentiousness in human relationships. Ultimately, sin would result in physical death. In broader terms, sin opened the door for all kinds of suffering throughout all of creation.16

We know there can be many reasons for suffering and evil in the world. It comes because we live in a fallen world (Galatians 4:1, John 7:7, Romans 8:5-8, Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 8:22), because of Satan’s power and influence (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 12:31), because of the sinful choices we make (1 John 2:16) and because of the poor choices of others who do terrible and evil things outside of God’s will. These explanations are likely the most accurate even though they may not provide much comfort.

The following are similar thoughts taken from an article “Does God Cause Suffering” from the website Got Questions.org.

God is good, and everything He does is good (1 John 1:5). God can never be the author of evil (James 1:13–17). Suffering is a direct result of sin running rampant. Humanity’s sin opened the door to Satan’s limited rule as god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4). We suffer due to our own sins, the sins of other people, and the general fact of living in a fallen world. Often, God allows the natural consequences of sin to play out.17

We also read in Romans chapter one passages about God’s wrath against mankind beginning in verse 18. Because of the terrible things people were doing, including rejecting God, we read how God decided to give them over to their sinful desires. In verse 28, we read, “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done.” This included things that could hurt people and cause great harm and suffering. For specifics, read Romans 1:18-32.

To be continued…

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

What about Natural Disasters?

Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters? These kinds of disasters result in the death and injury of large numbers of what we could describe as innocent people. I think it is fair enough to say that we may never know the answer to that question.

First, natural disasters are "natural" in the sense that they are the result of the natural laws of our world. The God who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) designed the laws of nature, and those laws periodically lead to earthquakes, hurricanes, or tsunamis. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s shifting tectonic plates. A tsunami is most often caused by an underwater earthquake.

We read in Matthew 5:45 that “…He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous ad the unrighteous.” God set up the laws of nature to treat everyone the same.

As we reviewed earlier, when God created the world, it was the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived. God called his creation “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Likely, it was a place without pain and suffering. God gave mankind the role to rule the earth. Due to the choices God gave to mankind, we’ve made a lot of mistakes and messed things up pretty good. Suffering is a product of the fall, a consequence of human sin against God (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21). In Romans 8:20 we read where the creation was subjected to frustration and in Romans 8:22 where the whole creation has been groaning. This could include famine, birth defects, earthquakes, disease, wars, viruses, etc. This is not the way it was initially supposed to be. The good material world God created has been corrupted. The root of evil in this world is not material, it is moral. It is found in rebellion against God’s good rule. And from the beginning of humanity, we have all participated in that rebellion.

Is it possible to know the reason for any natural disaster? Specifically, is God causing natural disasters for a specific purpose? Yes we can say that there are many examples of God doing this in the Old Testament. This included as a judgment on sin (Deut. 28:15-68; Num. 16:31-35; 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:18; the book of Judges). However, I don’t know how we can say that God does this under the New Covenant conditions. Another example was to showcase His power (Elijah and the prophets of Baal – 1 Kings 18:20-24). There were other reasons also. Today, I believe any explanation anyone would try to give for natural disasters would be pure speculation. Many believe today that natural disasters are not specific acts of God’s judgment on specific people.14

The other reality we need to recognize is that time is short and eternity is long. Although life is precious, the fact is that natural disasters do not increase the death rate. Everyone is going to die someday. It’s the way our loved ones die that can cause us so much grief.

Scientists would say that natural events are needed for the earth to be life permitting and life sustaining. They are not evil or wrong in and of themselves. The same kind of natural events that cause misery and distress are also responsible for creating outstanding natural beauty.15

So when a natural disaster strikes us, we should focus on what we can do to mitigate pain and suffering, not on why it happened. We should be asking, “How can we be the hands and feet of our compassionate Lord as we help those impacted by a natural disaster?”

To be continued…

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Atheists’ Argument About Evil and Suffering

As I mentioned earlier, one of the greatest challenges many skeptics have in coming to faith in God is the presence of evil and suffering in the world. Atheists and agnostics like to argue, “If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world?” They would make the case that the presence of such great evil in the world is evidence there is no God. So, it’s like them saying God and evil cannot co-exist, that evil has to exist without God.

This is the experience of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. His daughter Annie died a cruel death due to tuberculosis at the age of ten and this destroyed Charles’ waning belief in a moral and just universe. Charles said that this period chimed the final death-knell of his Christianity. Any remaining faith he had in God died with her.12

The Christian Response to Atheists

In response to this line of thinking, Rice Broocks in his book, “God’s Not Dead, Evidence for God in an age of Uncertainty” emphasized an opposite viewpoint. He simply stated, “No God – No evil.”13 His point is that if there is no God, there is no such thing as evil. That is because, without God, evil doesn’t exist because evil relates to morality.

Morality only exists if there is a moral law giver. The fact is, God can only be the one with the authority to impose a moral law on everyone. The awe-inspiring, Sovereign God of the universe is the only one who has the moral authority to impose rules on everyone. Without God, it just comes down to the opinion of the individual. If that is the basis of morality, then anything goes. If anything goes, there is no basis for defining anything as evil.

And so, Christians would assert that the presence of evil does not disprove the existence of God. On the contrary, it helps provide evidence for the existence of God.

Many would agree that the reason why acts of evil are gradually becoming more common is because of the decreasing presence of the knowledge of God in society. It can be said that the knowledge of God is an immune system to the soul…that the less of this knowledge in people’s minds, the more evil rises in any culture. Again, the existence of evil is not evidence of God’s absence in the world, but evidence of His absence in the lives of some people.

To be continued…

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Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Trial can produce benefits

In Romans 5, Paul is telling us that trials are actually good for us because they produce benefits. They help us develop in three areas. One is endurance, another is character and another is hope (Romans 5:3).

The idea of endurance, what we also call perseverance, is the ability to carry on when we are facing trials and sufferings in life. By enduring and not quitting, we become victorious. The enduring here is about maintaining our faith. As the song says, “Faith is the Victory.” It is said that “when you are face-to-face with difficulty, you are up against a discovery.”11 This relates to how we can grow and learn through our difficulties if we will endure. There is a lot to discover in life!

Another benefit of suffering is how it develops our character. The truth is, it is often in the difficulties of life where we learn a great deal about ourselves and have our character tested and strengthened. We know that the troubles of life have a way of exposing what’s in our heart, revealing our character. We need to use the insight gained from this to help us grow as we know God cares about our hearts. He wants our heart. He wants our commitment. He wants our endurance. He wants us to have an enduring faith.

The third benefit of suffering Paul mentions relates to our hope. It is when we truly place our hope in Christ that we become victorious over our difficulties. It is because of our hope that we have a reason to endure and stay true to our faith. Hope gives us a purpose and keeps us focused on what is most important, not the pain, but the end result. For Christians, that is a home in heaven with the Lord.

The truth is, there are no victories without battles. Our endurance, character and hope develop as we are tested by the experiences of life. These experiences can draw us closer to God or they can push us away from Him. Again, it is up to us to choose the course we take.

To be continued…

You can find a copy of my book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or other online resources: https://amzn.to/3FMjcJp, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/going-deeper-with-god-douglas-l-mead-mssw/1139414030?ean=9781098087210

Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

A Broad Purpose of Suffering

The apostle Paul speaks to this purpose in Romans 5:3-5. He states,

“We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

This Scriptural insight is for us. Now we know it’s counterintuitive to think of rejoicing in our sufferings. Our natural inclination is not to say, “Hey, let’s rejoice and boast about the trauma and heartache in our lives.” No, I don’t believe Paul is referring to having a pleasant time as we experience our pain and suffering. He wants us to see beyond our pain to a greater purpose.

In rejoicing, I believe Paul wants us to find a sense of contentment about our sufferings based on a deep personal relationship with Christ and the hope we have for eternal life. Not from a sense of contentment based upon our circumstances. He wants us to see how suffering can relate to our goal in life, the hope we have of a home in heaven and all that entails. It’s like what Jesus said in John 16:33, take heart, he has overcome the world.

Also, I think it’s worth noting that we are not given a basis here to expect an explanation for our suffering. We are given an encouragement to accept our suffering and see beyond our pain.

We know that trials and troubles in life can either make us or break us, so to speak. Either way, we will not remain the same. We are all tested and changed by our trials. What’s important, though, is not why we have difficulties, but how we respond to our difficulties. The apostle Paul is telling us that our trials can work for us and not against us. However, only we can determine this course by the choices we make.

To be continued…

You can find a copy of my book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or other online resources: https://amzn.to/3FMjcJp, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/going-deeper-with-god-douglas-l-mead-mssw/1139414030?ean=9781098087210

Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

This is a continuation of a two month long series on this topic.

The Bible Speaks to Suffering

We need to realize that one thing is for certain. The Bible does speak a great deal about suffering. In fact, suffering is one of the major themes of the Scriptures. It is referred to and spoken about often throughout both the Old and New Testaments.

We know that one of the great men of God, the apostle Paul, was someone who was well acquainted with suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, he talks about his sufferings and why he even boasts about his suffering.

2 Corinthians 11:23-27:

“I have been imprisoned more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.”

How many of us would like to exchange life experiences with the apostle Paul?

Paul refers to his suffering in other passages also. And so, we know that he’s been through some very difficult, painful, life threatening and undeserved hardships. If anyone has the authority to speak on suffering, it is the apostle Paul. And yet, it is interesting to note that Paul does not complain about his suffering nor struggle with his faith because of his suffering. We should ask ourselves, “Why?” How can that be? I believe it is because he understood the broader purpose and value of suffering.

To be continued…

You can find a copy of my book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or other online resources: https://amzn.to/3FMjcJp, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/going-deeper-with-god-douglas-l-mead-mssw/1139414030?ean=9781098087210

Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

This is a continuation of a two month long series on this topic.

There are many problems with the notion many people believe that God is in control of everything. How does God not get the blame for the terrible things that happen if we believe He is permitting, causing and controlling everything today?

We can be clear and certain that one of the primary attributes of God is love. And because of this, logic tells us that God would not cause or allow horrible and devastating things to happen to those He loves if He could do something about it. Although it was required by covenant in the Old Testament as a judgment, this is not the case in the new covenant of the New Testament. This idea that God is in control of all of this and wanting these terrible things to happen seems clearly not congruent to me. What about you?

So, people with questions about why there is so much pain and suffering must ask themselves if they believe God is causing all of this. If people don’t have a correct view of God and His role in our lives, then there will be great confusion about this issue.

One passage of Scripture provides some clarity about God’s role in 1 John 2:16:

For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world.

From this passage we see that all kinds of sins and its many consequences come from the world, not from God causing or controlling it. All of this comes from the free will God has granted to humans.

We know that the New Testament Scriptures are full commands and requests placing responsibility on us for obeying God and living our lives as He wants us to. We were created for good works (Ephesians 2:10). We are encouraged to do whatever we do for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We know that whatever we do, we are to work at it with all of our heart (Colossians 3:23). We are responsible for handling things according to our abilities (Matthew 25:15). We are to carry our own load (Galatians 6:5). We are to run our race (1 Corinthians 9:24-2). We are to train ourselves to be godly (1 Timothy 4:7). We are to put on many godly qualities (Colossians 3:12-14). We are to do good deeds to all people (Galatians 6:9-10). We all want to be told, well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23). God has established a partnership with us in accomplishing His will.

To be continued…

You can find a copy of my book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or other online resources: https://amzn.to/3FMjcJp, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/going-deeper-with-god-douglas-l-mead-mssw/1139414030?ean=9781098087210

Find my second book at https://www.amazon.com/Going-Deeper-Fruit-Spirit-Cultivating/dp/1662855583/.