Vacation, all I ever wanted

As I write this, it's summertime, and summer is vacation season.  People take vacations for various reasons - they go back home to visit family and/or friends or attend a class reunion, they want to go on an adventure, they want to spend time and pursue activities with their immediate family, or they just want to rest from an exhausting job or life situation.  Whatever the reason, a vacation is a change of pace from our ordinary lives. 

There is, however, Someone who does not take a vacation, and that is God.  God does not take a vacation because He is much too busy watching over us and the whole universe.  Omnipresence is the theological term that describes the concept that God is everywhere at the same time. I'm glad that God doesn't take a vacation, aren't you? 

In fact, there is only one place in the Bible where it mentions that God even rested.  In Genesis 2:2, we read that God rested on the seventh day after He created the earth.  Creating the earth and everything in it was a mighty big job. God also does not sleep, as stated in Psalm 121:4.

God does not take vacations from us, so we should not take a vacation from Him when we are on our vacations.  We should still continue our daily Bible readings and our prayers.  We can even spend a little more time in prayer and Bible study since we don't have work getting in the way.  Perhaps we can even take a solo vacation to get away and spend time with the Lord without any distractions.  I hope to do that someday.

I hope a vacation is on your agenda this summer and that you have a relaxing time wherever you go and whatever you do.  Thanks for reading! See you next time!

Diane

The Holy Spirit - the third member of the Trinity

As I write this, tomorrow is Pentecost, the day on which the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and disciples like flames of fire, and the church was born.  So I thought it was an appropriate time to take a look at who the Holy Spirit is and His (yes, "His" is the right pronoun; despite modern thinking, no part of the Trinity is feminine) attributes.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes an overlooked member of the Holy Trinity.  It seems like more emphasis is placed on God and Jesus in our churches than on the Holy Spirit.  It's like pastors are afraid that they would seem too Pentecostal and/or charismatic if they speak about the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is an equal member of the Trinity and just as important as God and Jesus; He just has different duties.

The word "spirit" does not mean "ghost" in the context of the Scriptures. The Oxford Companion to the Bible's definition of the name of the Holy Spirit is:

There is no distinct term for spirit in the languages of the Bible; the concept was expressed by a metaphorical use of words that mean, literally, wind and breath (Hebr. ruah; Grk., pneuma); the English word "spirit" is simply an Anglicized form of the Latin word for breath (spiritus).

So then, the colloquialism of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost is very inaccurate. A ghost is a spirit that a person can see and the Holy Spirit is unseen. God and Jesus are not physically on earth, but the Holy Spirit is on earth to assist believers and convict non-believers of their sins so they can repent and put their trust in Jesus as their Savior. 

The Holy Spirit has a few different names in the Scriptures.  He is mentioned as the Holy Spirit in only four places in the Scriptures, however: Psalm 51:11; Lue 11:13; Ephesians 1:13 and Ephesians 4:30.  In most other places in Scripture, the Holy Spirit is just referred to as the Spirit, the "Holy" part being implied.  When you see just the word "Spirit," it is usually followed by an attribute of the Spirit, such as "the Spirit of truth," "the Spirit of life," etc.  You will also see "the Spirit of God." When you see just the word "Spirit," you will know that it means the Holy Spirit. 

Let's take a look at some of the duties of the Holy Spirit.  He is the Author of Scripture since the Word of God is God-breathed.  He is the Comforter (some translations state this as Helper), who comforts those in Christ. He is the Advocate, who defends us. He convicts unbelievers of their sins so that they can repent of their sins and trust in Christ as their Savior.

The Holy Spirit is a guide to help believers understand the Scriptures.  Unbelievers are unable to understand the Scriptures since the Holy Spirit does not live in them.  The Holy Spirit lives in believers to direct them and guide them, and to be the link between God and man.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with the Father. He prays for us when we are so distraught we can't pray ourselves.  The Holy Spirit is a teacher, sent to the disciples to remind them of what Jesus taught them while He was on Earth.

One of the most interesting attributes of the Holy Spirit is that He is the Restrainer.  In 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, Paul tells the Thessalonians about how the Holy Spirit restrains all evil in the world until He is taken out of the way when the Rapture occurs. Once the Holy Spirit's restraint is removed from the world, a greater level of evil than what we see now will occur and the Antichrist will arise. The aspect of the Holy Spirit that allows Him to indwell new believers and guide them will still be around during the Tribulation period but the restraining aspect will not be there.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief overview of the Holy Spirit.  There are some links below of web sites that I used to help write the blog posts.  Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

Diane

Bibliography:

The Oxford Companion to the Bible, edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, Oxford University Press, 1993.

Got Questions:  What are the names and titles of the Holy Spirit?
https://www.gotquestions.org/names-Holy-Spirit.html

Compelling Truth:  What names and titles does the Bible use for the Holy Spirit?
https://www.compellingtruth.org/names-Holy-Spirit.html

Here is a free e-book (in PDF format) that goes into a great deal of detail about the Holy Spirit:
The Names of the Holy Spirit, by Elmer Towns
http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The_Names_Of_The_HolySpirit[ETowns].pdf