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Pregnant with the Holy Spirit? – Merry Christmas!!!

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Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place under these circumstances: When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant [through the power] of the Holy Spirit.

Are you pregnant with the Holy Spirit? Mary was, and what was conceived in her was none other than Jesus. The Apostle Paul took off on the reality of this event stating, My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,...Galatains 4:19

Praise Jesus today that what has been conceived in you is by, and through the Power of the Overshadowing Presence of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God! Scripture says in James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. AND in 1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Today praise Jesus that Christ is being formed in you – in and by the Spirit, and Word of God!

Today, Christmas, Christ’s Mass or Eucharist, thank and Praise the Father for sending you His Son, and His Spirit, to reconcile you back to Himself; to make you at one with Him – in a moment! Thank Jesus for revealing the Father to you and baptizing and immersing you into the Holy Spirit. Thank Holy Spirit (He’s a person) – for revealing to you Jesus, teaching you the Word, reminding you of Scripture you have read, teaching you to pray, praying through you, discipling you, befriending you, telling you things to come, revealing Scripture to you, feeding you revelation – manna from Heaven, encouraging and exhorting you to grow in Christ’s image. Thank Jesus for the “breaking” of His Body, and the shedding of His Blood, by having communion with Him. Are you pregnant with the Spirit and the Word of God? Remember: Communion is more than a meal! It’s an invitation to open the DOOR! Open the DOOR to commune with Jesus.

Merry Christmas from Jackie and myself!!

Jesus Was There

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John 2:1-3 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.2 Jesus also was invited with His disciples to the wedding.3 And when the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no more wine!

I’ve restarted a personal meditation series I began a year ago – but life happened and distracted me. What is the topic of my quest? Looking for the humanity of Jesus in the Gospels. When I initiated my search I utilized the Gospel of John (probably because it is my favorite of the Gospels). After prayer I sensed the Lord wanted me to begin with the Gospel of Mark. Why Mark? More than any of the Gospels it expresses the humanity of Jesus like none other. For example: Mark 7:34 And looking up to heaven, He sighed as He said, Ephphatha, which means, Be opened! Mark 8:12 And He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, Why does this generation demand a sign? Positively I say to you, no sign shall be given this generation. Meditating I came upon two passages: Mark 1:10-11 And when He came up out of the water, at once he [John] saw the heavens torn open and the [Holy] Spirit like a dove coming down [to enter] into Him.11 And there came a voice out from within heaven, You are My Beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.

Several things stand out: Since Jesus was conceived by the Spirit why did He need the Spirit to enter Him? Jesus knew He was God’s Son why did the Father believe He needed His affirmation? (Which incidentally was tested by the devil, If You are the Son of God... not Since You are the Son of God) When we look at Jesus strictly from the perspective of Divinity, discounting His humanity, we dismiss everything He wrestled with as a man. In other words, He wouldn’t have needed encouragement from His Heavenly Father, and satan’s temptation wasn’t really a test.

As I continued reading Mark 1 I stumbled upon this verse: What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God! (Mark 1:24) Even the demon acknowledged the humanity of Jesus: What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? He acknowledged where Jesus was from – Nazareth. (a town in Israel – not Heaven) In my limited experience of deliverance ministry I have been surprised that demons know the truth better than a lot of Christians. Yet, simultaneously the demon acknowledges Jesus’ Divinity: I know who You are—the Holy One of God! Unfortunately most Christians see Jesus only from the Resurrection and Ascension – downgrading His humanity as if He were hiding behind humanity like a mask. What should truly alarm us is this Scriptural fact: But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me. (John 15:26) The Holy Spirit testifies about Who Jesus is. Why is that alarming? If I am not seeing, knowing, and recognizing Jesus as fully God and fully Human I am disconnected from the One Who teaches, testifies, and reveals these things. In other words, I am not abiding in Him. John 15 warns if I am not abiding, or remaining in His Presence, I will be broken off and thrown into the fire like a withered branch. (John 15:2)

Why am I saying all of this? Returning to our opening passage in John 2 a couple of things stand out: Wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (See Ephesians. 5:18). They had no more “wine.” (Implying, they were low on the Spirit). Jesus’ mother, and disciples were in need of more of the Spirit. But here is what captured me: Jesus was there! Jesus, as a man, conceived by the Spirit – needed more of the New Wine of the Spirit. If we are going to walk with Him in His Third Day Resurrection, then surely we – who have been born-again of the Spirit, raised to walk in His Resurrection Life, – need more of the infilling of the Spirit. Since Jesus was there – in need of MORE of the Spirit! Why wouldn’t we also need more of His Spirit? On the other hand, where Jesus is – there is MORE of the Spirit. Did you catch that? In other words, if we have Jesus dwelling and reigning within us – we will have more of the Spirit manifesting through us. Now the question is, Who and What is manifesting in and through you? More of the Spirit? More of Jesus? or More of you? More of the Devil? Those who have had the MORE of Jesus and the Spirit – quickly recognize when they are running low.

Conceived by the Spirit

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Matthew 1:19-20 And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly. 20 But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy Spirit.

A drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he’d received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he’d pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. “You were drunk last night weren’t you!” “No, honey.” “Well, if you weren’t, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?”

I was in a School of Life meeting with Brad McClendon who said something quite profound and astounding: The spirit of this world find’s fault. The Spirit of God seeks God – seeks life, and we are living in the wrong realm if all we see is the nakedness and sin of others. In Genesis 3:10-11 the Lord says something profound (as He always does): He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.11 And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Satan often tells us we are naked, less than, shameful, and unworthy. He seeks to expose and condemn us. He is the negative voice seeking to mimic the only Voice we should tune in to and turn to. When we look for what’s wrong, crooked, or dirty in others – that’s our focus – we are eating of satan’s fruit: experiential knowledge of good and evil. We use ourselves as the plumb line; the sum total of all that is good. We want to pull up the tares in others lives failing to realize that often we are tearing down the wheat growing right alongside of it. If all we are looking for are tares in other people – that’s all we will ever see in ourselves. But if we are looking for the Pearl of Great Price the tares will seem unimportant. We will end up spending time trying to get rid of the tares rather than spending time with the One Who sows the good seed.

But that which is “conceived by the Spirit” isn’t willing to expose, shame, and disgrace others. Having the Father’s heart we seek to clothe people’s nakedness. Joseph “covered” Mary of what the people of her village – family, friends, neighbors, strangers – called sin. Joseph married her. He was wed to the Spirit and the Word. His focus wasn’t on what people called sin. His focus wasn’t on telling Mary she was “naked”. He chose to eat the fruit of Life rejecting the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. As Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:8, “love covers a multitude of sins“. Not that Mary had committed sin, and neither had the Godhead. Sin is all about missing the Mark – God’s Perfection. Often man misunderstands and misses God’s Perfect Love because of fear. Perfect Love drives out fear. Perfect Love sows good seed, and from it Jesus is birthed and manifested.

What kind of seed are you sowing? Is what’s conceived in you of the Spirit or of the spirit of this world?