You Are Being Rebuilt By The Holy Spirit

December 2, 2012 by Olga 18 Comments

You Are Being Rebuilt By The Holy Spirit

Do you want to discover the life you were born to live – to know and to carry out your life assignment? Many of us share such desires. But when we’re in the middle of adversity, vulnerable and weak from the attacks of the enemy, it’s tempting to want to give up, and go with the flow of the world. You’re not the first person to feel this way. This is exactly how a group of Jews, who lived during the prophet Nehemiah’s time, felt. Their assignment of rebuilding Jerusalem was overwhelming. They were under attack from the enemy and they wanted to give up.

The book of Nehemiah opens with Nehemiah saying to the Persian king whom he served: “They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire'” (Nehemiah 1:3). The temple was being reconstructed but there was no wall to protect the city. And no one had taken charge of the situation. But God had raised up such a helper in Nehemiah.

The Holy Spirit – Our Helper

Last Sunday, as my pastor spoke about the condition of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah, I saw similarities to the state of so many Christians today: their walls are broken down. Many feel unqualified and unequipped for the assignments God has given them. And they find themselves weak and vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy to the point of being without hope.

Just as Nehemiah was assigned to restore the walls and gates of Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit is assigned to restore our lives. Nehemiah and the Holy Spirit share a name: Nehemiah means “Jehovah comforts” and the Holy Spirit is called “the Comforter.” Jesus told us, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, whose ministry is to restore our lives by transforming us into the very image of our heavenly Father.

When we find it difficult to deal with the challenges that will inevitably arise, we must strengthen ourselves by calling on the Holy Spirit’s help. He is always available to comfort and lead us in time of need.

Once we have been born again, we are a temple and dwelling place of the Most High God. But the walls of our soul may be broken down and our gates remain burned down, just as in the book of Nehemiah.

God has provided help. The Comforter was sent to help us build your life and transform us into God’s image of strength and stability. He has come to deliver us from our enemy and make us a beautiful city that is secure and safe. Security means to be free from worry and anxiety, free from the fear of lack, and free from sickness and disease.

Your Soul Is A Fortress

Your soul is designed to be a mighty fortress; it is the command center of your life. Your soul has three parts: your mind (intellect), your emotions (feelings) and your will (choices you make). The Holy Spirit is the only person who is able to rebuild the crushed and ruined areas of your soul. As your walls are rebuilt and your gates are set in place once more, you will find yourself less vulnerable to the attacks of Satan.

He is a defeated foe and can no longer afflict you with being vanquished by the same weakness over and over again. You are being built into a mighty city and fortress to bring glory to your King! There is much treasure to be found in the book of Nehemiah and I particularly like the metaphor it provides for the Christian life.

Nehemiah As A Metaphor

The book of Nehemiah, a true historical event, is also an apt metaphor for living the Christian life and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring restoration to those places that need to be healed and made whole. By applying the metaphor of the book of Nehemiah to our own spiritual lives we can emerge stronger and more secure in our Christian walk.

The Temple represents our hearts, where we worship and fellowship with the Father. The inner temple, our spirits, can be alive in the midst of brokenness, just as the temple stood amid the walls that had been broken from past attacks.

The city of Jerusalem represents our mind; the walls of the city represent our spiritual walls and the health of our relationship with Christ. And the gates of the city represent our eyes, ears and mouths. The walls and gates serve as protective boundaries and portals for our hearts and minds.

The inhabitants of the city represent our thoughts; our thoughts are often difficult to control, but thoughts contrary to God’s Word can be limited by guarding our gates (eyes, ears, mouths) and admitting only those things which reinforce God’s Word.

Nehemiah built the city walls and installed the gates to protect the city and the temple. We do the same by reading the Bible, praying and being doers of the Word by obeying what God tells us to do.

To Sum It Up

If you feel like it is too late for you or that your life is too messed up right now, let me tell you that God is not through with you yet. He will never give up on you. The moment you were born again, God moved into your life and made your heart His dwelling place. Your heart became His sanctuary, and He is preparing you to do great and mighty exploits. God desires us to come to a place of total wholeness in our life; this is an ongoing process which takes place through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us. Allow Him to restore your walls and rebuild your gates. May your report be as Nehemiah’s:

When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God (Nehemiah 6:16).

Wise choices will watch over you. Pro 2:11 NLT
You can subscribe to The Daily Choice which is a SPIRITUAL Devotion that helps you to make the right choices in your life!

Filed Under: Making Choices in Life Tagged With: A Fortress, assignments, Born Again, Challenges, choices, Christians, Christians today, discover, exile, fellowship with the Father, God, Jerusalem, Jesus, nehemiah, our hearts, restore, the Christian life, The city of Jerusalem, the Comforter, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Persian king, The Temple, The wall of Jerusalem, transform, you, Your Soul

How To Gain The Proper Perspective In Your Life

November 15, 2012 by Olga 5 Comments

How To Gain The Proper Perspective In Your Life

Have you ever noticed that when you are worrying about a certain thing in your life, seeing someone else enjoying himself or herself can really feel annoying?

It seems that some go through life having such a good time that they appear naive and immature. People can clearly enjoy their lives and it can appear to us as if they don’t have a worry in the world. But the truth is that they have made a choice to have that attitude.

What Is Your Outlook On Life Today?

Do you wake up every morning to embrace the day? So many people allow their circumstances to dictate their lives. They don’t realize that they have been given free will to choose how they want their day to be. We can make a decision every morning to rejoice and be glad for the day that the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24).

The Bible encourages us to constantly put on a fresh mental attitude. When we wake up in the morning we can make that first choice to focus on good things (Philippians 4:8). We can choose to be grateful for and excited about the day.

It is too easy to let our responsibilities and the pressures of life cause us to drift into negative thinking. Negative thinking weighs us down, causing us to lose our joy and enthusiasm. Before we know it, we stop appreciating our friends and family, and begin to doubt that they are for us. And soon, we may even think that the entire world is against us.

Negative thinking makes the small things seem tremendously large, until we are living in constant worry and frustration.
If that is how you feel today, take heart because your life can be different. You can take off that garment of heaviness and put on a garment of thanksgiving. You do this by making a choice to engage your will; you can choose to have a new outlook on life.

Everyone faces difficulties and huge challenges. We all have obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. The difference between those who are able to rise above their adversities and those who are mired in them is their attitude.

What Are You Thankful For?

A key to enjoying your life is finding things to be thankful for every day. Make a list. Write down all the good things in your life. Review it each day, every morning, before you leave the house. This will help you focus on the many treasures that fill your life, and it will give you a positive perspective and a grateful heart.

We all have things to be grateful for, but sometimes our perspective becomes distorted and we fail to recognize and focus on those good things.

I think we all have one or two friends who have a tendency toward a negative perspective. They are always having a bad week. Their children are always sick, they are almost always late for work and the list goes on and on.

No matter what season of life you are in, you must deal with the temptation to focus on the negative. Make no mistake, we all choose where to place our focus. Those who have the richest perspective on life choose to be happy and content with what God has given them and to trust Him in those things that are truly difficult.

Compare the Proverbs 31 Woman to Eve

The Proverbs 31 woman seemed to have it all: she was diligent, faithful, content and she ran a huge household without murmuring. She totally enjoyed her life.

Compare the Proverbs 31 woman to Eve. She was a woman who truly did have it all. She was living in the most gorgeous situation ever with the perfect man by her side. Then the day came that she chose to focus on one negative thing, which was the only fruit tree from which God had told her not to eat. She couldn’t focus on all the other fruit she was permitted to take.

The more she looked at the forbidden fruit, the larger it became in her mind. She allowed the one negative in the garden to twist her perception of the entire garden. She magnified that one forbidden thing until it was so large in her thinking that she couldn’t see anything else.

What Are You Magnifying?

When you magnify something, it doesn’t actually change the size of the object, it simply changes your perspective of the object. When you hold a pen or something in your hand and stretch your arm out in front of you, the pen seems small compared to your surroundings. But when you pull the pen in nearer to your eye, it appears much larger.

In fact, when you hold it close enough, you aren’t able to see anything else. So often in life, our difficulties and challenges seem so much larger than they actually are, simply because we are holding them closer to us than necessary. But when we have the right perspective, those same difficulties become much more manageable.

What’s the point in choosing the negative? It’s like swimming against the current – it makes everything a struggle. An improper perspective will drain your energy and vitality. It will sap the fun and joy right out of your life. Your life was meant to be enjoyed. You weren’t created to constantly struggle and be in perpetual discouragement.

I am always amazed how my perspective changes when I have a grateful heart and choose to count my blessings.

To Sum It Up

To keep the right perspective, we must magnify the right things in our lives. When I come up against challenges, I remind myself of all the great things God has done for me and will do for me. I begin to thank Him for allowing me to know Him; I thank Him for my family, my husband and my children. I thank Him for my awesome church family and my pastor.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Wise choices will watch over you. Pro 2:11 NLT
You can subscribe to The Daily Choice which is a SPIRITUAL Devotion
that helps you to make the right choices in your life!

Filed Under: 5 Your Character Tagged With: attitude, Challenges, discouragement, God, how to, In Your Life, life, Magnifying, mind, negative, Olga Hermans, perspective, pressures, Proper Perspective, Proverbs 31 Woman, thanks, What Is Your Outlook On Life, your life, Your Outlook

Why You Can Accomplish What Others Only Think About

October 31, 2012 by Olga 7 Comments

Why You Can Accomplish What Others Only Think About

Over the past few days, I have been praying for those in the path of hurricane Sandy that buffeted the north-eastern United States. One of the storm-related photos that has gone viral shows three soldiers standing at attention in the driving rain at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Although the photograph was actually taken in September, the honor guard remained on duty, even as they were pummelled by the fierce wind and rains of this past week’s storm.

According to the Society of the Honor Guard website, “The Tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In fact, there has been a Sentinel on duty in front of the Tomb every minute of every day since 1937. And the Sentinel does not change the way he guards the Tomb, even at night when there is no one around.”

“The guards …are completely dedicated to their duty of guarding the Tomb. Because of that dedication, the weather does not bother them.”

There is a part in all of us that aspires to be as determined, committed and resolute as the Sentinels guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But how do we progress from aspiring to actually demonstrating those qualities? First, we must become convinced of the value of our mission.

Become Convinced Of The Value Of Your Mission

God has plans of magnitude and importance laid out for each of us. His plan and your mission is important and of highest value. Psalm 139:16 says that His plans for us were written in a book before we were ever born. God says His plans for us are “great and mighty.” He has plans “to prosper us and give us a future and a hope, and not to harm us.” God has deposited specific things in us that uniquely prepare us to carry out our mission.

The Bible has many examples of men and women who were convinced of the value of their mission. Joseph was convinced of the value of his mission, for he persevered through many hardships. You see Joseph’s mission was greater than his personal comfort or convenience. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate in understanding the value of His mission. He persevered to the cross to fulfill it. No one else could have carried out His mission and no one else can carry out yours. So you must not only believe in the mission, but you must also believe that you have a unique role in accomplishing it.

Believe That You Have A Part To Play

A big part of coming into maturity in Christ, is knowing what God wants you to carry out in His kingdom and being prepared and available for His purposes.

God has a mission tailor-made for you. You are His “go to” person for specific jobs He wants done on the earth! Sometimes our day-to-day lives can keep our focus earthbound. But that’s a limited perspective.

Colossians 3:1-2 encourages us this way: “If you then are raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (NKJV).

We have been raised with Christ and are seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Look up! View the significance of your life’s mission from your seat in the heavenly places. You’ll see an array of possibilities that are not visible from ground level. It’s exciting and inspiring to take on a mission and in order to persevere to the end, but you must also consider the cost of your mission.

Count The Cost

I would imagine that in daylight hours of pleasant weather being a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an enjoyable responsibility. When there are no obstacles in our path, the mission and life are good. But we know full well that the path of “ease” will not be the status quo.

We realize that personal sacrifice is required for the sake of the mission and that we must harden ourselves to forgo both personal convenience and the right to complain. If we consider the cost at the outset of our mission, we will be more likely to overcome the inevitable challenges that will arise along the way. Challenges can bring out emotions which can either serve or hinder our mission. Let’s look at a way we can use emotions to serve our mission.

Be Emotionally Connected

Our faith is grounded in what God’s Word says and not our emotions. But our emotions are not bad in and of themselves. The question is: has the emotion been stirred by the Word of God and does it connect us to our mission? The psalms tell us of David’s emotions and experiences as the Lord delivered him from many enemies. David looked to God for strength and supply, and encouraged himself in the Lord.

Personally, any time I spend confessing the Word elevates my hope and belief in God’s faithfulness. My joyfulness increases, as well as my resolve to carry on – to set my face like flint to see my mission through to the end.

Set Your Face Like Flint

Setting your face like flint means having a determined attitude. It comes through engaging your will and committing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. You won’t quit; you won’t stop; you set your face like flint; and you are determined. Isaiah says it this way “… I set my face like flint, confident that I’ll never regret this” Isaiah 50:7 (MSG).

The determined don’t put time limits on their commitments. They are committed with no conditions. As they begin the mission, their mind is made up to complete it. Doing what is right one or two times or even a few times won’t accomplish the mission. Being consistently diligent, doing what you know you need to do over weeks, months, and years, will.

To Sum It Up

Picture yourself just as those Sentinels guarding the Tomb: face set like flint, unmoved by the wind and rain, committed, determined, disciplined to your mission, no matter what may come.

You have been thoroughly furnished by God for every good work. You are convinced of the value of your mission. You know that you have a part to play. You’ve counted the cost and are determined. And that is why YOU can accomplish what others only think about!

Please take a brief minute to leave your comments. We learn and take encouragement from each other.

Filed Under: Making Choices in Life Tagged With: Accomplish, believe, Challenges, Convinced, Count The Cost, determined, Faith, God's Word, hurricane, mission, sacrifice, Sandy, significance, the heavenly places, Think About, value, Why You Can, You Can, You Have A Part To Play, your mission