Spiritual Ponderings

According to the original language, the Holy Spirit is wind. It is like a wind full of oxygen. Oxygen is a fuel propellant or enhancer. Oxygen does not burn on its own but intensifies any fuel it is added to. We largely determine in our own hearts the type of fire that will burn within us. (Luke 24:32) There is a fire of jealousy. (Number 25:11; Job 32:2; Psalm 79:5; Song 8:6) There is a fire of anger. (Genesis 39:19; 2 Samuel 12:5) There is a fire of hatred. (2 Samuel 13:15) There is a fire of lust. (Romans 1:27) There is a fire of passionate love. (Song 8:6) All except the last fire are generally symptoms of a malfunction due to a lack of something important in the soul. It is like having a condition of malnutrition of a vital mineral or vitamin in the body that reveals itself in some sort of serious disease or weakness. Unfortunately we have become confused through our distorted ideas about drugs and medication and health and have been taught to believe that disease is somehow ...

Father, use me to capture the hearts of these specific individuals who presently hold onto so much animosity towards me. You are reminding me of what You taught me some time ago about heaven's reward system. Your kind of rewards, which of course are the best kind to work for, are the bonds of joy formed between hearts when deep friendships are forged. The value of the reward is directly proportional to the difficultly encountered in trying to win someone into love-bonds with yourself and with God. You taught me that if I would like to increase the value content of my rewards that I must be willing to push back with Your methods when people dislike me or even abuse me. Instead of reacting in kind, which is the normal mode in temptation, I am to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me etc. You were not just giving some nice suggestions or throwing out clichés in Jesus' discourse on that mountain so long ago. You were describing incredible principles of reality that...

Not long ago I took three vehicles that were sitting around my yard to the scrap metal yard in exchange for some much needed cash. I not only made my yard look much nicer and made some room, but what I observed there gave me some valuable insights as to some of the ways that God relates to us. Let me explain how I came to see Jesus and myself in the scrapyard. When I pulled into the scrapyard pulling my trailer with a vehicle strapped on it, I observed that a giant crane was working with a very large, heavy flat-bottomed piece of steel was suspended from it. It was a giant electromagnet that is commonly used to move large amounts of steel around quickly in situations like that. The operator of the crane was very skilled in manipulating the crane, the heavy magnet swinging around and the controls that instantly switch the power on and off supplying current to the magnet. As I watched with little-boy fascination, he would sweep the large magnet low over the scrap pile and turn on the...

There are two ways of living. And I just discovered that the only difference between them is just two letters – K and W. But where each one of us chooses to place those two letters will make all the difference in the world. Life is all about priorities. Most of us know that, but it is altogether a different thing to really live it. Priorities are a slippery thing in life. It is so easy to talk about them, to emphasize what should be our priorities or to point out where others are failing to prioritize properly and the sad consequences that follow. But the priorities that really determine the direction of our lives are not so much the ones we tend to talk about and organize with our minds and expostulate on, but it is the priorities that are largely hidden out of sight most of the time, hidden from our conscious awareness. They are the priorities with deep roots hidden in our heart. The heart too, is a difficult place to explore. I spent most of my life almost completely unaware of...