Nina’s Introduction to the Holy Spirit

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seethe him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.    John14:16-17

…Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.            Isaiah 43:1b  
       A key verse is prayerfully selected by the lay leader for the weekend.  Isaiah 43:1b was selected for both the men and women, which was somewhat unusual. It became our first “life verse”, which is a verse that the Holy Spirit highlights to you personally in a particular time and situation that speaks to your deepest need.

            Mark talked to me at length the next two weeks about his experience. It was obvious something extraordinary had happened to him. I despised being among strangers and speaking in public due to my low self-esteem issues although the Lord had been dealing with me concerning them. Mark told me almost everything or he knew I would not go. It seemed to mean so much to Mark that I reluctantly and fearfully went.

            I was overwhelmed and shocked. I had never experienced such unconditional love period much less from total strangers. I simply had no reference point! I was confused about all these women who had mothers, sisters, aunts, etc., who taught them about God and prayer. I threatened to leave, but decided to stay and met someone I had never known before, the Holy Spirit. I had so many moments of calm reflection and feeling totally loved in the midst of these not so perfect yet kind people.

            It took me months to sort the download from the weekend and at times I perceived the Lord and the enemy was fighting over my very soul! Brother Stan knew I was struggling and watched over me prayerfully. Finally, Praise the Lord, He won my free will and choice to serve Him. I was one more step further along to being a Christian rather than doing Christian work. I had an insatiable desire to know more of the Lord through prayer and Bible study. And to serve Him according to His will.

Prayer: Provide the courage and boldness to follow you Lord to the next step in relationship.

Thought: We must over-ride negative emotions, namely fear, to level up with our LORD!

Mark’s Introduction to the Holy Spirit
 What?  Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,   and   ye  are not your own?                                                                               I Corinthians 6:19

We moved to a small church home closer to our home when our boys were four and six.  Our Pastor was about our age.  We began to hear about “The Walk to Emmaus” retreat for church leaders based on Luke 24:13-32.  Brother Stan, our Pastor, came to our home and explained to us the effect this weekend had on him and his ministry and urged us to go. 

The situation in our home was very tense; Mark was working in his Father’s business with his two elder brothers.  His hours were extremely long and relationships within the company were strained to the breaking point.  Mark brought all the conflict home and could not let it go.  I even tried taking the boys to the lake house for a month to ease the tension, but we were not the problem.

An elderly couple in our church dropped out of the weekend retreat due to his health and Mark was asked to go.  We were not prepared, but Mark was determined.  I was ready for anything that might help us.  The men went first and two weeks later the ladies (spouses) went.

No sooner than Mark literally flew out the door to go, Jonathan developed a strange out of nowhere fever!  It kept going up in spite of medication, rest, fluids, etc.  My in-laws lived next door, but my father-in-law had just come home from triple by-pass surgery so I was not going to bother them.  At 104 degrees, I put Jonathan in a lukewarm bath and it finally broke!  The next day he was “rung-out”, but suffered no more symptoms.  About one a.m. the next morning Bobby woke up screaming at the top of his voice because the electricity in our huge home was off.  I ran down to get Jonathan out of his crib.  He was awake but calm.  His huge “owl” eyes spoke of his bewilderment.  I will never forget the sight of my six year old gripping the windowsill like it was the only link to life!  We all piled into my bed for the rest of the night. I had committed to bringing food and singing in our very small choir Sunday morning.  The weekend had been an emotional nightmare for me.

That night Mark appeared at our front door with this angelic expression on his face wanting to talk, pray and kiss!  He had gone short-tempered, demanding, non-communicative and just plain mad at the world, including me!  I took one look at his face and wanted to say, who are you and what have you done with my husband!

Prayer: Teach us as couples to take time for prayer together and thus avoid difficulty and heart ache.

Thought: When your spouse has had a mountain top spiritual experience and it seems quite apparent that you suffered the spiritual warfare for it can you respond appropriately?
 

Love Triggers Heart Felt Prayer and Builds Faith

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children…according to the good pleasure of his will…in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will…              Ephesians 1:3-5 and 11

Jonathan and I were unusually bonded and emotionally tuned into each other from day one.  He was my “easy” baby.  He was a content, laid-back, happy child as long as he was with me.  He was a bright, sensitive child.  As an infant I instinctively met his needs before he expressed any discomfort.  I never had to discipline him because he remembered everything that was a no-no and would not dream of displeasing me.   During times of stress or sadness holding Jonathan would relieve me of any negative emotions.

 He adored his big brother and vice versa but would be present when Bobby engaged in risk taking activities, sometimes without my knowledge.  I learned to pray almost constantly and trust them to the Lord.  We had no major accidents or even illnesses, except croup, during their pre-school years, which was nothing short of a miracle and due to prayer.  My faith in prayer grew daily.

Prayer: Father, assist me in giving you everything in prayer and the wisdom to leave it with you.

Thought: Constant heart-felt prayer is a faith builder.  As my current Pastor says when you get serious with God, He gets serious with you.
 
 
 
 

God Uses Experiences to Teach His Precepts
 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.      James 1:19-20

 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.   Ephesians 4:32-32

Mother and Daddy’s relationship had always been turbulent at best and unbearable at worst.  Daddy was brilliant, but he suffered with uncontrolled and not properly treated bipolar depression. Their arguments usually ended in physical altercations when I was a child, and of course, that terrified me. 

Mother decided to leave Dad and come to my house for “protection” which was actually a form of manipulation to get her own way.  Daddy was livid and wrote many threatening letters to me, he could be quite intimidating.  Finally, while Mark and I were out he came to our home and, so I thought, broke in.  Actually Mother had left the back door open on purpose.  She hit the panic alarm button for the police.

 Bobby, only three years old told me Mother ran to get Jonathan, four months old, and physically placed him between Dad and herself.  I did not know this at the time; I just thought Dad had broken into our home.  When I saw the anger and overwhelming rage on his face I told him to get some help or never return to my home again.  He replied, I will not do that for you and I said don’t do it for me do it for yourself.

 Mark had to reinforce my words and for a moment I thought they were going to physically fight.  But the whole situation seemed to “strike a chord” of reality in him.  The next few days Dad checked into the psychiatric unit in a hospital in another city.  In time I forgave both of them but Mother never made any attempt to regain my trust during Jonathan’s lifetime.  I learned the precept that forgiveness must occur but trust must be earned.

Prayer:  Lord, give us understanding that mental illness must be dealt with not hidden.  It affects every relationship in our life.

Thought:  Is there someone in your family that needs professional therapy and medication and most importantly prayer and forgiveness for their actions when under the influence of the disease of mental illness?
 
                                                                                                                     

Fear Replaced by Trust
 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength…    Isaiah 26:3-4

I had taken a fertility drug to conceive Bobby and my thoughts turned to a second child, what if it took several years to become pregnant.  Bobby was a smart, winsome child and could wrap any adult around his little finger including his Dad and me at times!  He was becoming overindulged and spoiled but more of my concern was the fact he was lonely.

I kept a temperature chart and “boom” two months later Jonathan was on the way.   Mark seemed less than enthusiastic about the news; the thought of two very active children was a little intimidating.  He was not emotionally supportive, so I was desperate to find a way to cope.  You know that old adage “you aren’t just a little pregnant”

 My pregnancy with Bobby had been exhilarating and joyful until I got so huge and preeclamptic (a toxemia of late pregnancy).  But the fatigue I felt with Jonathan seemed abnormal to me, it wasn’t that, “Oh, I need a nap” kind; but it was an “I’m not confident my heart will keep beating”.  This feeling increased as Jonathan grew and other symptoms became quite painful even though I monitored my diet and exercise strenuously.

  I kept my fear to myself, prayed, and kept turning it over to the Lord, but I never gained total lasting (perfect) peace.  Jonathan was born “sunny side up” as the physicians called it, meaning he was backwards and face up March 3, 1984.  He was perfectly healthy and I recovered quickly the second time.  The boys were gifts from God and so wonderful.  My faith was strengthened, peace settled over me like a warm blanket and joy surfaced like I had never known before.  My dependence on God who never fails grew.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, you are faithful when we are faithless.

Thought:  Is our dependence on God ever limited?  My experience said no!