Tag: Holy Spirit

Identity – Transformed

by Brianboswell

Have any of you ever ridden in a car with someone and they are driving and they are looking at you while they are driving the car? How does that make you feel? It drives me nuts. Look at the road! Don’t look at me. I know you are talking to me. I’m paying attention. Don’t look at me. Look at where you are going. 

Why does this bother us? Because what we look at or what we focus on is the direction our life is moving. Most of us struggle to walk and chew gum at the same time, so to ask someone to maintain eye contact while also drive a vehicle down the highway at 70 miles an hour seems like too much to ask. 

In other words, we can only focus on one thing at a time. Whatever we focus on has our attention. To say this another way, our lives are heading in the direction we are moving. 

We are at the end of our series on Identity and today’s topic is probably the penultimate topic – transformation. One of the biggest questions I’ve been wrestling with since we started this series is this…

“What if my identity is rooted in something other than Christ? How do I change my identity to fit what God says about me?”

Or to put it more simply, how am I transformed to be more like Jesus? In other words, I love what you have been saying Pastor about me being a child of God, having an inheritance in Christ, that God loves me and so on, but I don’t really see myself that way and I can’t seem to change. How do I change? How do I transform my life from the way it is now, to the way God wants it to be? How can I see lasting change in my life. 

This I think is the ultimate question from this series and I want to address it today. How do we change? Let’s read together from Romans 12. I want pick up where we left off last week. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

‌‌Romans 12:1–2

So last week we really focused in on the beginning of verse 2. Paul says do not be conformed to this world. And if you remember, I talked about various ways the world is trying to conform us to its mold. It’s trying to press us into its design and we are to fight against it. Now I talked about sin a lot and several of you came up to me afterwards and said it was the worst sermon I ever preached because I stepped on your toes a bit. 

So, how many of you went home and changed something about your life? I had a few people come up to me Sunday evening and tell me they were so convicted about what I said on diet that they made a smarter choice at lunch than what they usually do (btw, the sermon was not on diets, that was an analogy), but several people said that. Now, if you did go home and perhaps you were more diligent that afternoon about what what you invited into your home, maybe you laid off social media or tv for the day. How many of you kept that up all week? Probably not as many. 

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Kiss the Son

by Brianboswell

“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Psalm 2:12

There is not much that is more intimate than a kiss. Most people would never dream of kissing their enemies and few today would kiss their friends. In today’s society, we only kiss those that we are incredibly close to, typically your spouse, your children and possibly your family.

The Psalmist encourages people here to kiss the Son. The call is a call of intimacy. It’s a call to dive into a deep relationship with the Creator of the universe. There is no greater relationship to enter into than a relationship with the Savior. His kiss is sweet. He draws us close and there is a safety there that cannot be found elsewhere.

The warning here though is stark. If you refuse that intimacy with the King, he will get angry and you will perish. The choice is stark. Do you want to anger the one who created you? Or do you want to draw close and experience an intimacy like no other? Choose wisely because his wrath is quickly kindled.

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Broken Pieces

by Brianboswell

“You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” – Psalm 2:9

Perhaps you have heard of Aesop’s fable of the Oak Tree and the Reed. In this fable, the Oak Tree is proud of who he is and he says to the reed, “look at me, I am a strong oak tree, I am unmovable. You are a small reed; you bend and sway with the slightest of breezes. Nothing can blow me over, I’m strong and mighty.”

The Reed remained quiet as the Oak Tree boasted. One day a storm came through and it was a bad one. The reed bowed low to the ground and bent in accordance to the wind. The Oak Tree, strong and mighty, stood tall and fought against the wind and storm. In the midst of the storm, the oak tree is blown over, unable to fight the storm any longer, while the reed survived the storm in tact by bowing low to the ground.

The moral of the story of course is that pride comes before the fall. What strikes me in this story could be summed up in the word pliable. The Reed is pliable, it bends under the weight of the wind, but it doesn’t break. The Oak Tree, on the other hand, isn’t easily bent. It’s not very pliable and under most circumstances, it serves him well, but a strong wind comes and it destroys the Oak Tree. Being pliable is what kept the Reed from the same fate.

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Father & Son

by Brianboswell

“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” Psalm 2:7

The Bible is really a story about family. Jesus made that abundantly clear when he encouraged his disciples to pray, “our Father, who art in heaven…” The message was clear. God is a father. And not just that he is a father, but that we are his children. We are sons and daughters of the king.

This passage is one of many Old Testament references to that idea. Here is God telling King David that he is his son. He’s expressing himself in familial language. He wants David to understand that he is apart of something much bigger than himself. This has to do with generational blessings and inheritance in some sense. In the next verse, it confirms that, but the key is understanding the difference in relationship – God wanted David to relate to him in a certain way, the way a son relates to his father.

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That’s My King!

by Brianboswell

Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Psalm 2:5-6

After the nations have joined together and plotted against the Lord, you would expect for the Lord to respond in fury. He does. The interesting thing about this passage is it goes back to the power of God’s word. God doesn’t raise up an army or send a plague when the nations rise up against him, he speaks a word.

One word has the power to destroy the nations. It has the power to terrify them. The word of the Lord has the power to build or to destroy. In this case, it brings a holy terror on the nations who are joining together in rebellion against Him. He speaks a word in anger towards them and terror follows it.

What is the word that the Lord speaks? He says he will set up his king in Zion. Now in context, Zion is the often referred to as Jerusalem, the city on his holy hill. However, I believe this passage to have prophetic significance. I believe this is actually referring to the New Jerusalem, or in other words, heaven.

And that is why terror has enveloped these nations, they know they can do nothing to overthrow a heavenly king. While they may be able to kill an earthly king, a heavenly king would be impossible to overthrow, instead they would be subject to Him and His rule.

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The Laughing Lord

by Brianboswell

“He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” Psalm 2:4

There is an old saying that laughter is the best medicine and scientifically speaking, there is some truth to that. It seems that laughter releases immune cells to help heal certain ailments in your body. Laughter also releases endorphins which fight stress and depression.

For many of us we don’t associate laughing with the Lord. Most people would say they picture God the Father as very serious. And while God is never described as being goofy or irreverent, he is described in several places as the God who laughs.

What is interesting is that God predominately laughs at one thing – his enemies. The Psalmist here says that even though the nations are plotting against God, God himself laughs at them. It’s as if the Lord doesn’t respect their plans and schemes. When he looks at their vain attempts to overthrow Him, he chuckles. God isn’t worried in the slightest about what the enemy is planning against Him. And why should He? He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Who is as mighty as He? No one!

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Raging Against The Lord

by Brianboswell

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” – Psalm 2:1-3

We live in confusing times. One of the most confusing things to some people has been the quick decent into evil and madness. The world looks to be “heading to hell in a hand basket” as they say. But are things really that different?

Look at what David says in this Psalm. He notes that the nations, peoples and kings of the earth have set themselves up against God and against his Son. This was around 3000 years ago. It would seem that not much has changed. In fact, we still ask the same question, why do the nations rage against God?

The answer is simple, but we may not like where it takes us. Sin is the obvious answer to this question. The nations rage because their hearts are captured by sin. The more daring question might be, why do I rage against God? Tougher question, but same answer.

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Ministering From Weakness

by Brianboswell

In this episode, we are asking the question, what is better…to minister from a place of strength or a place of weakness? This is an examination of Paul’s encouragement in 2 Corinthians 12. Click on the link below to listen.

For Everything There is a Season – Everyday Jesus

In this podcast, Pastor Brian discusses how in every part of life, there is a season and purpose. Our lives have been designed to mirror the seasons of the earth. We have times in which we plant and times in which we harvest. 
  1. For Everything There is a Season
  2. Ministering From Weakness
  3. You Are Called
  4. Pregnant With The Wind
  5. Having a Revival Mindset

WHICH GOD DO YOU SERVE?

by Brianboswell

This is a story almost as old as time. As a people, we were created to worship. Now some, possibly those who are atheist, would say that we are not created to worship and that they are choosing not to worship any god. They would however be wrong.

When we think of worship, a lot of times we think of it as kneeling down before our chosen deity. Yet, worship is more than that. It’s really about what do we give reverence to or to put it another way what do we make the highest authority in our life.

Whatever is our highest authority or whatever we give the most reverence to is what we are worshipping. We may never sing songs to it and we may never physically kneel before it, but make no mistake, we are worshipping it.

At any given times, multiple things or people are vying for our worship. One of these easiest gods to point out is the god of money. Jesus never says that money is evil, it’s fairly neutral, but it’s the “love” of money that is evil. Or to look at it another way, it’s the worshipping of money that is evil. That’s why Jesus also says that you cannot serve two masters – god and money.

That’s a principle worth noting – you cannot worship two gods. You might think you are worshipping God and money or God and popularity, but in truth one will always take the place of the other, meaning you will always hold one in higher esteem and if you are holding one in higher esteem, then the other isn’t really being worshipped. Jesus is essentially saying that if you are choosing between God and anything else, then God is the one who will lose out. You must determine that He alone is God and that nothing else is worthy of your worship.

One of the seemingly shared characteristics of all gods is their ability to save us from hell. I heard a preacher say years ago, that if being poor is hell for us, then of course money will save us. If being being single is hell, then of course a spouse will save us. If being rejected is hell, then you will worship popularity. We worship the god that we think will save us.

This brings us to our current state of affairs. Sometimes you will see that certain entities will create a “hell” so that it can also save you from it. Today governments all across the world are creating a “hell” for people so that it can offer salvation. This hell is the inability to enter restaurants, stores or even work at certain jobs without having the proper “medical credentials”. The government now has the ability to save you from this hell by offering you salvation in the form of a shot and the proper paperwork. The reason for this is simple, the government is demanding your worship.

Some will say that Romans 13 is an open checkbook for us to obey any and all demands of the government, but they fail to take into account several instances in the Bible where people didn’t obey the ludicrous claims of the governing authority, especially when those demands went against their faith. The Apostles never stopped preaching the gospel, even though they were commanded to under the threat of death.

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Acts 5:29

Look at the stories of the midwives in Exodus 1 or Rahab in the Book of Joshua. Look at the life of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys. There are many examples of defying tyrants in the Bible. In fact, some would say that it’s one of the hallmarks of being a God-fearing person. You fear God more than you fear the government.

“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God”

John Knox – Scottish Reformer

Again, we worship whatever we hold in the highest regard. If it’s God, we will certainly attempt to live quiet lives, seeking to love others and to love God. But don’t expect the government or money or whatever not to fight for your worship. I believe every Christian will have to face the question, which god do you serve? You can only choose one. Which one do you serve today?

Pregnant With The Wind

by Brianboswell

In this episode we are discussing what it looks like to be pregnant with the wind, or to put it in other words, to labor for something that never comes to pass. Have you ever worked hard only to find yourself in a fruitless situation several years down the road? Have you ever had a dream that never came true or didn’t amount to what you thought it would. We hit on all those things and more in this episode.

Pregnant With The Wind – Everyday Jesus

In this episode we are discussing what it looks like to be pregnant with the wind, or to put it in other words, to labor for something that never comes to pass.    http://www.everydayjesus.net http://www.facebook.com/everydayjesuspodcast http://www.instagram.com/everydayjesuspodcast  

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