We Need the Holy Spirit

 "The immediate and continual inspiration of the Holy Spirit is absolutely needed in your life."

— Andrew Murray, Daily in His Presence (September 5 Reading)

At the foundation of my understanding of the world and the human condition is the belief that human beings are created in the image of God. To be created in the image of God means to act as His representative in the world. Human beings were designed to work alongside God in caring for His good creation.

If we are to work alongside God and demonstrate His character, what do we need?

We need the Holy Spirit. The story in Genesis 3 about the fall of humankind revolves around people’s desire to define right and wrong, good and evil, for themselves. The choice that Adam and Eve faced in the garden was whether to gain wisdom as they walked with God or to seize knowledge for themselves and replace God.

In other words, humans are to be guided by the Spirit rather than by the flesh. Our world is oriented toward the flesh; we seek to do what is right in our own eyes. This orientation stems from sin severing the connection we are meant to have with God. Without this connection, we miss out on God’s wisdom, His love, and His life.

When Jesus died to save us from sin and to give us new life, He made it possible for us to be connected to God once more. That connection is found through the Holy Spirit. The process of discipleship that leads to spiritual maturity involves learning to be guided by the Spirit rather than by our flesh.

Just as Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—a decision to follow their flesh rather than the Spirit—we need to make the conscious choice to resist the flesh and follow the Spirit. Thankfully, God has given us grace, because this change doesn’t happen overnight. As we progress in our spiritual formation in Jesus, we discover that more and more often we are following the guidance of the Spirit rather than the guidance of our flesh.

If we are to be the people God created us to be, then we need the Holy Spirit guiding our lives.

About Paul’s Ponderings

I began Paul’s Ponderings in 2004.

Twenty years ago, I was an unmarried youth pastor who read a wide variety of books. I used this blog as a way to process what I was reading. The format of many of those early posts was a quote from a book, followed by the thoughts it stirred in my mind (hence the name Ponderings), with an attempt to tie it all to a Bible passage.

During those first few years, I posted almost every day. However, I never followed a strict schedule—I wrote whenever my mind was crowded with thoughts that needed to come out. I wasn’t as successful with my blogging as I wanted to be, mainly because I neglected to proofread and edit my posts. They were strictly stream-of-consciousness. While I never amassed a huge audience, the blog did serve the purpose of emptying the rambling thoughts that often occupied my mind.

Over the past fourteen years, my life has shifted quite a bit. I went from being single to being married with children. I went from serving independent Restoration Movement Churches to being an ordained pastor (along with my wife) in the Free Methodist Church—a denomination I hadn’t even heard of twenty years ago. Needless to say, my free time isn’t what it used to be.

Another major change during this time, which I’m sure many of us have experienced, is the rise of smartphones and social media. At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal, and I didn’t notice how my free time had shifted from reading books to scrolling through social media and listening to podcasts.

Then COVID hit, and what started as a little time on my phone turned into an addiction. I didn’t realize it at first, but this summer I was confronted with the reality of how big the problem had become. I don’t recall the specific details, but I do remember picking up my phone and opening X (formerly Twitter) with this thought running through my mind: “I don’t know what to think about.” My thoughts were no longer my own—they were being directed by whatever I found on my phone.

That realization took me back to why I started Paul’s Ponderings in the first place: to have a space to share my own thoughts. But now, those thoughts were coming from the small device in my hand. I had a problem.

As I seek to break free from my phone and social media, I’ve decided that a good discipline to cultivate is the habit of reading and writing again. That led me back here, to my long-neglected blog. I realize that, in recent years, “being a blogger” was more a part of my fantasy self than my reality. You can look through the archives and see my failed attempts to revive Paul’s Ponderings. Now, I want to give it another try. Whether or not I gain readers isn’t the point—the point is to have the motivation to read, think, and share my thoughts.

My plan is to return to my old format: starting with a quote from something I’m reading, jotting down my rambling thoughts, and making some attempt to tie it all back to the Bible. I hope you’ll join me on this journey, but if not, that’s okay—especially if you promise to check in every once in a while.

Rethinking the Woman at the Well

John Eldredge in his book Beautiful Outlaw shares a common thought about the woman at the well, that she was “sexually loose.” 

But as you can see I crossed that out. 

Why? 

Because it probably isn’t true. Remember, this is a patriarchal culture where women have very little power. What that means is that it would have been suicide for her to be unfaithful so many times. Women did not have the power to initiate divorce, and to have no husband to provide for you would have been disastrous.

The more likely scenario is that her husbands have either died or divorced her, which left her very vulnerable. Because of this the town’s people see her as unlucky or maybe even cursed (think about Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38). 

Through our western eyes we read that she is shacking up with a guy, but again, that is probably isn’t the case, and even if it was, it was something she did out of survival rather than a sinful lifestyle. The phrase that Jesus used to describe her condition could mean hat she is the second wife, the lesser wife, in a relationship: he is not her man.

This also explains why she is at the well at noon time. Contrary to the way we have been taught to teach this encounter, women did not just come in the morning or evening to get water, but they came whenever they needed it. If she was the second wife, then it would have been her responsibility, and since she had no children to help her, she had to carry all the water the household needed herself. This meant multiple trips to the well each day. 

Rather than being a sinful woman, this woman is a woman doing her best to survive, a woman who experienced a lot of tragedy, and a woman viewed by many as cursed. 

Do we know any of this for sure? 

No, we don’t. The text just doesn’t give us that information. 

We do know, that she is not described as a sinful woman until the Reformation. We also know that the Eastern Orthodox Church venerated her as a saint with the name Photini, “Enlightened”, given to her when the apostles baptized her. The Eastern Orthodox Church also believe that she was a great evangelist who was martyred in 66AD. 

Again, we don’t know any of this for sure, which means we are left with what is more probable? What is more probable, given her time and culture, is that she was a woman who had a difficult life, and did the best she could in order to survive. And when she met Jesus, she told others about him.

The Spiritually Mature Life: Having the Fruit

On Sunday, April 7, 2024, I started a new sermon series at Bethlehem Church called A Spiritually Mature Life. This sermon series is focused on following the guidance of the Holy Spirit so he can produce the type of life that God wants us to live.

There are two ways we can live our lives. We can follow the desires of our flesh or we can be guided by the Holy Spirit. To follow the desires of our flesh leads to a life that is contrary to the Kingdom of God and thus leads to death. To follow the Spirit produces the fruit of eternal life in us. Eternal life is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In other words this is the type of life God created us to live. It is a life that demonstrates God’s character in this world.

Text: Galatians 5:16-25

Big Idea: Following the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of eternal life in us.

Challenge: This week expect the Holy Spirit to guide you.