Chapter 8 Holy Moments you Don't See Coming

Romans 8:27-

He who searches hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is, because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Life this side of heaven is hard. We sometimes pretend it isn’t, and we try to act like we are doing well. But then the reality of a broken world comes crashing down around us. We want to be seen as responsible, able to respond to the moment. When we can’t fix the situation or make the person we care about better, we thrash about blindly looking for relief from the pain. We fall for the lie that we have become disconnected from God. We feel alone, abandoned. We fall for the satanic lie that God is not around and nothing good is on the horizon. When we embrace this deceitful line of thinking, we stop looking for God in the holy moment and turn to our own efforts, accessing the world’s resources to help us. This leads to the downward spiral of sin, consequences, shame, perceived separation from God and others, and finally hopelessness. 

This chapter will explore the profound truths about how God is always working, always moving, always creating on our behalf. We come back to the theme verse for this book which is Ephesians 2:10.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

There it is, the promise that God is always working, always creating holy moments, and always inviting us to walk with Him in the holy moments He has created.

Learn these truths well and celebrate the holy moments that are all around you. Holy moments are happening all around us in the happy, whole moments as well as in the moments of brokenness, chaos, and suffering. When you said yes to Jesus, He miraculously entered your life and raised you up through his spirit who now resides in you. This intimate, powerful relationship offers us a continuous series of holy moments in the spiritual realm that we mostly never realize are happening. God is now at work in your life 24/7/365. Just sit with that for a moment.

In my loss. There

In my suffering. There

In my shame. There

In my disappointment. There

In my aloneness. There

In my separation. There

In my anger and bitterness. There

In my fear. There

In my crying out. There

In my joy. There

In my freedom. There

In my blessings. There

In my victories. There

In my wanderings. There

Here are a couple of the many verses that speak to God’s constant activity and eternal connection to His beloved creation, YOU!  Note, these verses have nothing to do with your current strength or weakness of spirit, or your ability to act faithfully in some way. This is what is happening all around you all the time from an eternal Father’s point of view.

Psalms 139:7-12-

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

Hebrews 4:14-16-

Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Romans 8:26-

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Notice it is the Holy Spirit communicating for us not our own groaning here. He is our intercessor, and He is constantly bringing your every need to the Throne of God!

Psalms 121:1-4-

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Hebrews 1:14- Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Angels are fighting for us in the spiritual realm. 

You are never alone if you are a Christ follower! The power to overcome the enemy’s accusations about God abandoning us is found in the word of God, the spirit of God, and the holy moments of God all around a believer.

These personal powerful holy moments happening in the spiritual background of our lives are God’s way of healing our past trauma, protecting our present life, and preparing the path for our future. Remember in the letter to the Philippians where Paul says,

“He who began a good work in you will keep perfecting it until the end.”

A Christ follower has an ongoing, eternal, supernatural relationship with their creator God. God’s Spirit has entered them and taken up eternal residence. This can never be undone. God is now working in our lives to achieve His redemptive plan for His beloved creation. Read these scriptures and ponder what they mean to you in your current situation.

Hebrews 13:5-6-

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So, we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Ephesians 1:13-

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Matthew 28: 18-20-

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Galatians 5:22- I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me.

Jesus lives inside you by His spirit, that changes everything!

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Look how many times Jesus says the word ‘ them’ in John 17:20-26;

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

In the book of John chapter ten Jesus describes His role as our ever-present shepherd. Jesus is always with us and protecting us as a perfect shepherd would. He allows us to go in and come out to eat and live, but He is always there, our perfect shepherd our perfect provider our perfect protector.

Look at the promise Jesus makes to you in John 14:18-23;

“I will not leave you as orphans (alone, with no hope); I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

God took up residence inside you the day you surrendered your life to him. The experience of that spiritual reality becomes more real to us as we pursue the relationship in the many ways God offers to us. There are holy moments when we feel so close to Him it takes our breath away. Other days we just survive the body blows of life and wonder where our protector is. Why is there such a wide swing of experiential awareness and interaction with God in our lives? Why can’t we just wake up every morning with an intimate awareness of God and walk in power and victory every day?

Last week I was learning deep things, I was seeing and being a holy moment, I was exhibiting the gifts of the spirit to people who needed a touch from God. This week I’m confused, unsettled, uncertain and anxious. What went wrong and how can I get back to the bliss of walking closely with Jesus???

I remember a verse here that once again reflects the constant presence and power of God even when we don’t want to believe it. 2 Corinthians 2:11-13.

The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; This is to a believer who has surrendered their life to Jesus.

if we endure, we will also reign with him; This is an expectation with a future promise.

if we deny him, he also will deny us; This is a warning to a non-believer who is denying Jesus as their savior.

if we are faithless, he remains faithful; This is a believer’s hope. In the moment we forget all of the verses before this, in the moment when our pain or our loved one’s pain is more than we can endure, and we give up, Jesus doesn’t give up on us!!!

for he cannot deny himself. This is our holy moment. Jesus will not deny the presence of His spirit in you, even at this point you may be denying His goodness in your life.

The goal of this chapter was to ensure that you understand the supernatural connection you have with God as a believer, and the reality of the holy moments happening around you that don’t depend on you for anything. I’ve been following and pursuing my relationship with Jesus for over 50 years. In that time, I have experienced moments of ecstasy and moments of darkness. I have watched God perform holy moment miracles right in front of me. I have also watched faithful Godly people suffer from disease and pass into glory finally free from their pain and suffering. Life this side of heaven is hard. We are told in Romans eight that all of creation groans to be restored to its pre sin existence. We see beautiful places in nature corrupted by sinful people. We see beautiful God inspired art contrasted by ugly renditions of the worst of man. This is not a place that we should want to spend eternity in. It is a broken, needy, sick, sinful place where God shows up in beautiful, redeeming, healing ways, overcoming it all in holy moment after holy moment. People who want to endure this world need a savior to come and live in them, forgive them, and redeem them. We need Jesus to empower us for life here, so we can exhibit His holiness and hope to the broken world we live in. The verses we’ve read in this chapter should comfort us with the truth that God is always working to win His beloved creation back to intimacy and wholeness with Him. You cannot interfere with God’s determined plans. Satan can’t, world leaders can’t, other religious leaders can’t, and I certainly can’t. God is not dependent on my performance to complete His plans for me. The holy moments He prepares for us are all meant for our good and His glory. As Pastor Matt asks every believer he baptizes to say “It isn’t about me anymore, It’s all about Him!”

Go back to the beginning of this chapter and read those verses again. Meditate (ruminate) on one this week. Allow the reality of the truth penetrate your worried, busy, anxious soul. Read them out loud for your benefit and the benefit of the spiritual world around you. Imagine each word as a beam of light penetrating and pushing back the darkness around you. See, you just had a holy moment! You are never alone, God is always working on your behalf, and nothing you do or don’t do can change that. Ask God for the eyes to see the holy moments around you, then enter into those moments with humility and thankfulness.