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Thoughts Archived > The Plan


18 Apr 2010

       He is not here.  He is risen!

 Luke 24:6

Welcome

to the

Church of the Holy Spirit

 

 

 We welcome and embrace you, loved ones in Africa! 

Current Sunday Scriptures below!

 Archived Scriptures in The Family Room!

Embracing understanding with open arms...so all may become one.

 

  Who We Are 

The Church of the Holy Spirit is a Christian church.

We believe in God the Father, Jesus the Son
and
Holy Spirit the Comforter and Teacher.

We believe that God made the heavens and the earth,
 and gave all creatures His son, Jesus,
who died on the cross to forgive our sins
 and
to give us eternal life.

We believe Jesus went to heaven, he is now seated at God’s right hand,
 and
that God gave us Holy Spirit to teach, comfort, and guide us.
 
We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God.

 

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Who are God, Jesus and Holy Spirit?

God is our heavenly Father who created heaven and earth.  He gave us His Son, who died on a cross to allow our sins to be forgiven and give us eternal life becoming our Lord and Savior.  When Jesus died, Holy Spirit was made available to us to comfort, teach and guide us.

God in the beginning:  Genesis 1:1
Jesus:  Matthew 1, 2 & 3
Holy Spirit:  John 15:26

 

Are you one with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit?

If you have not accepted the Trinity into your life and you would like to, pray this prayer or use your own words from your heart:

“Dear Heavenly Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, please forgive me of my sins known and unknown.  Please come into my life, heal me and make me whole.  Give me a new life in and with you.  I wish to receive all that you have to give.  Baptize me in the fullness of your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn all I can about you to love you, and others, as you love me.  So I can love myself.  Thank you for giving me this new life.  Please send other Christians to surround me to help me grow and be strong to defeat Satan and the things of the world.  Help me to be worthy of your love.  Thank you God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.  In Jesus name I pray by and with the power of the Holy Spirit, dear Heavenly Father God.  Amen.” 

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If you have prayed this prayer, please email us at TrinityMissions@msn.com, so we can agree with you in prayer, praise God, and uplift you with prayer support.  We are thrilled to welcome you into the family of believers and encourage you to find a church home nearby where you can study, grow and fellowship with others.  Someone may need your support as much as you need them.  We are commanded to come together in fellowship to worship His majesty.

If you choose to fellowship with us via the web, we are honored to welcome you to the Church of the Holy Spirit.  We pray you will be enriched and uplifted in the fullness of the Trinity to their glory.  Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing from time to time.  As the website grows, we will have a special page for this purpose, and, you will be able to list prayers for all to see, so that we may come together as a body of believers, for ‘wherever two or more shall gather, there will I be.’   Don’t forget to send prayers of thanksgiving, as well as petitions of tears.  

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You are who I call ‘The Promise Children’, as in Romans 9:25-26 NLT:

“Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.  And I will love those whom I did not love before.  And, once they were told, ‘You are not my people.’  But now he will say, ‘You are children of the living God.”

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“The Kingdom of God is near you now.”

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The Apostle Paul gave us a “Prayer for Spiritual Empowerment” in Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT.  It reads

“When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.”  

Jesus told us to remain in his love in John 15:9-13 NLT:

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love.  When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!  I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.  And here is how to measure it - the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” 

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 April 18, 2010

 Hebrews 11 

  The Plan  

    

Hebrews

What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.  God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.  God accepted Abel's offering to show that he was a righteous man.  And although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us because of his faith.

It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying--"suddenly he disappeared because God took him."  But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God.  So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood.  He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before.  By his faith, he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God's sight.

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.  He went without knowing where he was going.  And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent.  And so did Isaac and Jacob to whom God gave the same promise.  Abraham did this because he was confidently looking foward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.  

It was by faith that Sarah, together with Abraham, was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sara was barren.  Abraham believed that God would keep his promise.  And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children--a nation with so many people that, like the starts of the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.

All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God.  They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.  And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own.  If they had meant the country they came from, they would have found a way to go back.  But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.  That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.  

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him.  Abraham, who had received God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, though God had promised him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted."  Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.  And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

It was by faith that Isaac blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau.  He had confidence in what God was going to do in the the future.

It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

And it was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, confidently spoke of God's bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt.  He was so sure of it that he commanded them to carry his bones with them when they left!

It was by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months.  They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid of what they king might do.

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.  He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.   He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him.  It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt.  He was not afraid of the king.  Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.  It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.

It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Seas as though they were on dry ground.  But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.

It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho seven days, and the walls came crashing down. 

It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute did not die with all the others in her city who refused to obey God.  For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Well, how much more do I need to say?  It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.  By faith these people over threw kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them.  They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword.  Their weakness was turned to strength.  They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.  Women received their loved ones back again from death.

But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free.  They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life.  Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips.  Others were chained in dungeons.  Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword.  Some went about in skins of sheep and goats hungry and oppressed and mistreated.  They were too good for this world.  They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

All of these peole we have mentioned received God's approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.  For God had far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them, for they can't receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race. 

 

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Thoughts...

 

This is the plan:

Have faith.

Have confident assurance.

Believe what you hope for is going to happen.

Receive the evidence of things not seen.

Receive God's approval because of your faith.

Have faith.

Understand.

Know God's commands.

Have faith.

Give acceptable offerings to God.

Be righteous.

Have faith.

Be ready to go to God.

Be approved as pleasing to God.

Realize it is impossible to please God without faith.

Please God.

Believe in God and his rewards.

Go to him.

Receive his rewards.

Sincerely seek him.

Have faith.

Obey God.

Listen to him.

Have faith.

Condemn the rest of the world.

Be made right in God's sight.

Have faith.

Obey God.

Go where God tells you. 

Receive your inheritance.

Receive his promises.

Trust God.

Live by faith.

Confidently look forward.

Have faith.

Believe that God will keep his promise.

Be faithful.

Be willing to die without receiving the promises of God.

Welcome the promises of God from where ever they come.

Be humble. 

Look for a better place.

Seek a heavenly homeland.

Be not ashamed to call him your God.

Have faith.

Be ready to give a sacrifice to God.

Expect to be tested.

Receive what God has promised.

Have faith.

Believe in life after death.

Have confidence in what God is going to do in the future.

Have faith.

Bless others.

Bow in worship.

Have faith.

Confidently speak of God.

Bring others to him.

Be sure.

Command with assurance.

Have faith.

Be not afraid.

Have faith.

Refuse to be treated as different.

Choose to share in the oppression of God's people.

Do not enjoy fleeting pleasures of sin.

Be willing to suffer for the sake of the Messiah.

Be willing to give up the treasures of the world.

Look ahead to the great reward that God will give you.

Have faith.

Be not afraid.

Keep on going.

Keep your eye on the one who is invisible.

Have faith.

Keep the Passover.

Have faith.

Go right through as children of God.

Have faith.

March to break through strongholds.

Have faith.

Welcome others in God's name.

Receive favors from God.

Have faith. 

Overthrow kingdoms not of God. 

Rule with justice.

Receive what God has promised you.

Defy Satan, conquer him, end his reign, eliminate his armies.

Let your weakness be turned to strength.

Be strong in battle.

Receive your loved ones back from death.

Trust God

Expect torture.

Prefer to die for God to be free.

Place your hope in the resurrection to a better life.

Expect mocking, torture and death for God. 

Expect death, loss, hunger, opression and mistreatment.

Be too good for the world.

Be ready to set yourself apart from the world.

Receive God's approval because of your faith.

Be willing to receive nothing. 

Finish the race.

Receive the prize.

Know that God has far better things in mind for you that will benefit you. 

 

Notice how many times it says to have faith.  Many things are duplicated for emphasis.  It's all about trust, too.  And making right choices.  Above is the plan for right choices.  No one ever said loving God and trusting him and our Savior and Holy Spirit would be easy.  But it is worth every moment on earth to receive our heavenly home...and be in Jesus' arms at the end of the race.  What a prize that will be. 

May you be blessed this day and every day. 

 

***

 

Let Us Pray

 

Dear Heavenly Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, I pray to you with humility, begging forgiveness for my sins, praising you, the Trinity, with thanksgiving, and, asking you to let me be..."the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ" Jesus.  May I always honor you with the love I give to others, embrace them with your love, tell them I love them, and in so doing, know I am worshiping you.  May you be in them, with them, and surrounding them always.  And me.  May I never know a moments breath without you.  May I never not feel your embrace.  May I never ever lose your love.  I long for that day when I will be in your arms and feel your breath on my cheek once again.  I love you, Lord.  May I be embodied with the fullness of your Holy Spirit and share all you are, that you are, and how wonderful you are with others, so they too, may know the wonder of your love.  Thank you for loving me and all those I love who are in you and who have you in them.  I am so grateful for such blessings and graces.  In Jesus' name I pray, by and with the power of the Holy Spirit, to dear Heavenly Father God.  Amen.  I love you, Lord.  Amen.            

 

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More love.... 

  Benediction...Blessing

 

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resouces he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

 

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'.

 

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation.  

 

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If you feel that the Church of the Holy Spirit has inspired or helped you, we'd like you to prayerfully consider tithing regulary to us or gifting us, so that we can further the work and carry out the will of the Father as proclaimed in Matthew 28:16 NLT

 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 

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  Our Current Cause

It is time to reach into the community and the world around you to see wherein lies the greatest need.  As you choose to focus on these areas, do so with a servant's heart.  Whether the need is for children, adults, or animals, or any cause in between that will help those in need, ask God how you can best serve his needs, what path you must take, and how long you should persevere.  Sometimes we are to be in the lives of others merely as stepping stones.  Sometimes we are to touch those lives forever.  Whatever journey you are called to take, whatever team you will be a member of, know this:  God is with you always...even til the end of time.  He loves you, is grateful for you, and will help you along life's way, especially if you are helping others along theirs, persevering with a servant's heart. 

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and God's....and may God richly bless you! 

 

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Checks or money orders can be made out to

Trinity Missions

or the

Church of the Holy Spirit

and sent to

Trinity Missions

P.O. Box 86076

Tucson, Arizona

85754-6076

 

If you have any questions, we can be reached at:

1-866-402-GIFT

10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Mountain Time

or

TrinityMissions@msn.com

Please note Trinity Missions or CoHS in your subject line.

 

As we grow, you will have options for allocating your gifts.

In the meantime, we hope you will trust us to direct them to where the need is the greatest.

 

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  One last thing....

 

Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'

 

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

 

And the people said,

"Amen."

 

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.

 

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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Bible Authors and Minister