One must totally forgive those who will not be reconciled. It must happen in the heart, and when it does, peace emerges – with or without a complete restoration of the relationship. What matters is that the Holy Spirit is able to dwell in us ungrieved, able to be utterly Himself.

College Pastor Josh Gilchrist joins Dan to discuss the Spirits role in the New Covenant of giving Spiritual gifts. They talk through the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 13 such as tongues, interpretation, healing, and prophecy, their scriptural purposes, and how we ought to think about these miraculous sign gifts in the modern Church.

Jared Millican and Dan Jarms discuss the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and his role and ministry in the New Covenant.

Mark Frankian and Dan Jarms discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and address some of the misconceptions about the differences between the Spirit's work in the Old and New Testaments.

John Gardner and Dan Jarms discuss the personhood and role of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. The Spirit is a helper and comforter. He inspired the writing of scripture and he helps us remember, understand, and obey God's Word. He indwells believers and helps us to pray, and acts as the seal of our salvation. View the referenced Systematic Hymnology Booklet with the Trinity graphic

Foundations of Faith Day 3 Who is the Holy Spirit? Imagine God’s Spirit hovering over the face of the earth. Everything is dark and without form until God breathes out the words, “Let there be light.” In an instant, everything changes. The light pierces the darkness, and what was once invisible is now seen clearly. This is what God’s Spirit does. He is always close, always near, always bringing to light what was once covered in darkness. There’s evidence throughout Scripture that the Holy Spirit empowered particular people to take part in His plans and to remind others of His purpose. But Jesus’ sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection changed everything. For the first time in history, anyone who chose to believe in Jesus could receive His Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is still available. No matter your situation or background, when you belong to Christ, His Holy Spirit is with you at all times, empowering and strengthening you, and praying on your behalf. He understands your needs because He understands you. And because God understands you, He is always working on your behalf for your good and His glory. This doesn’t mean you won’t endure suffering or encounter hardships. But even in the midst of those trials, God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, will continue to draw you closer to Himself. But having access to the Holy Spirit and going through life with the Holy Spirit are completely different things. Living a Spirit-filled life requires intentionally seeking God every day. It’s through intentional time with God that you discover how to love Him, love others, and make disciples. It’s through getting to know God’s character that you become familiar with His Spirit’s power, presence, and authority. And it’s through the power of the Holy Spirit that you become aware of how your actions and choices affect your relationship with God and other people. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is available to everyone who becomes a follower of Christ, and He wants to empower you to live in a manner worthy of the calling God has placed on you. Action Step: Spend some time meditating on today’s verses. Repeat them slowly and pay attention to any words or phrases about the Holy Spirit that stand out to you. Ask God to show you how He has equipped you with His Spirit, and allow Him to reveal any areas of your life that still need to be transformed by Him.

Foundations of Faith Day 1 What does it mean to be a Christian?We all have an idea of what being a Christian should look like. But if we’re being honest, our views are often influenced by our cultural values, our politics, our background, and what’s currently going on in the world around us. If we were to strip away all those outside influences, what would our faith actually look like?Cultures will change and values will shift, but God’s Word will always reveal the foundations of our beliefs. So starting today, we’ll take a closer look at some questions about God, the Holy Spirit, sin, and baptism and discover what the Bible tells us about each of them. But before we get started, keep in mind that the purpose of this Plan isn’t to argue for or against a particular denomination, doctrine, or philosophical position. The purpose is to provide clarity around some common Christian questions by rooting each day in Scripture and providing practical action steps. So to help us do this, we’re laying out four foundational statements that each day will automatically assume to be true. The God of the Bible is real, true, and perfect. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for correction and instruction. God’s Word is truth. We can turn to it for trustworthy answers to our questions. As followers of Jesus, we are called to worship God in Spirit and in truth. Basically, if we want to live Holy Spirit-empowered lives, then we need to have a clear understanding of what is true so that we can recognize the Spirit’s promptings. And to clearly understand what is true, we must turn to Scripture—the written documentation of God at work through humanity. By seeking God’s truth we gain a greater understanding of His character, which allows us to confidently walk in His Spirit. Action Step: To get the most out of this Plan, try processing each day with a friend, and use the daily content as a starting point for deeper conversations about what it means to know God and make Him known.

Come Closer God has an outside voice, and He’s not afraid to use it. But when God wants to be heard, when what He has to say is too important to miss, He often speaks in a whisper just above the absolute threshold of hearing. My dictionary defines whisper as “speaking very softly using one’s breath without one’s vocal cords.” The use of breath instead of vocal cords is significant. Isn’t that how God created Adam? He whispered into the dust and named it Adam. Adam was once a whisper. So were you. So was everything else. Whispering is typically employed for the sake of secrecy. No form of communication is more intimate. So why does God so often speak in whispers? When someone speaks in a whisper, you have to get very close to hear. In fact, you have to put your ear near the person’s mouth. We lean toward a whisper, and that’s what God wants. The goal of hearing the heavenly Father’s voice isn’t just hearing His voice; it’s intimacy with Him. He speaks in a whisper because He wants to be as close to us as is divinely possible! He loves us, likes us, that much. When our children were young, I’d sometimes speak in a whisper so they would inch closer to me. That’s when I’d grab them and hug them. God plays the same trick on us. We want to hear what He has to say, but He wants us to know how much He loves us. Aren’t you grateful for a gentle God? The Almighty could intimidate us with His outside voice, but He woos us with a whisper. And His whisper is the very breath of life. There’s an old adage that those who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music. That is certainly true of those who walk to the beat of God’s drum. When you take your cues from the Holy Spirit, you’ll do some things that will make people think you’re crazy. So be it. Obey the whisper and see what God does. Because nothing has the potential to change your life like the whisper of God. Nothing will determine your destiny more than your ability to hear His still small voice. That’s how God-sized dreams are birthed. That’s how miracles happen. When was the last time you invited the Holy Spirit to speak to you? Are you actively inviting God to speak to you?

The essence of the war we’re talking about is spiritual. Because this warfare is first and foremost spiritual and not physical, the degree to which you and I will be successful is the degree to which we are prepared to understand and fight this battle on a spiritual level. While waged in the invisible, spiritual realm, spiritual warfare is manifested in the visible, physical realm. In other words, spiritual warfare is a battle between invisible, angelic forces that affect you and me. You and I can’t see the cause of the war, but we see the effects—the kinds of problems I mentioned above—all the time, day in and day out. It’s hard enough to fight an enemy you can see. It’s much harder to fight someone you can’t see. Everything you do in the visible, physical realm is caused, provoked, or at least influenced by something in the invisible, spiritual realm. Your five senses are not the limit of reality, and until we address the spiritual root of a problem, we will never fix the physical effects of that problem. Not only are your physical senses limited, but they often provide little help in spiritual warfare. This means that if you are going to wage a successful spiritual battle, you need a “sixth sense”—a keen awareness of the spiritual realm. In order to understand spiritual warfare, we have to address it through the lens of the spirit, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Location of the Battle Where in the universe is this great battle called spiritual warfare being fought? Paul tells us it is “in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), which means the spiritual realm. In the Bible, the word heaven describes three levels of existence (see 2 Cor. 12:2). The first heaven is the atmosphere that surrounds the earth, the environment in which we live. The second heaven is what we commonly refer to as outer space, the stellar heavens where the stars and planets exist. This is also a realm in which angels operate, be­cause in the Bible angels are often called stars (Job 38:7). When you see the stars at night, they should remind you of spiritual beings called angels and the reality of the warfare we are engaged in. The third heaven is the throne room of God, the place we normally think of when we hear the word heaven. It is about this heaven that the Bible has the most to say. In fact, the third heaven is an incredibly busy place because it is the control center of the universe. In the book of Ephesians alone, we find numerous references to heavenly places in addition to that in 6:12. Understanding these passages helps us know how to tap into the heavenly places and thus wage victorious spiritual warfare. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” This verse tells us that God resides in the heavenly places, and so do all of our spiritual blessings. This is important because if you are engaged in a spiritual battle and need help to win, the help you need is with God the Father, who is in the heavenly places. But if you don’t know how to access heavenly places, you won’t know how to access the heavenly help you need to win the battle in earthly places.

Never Bring a Horse to a Tank Fight There is something about 2 am. I don’t think the devil takes much time off in the day but I know for sure he pulls double shifts at night. I can’t go back far enough to recall a day where I didn’t struggle with the terror by night that causes my stomach to flutter, my skin to glisten with sweat as I think about all the different ways I could die at my own hands. I lurch from my sleep with a sickening quickness like an unbuckled test dummy in a simulated collision. My mind races and my eyes burn. The voice in my head telling me I am going to kill myself sounds like me but it is not on my side. Variations of this 2 am ritual have played out as far back as I can remember. This is war. These kinds of nights remind me that this battle isn’t one that can be won alone. I don’t know if you can relate to me on all my issues. Maybe you have never had to towel down like you just finished an Orange Theory workout in your sleep, but I have a feeling that the things you’ve been declaring war on can trap you in this same dark, helpless cage. The cage that says “This is all a nice idea but you’ll never change. You’ll never get through a day without yelling at your kids, you’ll never kick the negative self-talk, you’ll never beat the depression, the anxiety, or the vicious argumentative cycle with your wife. You can’t beat this. This is too much for you.” In and of yourself, in your own strength and in your own power, those statements might ring true. Positive thinking is important, so is watching how you speak and minding your habits, but if the practical tools we’ve discussed are all you walk away with, then these 5 days have simply been self-help. There is something much better than self-help—there’s God’s help. You have enormous backup and firepower at your disposal. Don’t try to fight these battles in your own strength, or by relying on your own lung power. When your breath is taken away you need to rely on God for a second wind. The first wind is the natural air that was given to you at creation when God breathed into the dust He formed us out of. The second wind is the power of the Holy Spirit that was given to us after Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible says no weapon formed against you can prosper. You are more powerful than you think...but not on your own. Listen, you are no match for the war you are facing. But that war is no match for God. Discover what David said is possible when you are willing to call in God’s help as you declare war on all that holds you back. “He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn. I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the Lord, but he did not answer. I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets. You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me. As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.” (Psalm 18:34–45) He’s got the power, you just need to ask for it. He is a good father. He won’t give you a tarantula if you ask for a fruit-roll-up. But He will give you the Holy Spirit if you ask Him to. Remember: You can’t do God’s work without God’s power.