Holy Spirit Archives - Kristin Saatzer

Bleacher Buns and the Twenty Percent

May 10, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

I am a spectator. And I have bleacher-buns to prove it. After decades of watching my husband coach and my four boys play sports, I call myself a professional!

As a spectator, I don’t make much of a difference to those participating. It’s easy for me to criticize the participants as I sit on my rear. I haven’t invested myself as the players have. I don’t understand the mission at hand. I haven’t seen the playbook or practiced for hours.

Years ago, I approached an acquaintance at church and asked if he’d like to help out with an event. Laughingly, he replied, “No thanks, I’m a church spectator, not a participant.” Not many people have the guts to admit it as he did. You’ve probably heard the stat: 20 percent of church attendees/leaders do 100 percent of the work. I’ve also heard this same thing about charities and PTA-type organizations.

Reading through the book of Acts, I feel inspired by the eager expression of faith the early church possessed. They were partakers, not spectators. Participants. Not just twenty percent of them. Now, I’m sure there were exceptions. And we do know of people claiming they were all in but held back as Ananias and Sapphira did (see Acts 5).

The genuine believers were fully vested and contagious. Continue Reading

Out-n-In

January 6, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer 10 Comments

My oldest child arrived nine days late. Labor lasted over twenty-four hours until my doctor performed an emergency Caesarean, transporting my baby boy from my womb into my arms.

A comfortable, familiar home was this dark womb; leaving was not what baby Sammy wanted. Yet, leaving was best. My baby had to come out of the darkness. The light waiting for him was bright but wonderful to behold. God meant for Sammy to enter this light, to live in it and thrive because of it.

Remaining in places of comfortable familiarity is not always best for us. Like the womb, these can be spaces of darkness. Oftentimes, we find it easier (or safer), to stay hidden in the dark.

As we begin this shiny New Year, you may feel regret as you reflect on the year we just said good-bye to. Was it less than shiny? Do you need a bright start?

As you read these words, I challenge you to stop and pray. Are there places of darkness in your innermost parts? Places desperately needing God’s Light to penetrate?

In God’s word, Peter tells us:

^“BUT you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9 (New International Version)

Out of Darkness

Let’s focus in on the last two points of this verse: God has called us out of darkness, and into His wonderful light.

God called us out. The darkness is not our home, even though it may feel cozy and familiar. In today’s context, I am referring to those of us who claim Jesus as Savior, yet still live in or with shadowed, covered spaces. This can include shame, addictions, depression and many others. Personal, private darkness.

From the outside looking in, others may view us as “having it all together”. We may be leaders in our church and communities. We may have beautiful homes, cute outfits and darling children. However, pain and shadow reside in our souls.

Is the Lord speaking to you today? Maybe victory seems impossible or scary?

Where to begin? Continue Reading

Ethel’s Daughter

July 14, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

Our nation heard the news and reacted with heartbreak and horror after a twenty-one-year-old massacred nine people on June 17, 2015, in a Charleston, South Carolina church. A young man sat for an hour with this amazing group of Christians (who welcomed him into their fold as they prayed) and then he shot them dead.

Sitting on my mom’s couch two days later, watching the latest news on this story, I heard these words:

*“I forgive you,” Nadine Collier, the daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, said at the hearing, her voice breaking with emotion. “You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never, ever hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”

Would I be able to react this way towards the murderer had my mother been gunned down?

Hearing Nadine’s heroic words wrenched my heart with anguish and admiration. As did the words of the other family members of those killed with similar sentiments and words of forgiveness. These people became my faith heroes.

No one should suffer this kind of horror. No one. But it happens – not usually on the level of murder in a church, yet loss and grief are part of life on this earth aren’t they?

Stepping into Nadine’s shoes, could we forgive the murderer of our loved one two days after the crime occurred? Two weeks? Two years? Where will our faith be in moments of trauma and pain? Continue Reading

Abound in Hope!

January 9, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 1 Comment

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may ABOUND in HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NKJV

On New Year’s day, I bumped into an old friend. Suzie and I dove deep immediately as she shared how she was celebrating 90 days of sobriety. She has experienced significant loss these last two years, including the deaths of her husband and adult daughter. These heart-wrenching passings took her to the bottom of a hopeless pit.

Then God intervened. Through the support of a 12-step group, family, friends and new hope in Christ, she is now a woman abounding in hope. Suzie will experience rocky seasons as a recovering alcoholic, but she is determining to keep her eyes fixed on God and to keep her life immersed in her support systems.

I am currently memorizing Romans 15:13, I so love how Paul called our Heavenly Father “The God of Hope”. Paul encouraged the Romans to “ABOUND in HOPE” in this passage.

How does one Abound in Hope in 2015?

The church in Rome was full of factions and disunity. Their culture oozed with depravity and idol worship. Sound familiar?

Paul told the Roman church to abound, not by their own power BUT, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Meaning that we (as did the church in Rome) have God’s power living in us to hope abundantly! I often forget this truth-that the Spirit of God lives in me. Incredible.

My take is this: Our hope in a heavenly future, infuses abounding hope into our present, earthly lives.

“In His name, the nations will put their HOPE.” Matthew 12:21 NIV

I pulled a few synonyms for abound from Thesaurus.com: Swell, overflow, be alive with and be knee deep in.

I want to be knee deep in God’s hope. It stinks being knee deep in discouragement and hopelessness. No more. I have chosen my word of the year and it is HOPE.

Amidst the trials, heartbreak, disunity, and cultural turmoil of life, we MUST return daily (for me some days, hourly) to the God of Hope. It is essential to seek support through scripture, friends, prayer, and church.

My prayer is that like Suzie, we’ll be knee deep in hope in 2015.

Now go abound, my friend.

Hope in clouds