It's Been A While...

Life has been a little more busy than I would care for it to be, but in the midst of all this craziness God has been at work. I have felt the movement of the Holy Spirit in me and around me. But, it's definitely been a learning experience. We are all too often blinded by the Spiritual World going on around us...both the struggles and victories...both the work of God and the schemes of Satan. I have come to believe that we can't comprehend, even in slightest, the world we truly live in without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In him all things move and work together for good.

With that thought, I would like to share some stuff from a book I've been reading called The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith.

Smith says, "The constant aim of the Spirit is to point us to the Father and
the Son, and not to himself. Everything that happens to us in our
Christian lives, however, is the work of the Holy Spirit. We become
discontented with our lives, and it is the Spirit who gently nudges us toward
Jesus. The Holy Spirit orchestrates the events of our lives with the
single aim of making us disciples of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is at work in
our lives in subtle ways, ways we cannot often discern. But the Spirit is
at work nonetheless. The components of change happen when the Holy Spirit
is at work in the midst of them."

While I have nothing to say that would disagree with this statement, I'm left scratching my head wondering why this third party of the Trinity is only hinted at in our circle of Christian community. You would think that we would be adamant about learning more from the Holy Spirit. You would think that we would be compelled to figure our more about how he works in our lives. You would think that we would be convicted to share with the coming generations that God the Father has given us the "Spirit of his Son" (Galatians 4:6) to rule in us. For years I have been trying to change myself for the glory of God. For years I have been trying to get better at following Jesus, but every single effort was negated because I was living on my strength. Let's just say, I'm pretty weak. I wonder what life could and should be like for Christians today if we were able to discern more from the Spirit of God and if we surrendered to the it's power on daily basis. A Divine Spirit lives in me to give me strength and direction in a world that seeks to steal both. Also, Paul tells Timothy that this Spirit is not about fear, but that we receive "power, love, and self-discipline." I just have to wonder...what all is Christ's Church missing out on when we live life without recognizing the offer of God's Spirit?