How Can You Know?

Yesterday we celebrated Pentecost in worship at our church.  The entire service was devoted to the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The sermon, Power to Change, explored how the various roles of the Holy Spirit can bring about the necessary changes in us to make us fully functioning witnesses for Jesus.
The time of worship ended with an invitation to respond to God's word by praying for the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives and to make us the people God created us to be.  Those who responded and prayed might be wondering if there is any way of knowing for sure if God released the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Though the Spirit moves at his own pleasure and not the same in every person, there are some ways that God gives us assurance.

• The witness of the Spirit - Romans 8:16 teaches us that the Holy Spirit confirms divine activity to the human spirit.  This brings a spiritual certainty deeper than at the level of the intellect or emotions; a knowing that cannot be explained but is nonetheless unmistakable.
• The witness of the word - God does what He says He will do.  Acts 1:4, 8; Mt 3:11; Lk 11:13; Jn 14:26 are examples of promises God made concerning the gift of the Holy Spirit.  God's word is true and it is trustworthy.  We have assurance because of the certainty of His word and His faithfulness to keep it.
• The witness of the Church - The Bible and Church history are full of examples of supernatural changes Holy Spirit brought to the lives of individuals.  Acts 10:46 and 19:6 cite examples of immediate evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit as individuals were given supernatural ability to speak in languages they had never learned.  Some manifested an immediate ability to speak on behalf of God (prophecy, also Acts 19:6).  These immediate and sometimes dramatic transformations in individuals was never the experience of every person.  For most, changes emerged gradually over time.
• The witness of a changed life - Perhaps one of the greatest examples of the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit is the life the apostle Paul (Acts 26:9-23).  A man who had hated Christians and did all he could to exterminate them became a devout follower of Jesus after the Holy Spirit took control of his life.

If you have invited the Holy Spirit to be THE governing power in your life, you can trust that he will.  You might not feel anything right away (or maybe you will) but over time you will gradually become more and more the person God created you to be.  Psalm 37:4 teaches us that when the most important thing to us is bringing pleasure to the heart of God, He will give us the desires of our heart.  God wants you to be filled with and controlled by His Spirit and if you have asked Him to do that for you, you can BELIEVE that He has!

Crying Out, Getting Real

When the time comes today or tomorrow for you to cry out to the Lord, remember the promise of
Psalm 145:18, 19 - The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. . .He hears their cry and saves them. 
God's invitation to call upon Him comes with a holy desire to meet our deepest need.  But it also comes with the expectation that we will be real with Him, honest about our helplessness without Him and our complete dependence upon Him.  Call upon the Lord anytime but be real with Him every time.

Next to Him

When the Babylonian empire attacked God's people in Jerusalem, the city, the temple and the wall around the city were destroyed.  The wall had been a symbol of strength for God's people and now, broken down, it was a symbol disgrace and weakness.  It was a sign of their broken relationship with God.   Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall and thus restore Israel's sense of identity as God's nation.

In the Bible, Nehemiah chapter 3 describes the start of rebuilding the wall under Nehemiah's leadership.  The phrase next to him or next to them is repeated 19 times in that chapter, describing God's people lined up along the wall, shoulder to shoulder working together to do their part to restore what sin and the enemy had taken from them.

This is a picture of the Lord's vision for his Church; men and women, each doing their part, working side by side to build God's kingdom in this broken world.  Does this describe your church?  Where  Jesus is at the center of church life and out from that Center in all directions you can see a man doing his part and next to him a woman pitching in and next to her. . .

Have you found your place on that wall?

Words of Encouragement

I love the way the Bible gets right to the point and doesn't gloss over or avoid the struggles of the very human characters in God's story.  That is what makes it so relatable to our own lives.
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah and a large enemy army came against him and his people.  The Bible tells us that this godly king  was "alarmed".  We might say he was scared to death or worried sick about what he was facing.  His way of dealing with it is spelled out in 2 Chronicles 20:3 - "Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord. . ."  He took his fears and helplessness directly to God in prayer and he confessed to God "We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, BUT OUR EYES ARE ON YOU"(my emphasis)(2 Chron 20:12).  In answer to his prayer, God sent encouragement to the king through one of His prophets, Jahaziel, who speaking for God, told Jehoshaphat, "Don't be afraid or discouraged. . .stand firm. . .and the Lord will be with you."

What are you facing today or tomorrow?  What is coming or has come against you that has left you feeling helpless and weak?  Be encouraged today.  Turn your eyes to the Lord and lay it all on Him.  Stand firm in your willingness to trust Him and you can be sure that He will be with you.

Perhaps someone needs you to be their Jahaziel and give them a gentle reminder of God's love for them and His willingness to walk with them through whatever they face.  We all need encouragement because we all face forces that seem overwhelming.  I thank God that He has a history of being with His loved ones in their times of bewilderment and weakness and I can count on Him today.