The Spirit of the living God lifts us. Raises us. Enables us and strengthens us to receive the sacred words from a Father’s throne.
Without the Spirit, our posture remains prostrate, heads buried beneath the weight of an Almighty glory that exceeds our capacity for receiving. Coming into unified fellowship with the presence of God requires the strength and understanding of his Spirit alongside.
Without him, we lie as limp. Without him, we live the same.
God hasn’t called us to limp living—to shuffling our way through this world with nothing more than the cravings of our sinful nature to guide us. No, God has called us to an extraordinary existence with his Spirit as our guide and with his thoughts at the helm.
We will never live God’s “extraordinary” without our first entreating the witness of his Spirit.
Ruwach. The wind and breath of the triune God. He was there in the beginning, hovering and bending over the waters of the dark and deep. Waiting; contemplating, gathering steam and energizing Father God’s thoughts into action.
As New Testament believers, we often chronicle his beginnings with Pentecost. In doing so, we short change the truth of the Trinity. Just because his mention is seemingly less frequent in the Old Testament doesn’t mean that he wasn’t there.
He’s there. He’s always been here. Even as God IS, he IS. There is no separation between God and his Spirit. We receive him fully when we accept his Son, Jesus Christ, unto ourselves.
God is a package deal. Most days, however, we don’t live with that understanding. Instead, we settle for less because our hearts and minds refuse to believe that the God “up there” is actually the God “in here”—within our hearts. We are the place where he chooses to make his home despite our confusion in keeping him abroad.
So often we are like the Israelites who gathered at the River Kebar in their exile with their stubborn unbelief in tow. Like them, we can trace our royal bloodlines; we live with the truth that we are, in fact, the children of God. Still and yet, we refuse the fullness of just exactly what that means. In doing so, we wear the same labels as that of our spiritual ancestors.
Rebellious. Obstinate. Stiff-necked. Difficult. Unyielding. Hardened, and ultimately, exiled.
We miss the mark when we miss the fullness of the triune God. Before long, we, too, find ourselves stranded at the river’s edge wondering as to what went wrong and how many steps it will take for us to return to the Promised Land of our yesterdays.
This week, I’ve stood at the River Kebar, looking into the distance and searching for the presence of my Almighty God. I’ve longed for the breath of his Spirit to blow across my arid soul and to speak life into my “limp and lame.” And just this morning, when I finally bowed low enough and long enough, I felt the flutter of a gentle breeze blow across my heart.
Faint at first but louder with every moment that I kept my silence and allowed God his voice. As he spoke, his Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, enabling me to hear some truth I’ve been hoping to hear for a long season.
He reminded me that his Spirit is for me. He’s for you too. Without him, we live as limp. friends. With him, we live extraordinary. Why? Because God’s Spirit gives and lives with all the generosity of heaven. He…
Controls us (Romans 8:6).
Enlivens us (Job 33:4, John 6:63, Romans 8:6).
Teaches us (Nehemiah 9:30, Isaiah 50:4, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:13).
Reminds us (John 14:26).
Bears fruit through us (Galatians 5:22-23, Hebrews 2:4).
Intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27).
Transforms us (2 Corinthians 3:17-19).
Completes us (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
Frees us (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Raises us (Ezekiel 2:1-2, 3:24).
Corrects us (Nehemiah 9:30).
Follows us (Psalm 139:7).
Remains on us (Isaiah 44:3, 61:1, Luke 1:35, 4:18).
Leads us (Matthew 4:1).
Counsels us (John 14:26).
Strengthens us (Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 2:4).
Fills us (Acts 4:31, 9:17, Ephesians 5:13).
Reveals to us (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
Resides in us (1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 1 John 3:24).
Defends us (Ephesians 6:17).
Speaks for us (1 Corinthians 2:13, 2 Peter 1:21).
Identifies us (Romans 8:15-16, 2 Corinthians 3:3, 5:5).
Indeed, the Spirit of God raises us up to live at a higher level than what is customary and expected. When allowed—when anticipated and expected—he transforms our everyday lives into his everlasting purpose that exceeds an existence at the river’s edge to engage the roar and pulse of a river’s ride.
That’s where I want to live with God. Riding the river’s wild in sacred trust rather than limping along the river’s edge in temporal doubt. Perhaps, this day, you want to live the same.
If so, I encourage you to further investigate the role of the Holy Spirit in your life by a deeper examination of the list above. Receive the truth and witness of what you’ve been given through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Walk in that truth, knowing that even as he hovered over his waters in the beginning, he hovers over your heart just now…
waiting; contemplating, gathering steam and energizing Father God’s thoughts into action.
May you feel the breath of God’s good Spirit beneath your feet today. Rise and partake of his extraordinary presence. As always,
PS: The winners DJ Cole’s CD, Your Grace, are Lisa from Sharing Life with Lisa (#9) and Heidi (#22). Congratulations ladies. Please send me your addresses once again.