free said...
But how do you focus so as to live in the Spirit's power? I am still trying to figure this out.
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I’ve not forgotten this comment of a few blogs back carries significant importance. How many of us continue to probe the realm of Holy Spirit power?
When I moved to Memorial Drive in 1977 I soon found myself teaching a class on the Holy Spirit. I did an awful job. I knew nothing about Him and it beats me as to why I would dare pick such a topic. We increased only in confusion. I took two more stabs at the subject over the next couple of years and the results were the same. I was humiliated and embarrassed at failing to teach this subject well. However, a fourth try changed Memorial and me forever.
I proposed to the class that we had failed three previous studies because we kept discussing what the Holy Spirit did not do. This fourth-time-around class would not be allowed to discuss what the Spirit does not do….we had covered that thoroughly. We could only talk about what He currently does. I was astonished at what the class contributed in discussion which I didn’t see coming. I made notes each session as they pointed to something newly discovered. This study changed us, our church, and our spiritual world. And keep in mind, it all came from the Bible.
Soon after I wrote a book, The Holy Spirit Makes No Earthly Sense (now reprinted as Empowering the Ordinary) discussing the fact that we could not previously understand the Spirit because we kept trying to understand Him by earthly measures. Now, to answer “Free’s” question, the way to come upon the power of the Spirit is to read about it from the very Word He inspired. Mine is not intended to be a cliché-ick answer. It is the answer.
Refuse to study what He doesn’t do. Look at the Word to see what He says He does do. Just do a cross-reference study on this. I’ll give you two texts to get you going: II Corinthians 3:4-5 and Ephesians 3:14-21. Let this Word look at you and study you (Hebrews 4:12). Look at the Word. It explodes with news of the Holy Spirit empowering plain people….today.
Don’t be afraid to fail as you wrestle with this study. I am still in kindergarten in it; but how I enjoy learning that the Living God not only resides in us, but also works from within us!
4 comments:
what a great attitude to take in regards to our feable attempts to understand God! Focusing upon all He does gives more than enough material to cover that we never get around to the petty things we think He doesn't do....thank you for your insight and daily encouragement to so many of us!
Terry,
Thank you for your study and your willingness to write and share with others your discoveries. I have taught Empowering the Ordinary in the Ukraine and in the United States. I have witnessed individuals and entire congregations transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am thankful that we are now focusing on what the Holy Spirit can do and does do everyday in our lives.
Roger T.
Thanks for your time, great post.
Thanks for responding to my comment. I will try this. Thanks
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