It was October, a month in my part of the world when temperatures begin to dip and the leaves of many types of trees turn brilliant colors. The trees dazzled me with their autumn glory. Leaves sported deep reds, bright yellows, soft orange hues, and a beautiful color somewhere between green and yellow. I plopped down in the middle of a grove of trees to soak it all in. Then I lay down in a bed of leaves and gazed up at the blue sky. I was within a natural cathedral that swayed to and fro in the chilly fall wind.
As the trees danced and the leaves rustled, I was reminded of Jesus’ words in John 3:8: “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” Then Luke’s description in Acts 2:2 came to mind: “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.” In that pristine setting, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would blow into my life in a fresh way—the same amazing way He sweeps into people’s lives when they become believers in Jesus (Acts 2:4).
I desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work God has assigned to me. I need the Spirit to guide and direct me, for I dare not try to do God’s work in my own power—using my own limited resources and strategies. The apostle Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). Lives are transformed as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us. And we’re filled with an invisible power that sweeps through us—allowing us to more perfectly love God and others.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Luke 16:19-31
More:
Read Acts 1:8 and consider what happens when we’re filled with the Holy Spirit.
Next:
In what areas of your life have you been laboring in your own strength instead of God’s power? How can tapping into the Holy Spirit’s power change you and your witness for Jesus?
Gary Shultz on August 17, 2016 at 6:53 am
Hi Marlena, the Holy Spirit is our guiding link to God, He helps, empowers, comforts and many other things, each day. There always seems to be mystery about, filling, second blessings, asking the Spirit to come and so forth. It seems more convenient to me to speak of being in the presence of God. I guess the views will remain somewhat divided, but the Spirit does not and is not a dividing factor, He is as you state, is our guide. He is our tutor, when we read the word and He pulls into us the closeness and deeper clear meaning of scripture. He does move us in times of praise and thanksgiving as He opens our eyes to blessing. We need His sight when we meet others, and as you say, live and work by His power. The Spirit lifts our prayers in a magnificent way to the Father. Even though we speak little of Him, what an amazing gift and help to us. Thanks Marlena
Marlena Graves on August 17, 2016 at 10:34 pm
Thanks, Gary. I am so interested in that power–the power to live a holy life in Jesus’s name that the Apostle Paul wrote about in I Cor. 4:20. Why do so many of us Christian live powerless lives? Is it because we talk too much and listen little?
hsnpoor on August 18, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Short answer: Yes. I recently wrote somewhere that we listen but don’t hear and we hear but don’t do what we’ve heard. It’s so much easier to talk than to do what we’ve been told (think rich, young ruler), but it is in the doing that we find that what we’ve heard is true and therein lies the power to then go forth boldly because we’ve exercised a faith muscle and it’s gotten stronger for the next task or trial.
godlove on August 17, 2016 at 11:58 am
Indeed, I have always believed that the gift of the Holy Spirit is indispensable to take us through this journey safe and sound. The Spirit helps us right in our prayers, as Romans 8:26-27 says, ” And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” So we need the help from the Spirit even to help us pray in accordance with the will of God. Thanks to Christ Jesus for sending us the Helper and Counsellor he promised, without whom our spiritual lives and our faith in itself probably won’t stand in face of the trials and temptations of this world. Thanks for today’s insightful devotional Marlena. Blessings to all.
Marlena Graves on August 17, 2016 at 10:36 pm
I’ve been groaning a lot lately – trusting that the Spirit interprets my groans. Thank you for the reminder of those verses (Romans 8:26-27). They are so comforting.