Gift
of the Spirit
When the day of Pentecost
came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing
of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where
they were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to
rest on each of them. Acts 2:1-2
And he who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:27
How many times have you needed to pray but just did not know what to pray!
Actually knowing the right words is something no one needs to worry about.
God is never impressed by our eloquence, and besides, God knows what it
is that you are trying to say anyway.
What gets God's attention is our truthfulness and our commitment.
Game playing with God is like blowing smoke in a hurricane--rather pointless.
Paul writes in Romans that "he who searches our hearts knows the mind
of the Spirit".
The Spirit who lives within all believers is continually evaluating and
searching our hearts and minds.
Which means when you need to pray, God already knows what you need to pray
about, and all that is needed is honesty and openness.
Trying to present a case to God is pointless...you are already known.
Jeremiah wrote about that centuries ago.
And David wrote about it in Psalm 139:
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my
ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely
The good news is that the Spirit who is continually searching your heart,
is also continually interceding on your behalf.
What we have to do is to comply with the interceding of the Spirit, and
God opens heavens resources to lead us to where we need to be in life.
This does not mean God will simply wipe away all our difficulties.
What it means is God leads us into a place in life where our lives are
not lived in futility, which they are when we try to live them without the
Spirit being at the center of our lives.
During the depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a
man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation
to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of
losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his family (like
many others) had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills,
he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then
a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him
there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat
well, and he signed a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at
80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large.
In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells
showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received
the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he'd been living on relief. A multimillionaire
living in poverty. The problem? He didn't know the oil was there even though
he owned it.
Many Christians live in spiritual poverty. They are entitled to the gifts
of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of their
birthright.1.
What makes this possible is through the life of Jesus.
He lived so that we could have a way of dealing with the sin in our lives.
Sin does not just mean the bad things we do, though that is part of it.
Sin means living our lives simply following the inclinations of our own
hearts and minds.
It means missing the mark of what we were intended to be. And ultimately
a life lived outside God's purpose for us is a life that in the end will
be tried and found wanting.
But transferring our faith to God in what Jesus has done opens the door
to the Spirit of God uniting with our Spirit and making us part of God's
eternal plan. Your life will be given eternal meaning and purpose.
When Jesus left after his resurrection, He promised to send the Spirit.
This happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and for the first
time ever, lived permanently in all believers.
Until then, God's Spirit would come to certain people for certain occasions.
But now God's Spirit lives permanently in all believers and has access
to the strength and presence of God, just as if Jesus was living alongside
you every day, and that is exactly what you do have.
God says, I will send you another counselor who will come alongside you
and be with you always.
You now have God's wisdom and God's resources alongside you day by day
to guide and give you direction.
But of course you have to take it on God's terms, not yours, which means
obedience to Jesus, and it means obedience to what the Spirit directs.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow him to occupy and
control every area of our lives…How much of you does the Holy Spirit have?
alka selzer: (two packages dropped into two separate glasses. One still
wrapped, one unsealed...which fills with water and sizzles)
Both glasses have the Alka-Seltzer, just as all Christians have the Holy
Spirit. But notice how you can have the Holy Spirit and not his filling.
Our goal is to live in such a way as to unwrap the packaging around the presence
and power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Open your life to God's Spirit who already lives in your life if you are
a believer.
Be honest with God in your prayers.
Ask for direction.
Follow the direction given.
Be obedient to what you already know God asks of you.
God's Spirit intercedes for you already. All you need to do is cooperate
with what God already wants to do in your life.
Preached
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian
Church
Victoria, British Columbia
Notes
1. Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois; source: Bill Bright,
"How to Be Filled with the Spirit" (Campus Crusade publication)
Online Resources Consulted
http://www.preachingtoday.com/
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