Where the Rubber hits the road
Life in the Spirit can be a life where we experience righteousness, peace and joy. The question is "How can I have this?" and "How does it work?"Here are the three key principles of Life in the Spirit:
- We have to understand the nature of the Spirit's presence in our lives: At no point is the Holy Spirit a "possessor" or "body snatcher." He is a quiet presence in our lives who we can acknowledge or ignore. Some people liken the Spirit to a coach, but then we can't think of a loud football or basketball coach who shouts and directs and dominates. Rather we have to think of a quieter wiser coach who will wait for us to come to Him. (Mr Meaggi of "Karate Kid" comes to mind - but analogies can be tricky...)
- The Holy Spirit will not do anything in our lives without our consent and co-operation.
- He will nudge us about things that need to change,
- He will give us the courage to decide to make a change,
- He will help us avoid pitfalls along the way
- and He will give us the strength to make the changes.
but we have to:
(1)listen,
(2)respond internally and
(3)take the next steps externally.
- The Holy Spirit's presence can also be likened to a polite house guest. If we had a guest staying with us, he would be involved in our lives, sharing in our chores and experiencing our joys and sorrows with us. But if I start yelling at Brenda or watch a movie that is offensive or if I abuse a substance, our guest would withdraw to the guest room and be less involved in our lives.
Maybe these three principles sound trite and insufficient... but there is great truth in them:1 - He's in me
2 - He works with me to transform me
3 - He's a guest who withdraws when I lean into darkness
| For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. (Romans14:17-18) |
