Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12, 13 Galatians 5:22-23
Introduction
“I’m sorry, the meeting was meant to last for 2 hours, but sometime towards the last 15 minutes the Holy Spirit took over, and that’s why we extended for another 1 hour”
“What I am about to say may not make sense to you, but it’s deep sense. It was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit and you need to take it like that”
“The things of the spirit cannot be explained by the logical mind, this one is spiritual, don’t try to use your mind to unravel it!”
These are different shades of errors we are likely to be familiar with, if we’ve been around long enough. The Holy Spirit is perceived as the 3rd person of the trinity who makes people weird and illogical. Nothing can be further from the truth. 1 Cor 12 opens by making it clear that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not a suspension of our intelligence. Rather that God expects us to use our intelligence to seek Him as much as we can. The Holy Spirit does not suspend what God gave us naturally, He only endows us with more power to make them all more impactful.
Paradigm Shift
The Gift of the Holy Spirit is not for you! They are for serving Christ’s body. God not you, determines who gets what. His is behind every of manifestation of His power, and it’s not about you or I, it’s about what He wants to do on the earth, and what He wants to do in and for His body. The gifts are for the body to profit.
On the body, we play different roles based on the different gifts that manifest through us. The Holy Spirit matures us beyond our independence and makes us all interdependent. In Him we are refreshed and sustained, outside of Him, we can do nothing. There are no exceptional men or women with exceptional gifts. God actually balances all the gifts out, by ensuring that the visible ones are the least important ones, and the invisible ones are the ones the body cannot do without. It is only as we realize the BIG Picture and the fact that the role of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Christ to us, that our part begins to make it’s valuable contribution.
There are gifts of the Holy Spirit and there are ministry gifts, all these serve to help us live up to Christ’s stature. These are first given as the need arises and we can become skillful with use. The Fruit of the Spirit however grows in our nature as feed on the living bread and live God’s way. The fruit of the spirit is appears in our lives just like fruits in an orchard. Our very nature begins to manifest with character attributes like these – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
The Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that made Jesus Christ Jesus, is available with us now, tenderly nurturing us into a beautiful garden with magnificent fruit. He’s also placing gifts in our lives so our capacity to serve others can be as Christ.
Applications
Daily ask for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. Expect the Holy Spirit to use you to serve His body every day. Grow in the gifts that God makes available for you to serve His body with.
Feed on God’s word, stay in communion with God. As we sow into our spirits, and live God’s way, we will experience growth in our character and in disciples.
Be a witness! Daily open your mouth to others, and expect God to fill it. We received power to become witnesses, we have a role to play also. Parked cars don’t get steered, move, and His instructions will be clearer as you make progress.
What Would Jesus Do?