When Jesus ascended he told his disciples to “wait for the power from on high.” The Spirit came in a dramatic way 50 days later at Pentecost.
Does the Spirit come today? Many traditional and evangelical churches don’t act like it, beyond perhaps an annual Pentecost church birthday party. That was then. How does he come now? Other essays discuss how to recognize the Spirit’s subtle movements. How can we wait upon his blessings today?
Think like Zacchaeus. He’s the short guy who climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus coming. Jesus then saw him and shared dinner fellowship with him. Jesus comes to us now through the Spirit he and his Father send. Like climbing a tree, we can deliberately put ourselves in the Spirit’s workplace.
What will you wait for the Spirit to do in your life? His specialty is changing hearts and transforming the innermost being of those who follow Christ. What he produces there is greater love, joy, peace, patience and other fruit described by Paul, including kindness, trust. Think of these as motivations out of which will flow God-pleasing behaviors.
Six practices will put you in the Spirit’s workplace: They can be remembered in the acronym GROWTH. Go to God in worship and prayer. Receive his word for you, Opt for self-denial, give Witness to your experiences. Trust God in a new venture. Humble yourself before God.
Three of the six are Basic Practices. The other three are Stretch Practices.
The Basic Practices are: Go to God in worship and prayer, Receive his word for you, and Humble yourself before God. The Spirit always works through people of God gathered around his Word. Regularly join them in congregational worship. Jesus promises that as earthly fathers know how to give good things to their children, so the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. In your prayers, ask for whichever fruit of the Spirit you desire more of. Humbling yourself before God is basic. He usually can’t do much with you when you are full of yourself.
The Stretch Practices are: Opt for self-denial, give Witness to your experiences, and Trust God in a new venture. The O could also stand for Obey. But motivation by duty does not work well in a grace-oriented church. When Jesus told the rich young man to sell all he owned, he was giving a stretch challenge, not a command.
Jesus challenged his disciples to deny themselves and take up their cross. He gave this riddle: “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Paul told the Ephesians to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Self-denial and submission could become a lifestyle. But start with one deliberate act of self-denial or submission at least once a week.
Trusting God in a new venture will test your trust in God’s providence. A new venture could be as simple as offering to care for a neighbor’s children for an afternoon. Or it could be as challenging as helping to plant a new church. I came to Cleveland to plant a new congregation. Early on when it looked like a failure, I spent some intense time in prayer about where to go next. This was a breakthrough in my prayer life. Twenty-eight years later that church plant dedicated their large new sanctuary in a choice location.
Giving witness to your personal experiences of the Holy Spirit would be a big stretch for most traditional Christians. Stories of what God has done in your life are much more persuasive than citing Bible passages to people who no longer believe the authority of Scriptures. Almost everyone will be willing to hear personal stories told in the right setting.
It has been an on going question for me. What do we need to do and what will the Holy Spirit do.
The Holy Spirit provides charisma, according to Paul. This is a gift received from God. Grace (charis) is gift given freely by God Trust the Spirit to lead you and guide your thinking.
Greetings
I found this post very interesting and informative. Especially the in my experience I have fond that the giving witness turned out to be the most exciting thing for some of the old timers. They just need to figure that it wasn’t bragging or showing off to share what the Holy Spirit was doing or had done in thier lives! To me it seemed that when folks stretched and then realized how exciting it was to see the HS at work they began to get excited. The one big problems to me seemed to be the help people recognize the HS at work even in the small things.ONe of my pet peves is the saying “I or we lucked out or weren’t we lucky!” I tred to get people to see that the HS was at work and making a diffreance in the small things as well as the large. By no means do I want to trivilaze the work of the HS, however when we begin to actively look for the difference the HS makes in our day to day living it will change our outlook and flow out into our everyday conversations.
thanks for all you are doing
Yes, it is jarring to have believers talk about being lucky with their efforts. They have not been taught well. But just to clarify, the Holy Spirit works on hearts. Providence is the work of God the Father.
You mention the ‘practices.’ I find this an interesting term because at this moment I am reading,The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence written in the 1600’s. In it he says, “I have stopped practicing all forms of devotion and set prayers, except those which I am obliged to participate in. I make it my practice only to persevere in His holy presence. I do this by simply paying attention to, and directing my affection to, God.” He goes on to say, “Let him think of God as often as he can. Let him gradually develop within himself this small but sacred practice.” Sounds simple but try it throughout your day. It is very hard to stay focused on God because the worldly things crowd Him out. On our own, we fail in this practice. That is why we need to ask for more of the Holy Spirit who helps us in our weakness.
Also you state,”Trusting God in a new venture will test your trust in God’s providence.” I find myself struggling with this right now. I feel stuck. I know I need to trust God more. God wants to stretch me through the three you mention- self-denial, witnessing and trust. A big stretch for me. May the Spirit help me to stay focused on Him and to deliberately act in submission weekly.
Hi Lori. I should comment for others reading this exchange that Lori is a member of Royal Redeemer where I am Missions Pastor. She went through my Ministry Specialist program when I was offering that for our district. We have known each other for 25 years.
Lori, let me give you my book on How the Spirit Shapes Prayer. The Spirit will guide you. I don’t think Brother Lawrence had to work at this praying while doing other things. The Spirit guided him. The Spirit knocks on your heart repeatedly to initiate conversation. The conversation does not need to be organized.
If you want to trust in a new venture, I urge you to do more of the drama writing you did so well. We can talk about how to get this resource out to other churches.
Dave
Building your faith is the same as building your muscles. It takes some time and some work. It is pretty obvious most Americans would rather take the easy way and avoid both. We know what happens to our bodies when we don’t take proper care of them well the same thing happens to our faith. It growers weaker and weaker until it is pretty much useless. Most times this takes place over many years where we barely notice the changes, they sort of sneak up on us, but then there are situations where this can be drastically accelerated such as when we get sick or have a severe injury and are laid up for an extended period of time. The same thing can happen to our faith as well. All it takes is a crisis or series of crises and our faith can be dealt a huge blow. In some cases the devil introduces us to a new vice, one that slowly or rapidly takes over our lives and as it grows our faith shrinks in direct proportion. When we are not actively maintaining and building up our faith we become more susceptible to the endless ways the devil tries to take us down.
This is why I work hard everyday to encourage Christians around the world to take just a little time each month to come together and go out into their communities and bring the love & grace of Jesus to life through performing simple surprising acts of kindness to everyone that the Spirit sends their way. You give Jesus all the credit and glory through the Connect Card and it also serves as a warm invite to come to your church/school/youth activity and so on where they can learn more about Jesus. When we put Jesus at the heart of every touch He will do miraculous things. Some we may not know until that final day but others He will reveal to you in powerful and unforgettable ways leaving you with absolutely no doubt as to His divine presence! These moments will work to build your faith to new heights causing the devil to seek easier prey. The P.A.C.K. program is indeed totally free and is now at work in 109 countries. Simply sign up for the free download at: https://www.acts18.org/christian-kindness-program. God bless your service to His glorious Kingdom!
Well said. I hope support emerges for your effort.
Great insight & I like your suggestions on seeking God,s wisdom & plans of action! Keep it going. 👍👍👍
Thanks Carol.