Reign on Me

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

John 14:26 (NIV)

What is the most important thing about the Holy Spirit?

Power?
Tongues?
Gifts?

I think it is Fellowship. Communing with the Saints.

In my humble opinion, fellowship is the deepest work of God’s Spirit. It is the Spirit of God drawing all of us all of the time into a common life with one another.

The central work of God’s Spirit is that of creating community.

It is also the first thing that I run from when I am ‘out of sorts,’ falling into depression, separated from God because of my willful and stubborn heart.

At times, my life feels so disorganized. It seems as if everything around me is piling up. It’s not just the drawers that need reorganizing, the kitchen or my desk that needs cleaning, or the heap of stuff in the garage that needs sorting—it’s everything: my daily schedule crammed full of tasks, my house crying out for a major cleaning, my office with the overflowing in box and stack of items for filing— even my relationships are disorganized. I feel disjointed, out of control, out of touch, separated from God and those whom I love and fellowship with.

Abba, Father – bring order into my chaos. Help me sort through all the things around me.

Help me see what needs to be kept,
what needs to be thrown away,
and what needs to be changed. . . .

O Holy Spirit, even as I say this, I feel fear. I know that things need to change. I know, deep in my heart, that my life’s disorganization is symptomatic of a deeper disorganization.

I need your gentle breath to blow through my spiritual life. I need your strong wind to sort through the stacks of issues I don’t want to face. I need your quiet presence as I deal with the unspoken prayers, the unfulfilled desires, the unrecognized emotions I have hidden away.

Holy Spirit come now, in this moment, and in the recesses of my heart, begin the process of organization. Begin to sweep out the dark corners, sift through the crammed closets, and blow through all my dark places of my spirit. May You blow through my life every day. Through Your power, bring order into all the chaos around me. ~Amen.

because we’re His,

The Whole of Holiness

My friend, Sherry Brady, gave me an article to read, "The Whole of Holiness"  written by Dr. Phil Amerson and Dr. Barry Bryant.

In this article, it mentions that to John Wesley, grace is the power of the Holy Spirit enabling us to believe, love, and obey. This grace and transforming power of the Holy Spirit is essential to the nature of our discipleship and it the essence of the wholeness of holiness.

My personal take on this article is that it isn't so much about our 'personal relationship' as it is about identifying who our neighbor is. Then after providing them food when they are hungry, asking the deeper question of, 'why are they hungry?" and helping to led them out of hunger, be it physical or spiritual. It is about social reform.

O Young and Fearless Prophet:

Stir up in us a protest

against our greed for wealth,

while others starve and hunger

and plead for work and health;

where homes with little children

cry out for lack of bread,

who live their years sore burdened

beneath a gloomy dread.

It's been a few years ago now, but I remember Martin Luther King Jr. and his peaceful protests - so very similar in nature to Ghandi.  His speech on "I've Been To The Mountain Top" can be found here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm and speaks to Dangerous Unselfishness.

Have a wonderful weekend all, and it's day four of Lent, so my Decalogue for Daily Living is: Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.  And doesn't this fit in with social reformation?  God is good!
 
because we're His,
Tamara