Good morning. For our adult Wednesday evening classes, we have been discussing the topic of “The Promises of God”. This past week we considered God’s promise to all believers that we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The discussion was lively, so much so that we determined that we would continue our discussion of the Holy Spirit next week as well. Today’s thought shares some ideas from last Wednesday evening’s discussion.
Recently, as I considered topics worthy of our “thoughts of the day”, the wind was howling outside my office window. It was severe enough that around our area some districts canceled school, or I guess in today’s world I should say that they made it a “distance learning” day, because of the dangerous cold. The temperature that morning was holding at about -9 to -10 degrees, but that reading was certainly not enough to force schools to close or for people to rearrange their plans. Last week they sent our school students home early because we had received all of 2” to 3” of fresh snow.
Wait a minute, since when do we sturdy Minnesotans cancel our plans because of temperatures that were a little below zero, or because we have had a few lousy inches of snow? You know the answer of course, it is all about the wind. Ten below zero when accompanied by 25mph wind achieves a -30 to -40 wind chill. Three inches of snow with the same wind creates a blizzard, even when the sun is shining.
In John 3:8 we read the words of Jesus as he explains to Nicodemus what it means to be born again, which the Lord teaches him means to be reborn of water and the Spirit. He tells him, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
I have always found it interesting that in both the Hebrew and Greek languages the word used for wind, breath, and spirit are one and the same. Actually, the word for any movement of air or reference to that which is of spirit is typically translated with the Hebrew word ruah, and in Greek with the word pneuma. So, Jesus is using three forms of pneuma to say: wind, blows, and Spirit.
Since the wind is invisible to us, how do we recognize its’ presence and understand its effect? We feel it of course, and we see the wind by way of what it carries. We determine the amount of power the wind has on any given day by noting the degree that it bends, bows, or breaks whatever is in its path.
How do we calculate the power and effect of the Holy Spirit? Well, we feel Him of course, and we see His power as the will of God is carried forward. Plus, we recognize His power through the profound changes He causes to occur. Most especially we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit through the powerful changes He brings to the lives of Christian believers.
Sometimes, the Spirit’s power could be rated like an F5 tornado. The power is obvious and dramatic. But at other times the Spirit’s power causes us to tremble as He speaks to us in a quiet whisper. This much is sure, the Spirit says and does what the Spirit decides to do, and everything He chooses to do is well beyond our control.
The Spirit is blowing with mighty force in our world right now. Is that truth enough for us to change our plans and consider how we may better honor God? Will we take a moment today to consider what God, through the Person of the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives today? Is He a mighty storm or a quiet whisper? Is He being revealed through your life in a way that is visible to the people around you, in the same way that a powerful wind is revealed by the bending of the trees or the size of the waves rolling into the shore?
Know this, God has breathed His Spirit into you, and you are a spiritual being. God has chosen to live within you in a way that is both powerful and life changing.
I am as ready as anyone to complain about the wind blowing the snow around and causing me to get out my shovel and to freeze. But I pray that we are all prepared to receive and rejoice in the power of the Spirit, blowing up our puny plans to be replaced by the will of God.
May the Holy Spirit of God fall upon you each moment of each day with all the power required to change your life!
Vern