It is love without limit or restriction—agapéos—that motivated God to remedy our sinful state through the gift of Messiah, Jesus. It is this love that we are commanded to show toward each other. It is this love that is to be the distinguishing characteristic of our discipleship. For this love to be real, we need to rely more on the power of the Holy Spirit than we do on ourselves.
If we knew more about the Holy Spirit, we wouldn’t restrict our definition of a Spiritual experience to displays of emotion. Hidden in a cave, Elijah experienced a great and powerful wind and an earthquake and a fire, but God was not in any of them, but when those things had passed, God came to him in a still, small voice (I Kings 19:9-13). By the same token, spirituality should not be equated with the absence of emotion either. Psalm 107:2 admonishes the redeemed of the Lord to say so.
We must recognize that the Holy Spirit desires to more to us than just wrench us emotionally, but the Spirit desires to equip us for ministry. We can shout in the Spirit and not be equipped for ministry, and we can be silent in the Spirit and not be equipped for ministry. In the final analysis, God isn’t going to judge us on the basis of whether we were loud or quiet, but God will judge us on the basis of whether or not we met the needs of people in the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
As we abide in the Holy Spirit, we become obedient to the God’s Word. Teaching equips us for ministry. When we’re in the Spirit, we’ll give as God says give, as God has prospered us. When we’re in the Spirit, we evaluate and make decisions in the Spirit, for the Word reminds us that we walk by faith and not by sight. When we’re in the Spirit, we’ll be prompted to work to make things better by lifting up the name of Jesus Christ. For the Holy Spirit to reign in our lives, then we must abide in the love of God.
Our love for Jesus will be made known through our obedience to Him. And this love will produce something wonderful in our lives—the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. And that presence results in transcendent peace.
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com)
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