The Hope in the Holy Spirit
Good Morning Friends,
Words rarely do justice to the topic of the Holy Spirit. Describing our relationship with God the Father, the Body of the church, Jesus and the Spirit that binds us together is difficult at best. For the frozen chosen I think the common experience of the Holy Spirit is of the spirit of grace conceived at our baptism and birthed as our fruits mature and we witness to our faith. But people experience the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways and how you experience the Spirit might be and should be in some ways different than how I do. The hope is that however we experience this truth and love, the person of the Holy Spirit, that this gift, this miracle might produce in us something that builds up the body, the church. It is though grace not judgment, transformation not information, joy not fears that we experience this universal love. Today we give a testimony to and witness of the reality of The Hope in the Holy Spirit.
Scripture: Top of Form
Bottom of Form
5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5 (NRSV)
4John the baptizer appeared* in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with* water; but he will baptize you with* the Holy Spirit.’
Mark 1: 4-8 (NRSV)
22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
Galatians. 5:22–23 (NRSV)
5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with* the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
Acts 1:5 (NRSV)
21The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.
Exodus 13:21 (NRSV)
Message: The gift of the Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus at His baptism and was shared at Pentecost is experienced by believers today when the Spirit’s purpose is served in acts of faith and hope and love and unity. It is sometimes revealed in the rearview mirror. But the baptism of fire is much more. John the Baptist knew this power incarnate in Christ was to be shared forward. Here we learn that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is not the culmination of our spiritual experiences, but the commencement. The baptism in the Holy Spirit opens up the vast storehouse of God’s spiritual blessings but also tests that are experienced and viewed in the windshield. It is very important to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, just as it is to have a rear view mirror. But the initial infilling of the Holy Spirit is not sufficient for God to work His plan for our lives. We must live forward with purpose. We must prepare to be filled and refilled again in a present-tense experience to survive the crises of life…we need to be surprised by the hope found in the joy of Jesus and the fire of being purified by God as we are guided out of our sin on the way to the promised land. Forged by the experience into unity.
Pray we are prepared for repentance this Advent. Pray the Holy Spirit convict but also sustain us through the rite of passage of becoming a Christian. Pray our passion for the faith journey never goes out. Pray we walk, work and worship in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God. Pray the impact of the Spirit of God upon our human souls be so direct and forceful that it lifts us to a state of perpetual light on fire for God but not consumed. Pray we are guided by the work of the Holy Spirit in our baptism with water and also with fire as we are sanctified by our Lord. Pray we discover the hope of the Holy Spirit in this season and the next. Pray we put our hope in the mighty grace of Jesus. Pray our hope for unity in love is realized this season.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 