Tackled by the Holy Spirit

Today we begin a new series regarding the Holy Spirit. It seems trite, almost blasphemous to limit the Holy Spirit to a four-week series, but, lord willing, this series will begin to explore the depths of the Third Person of the Trinity. I believe it was A.W. Tozer who said something like "Of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is mostly neglected by the church!" If this is true or even remotely accurate, we are in bad shape! Jesus Christ made clear the key and central role of the Holy Spirit when He declared "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me, the works that I do; and greater works than these He (the Holy Spirit) will do because I go to the Father" (see John 14:12 NASB). Did you just read the previous sentence? Do you really think Jesus is "shooting straight"? I definitely believe Jesus is "shooting straight"!

It is also helpful to know that when Jesus says "greater works" will we do... He is referring not only to His miracles but also other activities and teachings. Jesus was a "solo act" who kept preparing his disciples for greater works that He made clear would be completely manifested when the Holy Spirit would "fall on them" (see Acts 1:8). When Jesus said "Greater works will you do" He meant "greater" not because they are more amazing miracles but because they will be greater in their worldwide scope and will result in a transformation of individual lives and of whole cultures and societies. With the "falling of the Holy Spirit" on the lives of committed Christ followers the "solo act" goes to an all out "community act"! In short, by way of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is multiplying Himself for a greater work! Now that's incredible!

Lastly, I urge you to consider the "intimacy emphasis" not simply the "power emphasis" that comes by way of the Holy Spirit. It's easy to focus on the power of God for "outward miracles" rather than the "inward miracle" that occurs in the heart of a surrendered, Spirit-filled believer. Consider Jesus, "putting on Flesh", and coming to earth to not only save us from our sins, which is huge, but to also model for us how to actually live in complete communion with His Heavenly Father and they wanted the intimacy, at least as much as they wanted the power to perform miracles. For example, after Jesus was praying in a certain place one of His disciples said to Him "Lord, teach us to pray!" (see Luke 11:1) Why? Why is the only recorded "teach me this Jesus" a request for prayer? Could it be that the disciples understood the transformation that takes place in the heart of one who is in complete, consistent communion with God?

My prayer is for River of Life to grow in our relationship with God...to be blindsided and tackled by the Holy Spirit by way of this short but all important series!

On the Victory Side,

Dave