New You, Know Who: Who's will are you seeking to be blessed? -January 27
One February 3rd in 1970, the students at Asbury College in Wilmore KY attended chapel just like other students had since the college was founded in 1890. A single student’s confession of “I have wasted so much time” set a fire in the hearts of every student, faculty member and staff member that was there and lasted for the next 144 hours, sending out 2,000 witness teams to more than 130 campuses all over the country. The complete and total surrender of that moment and the wills of those present allowed the Holy Spirit to come in. The revival was not planned. It happened… and the Spirit ran wild.
Acts 1: 4-8 details when Jesus spoke to his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the precursor to Pentacost. If we want to experience revival, the same three things must be present now as was present then. Our directions must be given by God, and received in faith. We must wait to receive the Holy Spirit if we are to have the promised power we need. But most importantly, seek it out where God has told us will occur.
We like to invoke the Holy Spirit so that we can receive power, but invoking the Holy Spirit, and being open to it, is not necessarily the same thing. Expecting the Holy Spirit to come in the way we desire it to come is seldom, if ever, the way we will receive the Holy Spirit. We must be ready, open, and receptive to whatever the Spirit wills. We cannot bend the Holy Spirit to OUR will as though it works for us and is waiting around like a genie in a bottle to grant us our wishes. We either receive what the Holy Spirit brings, or we live without because we want to control how we want it.
It is tempting to view OUR vision as God’s and want to invoke the Holy Spirit to bless what we want to do, have happen, or will into existence. It is WRONG as well as foolish. When we invoke the Spirit to bless us with prestige or power, expecting it to happen because we want it and we put “In Jesus’ Name” on the end, we will often be disappointed…and humbled soon. The vision must seek to glorify God, not us, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit needs to be free of OUR agendas. When we surrender our lives, our church, and our surroundings to God’s will, the Holy Spirit is able to show us the power that will transform our lives and our circumstances into occasions to display His Glory in us and through us.
Do I desire to bless what I want or do I bless Him with what He wants?
How can I free my prayer of my agenda when asking for His will to be done?
New You, Know Who: Who's will are you seeking to be blessed? -January 27
One February 3rd in 1970, the students at Asbury College in Wilmore KY attended chapel just like other students had since the college was founded in 1890. A single student’s confession of “I have wasted so much time” set a fire in the hearts of every student, faculty member and staff member that was there and lasted for the next 144 hours, sending out 2,000 witness teams to more than 130 campuses all over the country. The complete and total surrender of that moment and the wills of those present allowed the Holy Spirit to come in. The revival was not planned. It happened… and the Spirit ran wild.
Acts 1: 4-8 details when Jesus spoke to his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the precursor to Pentacost. If we want to experience revival, the same three things must be present now as was present then. Our directions must be given by God, and received in faith. We must wait to receive the Holy Spirit if we are to have the promised power we need. But most importantly, seek it out where God has told us will occur.
We like to invoke the Holy Spirit so that we can receive power, but invoking the Holy Spirit, and being open to it, is not necessarily the same thing. Expecting the Holy Spirit to come in the way we desire it to come is seldom, if ever, the way we will receive the Holy Spirit. We must be ready, open, and receptive to whatever the Spirit wills. We cannot bend the Holy Spirit to OUR will as though it works for us and is waiting around like a genie in a bottle to grant us our wishes. We either receive what the Holy Spirit brings, or we live without because we want to control how we want it.
It is tempting to view OUR vision as God’s and want to invoke the Holy Spirit to bless what we want to do, have happen, or will into existence. It is WRONG as well as foolish. When we invoke the Spirit to bless us with prestige or power, expecting it to happen because we want it and we put “In Jesus’ Name” on the end, we will often be disappointed…and humbled soon. The vision must seek to glorify God, not us, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit needs to be free of OUR agendas. When we surrender our lives, our church, and our surroundings to God’s will, the Holy Spirit is able to show us the power that will transform our lives and our circumstances into occasions to display His Glory in us and through us.
Do I desire to bless what I want or do I bless Him with what He wants?
How can I free my prayer of my agenda when asking for His will to be done?