The Holy Spirit is moving today as He was in the beginning. From the first few verses of the Bible, we see that “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2 NKJV). As a mother, I am reminded of the anticipation of waiting to meet my child who was yet to be born. For over nine months, I saw my belly grow but had to wait to see the face of my child. In a similar manner, the Holy Spirit was patiently waiting, hovering in anticipation as He worked with Creator God to form the world until His most beloved creation, you and I, were given life.
As the story of God and His creation continues to unfold, we see how the Spirit of God comes to rest upon His anointed throughout the Old Testament, whether they were judges, kings, warriors or prophets. When the “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon” Samson, he “ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands” (Judg. 14:6 NLT). When David is anointed by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on,” empowering and directing his kingship (1 Sam. 16:13 NLT). Ezekiel the prophet explained how “the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me” (Ezek. 2:2 NIV). And like others who had the Spirit of the Lord rest upon them, these children of God did extraordinary things. Everyone marveled at Samson’s strength; David restored God’s favor to the throne of Israel during his reign; and Ezekiel gave voice to God’s judgment and ultimate desire to call His children back to Him.
But here is the part that I find the most exciting, we no longer have to wait for the Holy Spirit to rest upon us. In speaking of the coming Messiah, Isaiah states, “1 Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isa. 11:1-2 NLT). And the Spirit of the Lord that rested upon Christ now dwells in us through His fulfillment of this promise. In speaking of the Holy Spirit, Christ tells the disciples that “the Spirit of truth…dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17 NKJV). This Spirit is the “Helper” that Christ promised would come to “teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 NKJV). And indeed, we see the Spirit of God come upon the disciples in the upper room, empowering them to do incredible things. The Book of Acts is filled with the miraculous works of the apostolic ministry that Christ commissioned. And yet, Paul’s question to the church at Corinth is the same question I would ask today, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16 ESV).
This is the same Spirit that was present at the beginning of creation, that anointed David and the prophets of the Old Testament, the same Spirit that rested on our savior Christ during his baptism and baptized crowds with tongues of fire in Acts 2. Yes, this same Spirit is what dwells in us due to the sacrifice Christ Jesus made to restore us to our right relationship with our Father, to tear the veil so that we ourselves could be cleansed and sanctified, a fitting place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. The Holy Spirit no longer has to hover or rest on us; the Spirit dwells in us. Take some time to meditate on that. The source of the miraculous is in you and seeks to work through you. Can you accept this? Can you yield to this?
For some of you, you are reading this and vigorously nodding your head, vocalizing “amens” in confirmation. You know this to be true. You can attest to the way the Holy Spirit has rocked your world, and you seek the reality of the Holy Spirit in your lives. You desire to move from glory to glory, never wanting your flesh to obscure the Spirit. For you, I just have to say, buckle up your seatbelts. The Holy Spirit is going to use you and show you things beyond what you can even comprehend. God’s heart is to reach the world, and He wants to use you. He is speaking to you right now, bringing to mind the quiet nudges that He has given you. Move in these promptings. Press in even deeper. Look for those who are joined in the same work and continue to support and encourage each other. The world will not understand, but your brothers and sisters in Christ are hearing the same call.
For some of you, you don’t like your world to be rocked. I get that too. My husband makes fun of me because he says I am “high structure.” I was that mom who timed our children’s naps and had them on a strict sleep schedule. We have the same routine every night and the same routine every morning. If we change the routine by reading the book before brushing our teeth, or not cuddling after we read our book, we are confronted with big tears of disbelief as the children react to what they perceive as their world starting to crumble. They find comfort in the predictability. In my flesh, I find comfort in the predictability. But in my spirit, I know that God is always trying to do something new. He is, afterall, the Creator God. Being creative is in His character. He will never stop trying to do something new, and no matter how much our flesh may crave the comfort of predictability, our spirit will feel lacking if we do not join Him in His new, fresh work.
For some of you, you want to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, but you have never actually witnessed the evidence of His power. That’s okay. Perhaps this is a time to start deepening your relationship and getting to know Him on a more personal level. I was saved in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I remember weeping and professing my love for God. I was sitting on my couch, rocking back and forth, crying and repeating, “I love you Lord, I love you Lord” over and over. Yes, I am sure it was not pretty, except perhaps to my Heavenly Father, but at that moment, my relationship with God became real. He wasn’t some kind of intellectual exercise or agnostic belief; I knew Him. And if you really know Him, your heart can’t be filled with anything but an overwhelming love for Him in recognition of who He is. If you haven’t had that moment yet, all you need to do is continue to seek the Lord. In layman’s terms, that means you need to be in the Word daily, you need to pray daily and you need to get yourself around other Spirit-filled believers.
And finally, some of you may need to take that first step of accepting Christ. If that’s you, and somehow God has led you to this place, you do not need to wait. You can begin having the Spirit of God dwelling in you today. Romans 10:9 states, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It seriously is that simple. But if you feel like you don’t know how to get started, you can pray something like this: “Lord Jesus, I recognize that I need You in my life. I am sorry for rejecting Your love for me and for not following You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I invite You to come into my heart and life; I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.” If you’re not quite ready to do that but have questions and feel a prompting to start seeking the Lord, then start seeking. Oftentimes, the Lord will have placed other believers around you with whom you already have a relationship. I am sure they would be thrilled to start talking to you about the things of God. If there is a house of worship that is currently open, go there. Ask for someone to pray with you. If God is not bringing anyone to mind, you have at least one friend in Christ, me. E-mail me. I live for the opportunity to help others know Christ. You’d be doing me a favor.
Father God, help us to know you more deeply. Help us to recognize that the same Holy Spirit that hovered above the waters of the Earth, that rested upon your children David and Ezekiel, is the same Spirit that dwells in us today. Our hearts are filled with inexpressible gratitude at the sacrifice Christ made so that we could experience You so intimately in our lives every day. Let us never take that for granted and continue to seek after You, yielding ourselves to Your will for this world and for our lives. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
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