The Holy Spirit has been
described to me as several different things. I've heard it described as water,
poured down on those encountering God. Others might describe it as being air,
flowing through us whenever we make that connection with God. But I think the
explanation that makes the most sense to me, is that the Holy Spirit is like
fire. I like that explanation because when you experience a connection with
God, it's like nothing else that you've ever experienced, and something you've
never known before. Not only that, but it's different every time; like a flame
changes every second you're gazing at it.
With this flame, or this,
connection with God, comes pure, everlasting joy and Agape. Now, I searched the
word Agape, for your conveniences, and I received several different results.
First, I got: Agape: Mouth wide open as in complete surprise or wonder. The
second result I got for Agape was: Unending love (Greek translated word) What I
find to be humorous though, is that God gives us this unending, everlasting, completely true
love and all we can do sometimes is stand back and say, "Woah! You love me
that much?!" So, I find both definitions of the word to be
completely appropriate. Not only do you find joy and love from God when a
connection is made, but there's comfort there, too. Just like a nice toasty
fire can comfort a family on a cold winter's night. It's just reassuring.
It's these experiences, and more, that we can
gain from connecting with God that makes me like the fact that people can
worship God in different ways. For example, maybe people prefer the praise
band, or the choir, or singing from a hymnal, but whatever it is, connect with
God. That's the whole reason we do it in the first place! Why take the focus
from Him? The point is, there are many different ways to get into that place,
and it can even be more than one. Worship; at your church, at youthgroup, at
home, at Crosstraining, pray to God and talk about your day, ask for help,
repent from sins, pray about others that need help, and completely give
yourself up to God (which, I definitely believe can be done more than once).
I remember a really long time ago that Carolyn
was talking about how people fall into a habit of praising God, and getting
into a connection with Him, and then once things get really hard, and you get
really busy, that connection starts to fall apart because you begin to focus on
other things...yet, you can return to things like retreats, or church, or
youthgroup, or crosstraining, or even do it on your own time, and reclaim that
connection with God. It doesn't have to be a one-time deal. You can do it if
you're feeling lost, and want to completely rely on God...it's happened to me
before...Well, I've come to realize that gaining a connection with God is good
for several things. It's a great reflecting period, a great time to catch up
with God or do some Bible Study for yourself, it's really relaxing, and I
noticed that whenever I do try to connect with God, I feel more at peace with
myself throughout the day, less stressed. I kid you not. And don't get me
wrong, all this personal experience with God is great. It's amazing. It's
wonderful to learn so much about yourself and the trials that you're going
through, and be able to pray to God...but I don't think that God completely
intends for us to spend all of our free-time for personal gain. Just stop and
think, what about all the other people in the world that haven't gotten to
experience God? What about all the other people in the world who haven't been
able to make that connection? What about all the other people in the world who
don't even know who God is? What about them?
I heard something, quite awhile
ago now, that went along the lines of, "Experience an encounter with God,
relish in that encounter with God, and then spread that encounter to
others." We can't just keep God to ourselves. We can't contain God in a
box to bring out at our convenient times, and we can't wear him like a jacket,
so He only keeps ourselves warm...that box needs to be wrapped and given to
someone else that needs it. That jacket, needs to be taken off, and offered to
someone else that's cold. If we spread God around, other people can have that
chance to experience Him as well, or at least get to understand what they could
potentially experience.
On my last middle school mission
trip, the youth group went to Wyoming had a certain theme to it that's stuck
with me for a really long time. You may have seen the shirts that we wear that
are blue, with a yellow submarine on it. Well, as it turns out, the theme of
that trip was, "Faith without works is like a screen door on a
submarine." Just, think about that for a moment...if a submarine were to
have a screen door, instead of a nice solid, sturdy, metal one, it would
sink...never to return to the surface of the water. That's just like our Faith
with God. If we don't go out to work with our Faith, and help others, or spread
our Faith to those in need of it, our own Faith will sink, never to return to
the surface. Now, I know that Pastor Handi-Jo has been doing a sermon on this
sort of thing for the past few weeks, saying that we need to get out into the
world and actually do stuff. Well, she's right. But how many of you are
actually going to go out and get something done? This has to start
somewhere...and it can only start with you. And it can only start with the
decisions that you choose to make. Nobody else is stopping you. And nobody else
is going to do it for you.
You know, I've thought about this
a lot...and I've come to realize that the only way of getting things
accomplished is definitely to step out of our comfort zones. Which, of course,
nobody wants to do...who would want to make themselves feel uncomfortable? Not
me. Heck no. But I've come to realize that it has to be done...if we
want to get anywhere. I've got a great example. I'm going to college soon: I
have no clue where I want to go, I have no idea what I want to do. I remember
Bryan's sermon a few weeks ago in church and he was saying that no matter what
you end up doing in life, God will use it to get us to be where He needs us to
be...and that, really meant something to me. I'm taking this really
uncomfortable risk of going to college, to take a major that I don't even know
I want to take. But I'm going to do it, because it is uncomfortable for
me, and I know that God has a plan for my life already, and I just need to
trust him. By stepping out of our comfort zones, I believe we are making
ourselves vulnerable for Him to grab hold of us, and use us how He wills.
Because I believe that when we step out of our comfort zones, we have no choice
but to rely completely on God, because He seems to know what He's doing. He has
everything under control. God called fishermen to be men of God, and the only
way they could get there, was to step out of their comfort zones, and leave
everything behind to rely completely on God.
And what completely amazes
me...is that God wants to help everyone...especially the poor, the broken, the
hurting, the lost, the unsure, and I think every single person can fit into a
category of that sort. There's a verse that I absolutely love and it's Mark
2:16-17: When some of the legal experts from among the Pharisees saw that he
was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, "Why
is he eating with sinners and tax collectors?" When Jesus heard it , he
said to them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I
didn't come to call the righteous people, but sinners." (common english
bible) Does everyone understand this? God isn't calling perfect people to him,
he's calling those that sin, those that have trials, those that need help...
And while we're on the topic of
trials, I just have to say, that they're a beautiful thing. They're not
designed to tear people down, or put people through endurable amounts of
pain...but they exist in order for us to grow, to learn, to do better, to make
mistakes and move on, to forgive and forget, to become stronger as people and
learn how to rely more on God. James 1:2-7 expresses this perfectly: My
brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for
joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let
this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and
lacking of nothing. But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very
nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score.
Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. Whoever asks shouldn't
hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like
the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. People like that should
never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. (common english
version) Really, it's a complete summary of everything that I've recently said.
Though you may face trials, if you completely rely on Him, you'll make it
through...
Now, back to the first topic of
discussion here... fire. God is like a flame. He builds up in us, kindling
something that we've never felt/experienced before, but we shouldn't keep it to
ourselves. It's meant as something to be spread on to other people. Broken
wood, dry wood, catches quickly when a fire makes its way toward it. Just like
broken people, people who are lacking God, will catch quickly with the flame of
the Holy Spirit when we spread it to them. Though, the only way to achieve any
of this, is to step out of our comfort zones, and take a risk that we may not
be willing to take...but God knows whatever we can and cannot handle...whether
we think we can or cannot handle it. And it may lead to trials...but we
can learn from the trials that we encounter so we become stronger, filled with
knowledge, braver, for the next trial that passes our way.
So spread that flame, to everyone
you know. Because when people see you, they should not only see you, but the
Spirit of God as well.
