Ephesians 4:30 says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
The Christmas season is upon us, and what a beautiful reminder of how dependent we are on God. He gave us the only person who could save us from the penalty of our sins – Himself! Immanuel, God with us! Yet, in our society today it is SO easy to get distracted by all the festivities, lights, gifts and fun that we miss out on the reality that God through Jesus came to live, just as we live. He lived a perfect life, died an unjust death and paid a penalty He did not owe. All for us! Yet, that is not where it ended. Jesus then ascended into heaven after emphasizing to His disciples that He must leave so that the Comforter would come. God through the person of the Holy Spirit would come and multiply Jesus’ power exponentially by residing in God’s adopted children, you and I! The purpose of this was so that we could live as a people known for the power of God. But the question begs, do we, do you, live this way?
Now don’t get me wrong, we can’t will into existence the type of life God desires. We can’t “try” hard enough, check off our boxes, and it simply happens. No, it is the Spirit alone who transforms us and it is His power alone that flows through us. BUT walking in the Spirit requires action on our part. Our responsibility is to position ourselves under the flow of God’s transforming grace. How do we do that? We must increasingly stay connected to God through desperately pursuing Him in prayer, knowing His Word and taking risks by being others’ focused. This is our work, but when we take this action, God’s transforming grace flows to us and allows us to take part in things that are greater than we could ask or imagine! (Eph. 3:14-21).
A couple months ago, Pastor Jesse preached about how we can live our lives expecting great things from God (His part) while we attempt great things FOR God (our part). But to do so we can’t quench or grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:30; 1 Thess. 5:19). This means that we can extinguish the flame of the Spirit in our lives by following the patterns of this sinful world OR by not being aware and thereby missing the Spirit’s directive in our lives. This occurs by being so wrapped up in us, our busyness and schedules, that we miss Him prompting and nudging us beyond our comfort zones, our conveniences, and our laziness. Rather we are to risk!
As Francis Chan states in his book, Forgotten God, “If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn’t you expect to be different from everyone else in the world…But it is safer to avoid situations where we need God to come through for us than to risk greatly for Him…Are you living by your own strength, wits, abilities? Or are you needing God dependently in your life to come through? If you haven’t experienced God in ways you can’t deny, then I would suggest that you are not living in a needy and dependent way.”
Innately we know that this reality doesn’t sit well with us. We know that God calls us to far more than a surface-level, safe faith.
So this Christmas season, be stretched and risk beyond what you think you can do and watch the power of the Holy Spirit sustain and empower you to do the work of advancing God’s Kingdom! Risk by first connecting yourself to God, then listen to the Holy Spirit ask you to do things beyond your comfort zones. Maybe to share Jesus with someone you don’t know, to pray for someone who needs it, to move beyond a surface congeniality with your neighbors and invite them to dinner, or to commit yourself to the family of God by getting connected in a Growth Group. You will see as you move toward this upward trajectory of dependence upon the Spirit, the power displayed in you will stand out. Your life will truly reflect the power Jesus told us we could have (Acts 1:8) as we live knowing that this world is not our home, we are only pilgrims and aliens here (1 Peter 2:11-12). And this powerful life is the life of a disciple of Jesus!
posted by:
Growth Groups Pastor