Hello Baysiders! Hope all is well in your souls today! And just like that, summer is about over. Family’s are back from vacation, kids are starting school again, and football season is about to start. As we start the first steps toward the fall season, let’s keep our eyes on the prize on God’s kingdom.
When you were a child, were you ever with your fiends playing a sports game and you ended up getting picked last to be on a team? Or you got overlooked and had to sit out? It’s not fun is it? I know have. It’s a demoralizing feeling. You feel rejected, not important, almost as if the other kids aren’t your friends. I imagine maybe thats what the Holy Spirit feels when we never call on his name during prayer, don’t mentioned him in our songs at church and while sharing the gospel with others we avoid his power. Unless you come from a charismatic church background, the Holy Spirit becomes the friend that is overlooked and not engaged. We all know one of the biggest central beliefs of our faith is the doctrine of the trinity, one God in three persons. This doctrine separates us from all the major religions of the world. Now don’t ask me exactly how the Godhead works because if I could explain perfectly God’s triune personhood, well, God wouldn’t be God. There’s room for mystery in fully knowing who God is. But here is the issue for today’s blog: why don’t we talk and engage the Holy spirit more? We treat the Holy Spirit as a third wheel on a romantic date; he’s just there, as a chaperon, kind of in the way of God the father and Jesus the son.
I really don’t know why this is the case when all three persons are God. The Holy Spirit is not less of God, not a force from God, he isn’t some ambiguous mist in the air, not an emotion or power of God, and he’s definitely not Casper the friendly ghost but is equally God, just as Jesus is equally God. The Holy Spirit is probably the most understood character in scripture. The Holy Spirit is not an “it,” He is a person. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity through whom God acts, reveals his will, empowers individuals, and discloses his personal presence. Here’s the catch, theologically speaking, God is everywhere, in Christ on the throne but practically speaking, every faith experience, active or passive, from God is the Holy Spirit engaging you, not Jesus or God the father. Crazy I know, again he’s God so its God doing the action but its also the third person of the Holy Spirit that is on the the front lines who is empowering you, convicting you, speaking to you, guiding you, by who we “were sealed and who is the guarantee of our inheritance.”
Thus if the Holy Spirit is the main player in us and for us as God in Jesus to us, should we not call and engage him more? I think so. My challenge to you is to start directly calling on the Holy Spirit and watch your faith grow and be polished. Why is that the case? It works the same way like if your friends started to pick you for sport games, you are going to make the team better by providing your strengths and skills for the team to win. Your participation is fun and contributes to the overall fun in others. The potential of the talent for the team won’t be to the max without your participation. Likewise the Holy Spirit gets called on and activated more so for us to experience God in better ways, funs ways, complete ways. God won’t be experienced in deeper ways unless we start seeing the Holy Spirit not as a third wheel but as the third primary color in all the beauty we see with our eyes. It’s a way to fill up your cup more with God. The good news is unlike your childhood friends, God will not leave the friendship or deem you as unkind. The Holy Spirit is so good and gracious he just sits there on the bench and waits for us to pick and call on him. It’s our loss, not His.
As God’s children we all have the Holy Spirit, which is a huge gift to receive. God by the Holy Spirit lives inside us! God is not only above us but within us, living and breathing inside our body. Jesus said in John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” God gives us himself! He is the best person to be on our side and help us in need. And that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit is, a helper. That’s what Jesus calls him. He is there for when you are in danger, looking for aid, asking for guidance, calling for strength, and any other requests. So next time you want to talk to God don’t search into the sky trying to find him, just call out his name, picking him from the bench and watch the Holy Spirit help you win the game.
Grace and peace ?:^)
Pastor Aaron