podcast link: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/20118c8b/you-have-a-secret-weapon-thrive
Shhhh . . . don’t tell anyone, but you have a secret weapon.
I had this secret weapon since I was four years old, but there was one major issue with it—no one told me I had it. Let me ‘splain: I came to trust in Jesus at the tender age of four because my mother took me to church and Sunday school. When I learned about Jesus and what he did for me on the cross, and yes, that he rose from the grave and is alive, I wanted to have him in my heart – plus, I didn’t want to go to hell! [Yes, in those terms, in that order.]
But . . . at that time, I only had the King James Bible in my hands and it referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost; frankly, this seemed to be an entity from a bygone era and had not much to do with me personally. Unfortunately, it would be decades before I learned about the secret weapon I had in my possession – the very real, very alive, very active Holy Spirit of God.
We just celebrated the miraculous resurrection, and if we could time travel back 2000 years to be with Jesus’ disciples, perhaps we too would have been witness to the living
Messiah. Imagine what it would have been like on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee,
described in John 21, (pictured above), where the disciples had been fishing and Jesus engaged Peterand lovingly restored his relationship with him. Jesus always cared about the person, the love, the relationship. He still does today! [did you read THRIVE, the start of a new series? https://conta.cc/2RCUPI4]
A few days later, perhaps we would have made our way south, and nearing Jerusalem, found ourselves among the crowd standing on the Mount of Olives, as Jesus was ready to return to the right hand of the Father. ‘Have a Bible nearby (or www.biblegateway.com)? Open it to the book of Acts, chapter one.
Check out verse eight: But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes on you . . . just want to concentrate on this
The word Jesus uses for ‘power’ is the Greek word dunamis, the same word from which we get our word dynamite. Jesus indicates that with the Holy Spirit will come power.
So when I was a little girl and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I had the Holy Spirit, but no understanding of what that meant, but now I do. The Holy Spirit takes the truth of Scripture and makes it alive and real; he gives us strength to live courageously, no matter what is going on about us.
Keeping it real: First comes a recognition and realization of our need for a Savior
followed by a decision to ask Jesus to lead our lives,
the desire to live as he would have us live,
turning from what we know to be sin,
And then . . . the Holy Spirit comes to make his home with us and in us.
The Holy Spirit is your secret weapon to live life fully. Do you know him?
To T.H.R.I.V.E., let’s choose Jesus today and access the power that the Holy Spirit gives us.
Grace and Peace,
Christine