Your defining moment ... are you ready?
- Christine DiGiacomo
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/f5a4f9d5/your-defining-moment-be-ready-james-no11
Titles and subject lines are really not my friend. For 18 years I have chosen a title for the Morning Briefing I was sending, wondering, 'will this title prompt a person to read or listen?'or 'does this heading capture the scripture passage?'
Accordingly, while 'Ode to a patriarch and a prostitute' may have been provocative in one sense, in another, folks could easily dismiss the Morning Briefing outright, since neither patriarch nor prostitute has anything to do with what concerns them! Fair enough. But that would be too bad. https://conta.cc/43XHZIU.
Driving northbound on the highway yesterday, I prayed, 'but then Lord, will they realize that on this day, this very day, a defining moment may present itself-- You may just step into their path, and they could miss You?!' Hmmm...
Maybe that's you. You were tired, maybe you didn't read, maybe distraction pulled you away--please consider with me that today may offer you a defining moment:
an opportunity to alter the course of your life.
Could be a chance to do new things,
to think better thoughts or choose to grow.
Consider these people who stepped into their defining moments:
>I knew a woman crippled with worry and anxiety, and then she began to really trust God, not just say she did. Mental peace.
>We all know people who lived totally for themselves, and then all of a sudden, they started thinking about other people, helping them. What could account for that?
>There was the young man who started praying simple prayers, believing God would answer his prayers, then he acted on the little faith he had, and it changed his life--first in small ways, and then much bigger ways. Changed by faith.
>We have known folks whose egos entered the room before they did--thought they
knew more than everyone else, but then, something happened--they became humbler, gentler, more open. What . . . how?
>So many people over the years trapped in addiction, but through the power of prayer, were healed! Sweet freedom.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit that caused such transformation.
My dear friend who had been caught in alcoholism told me, 'before I was sober and before I was a born again Christian, the inside of my mind was very different. Ohhhh, I remember that mind--the choices I made and how I spent my energy. It was very different than who I am today.' Hmmm....the mind before the Holy Spirit. Then when He comes, He does what only He can do: redeems the mind and transforms it into something new.
We recently spoke of the change the Holy Spirit made in Jesus' disciple, Peter. Think of it--he went from Peter-the-Denier to Peter-the-Powerful Preacher. No one besides the Holy Spirit could have changed the impulsive, compulsive Peter into an impassioned proclaimer of truth who influenced those present so dramatically they repented of sin in the name of Jesus Christ, and were filled with the Holy Spirit themselves! Acts chapter two.
The change in Peter was clear, how about in us? How does being filled with the Holy Spirit change a person today? [realizing that the Holy Spirit is not an energy or a force; He is a person, one person of the Trinity, who enables us to live life fully!]
When filled with the Holy Spirit, we are transformed...
-we want to honor God with our words and actions
-we want to know God more deeply; the superficial does not cut it
-we desire to know what it says in his Word
-we will do what it takes to grow in prayer, disciplining ourselves for growth!
When filled with the Holy Spirit,
-priorities change. It is much easier to let old ways go, and develop new
ones, including giving of ourselves to others.
-faithfulness increases, as does our faith increase
-there is evidence/fruit; often there is a change in our character
When filled with the Holy Spirit,
-there is thought about Heaven and the eternal, not just today
-there is power! Paul said, 'the same power that raised Jesus from the
dead lives in us.'1 [stop and think about that for a minute]
When filled with the Holy Spirit,
-there is no room for guilt or shame
-we have a desire to worship God
As Peter preached, " Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."2 Defining moment? Certainly.
->At the time we place our faith in Jesus (or perhaps turn back to him), we are individually given the gift of the Holy Spirit. He changes us . . . and always for the better. Are you unsure whether or not the Holy Spirit is within you? Pray. Tell God you want to know and love him, have a relationship with him. Ask him to empty you of your sin and selfish ways, and fill you instead with his Holy Spirit. He will.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit of God,
choosing to operate our lives in his power and not our own
is THE defining moment of our lifetime!
This poem captures one soldier's changed heart and mind:
"Lord God, I have never spoken to you, but now I want to say how do you do?
You see God they told me you didn't exist, and like a fool I believed all this.
Last night from a shell hole I saw your sky, I figured right then they had told me a lie.
Had I taken time to see the things you made, I would have known they weren't calling a spade a spade.
I wonder God if you'll take my hand, somehow I feel that you'll understand.
Funny I had to come to this hellish place, before I had time to see your face.
I guess there really isn't much more to say, but I'm sure glad God that I met you today.
I guess zero hour will soon be here, But I'm not afraid since I know you're near.
The signal, well God I'll have to go, I like you lots, I want you to know.
Look now this will be a horrible fight, who knows I may come to your house tonight.
Though I wasn't friendly to you before, I wonder God if you'd wait at your door.
Look I'm crying, I'm shedding tears, I'll have to go now, God, goodbye.
Strange now since I met you, I'm not afraid to die."3
Penned by an American soldier in Viet Nam, it shows how an understanding of who Jesus is, even a very simple one, can change us radically.
Brand new song by a 21-year-old...whoa!:
Christine
James, no.11
1 - Romans 8.11
2 - Acts 2.38
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