Hi again,
It’s time for another weekly update. I’m trying to take a little time to “smell the roses”, but other important things keep popping up. I suppose I’ll catch a glimpse of the roses now and then. There may be some material from the archives in this letter over the next few weeks. I’ll try to keep from repeating myself too much.
Last week, I managed to get some of our noxious weeds sprayed. The wind blew hard enough to keep us from putting the boat on the lake, but we were able to get some fishing done from shore with some success. I also noticed the wood ticks are active. They keep trying to hitch a ride with me.
During those windy days at the lake, I spent a little time watching the birds fly around the place. It’s a pretty common sight in most places, but how often do we think about what is going on as they sail through the sky?
It’s not just the bird up there making its way in its own strength, there is an unseen force that allows that bird to fly. That force is air, or wind.
In somewhat the same way, God’s Holy Spirit, although unseen, lifts up the Christian and allows him or her to rise to spiritual heights that would be impossible otherwise.
Jesus compared the work of the Holy Spirit to the wind: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We read in the Bible of the Holy Spirit moving people, and guiding them. The scriptures were written by men who were inspired by the Spirit to record the very words of God.
In the book of Acts, we read of the Spirit’s empowering of the apostles, allowing them to speak in other languages, in order to spread the Word among the people.
Although unseen, the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin (John 16:8), and convinces them to seek God’s forgiveness, leading them to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit controls the believer and enables him to understand the words of the Bible. Paul writes, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:12).
So, the next time you see an eagle or a hawk soaring above the earth, remember the invisible force that keeps them suspended in space, and may it remind you of the unseen power of the Holy Spirit, who enables Christian to “soar on wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).
In Him,
Pastor Jerry
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