The Lord said to him in a vision,“Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” Acts 9:10
So I got a letter from a friend yesterday, asking about all of this Holy Spirit stuff, I mean, how do you know that it is His voice? “I truly desire the experience and influence of the Spirit but many things hold me back.” There has been so much abuse in His name: emotional manipulation, political positioning, and self-glorification or self-delusion that we want no part of.
I have no ready answers. It was basically these same questions that drove me to Acts this season, trying to understand what lives empowered by the Holy Spirit look like. And I am coming up with some adjectives: humble, wise, generous, and... bold. Ah, bold. Somehow the boldness tagged the disciples as “having been with Jesus.” And that is not so much where I live. But that is what I see in these lives full of the Spirit.
But the Lord said to him, “Go...” So Ananias departed. Right into the path of the man breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.
And there’s the other marker... joy. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
That was the list Paul gave us.... love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And perhaps it is a little simplistic to frame the question with, “Who gets the glory?” But that is what Jesus left us with, “He will glorify me.”
And as I look back over my life, particularly noticing the Ebenezer moments, the Joshua stones of when He called and I leapt, I can say without hesitation that was His voice and I have no regrets. The spectrum is broad- from the voice in a cornfield, a vision unrolling full color on a dining room wall, to the light shining behind a young man’s head when he walked through the front door, and answering yes when a very annoying person asked if a German could stay with us a day or two or when Kathy said, “You need to quit your job.”
Yes.
That doesn’t mean that I have not moaned and fussed and murmured, but that is certainly not of the Spirit, and certainly does not glorify Him. And doubtlessly there have been many, many, “Well, maybe not’s” or too distracted to even hear’s. And lots of dashing about with my own wisdom grasped tightly in my fists.
And sometimes, sometimes I look up and question. Was that His voice? Was that His power and might at work? What just happened?
But then I know.
Yes.
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
So I got a letter from a friend yesterday, asking about all of this Holy Spirit stuff, I mean, how do you know that it is His voice? “I truly desire the experience and influence of the Spirit but many things hold me back.” There has been so much abuse in His name: emotional manipulation, political positioning, and self-glorification or self-delusion that we want no part of.
I have no ready answers. It was basically these same questions that drove me to Acts this season, trying to understand what lives empowered by the Holy Spirit look like. And I am coming up with some adjectives: humble, wise, generous, and... bold. Ah, bold. Somehow the boldness tagged the disciples as “having been with Jesus.” And that is not so much where I live. But that is what I see in these lives full of the Spirit.
But the Lord said to him, “Go...” So Ananias departed. Right into the path of the man breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.
And there’s the other marker... joy. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
That was the list Paul gave us.... love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And perhaps it is a little simplistic to frame the question with, “Who gets the glory?” But that is what Jesus left us with, “He will glorify me.”
And as I look back over my life, particularly noticing the Ebenezer moments, the Joshua stones of when He called and I leapt, I can say without hesitation that was His voice and I have no regrets. The spectrum is broad- from the voice in a cornfield, a vision unrolling full color on a dining room wall, to the light shining behind a young man’s head when he walked through the front door, and answering yes when a very annoying person asked if a German could stay with us a day or two or when Kathy said, “You need to quit your job.”
Yes.
That doesn’t mean that I have not moaned and fussed and murmured, but that is certainly not of the Spirit, and certainly does not glorify Him. And doubtlessly there have been many, many, “Well, maybe not’s” or too distracted to even hear’s. And lots of dashing about with my own wisdom grasped tightly in my fists.
And sometimes, sometimes I look up and question. Was that His voice? Was that His power and might at work? What just happened?
But then I know.
Yes.
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
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