Spiritual Solar Panels

This morning, I realized that the spirit God has placed within us is like solar panels on the roof of a house.  Our human spirit soaks up energy from the Holy Spirit, and then that spiritual energy illumines the mind and warms the soul/emotions.  Deuteronomy says, and Jesus quoted:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul.  In Biblical terms, "heart" refers to the inner man, or the spirit.  The "soul" is what the Greeks called the psyche, referring to the mind and the emotions together.

Now, we can never "approach" God with our minds alone, darkened as they are by sin and spiritual ignorance.  We need the light of revelation, given to us in the Word of God and through the Spirit of Truth, to illumine our minds and to give us understanding of the things of God.

And, much as we try to give ourselves peace through medication, drugs, alcohol, transcendental meditation, etc.,  peace, joy, love all elude our best efforts.  These are all gifts (literally, fruits) of the Spirit of God dwelling within us.  We cannot manufacture these gifts for ourselves; we can only receive them. 

All energy, all light given to those on earth comes from the sun/ Son of God.  We can be receiving stations, storing up light and energy for a darkened world if we choose to face the Light, much as solar panels must be mounted on a southern exposure.  C.S. Lewis says that if we want to be warm, we must stand by the fire.  If we want light, we must not remain in the dark, but go toward the light. 

Again and again, I have been amazed at how the Holy Spirit illumines my mind in ways that I cannot achieve by my best efforts.  Yesterday, I searched the house for a lost check, one that I received at Christmas and stuck in a book for safe-keeping.  But with all the books in this house, and with all the books I read simultaneously, I could not locate or recall the book which held the check.  Finally, giving up the search, I asked the Holy Spirit to show me where I had put the check.  During the night, I woke up and saw (in my mind) a clear image of the check under my bedside lamp.  I was pretty sure that I would have seen it there if that's where it was, since the lamp has a narrow, open base.  But in the morning, I noticed two books that I had stuck under the glass-topped table which held the lamp.  Of course, one of those books held the lost check.  Coincidence?  Not unless you want to admit that this kind of "coincidence" gets me through almost every day of my life. 

Peace---joy---light---understanding--love---kindness:  if we want the radiance coming from above, we must face the Son and allow our human solar panels to soak up His gifts.