What is Christianity?

And what, exactly, is Christianity at its core, but the experience of Christ being formed in us by the action of the Holy Spirit?  The experience of Mary at Nazareth is the starting place for each Christian, no matter how long we have been "in church."  At some point, the question comes..."Will you allow Me to enter?"  And from that moment, we are no longer our own.

Once I had yielded to the action of the Holy Spirit, Who can be grieved by our indifference but Who cannot be controlled by the force of our wills or our thoughts, I began immediately to fear that I would "lose" the Holy Spirit by gradually losing interest and drifting away.  I questioned the person who had originally prayed for me to receive the Spirit.  His answer reassured me:  You do not "have" the Holy Spirit; He now has you---and He's not letting go.  You may choose to walk away, but He does not leave you at the corner, saying, 'I'll be here when you return.' Instead, He goes right around the corner with us, walking all the way through all of our journeys.  And God has more options to bring us back than you can ever imagine.

The role of the Holy Spirit is the same in us as it was in Mary---to form in us the Image of the Father, Who is Jesus.  There is nothing else.  Jesus said, You will do even greater works than I did, because I go to the Father.  It is always and everywhere the Spirit of Jesus living in us, expressing through each unique personality, His own love of the Father and love of mankind.  Through us, He wants to touch the world around us, to heal, to forgive, to soften the hardened heart, to reveal Truth, to establish righteousness on the earth.  Mother Teresa said, Yours are the only hands and feet Christ has to do His work on earth.  We cannot do the work; only He can do it in us.  We cannot be "good Christians;" we can only yield to the only Son Who lives in us to the glory of God.

We need every day to surrender to the power Who is willing to live in us, to take up the burdens of our life, to speak through our lips, to see through our eyes, to meet those we meet----Yes, Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.