Traces of the Holy Spirit

John the Baptist was the last of the OT prophets.  With him closed the era of men "trying" to be "good" by obeying the law and by toeing the line.  The law was like a tutor in Roman times, correcting behavior, showing the right path, effecting discipline---but lacking the power to change character or to overcome the "law of sin and death" that wars within us.

Jesus said of John: Truly I tell you that ...he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  John was a great man; Jesus said of him that among those born of woman there was no one greater.  But man's best efforts were at an end.  With the new inbreathing of the Spirit of God given by the resurrected Christ, from now on, it would be the Spirit in us doing the work.

Maybe I've always gravitated toward this lesson because early on in life, I saw the impossibility of my own "best" (read "inconstant") efforts.  I distinctly remember the first time I saw and learned the meaning of the word dilettante--meaning amateur, browser, dabbler.  Learning the meaning of this word immediately set off alarm bells in my head; I was afraid that the word described my life---and would continue to describe it forever!  I was still in high school, and yet I determined not to be a dilettante; I was going to buckle down and seriously pursue things and stick to them---yet, there was always an underlying fear that I could never really do what I had determined to do.  And indeed, my fear proved true.

That is why, when someone first prayed for me to receive the Holy Spirit, and I began to see the effects of that prayer, I immediately began to fear that I would eventually "lose interest" and pursue other interests.  I went back to the person who had first prayed for me:  All my life, I said, I've gotten excited about this and that and eventually lost interest.  I don't want to lose this through laziness or indifference.

My doctor (the one who had prayed for me in my time of trouble) laughed:  You don't "have' the Holy Spirit, he told me; He has you---and He's not letting go.  Even if you walk away, He will walk with you and bring you back.  I received this Gift 14 years ago, and it just keeps getting better all the time.  [Thanks, Dr. Seese---may God forever bless you!]

His words proved to be more true than I could have then imagined.  The year was 1977--34 years ago---and the Spirit has not yet let go of me! [Thank you, Holy Spirit!]

So, what is the evidence of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives?  Where do we find traces of His Presence?

• He makes Jesus more real to us as a Person
• Scripture comes alive for us and is written on our hearts as "our" story, not just as "a" story
• We begin to hear the inner Voice of the Spirit, prompting us in major and in small, daily, decisions.
• We begin to see in ourselves a new kind of love for other people---even people we don't know, even those we would not ordinarily choose as friends.
• We begin to experience help in the sticky and tricky areas of communication---sometimes, people will later tell us we said just the right thing at the right time, and we don't even remember saying that particular thing.
• We begin to see people around us soften and become more open to the Spirit's influence.

Last week, the deacon in our church said this:  Live in such a way that people who don't know God but who know you will come to know God because they know you!  Believe me, that can happen only when the Spirit of God Himself is indwelling us and acting through us.  Most of us want to be moral, upright, and just; we want men to think well of us; we want to do the right thing.  (This is what "the Baptism of John" is all about.) 

But John himself said, There comes one after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.  He will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Spirit. 

Later, Jesus was to say, I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what would I but that it be kindled? 

If we have received the Baptism of John, we need to go on from there and seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit from the hands of Jesus Himself.  He obviously wants to kindle a fire in our hearts that will never be extinguished!