Gift of the Holy Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. ...Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us be directed by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other...Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 5:22-6:2).

I think the greatest testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ is His effect in the lives of those who surrender to Him--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,.....etc.  If you say that you do not see those effects in life-long Christians, it may be that church-going and surrender to Jesus Christ are not the same thing.  I can only look at my own life and the lives of those I saw changing right before my eyes. 

During the Charismatic movement of the 70's, I saw lives and hearts change.  Whenever I asked myself and others close to me, "Is this all true?" I would see real change taking place in myself and in the others around me, and I had to admit that something "true" was happening.  Of course, the work of the Spirit may be a dramatic moment at first, but the changes are continuing and gradual over a lifetime---and they do not gradually 'go away,'  as I feared they would at first.

I experienced my first 'baptism in the Spirit' in the hospital early in the morning of June 15, 1977, as I awaited surgery.  I entered the hospital full of fear and anxiety not only about the surgery, but about almost everything in my life---including whether we would all starve to death, as Edgar Cayce was predicting a few years earlier.  That morning, a young girl, my roommate, prayed for me to receive the Holy Spirit as she herself had received Him the year before.  As she prayed over me, liquid love poured throughout my body from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.  I had experienced moments of peace before, but this was something else----I was embraced with a kind of love that drove out all fear and anxiety; I was warmed from within; I knew true joy without reservation.

The anesthesiologists arrived shortly afterwards to tell me they had reviewed my records and had decided to try for the first time to do a spinal for this surgery instead of a general anesthesia, one of my many concerns about surgery.  During the surgery, I was warm, despite the chilled operating room; I remained in peaceful prayer for someone I did not know but had heard about--someone who had cancer--and I was able to discuss options with my doctor.  After the surgery, because I had not had a general, I was able to walk around without pain, nausea, and confusion---but more importantly, I had a deep love for people in the hospital with me, and I wanted to tell them about the love of God for them.

Now it is really important to understand that just the day before, I was so wrapped up in my own issues that I was not really aware of anyone else or their pain---and certainly, I had no desire to tell anyone that God loved them.  That kind of behavior was typical in my mind of religious nuts; my religion was private, between me and God---and that's just the way I thought it should be for everyone.  Now I found myself wandering into other patients' rooms and talking to them gently, loving them, and telling them that God was with them.  Who was this person?  What had happened to change me so dramatically in the space of 24 hours? 

I reached for the Gideon Bible in the nightstand, and for some unknown reason, began reading the Acts of the Apostles----it was not a conscious, reasoned, choice---the Book opened, and I began reading at that spot.  Suddenly, I knew what had happened to me!  Pentecost!  The same thing that had happened to the Apostles!  I had received the promised "Gift of the Father!"  Wow!   What?!   What did I have to do now to keep this going?  Did anyone know?  What?    

I went home to recuperate, stayed in bed for six weeks and read the Bible from cover to cover---twice--something that would never have been possible before this.  I could at best read only a few lines without getting bored and wanting to read a novel instead.  During that time, my worries and anxieties receded into the background, as the Word of God began to take possession of me.  Wow!   How could this possibly be happening?!

The Holy Spirit, like the Word of God, is living and active today (Heb. 4:12) and intended for those "far off," as Peter said on the Day of Pentecost.  Us!  I don't know why I was chosen to receive so great and wonderful a gift; I can only hope to convince others that the Gift is for them also, now, today--and that what happened to the Apostles can still happen to us.

I'll be away until Dec. 29, but will continue then, God willing.