When We Meet Jesus

It is not at all about what we are doing as Christians --- it is all about what Jesus Christ is doing in us when we come to Him.  He can "do" in us only what we allow Him to do, as we invite Him not only to enter our hearts, but to remain with us.

St. Paul was one moment breathing fire and destruction on the early Christians, participating in the stoning of Stephen for blasphemy.  In the next moment, figuratively speaking, he was humbly receiving the prayer of Ananias and then preaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.  Soon, like Jesus, he was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit, not for 40 days, but for three years of prayer.

It's not religion; it's a relationship.  Falling in love with Jesus Christ is the salvation we seek.  It is He, not we, who will drive our sins far from us; it is He, not we, who will conform us into His own image, the Image of the Father.  We submit to Him; He does all the rest in us.

People are often shocked at the behavior of so-called Christians, but going to church every Sunday does not make a Christian.  Unless we allow the Word to wash over us, inside and out, church attendance is but a social obligation.  The changes do not come all at once; we are not magically transformed -- but we are set on our way.  Most of us cannot escape to the desert as did Paul for three years, to be discipled by Jesus.  Instead, we must continue as husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, employers or employees, etc., surrendering moments of prayer to the Lord. 

He came to do in us what we could not do for ourselves -- to bring about the death of the "old man" and the birth of the "new man," created in His Image.  And only He knows what each of us needs the most and where we need to begin.  The world may not see much change in us at first, as our hearts gradually begin to come under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  We ourselves may not see much change at first, either.  In fact, others are more likely to see something different in us than we are.

In the first few months after I was first "baptized in the Holy Spirit," a friend called me.  I had not seen her in a couple of years, but she suggested we meet at the movie theater in Lakeside Mall and re-connect.  Because of the parking situation, I had to park a good distance away from the theater.  She was waiting for me at the top of the stairs as I crossed the parking lot.  When I arrived, she hugged me and immediately said, "What has happened to you?  You look entirely different!"  I began to tell her of my experience, and she suggested that we skip the movie and go to lunch so she could hear the whole story.

It blew me away that my appearance had changed so drastically that she knew before I opened my mouth that something had happened to me.  Indeed, Pentecost came on once again "like a mighty wind," blowing away the collected garbage that had adhered to my personality over the years.

The Holy Spirit is mightier than any religious practice we might name.  It is He who places Jesus firmly in our hearts and minds; it is He who ministers to us the Scripture and enlightens our minds to understand them.  It is He who nudges us toward holiness in spirit, mind, and body.  We are told in Scripture not to "grieve the Holy Spirit in us."  We "grieve" Him when we refuse His nudging, when we refuse to open our minds and hearts to His promptings, when we choose our own way over His.

But if we continue to walk in the Spirit, and with the Spirit, He will lead us into all righteousness, into all truth.  He will do in us all that pleases the Father and conforms us to the likeness of the Son.  Jesus said, "If you knew the Gift of God, you would ask, and I would give you, water springing up to eternal life."  It is so easy to drink of this living water once it is provided to us!

If we would be followers, disciples, of Jesus, let us ask God for the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can either dig a channel of grace with teaspoons by our own efforts, or we can allow the living water of the Holy Spirit to flow through us with power, taking with it all the sins and anxieties blocking the channels of grace in us.