Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Week 30 Day 2

Acts 1:4
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

            Perhaps the one greatest Christmas which we can give one another this year is the clear and powerful invitation to our brothers and sisters to seek for the greatest infilling of the Holy Spirit that are possible for them right now. Over many years I have seen some of the weirdest and most cruel teachings about the holy Spirit that one could imagine. The simplicity of the matter is that in order to receive the Holy Spirit we must make room in our lives, in our thinking, in our affections, and in our actions toward the world around us. It’s called consecration. This is possibly the most difficult concept to explain to people who just “expect” something to happen rather than engaging in the process. Still, other folks seem “hell bent” on seeking through some element of the creation to claw their way to a higher plane of existence. Trust me, there are no idols, nothing made or performed by human hands, no act of contrition which will bring you any closer to God. (Cross yourself, genuflect, light as many candles as you want become a flagellant. In the long run they serve only to comfort you.) In the beginning of the church many of these types of activities were meant to be teaching tools to educate people who were not knowledgeable about Jesus. They were never intended to be talismans or catalysts to the presence of the Holy Spirit. He has been available to the committed hearts of disciple since the day of Pentecost.