Power Sourcefeatured

I recently heard a sermon about the Holy Spirit and the impact it had on early church.  There were a couple of points in the sermon that really spoke to me. 

The first point was not an “ah-ha” for me but it did convict me.  The point was that like the early Church, we are called to be the light of Christ in this world.  It started me pondering about how consistently (or not!) my light shines in my little part of the world.  In Matthew 5:14, Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” I am all too prone to let my light to flicker and fade.  My behavior isn’t always Christ-like.  I have trouble being a steady, consistent light that isn’t hidden from view. 

The second point was about the Holy Spirit.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit.  Not an “ah-ha, but the second part of the point was!  The Holy Spirit’s lives within us to restore our image into the likeness of God.  I found this intriguing.  In my case the Holy Spirit has a big job to do!  That job includes equipping me to be a light in the world – not any old light, but the light of Christ.  Now that I think about it; the light of Christ is pretty identical to the likeness of God!

At home, my typical light sources are powered by electrical current out of a socket or batteries.  If I need light, I have to choose to plug in or power up.   

Spiritually, if I want to be the light of Christ in the world, I need a source of power.  That power is, of course, the Holy Spirit.  While He is within me, He doesn’t overpower my will.  I have to choose to access His power.  My problem is that often I choose to ignore my power source.  When I do choose to “plug in”, I tend to “trip over the cord”, unplug and choose to keep going without my power source.  I shouldn’t be surprised when no light of Christ shines.

In his Epistles, Paul shared what would happen if we “plugged in” to the Holy Spirit:

• But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23)
• May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

The fruit of the spirit and the hope that we have in Christ are the very essence of the light we are called to be.  I need to be plugged into the Holy Spirit every moment of the day!  I know that I will fall short of this daily.  My prayer for all of us is that through the power of the Holy Spirit each day we will plug in to our power source a little bit longer than the day before.  

The early church changed the world as their light spread the good news of Christ.  How beautiful to think of His light shining a little bit brighter and stronger each day through us!  We have the opportunity to change our little part of world through His power and for His glory.  Let’s do it!

And by the way, Happy Mother’s Day! [jetpack_subscription_form]