Prayer Journal

Thursday, December 21, 2000
356/10
Read the Bible through in OneYear

Hanukkah, Begins at Sunset (Jewish) today. It is also the first day of winter.

In this Christmas season we exchange gifts and enjoy the company of family and friends. For Christians, Christmas is a special time to thank God for the birth of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We also thank God for the Holy Spirit, our Divine Comforter - the One who lives in us to guide and guard us each step of our journey.

We have been experiencing 40Days of Prayer for Revival. In our first ten days of that period, we focused on Preparing for Cleansing. Today, we begin the next ten days, where we focus on Responding to the Holy Spirit. And what better way to start than by looking at how the Spirit communicates with us. We, as Christians must learn to discern His conviction and His prompting in order to know God's leading.

Perhaps the best examples of the working of the Holy Spirit is found in the book of Acts. Subtitled by some versions as, "The Acts of the Apostles" this fifth book of the New Testament would better be called, "The Holy Spirit in Action". However, the "rubber meets the road" in your own life. From the moment we invited Jesus into our life, the "action" of the Holy Spirit has been stirring up dust in our own lives.

I love the words of Pastor Jim Cymbala in noting the work of the Holy Spirit in any revival movement:

"The first step in any spiritual awakening is demolition. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulated junk in our souls. Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeking the sinful debris we hadn't noticed before, which is what holds back the blessing of God."

"Anytime people get hungry to truly know the Lord, the Holy Spirit quickly puts a shovel and broom into their hands. Husbands and wives begin to deal with long buried issues hurting their marriages. Adults take a closer look at their choice of TV programs and movies. Church members begin to see the damage wreaked by their gossip, their racial attitudes, their criticism." (1)

One thing is certain. We must learn what the Holy Spirit is saying to us before we know what to do with the information. We have God's assurance that the Holy Spirit has not changed from the moment we were first introduced to Him. We also know that He will be the same today and forever. Now, with such great assurance, should we not be adjusting our lives in order to be consistent with that of our Lord Jesus?

The Holy Spirit's conviction is the first step in the adjusting action we take to be more like Jesus. However, the next step is ours. Are you willing and ready?

 

(1) Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire; © 1997 by Jim Cymbala, Zondervan Publishing house, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 - pp 159
(2) Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
(3) The images used herein were obtained from the Learning Company's ClickArt Christian Graphics Deluxe product, (c)1999 The Learning Company, Inc and its subsidiaries, 88 Roland Way, Novato, CA 94945 USA. All Rights Reserved.

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