This fall our church is doing The Me I Want to Be for a church-wide campaign. The Me I Want to Be is a great book by John Ortberg about becoming the person God intended us to become. The campaign includes weekend messages, small group curriculum, daily Bible readings and the book itself. We kicked off the campaign last weekend by looking at stepping into the flow of the Holy Spirit.
In his book, Ortberg contends that becoming the person God created us to be isn’t about more disciplines and trying harder. Instead it’s about stepping into the flow of the Holy Spirit and allowing him to wash over and transform our lives. I like this image of surrendering to the Spirit and allowing him to move me and reshape me as he sees fit.
The image is definitely more dynamic than thinking I just have to be better at my devotionals or spend more time in prayer to be who God wants me to be.
We can’t just wait to be caught up in the flow of the Holy Spirit, though; we have to take active steps to enter into it. We don’t sit in a kayak on the shore of a river waiting for it to carry us away; we have to first step into the river in order to be carried away.
Traditional spiritual disciplines definitely help us to enter into the flow of the Holy Spirit.
Conversations about how Jesus is working in the world can also help us enter that flow.
Taking a hike and enjoying God’s creation can help us step off the shore.
Simply Inviting the Holy Spirit to wash over us and carry us away could have a profound impact on our lives.
We need to take those first steps to get into the water but, once we’re in, it is the power of the Holy Spirit which will work in us and transform us from the inside out.
Just like we can take steps into the water, though, we can take steps out of the water.
It’s important for us to know what will get us into the water but also the steps that will likely carry us out. Because if we really want to be transformed, if we really want to become who God created us to be, we need to stay connected to the life-giving waters of the Holy Spirit.
I’m excited to see what God is going to do in our church and in my own life through this series. I feel like I’m just starting to get my feet wet, but I already feel the current of the Holy Spirit in my life.
What step do you need to take?
The water is great.
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