Personally Pentecostal

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22

I have decided to make 2011 a year of Pentecost in my life. Being Pentecostal by church membership hasn’t been something that has meant so much to me and I’m certainly not attracted to some of the extreme images and clichés that have gone along with Pentecostalism.

Since I can remember I have been happier to declare that I’m a believer in Jesus and leave it at that. But this year I want to experience and pursue the Holy Spirit. I want to recognise and honour the way that He works in and around my life.

I know that it is only by His power that I have been able to be who I am and do some of the things I have done. It is easy for me think that I have done it in my own strength or because I’m a nice person but this isn’t actually true – I don’t really know what I’d be like if I didn’t have a deposit of the Holy Spirit in me.

So I want to honour Him and acknowledge Him. I am a believer who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe that I have also experienced on occasion the infilling of the Spirit in the context of life and ministry. I am hungry to see what it is like to pursue the Holy Spirit and seek to know Him more.

I know that I have much to learn from many great men and women who have lived out such a passion in their lives, and of course from the apostles of the Bible. I seek to truly and fully be part of what Jesus Himself issued when He taught the disciples about the Spirit, to wait and to receive Him.

I know that I am also in need of the power of the Holy Spirit. I can’t be who I want to be and live the life I want to without His power in me. I need Him to pour out grace on my weaknesses and to burn away areas of sin in my life. I need Him to empower me to live and minister the way that I have been commanded to by Jesus.


As I blog I would appreciate your prayers, as well as comments and suggestions on what I share.

On Water

I have been musing on metaphors to describe hunger. Not just the kind of hunger that comes and goes like natural hunger for food, but a constant hunger. Food hunger stirs within us but is then relatively easily satisfied. We don’t need food or hunger for that matter for a few more hours.

I know that I need and want more of God. I want to know the Holy Spirit intimately and powerfully in my life. However my spiritual hunger seems to be the same as my natural hunger, although much less frequent than three times a day.

I want to become more consistent in my hunger for the Holy Spirit but I find that my motivation goes in a cycle. It can take days or weeks after an encounter with God before I start to really yearn for Him. And when I do have such an encounter I find that despite my thoughts for renewed and consistent hunger, the satisfaction of that encounter results in me not continuing to seek Him.

Are we bound to be cyclical seekers? Fickle followers even?

Our desperate need for oxygen is perhaps a more helpful reminder of how much we need God all the time – for life. But I very rarely appreciate oxygen either.

But then I thought of Peter walking on the water. Peter was very highly and consistently motivated to stay on top of the water. He probably never thought twice while walking on dry land. Besides the odd puddle or trip hazard walking on the ground is something we can do so easily that we can take the process for granted.

A life of faith is a lot like the process of walking on water. Every step involves faith in some way. Although we start to take it for granted, we can start to live within our comfort zone as if we’re walking on dry land, times will come when we freak out and need Jesus to pull us back up onto the surface of the water.

For all of us who have responded to Jesus invitation to come out onto the water, we need to keep our eyes on Him. The life of faith is also pretty awful when we try to do it simply out of our own strength and discipline. We desperately need the moment-to-moment mentoring of the Holy Spirit – we need His power and His grace.

Let’s embrace the water-walking life, a life of faith, a life for others. I know if I appreciate the water-walk each day then I am more likely to stay hungry as I will know how much I need Him.

Sorry

I am writing to apologise for the incredibly bad timing and insensitivity of the last post which I have removed from the blog for now. I wrote it a few weeks ago and didn't think much when I posted it today until just now when I was reminded of the content. Of course, I care deeply about the current situation in QLD, what is a spiritual metaphor for me has become a nasty natural reality for many.
Again, sorry,
Mark

Personal Pentecost

I need a personal Pentecost. I have been stirred recently to want something more than I have, to stop settling for less than all that God has made available to me. The phrase is J. Lee Grady’s from his book on the Holy Spirit. As I read the first few pages I knew what I would like to focus on in my devotions and in my blog over the next year.

After a year when I have found the end of my own resources, I have come to realise that I’ve only been scratching the surface of God’s. I have read about and seen glimpses of the power of God but I have been far too easily satisfied to be a spectator or to receive enough for what I think I need in life.

This is not about wanting more for my own sake, although God only knows just how much I have always tried to live out of my own strength. As Grady points out when the Holy Spirit is moving is someone’s life then there will be a genuine challenge to live a holy life as well as an empowering to share the Gospel of Jesus with others. I want these things and in fact, I need these to be who I want to be and who God has made me to be.

I feel that 2011 is a year for me to search this out, to pursue the Holy Spirit with the passion and determination that God has given me. I want to become the kind of radical Christian that I’ve read about. I want to see if it’s possible for me to go beyond just having a short season or of being content with just enough to be a nice guy.

And so I’m going to pray and pursue. I’m going to read and reflect. I’m going to receive and to write. I want to push past what I’ve ever experienced before. I intend to be real, transparent and practical in my approach and application of what God teaches me. I want to know how this works on a good day or a bad day; a hard day or an easy day. I am curious to see what happens. I have an inkling that God is going to respond to my hunger and indeed that it is God who is calling me out.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Diving in

You are the open door to freedom
You are the only hope I have
The reason in my reason
The only thing that lasts
How could I begin to settle
When all within me longs
To step into the shelter
Of your everlasting arms

I wanna get carried away
I wanna get tossed by your waves
I don't care where or how deep
I'm gonna jump in with both feet
I wanna get carried away
I wanna get lost in your ways
I wanna be held by your truth
I wanna behold all of you
I'm gonna be all yours today
I wanna get carried away

You are the wisdom of the ages
You are the one who stays the same
The power in the wind
The scent left by the rain
How could I begin to make it
If all I had was me
Just take me as I am Lord
And sweep me out to sea.

Some say You're far away
But I know You're here with me
I could go anywhere
And still you'd be there with me
I know You're here with me.
Carried Away by Sonicflood 2006, hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riK0uwtAc80

This is the starting point for my blogging in 2011. I am feeling stirred to consider and write about seeking to really be carried away by God. My mind and heart started buzzing on this when I was away at the beach, and the water metaphors were coming like waves. This song lyric by Sonicflood came back to me. At this stage it defines what I’m feeling better than I can so it seems like a good starting place.

What do you think your life would be like if you were 100% given to God?