God’s GPS, the Holy Spirit
How many of you have a GPS in your car or on your cell phone?
Do you use your GPS to find your directions and get to your destinations? In this electronic generation, most of us rely on a GPS to help find us to get to a desired destination.
Do you have a desire to be a fruitful and effective child of God?
Do you want to be set free from all the fleshly cares of this life by the power of God in your life?
Do your belief in the fact that God can do the impossible?
Do you have faith in what God can do?
Do you have faith in what God can do through you?
Do you believe that God wants all of us to have a wonderful, divine position in Him?
Do you believe that God’s desire for you is to have the same Spirit His beloved Son has?
John the Baptist, preaching the baptism of repentance at the Jordan, Jesus came to John. As John, recognized Jesus in his midst, John said,
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11).
Most of us have seen water baptism in action, but God wants to see us covered with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He wants US to be immersed, covered, clothed, and flooded with the light and revelation of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was baptized of John (Matt. 3:13-17) something happened that had not seen before at a baptism (vs. 16). God unfolded heaven and became revealed in His Only Begotten Son. As Jesus was coming out of the waters, the Spirit of God manifested in the shape of a dove. This opening of the heavens demonstrates both the voice, and the descending Spirit came from heaven and was divine.
First century Jews associated the dove with the Spirit since Genesis 1:2 describes the Spirit as hovering over the primeval waters. The Hebrew verb translated “hover” as the same work describes as a “bird rapidly flattering its wings.”
The Spirit of God descending on Jesus as His baptism as a dove (vs. 16) must have been a moving experience for those standing at the river bank of Jordan. Seeing a dove lighting on Jesus and hearing the voice of the Almighty, All-Knowing, All-Powerful God of the Universe saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (vs. 17). Wow!
Although those people there that day were NOT accustomed to witnessing supernatural events; surely they must have thrilled to see the presence of God manifested in their presence.
The symbol of the dove for the Holy Spirit is very fitting. The gentleness of a dove characterizes the personality of the Holy Spirit. As Noah used the dove to send out to see when the earth was dried up enough for the people to walk on it again, the Holy Spirit serves as God’s way to send out his Word to humankind today. The gentle and servant spirit of the dove shows us the kind of God that is without a hint of harshness or violence. The Holy Spirit gently persuades us of the truth of God’s love, and then waits for us to invite us into His lives.
Now in our time, since the beginning of the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, as a Divine Person, functions as Heaven’s Divine Administrator on earth. He has the ultimate authority as the executive of church on earth to fulfill the eternal plan of God.
This can be illustrated in the office of the President of the United States. He is the CEO of this nation, the chief administrator, the chief diplomat, and the one ultimately responsible for the welfare of the nation. Should our nation go to war, he serves as the Commander in Chief of the nation’s armed forces. He is directly responsible for all government details and decisions.
In the same way God has designated the Holy Spirit to a chief executive capacity to direct every part and function of the church. We are NOT to run the church. We are NOT to do the work of the church on our own.
We are NOT to be the decision makers of the church. The Church is NOT be a democracy. The Church is a Theocracy – a form of government in which God is recognized as the supreme ruler of the organization. Then, we are not to be a “true democracy” but rather to be a “true theocracy” under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Believers who choose to yield their lives to the Holy Spirit will soon discover His Divine governing power in their life situations. God intends for the relationship of the Holy Spirit with believers to go beyond first creating and new creature in Christ Jesus within them and nurturing it until they become fully developed sons of God (like Jesus, being the mind of Christ Jesus).
By His divine power, the Holy Spirit desires to govern our lives so He can fulfill all the purposes of God in us individually and, subsequently, in the Church.
An example of this might be the use of a GPS. You program the GPS to help you navigate around to a determined destination. You put in the State, The City, The Street and the Street Number (what you want to go). You then click on the GO TO ROUTE… and the GPS (if you follow it step by step) will take you Turn by Turn until you get to your destination.
When you choose to yield to the Holy Spirit (put your life, lock-stock-and-barrel) in His directions, give the turns He directs you to (even when it seems totally the wrong way.
Illustration: A friend of mine and I were going to a funeral in Lafayette, Indiana. We put in the address of the funeral home. We turned into a
residential area, we went down into the area, and thought the GPS was wrong, we turned back to the main street, and followed it again, we were almost ready to turn around, and low in behold there was the funeral home right smack in the middle of a residential district.
Moral of the story: We need to follow the Holy Spirit’s directions, even if seems totally wrong, and you will discover His divine governing power is taking you to your destination (to become a son of God with the mind of Jesus Christ).
God’s part is leading us in the right direction.
Our part is following His directions.
Often we must get rid of our excuses to follow His leading.
Cortez the Spanish explorer, burned his ships. Told his guys to
“Fight or die.” No turning back.
We have to say the Dragons. Old maps had a dragon (which means
uncharted waters) Sailors were often afraid to venture into unchartered waters….like going out visiting people to come to church.
We have to flex our risk muscles. Take a risk to go where you don’t want to go.
Have something at stake. If you don’t make that visit, that person may leave this world without Jesus.
Use your shield – Be prepared for negative reactions, or even hostile reactions. (Ephesians 6:10-20) Stand your ground, stand firm, with the belt of truth, Put on the whole armor of God.
And sell, sell, sell, tell them about the benefits, benefits of the Holy Spirit who will lead us to our final destination – heaven!