When I was a kid, I heard things that probably weren’t not meant to be heard. I don’t mean stuff a kid shouldn’t hear, I mean lines said that didn’t make sense to sense to a child so it was interpreted logical in my mind. Father, Son and Holy Spirit had a pecking order. The Holy Spirit came last. So in my mind, it was the least rather than a triune of blessings, the Holy Spirit was just hanging around at the end of the line.
The Spirit is an odd word. We have been teased with spirits, demonic, cartoonish creatures that are mystical and scary. I have come to understand that the spirit of something is a gift. I have the spirit of hospitality within me, I love to be with people and make them feel loved. I know others who have the spirit of peace. They just seem to have peace in the oddest times. Others the spirit of kindness; it’s just a part of them. Having a spirit of something isn’t like having a talent, it’s deeper and more a part of your inner heart. Spirit is compassion, spirit of tenderness, spirit of logic, spirit of understanding or the spirit of giving.
Think of it as the glass that holds our abilities. We have many abilities but we all have ways to hold those abilities and keep them in safe, collected and usable. If we don’t have our glass, stuff falls all over. The spirit of Jesus is different. We have Jesus. We have his spirit. It’s the glass that holds the rest of our life together in one place so we can make the other parts of our life work together. Having his spirit is like the type on a stamp whose sticky refuses to stay. It’s the glue when bonding wood together even if we see using nails. The spirit of Jesus is a deeper part of giving Jesus control of my life. I can give my energy to my job but not embrace my job. Think about a baseball game. There are fans and then there are fans who have the spirit. A fan sits and cheers and has a foam finger and maybe a jersey. A fan who has the spirit of the game, has his face painted, hat backwards, matches the team in every aspect of his apparel, dances to every song, knows the chants and it usually on the big screen because of the spirit of his behavior. He has his glass full and there is no mistaking who or what he is living for at that moment.
So if we got up each day and picked a cup out of the cupboard and instead of pouring in coffee, we asked good to fill our cup with His spirit and kept that spirit collected so it could be an effective part of our life that day, what would it look like in our day? The prayer at the top of the page may be the end result. I love this prayer from the Valley of Vision prayer book.
“Fill me with the spirit of Jesus, that I may be occupied with his presence…
May his comforts cheer me in my sorrows
His strength sustain me in my trials
His blessings revive me in my weariness
His presence render me me A fruitful tree of holiness
His might establish me in leave and joy
His incitement’s make me ceaseless in prayer
His animation kindle one me undying devotion.”
The prayer then goes on to pack the final punch.
“Send him As the searcher if my heart, to show me more of my corruptions and helplessness that I may flee to thee, cling to thee, rest on thee as the beginning and end of my salvation.”
That’s what we get when we have the spirit of something. It’s so much a part of us we can’t separate it from ourselves. The water is no good without the glass to hold it in so we may drink. Our lives without the spirit are not effective… we need the glass of the spirit to hold the rest of what God has blessed us with to be able to pour out on others while not just splashing on the floor and giving no one a blessing.
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