If I had to choose one all time favorite book--besides The Bible, of course ;-) -- I think it would be Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Because it did so much for me in revealing what Scripture really has to say about the Holy Spirit. All these books about loving others, living radically for Jesus, etc. are great, but we can't do any of that without the work of the Holy Spirit.
When reading this book for the first time last summer, I was blown away by how little that I actually acknowledged the daily, even constant, work of the Holy Spirit in my life. He really was forgotten. Maybe those of you reading this, if you took a good, hard, honest look at your life, would humbly admit the same thing. Do you have any idea what the Spirit is truly capable of doing in your life? We have the exact same Spirit living in us as Jesus Christ did when He walked this earth.
Let that sink in: Jesus Christ gave us His Spirit.
When Jesus told His disciples that "Anyone who has faith in me, will do what I have been doing. He will do even great things than these," He meant it! Have you ever read through the Gospels and truly believed you could do even greater things than the miracles listed there? Further yet, read Acts--that's Jesus' promise fulfilled first time around. Those first disciples were doing some crazy stuff. Stuff that could never be explained in human terms. Stuff that points straight to the glory of God because there's absolutely no other way that we could explain it.
Just like Jesus' life while on earth. The things He did couldn't be explained on human terms. They were "out of this world." And that's how He brought glory to His Father with every fiber of His being, every moment of His life. The best part is, that role isn't just reserved for Jesus anymore. Sure, He'll always be the only One who did it perfectly, without sin, but what's that to keep us from trying the same thing?
Now think about your life. What happens during your daily life that points directly to the Father--that there's no other explanation for what you're doing besides that you have God's own Holy Spirit dwelling in you? Don't just think of a few bigger moments that have happened over the years, think about your daily routine. After all, according to Annie Dillard, "How you live your days is how you live your life."
I'm sure (or at least I hope) that everyone would say they have the Fruit of the Holy Spirit manifested in their life. But think of this: Do you know non-Christians who are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, and self-controlled? I know I do.
So Francis Chan challenges us to ask the Holy Spirit to manifest that Fruit to a supernatural degree. That we are so loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, and self-controlled, that there's no other explanation besides that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us. Can you imagine what this could look like?
I recently read through the Pentateuch, and one thing that definitely stood out at me was how God wanted the Israelite's to be completely set apart--to be holy--in every single part of their lives. He didn't just give the Ten Commandments. He gave all of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, too, which are basically devoted to describing exactly how His people should live in order to be set apart. God didn't just give laws about how His people should worship or what they should eat. He got down to what they should do if they have a skin infection! And I don't know a verse off the top of my head, but I do know that God stated more than once that He wanted it to be obvious to other nations, particularly the Egyptians, that something was different about the Israelite's. That there would be no other explanation for their lifestyles except that they had God dwelling with them. Since our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, I'm going to go out on a whim and say that God still wants this same thing. He wants His children to be so holy, so set apart, so different, that there's no other explanation for their lifestyles except that they have God dwelling in them.
Notice the preposition change? And oh, what a beautiful preposition change it is! :-) I think we all know, not only from our own lives, but from reading about the Israelite's in the Bible, that we are not able to live up to God's standards as mere human beings. We fail miserably again and again. God knows this, too. That's why He gave His One and Only Son. So that we could have the Spirit dwell in us instead of with us, and we get to be set apart through a loving relationship rather than following a set of laws. And that is just plain awesome. :-)
Okay, so I've gone on long enough . . . and have yet to quote anything from the actual book. Obviously, it'd be best if you could actually read this book for yourself, but that nay not be possible. I do know you can all read John 14-16. That's basically all about Jesus' Spirit dwelling in us.
But here's one of my favorite exerts :
"Years ago, when a random thought came into my head, I decided to share it with my wife. "Have you ever wondered what caterpillars think about?" I asked.
Not surprisingly, she said, "No."
I then proceeded to tell her about the confusion I imagined a caterpillar must experience. For all its caterpillar life, it crawls around a small patch of dirt and up and won a few plants. Then one day it takes a nap. A long nap. And then, what in the world must go through its head when it wakes up to discover it can fly? What happened to its dirty, plump little worm body? What does it think when it sees its tiny new body and gorgeous wings?
As believers, we ought to experience this same kind of astonishment when the Holy Spirit enters our bodies. We should be stunned in disbelief over becoming a "new creation" with the Spirit living in us. As the caterpillar finds its new ability to fly, we should be thrilled over our Spirit-empowered ability to live differently and faithfully. Isn't this what the Scriptures speak of? Isn't this what we've all been looking for?
It really is an astounding truth that the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. He lives in me. I do not know what the Spirit will do or where He'll lead me each time I invite Him to guide me. But I am tried of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them. I want to consistently live with an awareness of His strength. I want to be different today from what I was yesterday as the fruit of the Spirit becomes more manifest in me.
I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a daily basis. Christ said it is better for us that the Spirit came, and I want to live like I know that is true. I don't want to keep crawling when I have the ability to fly."
You do not need to read this book in order to know what it's really like to fly with the Holy Spirit. You have direct access to this Holy Spirit through prayer. Ask Him to show you what "flying" really looks like. That's all you really need. Happy Flying! : )
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