Photo Credit Charles Rex Arbogast
We get a brief surge of excitement when we tear open the package containing our new device. Or a wave of euphoria hits us when we hand a sales associate our credit card to purchase a new pair of shoes. Yet, these feelings quickly evaporate. We long to experience that rush again. So we buy even more.
But over time, nothing we purchase can mask the emptiness we feel. Money and possessions will never leave us feeling full because we’re trying to fill what Blaise Pascal called the “infinite abyss.” God designed us to be in a relationship with him. Only he can satisfy what’s missing.
Read MorePhoto credit Rick White
Many years ago, Robert Rosenthal conducted an educational study were he discovered what we now call the “Pygmalion Effect.” In this study, researchers told one group of teachers that their students were exceptionally bright. Their IQ scores were far superior to that of normal students. They might act lazy at times and they might act like they cannot understand or master some material, but this didn’t fit with the facts. They had a profound capacity for learning and success. Researchers gave another group of teachers a very different perspective of the students they would be teaching. Their students weren’t that bright. Their IQ scores weren’t that high. Although some might show promise, they possess a lower capacity to learn.
Read MorePhoto credit Camille Seaman
We have been reminded many times by many preachers that, if God took the Holy Spirit out of this world, much of what the church is doing would go right on, and nobody would know the difference. God is not going to remove His Spirit from His people, but there is a danger: we may become so accustomed to working without his power that, when he does start to work, we will resist him. There are so many counterfeit spirits in our world that even the elect are sometimes deceived.
It was not enough for our Lord Jesus to possess a holy nature; he also needed the Holy Spirit. He knew the Holy Scriptures; he still needed the Holy Spirit. In his first sermon he proclaimed, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me…" (Luke 4:18). Would that every minister of Jesus Christ could make that affirmation!
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