Encountering the Holy Spirit

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

We soak, we sow, and then the Spirit flows! This is how we experience God’s power in our lives. The Holy Spirit works in us and through us to accomplish God’s purposes. It is through the Spirit’s power that we obtain the wisdom and ability to be Converterlators. When we spend time in God’s Word, we experience what I like to call a flowback from the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit working in us and through us in a variety of ways.

As a child I was taken to an amusement park from time to time and we would always ride on the bumper cars! You know, those cars that had large rubber rings around them to protect the drivers. The fun of this ride was trying to bump the other cars. Sometimes I would get hit really hard, and that would make me want to hit back as hard as possible.

Life is like this. We are always being “bumped” by circumstances and other people. Sometimes these bumps can be really hard, and our response is to hit back as hard as possible. At those moments we have a decision to make: Will we let the old flesh control us, or will the Holy Spirit control us? In so many ways we are weak, powerless, and vulnerable. However, we have been born to a living hope and we are kept by the power of God. It is the Holy Spirit’s power that allows us to respond to all of our life circumstances with his strength.

Many Christians today have heard about the Holy Spirit, but they have not encountered him in a life-changing way. When we first ask Jesus into our lives, the Holy Spirit flows his life into our mortal bodies. The Spirit’s work begins in us when we first receive Christ into our lives: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). This sets the stage for us to flow with the Spirit in our everyday lives. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to overcome the sinful impulses of the flesh and the lures of the world that cause us to spend too much time on perishable aspects of this life.

It is because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that the Holy Spirit’s power flows through us and enables us to be Converterlators. The Bible tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

When we allow the Holy Spirit to control us, his power flows through us. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can make the converterlating process a reality in our lives. He is the One who enables us to participate with God to accomplish his work. The Spirit giving life to our mortal body brings inward transformation. Paul made this clear when he said, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Flowing with the Spirit is the supernatural outcome of soaking and sowing to the Spirit. It is the outcome of our relationship with God.

Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you in a new way as you submit to his control in your life.

Converterlators allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through every circumstance in their life.