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Article 6: Who the Spirit Is - Conviction and Empowerment
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He makes sinful people alive to God through faith in Christ, and through the Spirit they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs into the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

Family Devotional for the Week
Romans 8:9-11 (Read as a Family)

So many times growing up, I had my own plans. I wanted to cross the street when I wanted to, never wanting to look both ways. I wanted to eat ice cream and burgers every day. My parents, on the other hand, were much wiser. They would hold my hand when crossing the street. They would drag me away from the ice cream aisle kicking and screaming. When I was little, they looked out for me. Today, I still want to have ice cream and cake all the time, but I've learned that having dessert more than twice a day can be a bad thing. Nowadays, I don't have my parents pulling me away from bad food anymore and making me look before I cross the street, but I do have something else that directs my path. And this something—or Someone—is the Holy Spirit. And I have to trust, every day, that He is leading me in the right direction.

It is hard to let go and trust that someone else may know what is best for us. For so many of us, we want to be in charge and make all the decisions: where we live, how we spend our money, whether to share with our siblings, if we should include that new kid, if and when we should study... However, when we become Christians, we give God control of our lives. We allow the Holy Spirit to come in and impact our thoughts, emotions, and actions. No longer do we need to have complete control. We can trust in God and let the Holy Spirit take over and guide our decisions.

Talk about as a family:

• Why do we like to have control? Make all the decisions?
• What are the hardest areas/things for us to let go of?
• Why can we trust God?
• What is it like to have the Holy Spirit guide us?
• How is life different when we let the Holy Spirit guide us?

Family activity: Practice some trust walks/ trust falls as a family. This is a fun and tangible way to experience trusting someone else. Here are some options:

• Have one family member put a blindfold on. Guide them by the hand through a path (outside or inside).
• Blindfold one family member have them stand across the room. Guide the blindfolded person across the room with words.
• Finally, you could have a family member cross their hands over their chest and fall backwards into the arms of one or two other family members.

Talk about what this experience was like. Was it easy? Difficult? Was it easier to be the one blindfolded or the one guiding? Why do you think this is? How does this relate to our relationship with God? How does this relate to following and trusting the Holy Spirit?

Pray together: Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you this week. Ask God to open up your eyes and ears so you can hear His voice.

~Blake Riboli, Melinda Manus, and Roger Bosch

Monday
John 16:5-11

"Is there anything I can do to help support your Big Event?" I asked, eagerly and genuinely. Our preschool staff was elbow-deep in preparations for their annual fundraiser, and it was a huge deal. I happily offered 'anything,' confident that I'd be helping to set up or tear down the event, or serve food, or opening or closing in prayer—something I knew how to do.

"Yes!" came the answer immediately. "You can emcee the silent auction. We still don't have anyone!"

Well, I had said 'anything.' So I agreed.

I had no idea how to emcee a silent auction. Honestly, I'd always had a hard time with the concept, as it wasn't silent at all. I'd pictured a roomful of auction items, bid one by one, in absolute quiet. This I found intriguing. Still, I was willing. I confessed my ignorance on the subject, and they explained the evening to me, step by step. The day of the event found me studied up, prayed up, dressed up, and keyed up. I was as ready as I'd ever be. The clock struck 5 and I was on.

I took the platform and the event unfolded, and suddenly all of their notes and instructions made perfect sense. The carefully worded instructions given ahead of time turned out to well describe the evening. And now that I was experiencing it, the written words took shape. I put down the clipboard of notes, and lived the night instead of reading about it.

And so it is with the Holy Spirit. Jesus chose the best words available to him in earthly language to describe the other-worldly. We, as did his disciples, can try to wrap our brains around it and picture how it works. But only when we experience the Holy Spirit for ourselves, does it become clear. He proves the world to be wrong about sin and righteousness—I see it now. The words of God go deep, and resonate with our very being: this is the way we were designed to live. Lies we've grow used to or even depend upon, are seen for their deception. How was I fooled? The Holy Spirit truly is a light, reflecting the glory of Jesus, and making clear our path. A life committed to following Jesus is no longer a list of instructions, but a relationship with Him, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Think about this:
Is my walk with Jesus a relationship or a list of instructions?
Today, where do I most need an Advocate in my life?

Lord God, thank you for sending us your Holy Spirit. Thank you for not ever leaving us alone in this world. Please open our hearts and eyes, so that we may clearly see you at work. Open our ears and tune them toward you, so that we hear your voice with great clarity.

~Carol Kenyon

Tuesday
Galatians 5:16-18

So many times growing up, I had my own plans. I wanted to cross the street when I wanted to, never wanting to look both ways. I wanted to eat ice cream and burgers every day. My parents, having some foresight, would hold my hand when crossing the street. They would drag me away from the ice cream isle kicking and screaming. Today, I still want to have ice cream and cake all the time, but I've learned that having dessert more than twice a day can be a bad thing. In the same way my parents would pull me along when I was young, the Spirit now will pull my heart along now.

The Spirit is our connection to the living Savior. He is our Advocate and is dwelling within us. One of the hardest things Christians (especially millennials) struggle with is determining the Spirit. Paul's word of advice for us here is simple, whatever the flesh desires...do the opposite. What he means by this however is different than what we are inclined to think. As a child, and sometimes truthfully even now, I will desire what I want. The kind of fleshy desire Paul is referencing here is the desire to do what we are inclined to do through the sin in our hearts. The desire to listen to my own heart versus listening to what the Spirit is whispering to my heart. This is no easy feat for any of us and only comes when we trust in the Lord with all of who we are. Like children trying to make our own plans and do our things, the Spirit will intervene to whisper to us telling us what to do if we are willing to listen.

Today practice the sacrament of silence and being still with the Lord; bring forward to Him all that you are. When you are ready, listen to what the Spirit is whispering.

~Blake Riboli

Wednesday
Romans 8:9-11

One of the things that most of us struggle with is the issue of "control" in our lives. We want to be in charge of all the decisions we make: where we live, what we do with our lives, who we marry, how we spend our time, our money, and on and on! We are like the man, who bought a ship and asked the owner (the Captain) to stay aboard as a Guest. The new owner decided that he would pilot his own ship, even though he lacked the training, the wisdom and the experience to do so. The previous owner was to simply observe and not offer any help or advice. Of course, the first time the ship ran into foul weather, the new owner made poor decisions, which eventually led to the demise of the ship and the loss of all on board.

When we become Christians, God's Word makes clear that the Holy Spirit comes to live within us (Ephesians 1:13) and we no longer need to allow our sinful nature (our "self" or "ego!") to control our thoughts, our emotions, or our actions. He comes "onboard" our lives to "pilot" us in ways that please God, give our lives purpose and meaning and impact the lives of others for eternity! He wants us to give up the control of every area of our lives and let him take over. Through Him, we have a new "power source" that we can draw on 24/7! The Holy Spirit is the one, who will guide us, empower us and enable us to live lives that honor God and bring us a sense of fulfillment and joy. The "fruit" of the Holy Spirit, or what he produces in and through us, is, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..." (Galatians 5:22-23)

With the Holy Spirit in our lives, we no longer need to live by "acts of our sinful nature" outlined in the book of Galatians (5:19-21). By faith, we can turn over the control of every aspect of our lives to the Holy Spirit and experience the abundant life Christ came to give to us. (John 10:10)
What areas of your life are still "under your control" aka under the control of your sinful nature? What have been the results of you "piloting" those areas without letting go and letting God take over? What steps do you plan to take to "let go?"

Lord, please forgive me for being so stubborn and thinking I can run my own life better than you. Show me what needs to change in my attitudes and in my actions. I turn them all over to you and ask you to fill me with your presence and your power. Amen.

~Roger Bosch

Thursday
1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Comparison. Most of us fall into this trap on a daily basis. We are constantly comparing our success, our looks, our clothes, our houses, our technology devices... to everyone else. And social media doesn't help in this department. A psychology professor at Cal State says that social media like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram are basically Comparison "on steroids." And it's true, isn't it? We go online just for a second, and immediately we feel horrible about our own lives. The negative voices flood our brains: "My life is so boring; She looks great in that selfie; I'm drowning here and you have time to create a home-made birthday banner? I'm a sub-par mother." And on and on.

And then we come to church and hear about this idea of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are the ways that God has blessed us, through the power of his Spirit, to use for the benefit of the world. Things like knowledge, teaching, faith, healing, etc... And you'd think that this whole comparison thing wouldn't trip us up in the area of spiritual gifts. They are gifts from God, right? But if you are anything like me, comparison slips its ugly head into my mind and heart all the time at church. I start thinking to myself—"They are so much more spiritual than I am; They can pray so much better than I can; Their comments in Bible study are so much better than mine, so I shouldn't talk; and on and on and on." And it affects my self- esteem. Or I go to the opposite extreme and become prideful about the gifts I do have. So what do we do about this?

Well, I think God gives us some relief from the trap of comparison here. He tells us over and over again in this passage—these are all gifts from the same Spirit. The same Spirit manifests himself in different ways in the church. To one person he gives the gift of leadership, to another person the gift of healing... but it's all coming from the same place—The Holy Spirit. He is the source. He is the one doing all the work! We just get to receive the gifts and offer them to the world.

Think about the ways you compare yourself to others, whether at church or elsewhere. Pray that God would show you what your spiritual gifts are, and that He'd help you see that your gifts—and other people's gifts— all come from the same place—the Holy Spirit.

~Annie Neufeld

Friday
Acts 2:1-4

Growing up in Singapore it was not a matter of choice whether one should learn another language or not – it was mandated by the education system. My mother is Chinese, and my father is Sri Lankan so one would think that I should've either learned Tamil or Mandarin as my second language. But instead, my parents chose Malay! As part of my childhood, I distinctly remember a feeling of alienation when many of my peers spoke Chinese to each other - a language I could not understand.

In the Book of Genesis, the Bible tells us the story of the Tower of Babel. At one point in history we are told that all of mankind spoke a common language. But because of man's pride, God knew it would only amount to even more wickedness, so He came down and confused their language, and so was the birth of all languages.

When I look at this Acts passage, one of the things I see happening is exactly the reverse of what happened at Babel. God created languages in order to scatter the people of the earth and to prevent them from being united. But at Pentecost, He provided a miracle to unite them! It was the miracle of tongues that allowed Jews from every part of the world to understand one another, and three thousand that day alone were won to Christ because of it. Later, in Acts 10, this gift is, to the surprise of the Jews, also poured out upon Gentiles, signifying that God had also accepted all nations into His kingdom.

Today, even as we may acknowledge that the Church is comprised of all nations, it can be challenging to put this into practice. It's not just language that divides us, it's gender and ethnicity and socio-economic factors as well. Even the gift of tongues and its theological underpinnings have divided us, when it should not. At its heart, Pentecost was the beginning of something beautiful – the Revelation 7:9 church that would be consummated only at the end of the age. And the gift of tongues, as a yearning and groaning for things to come is not meant to be an occasion for pride or elitism, but of the humble acknowledgement of the tremendous presence of the Holy Sprit in each of us.

Would you now examine yourself to see if there is anything in your life that you are doing that is creating barriers between you and others? Sometimes we do this in inadvertent ways. At Pentecost, God was calling forth all nations to be part of this new thing that He was doing. Who are we to keep others from experiencing divine community?

~Walter Alexander

Saturday
2 Corinthians 3:17

This passage contains one of the most debated phrases in all of the New Testament – "The Lord is the Spirit." However, a careful reading of the verses around it helps a lot! In verse 16 the word "Lord" seems to refer to Jesus, thus, in the beginning of verse 17 Paul is saying that in some sense the Spirt and Jesus are one, they are unified. Paul's goal here is to highlight the important role that the Spirit plays in our salvation. The Spirit guides us to God, empowers us to turn to Jesus, and then, as Paul says in the second half of verse 17, grants us freedom to live the lives God would have for us.

But before we jump to the freedom part, which is what we all want to do!, let's sit with this idea of Jesus and the Spirit being one. Paul is truly making a remarkable claim! The Spirit which came at Pentecost and indwells those who follow Jesus is, in some way, the same as Jesus himself. And as we read all throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus and the Father are one also. So what's the deal here? How are we to understand this? Here's the way I like to think about it – God is mysterious! He has revealed himself from eternity as being one being and three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This mystery still confounds human logic despite some of the best and brightest trying to figure it out over the last 2000 or so years.

But don't be dismayed by this mystery. Imagine if God's essence was easily understood. Would he be worthy of worship? Would he inspire awe in us? A passage like this one is a helpful reminder that God is beyond our understanding. He is truly awesome and fully worthy to be praised!

But he's not just amazing in who he is; he's also amazing in what he does. The second half of this verse tells us that the Spirit brings freedom. So does this mean that we get to do whatever we want? No! Instead, as verse 18 says, we are free to contemplate the glory of the Lord and to be transformed into his image. On our own, no matter how hard we try, we can't really do either of these things. But through the freedom that the Spirit brings, we are let loose to become all that God has always hoped for us!

Do you ever feel stuck, like you have nowhere else to go in life? Remember your freedom in Christ, your freedom to reflect on Jesus and become more like him no matter your external circumstances.

~Matt Barnes