A pamphlet came in the mail a while back titled, “Let Christ Live in You”, it was a devotion written by Jason Peebles. In the beginning of this devotion, Jason says, “The amazing truth is that God does not live in buildings or temples, but in the hearts of His people by the Holy Spirit.” This phrase took me back to a moment in time when I had just become the secretary here at Immanuel, and I was having a conversation with our Pastor one morning. This was a time that I was eager to learn about God and who He is, and I still am by the way, but before I get into that, I have to give you a little background first for explanation.
I went to church regularly when I was younger, I even took confirmation classes and became a member at Shephard of the Hills when I was 21, but even so, I never really grasped the concept of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I also didn’t have a relationship with Jesus, and I will admit that the only time that I prayed was when I was in trouble and needed to be saved. And to do this, I thought that I had to be on my knees with my hands folded and my eyes closed. So, to make a long story short, eventually I drifted away from God and quit going to church all together.
Now it is 20 years later, and I am here at Immanuel. I only came the first time to make my mom happy. She had invited me over and over again, and over and over again I blew her off until one day, I had it on my heart to show up and surprise her. So, I did, and it was alright. It was even kind of cool with all of the instruments on the stage and the praise team, and the people were so friendly and nice! So, I went back again the next Sunday, and again a couple Sundays after that, and then, one day I joined the Burcham Life Group because Linda asked me to and who can say no to Linda Burcham?, and it was there that I learned how to pray.
The Burcham Life group was just beginning a bible study called “40 Days of Prayer”, by Rick Warren, and I dived right in! I enjoyed the videos and the conversations afterwards with my group, and I also enjoyed taking my workbook to the park to do my homework and pray afterwards. It was during this time that I learned that I could talk to God like He was my best friend, and that I could talk to Him anywhere, even with my eyes open! This was so exciting to me and for that reason, I wanted to know more! So, I added another study at the park called, “Bible in a Year”, and then after that, I decided to join Pastor Rich’s adult bible study classes on Wednesday nights, and that leads me to the morning with Pastor Rich and that conversation in the office.
Now let me remind you that I was still a brand-new secretary and very nervous about it. So, Pastor Rich comes into the office like he always does to say, “Good Morning”, and he says, “So what did you think of the class last night?” We were learning about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so I replied, “I thought it was great!” “It was cool to learn about the Holy Spirit and to find out that it lives inside of me!” and then Pastor Rich corrected me and said, “HIS Holy Spirit lives inside of you, not It.” “His Holy Spirit is not a thing; it is God Himself.”, and I think that my heart stopped right there. I felt my face turn red and I was so embarrassed that I had made that mistake in front of the pastor, and then from there, all of the self-doubt and the lack of confidence kicked in and I wondered, “How in the world am I ever going to be a secretary sending out emails and talking about God to a church full of Christians, when I don’t even know what I am talking about? Heck I couldn’t even get it right in front of the pastor, so what happens if I make a mistake in an email that at least 100 people are going to be reading?”, and I thought to myself, “Oh man, what have I gotten myself in to?”
But then, after Pastor Rich left, and I sat there, it didn’t take long before HIS Holy Spirit kicked in and convicted me. He did that by helping me to understand in my heart that Pastor Rich was not correcting me to make me feel stupid as my “Old Self” might think, but instead he was correcting me to teach me a very important lesson, a lesson that would eventually change my life.
This lesson was life changing because once I looked into it a little further and did some more studies on my own about HIS Holy Spirit and how He lives in me I eventually started to see myself differently. I started to see myself through His eyes and my confidence soared. I could actually see His light shining through my eyes when I looked in the mirror, and I could feel it when I spoke to other people about Him, and let me tell you, before this happened, I could never even look anybody in the eyes while speaking to them for more than just a few seconds. I always looked away. But now, I was having full conversations with people outside of my comfort zone, without the urge to look away because NOW my confidence came from Him.
It was also life changing for me because I started to treat myself differently too. I stopped all of the negative self-talk and instead started to pray when I felt weak or insignificant. I also started recognizing my strengths and my gifts, and how I could share them with others, and guess what, writing was one of them! So, why should I be afraid now to send an email when all I have to do is pray first and ask Him to speak through me?
And last but not least, I started to love myself more and respect my body because once I learned that this is His temple and not mine I wanted to take care of it. I stopped physically harming myself when I was angry or frustrated, something that I had done since I was a kid, and I started to eat different and exercise. I started to smile at strangers and my road rage even got better! So many things changed for me, so much more than I could ever put on this paper, and that is why I want to share this message with so many others so that they can experience these changes too!
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
Abba in Acts 5:32, Your word says, “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Thank You Abba for Your word and for the opportunities that You provide to share the message of Your Holy Spirit with others. Thank You for opening our hearts to You so that we can see ourselves through Your eyes and recognize just how amazing and wonderfully made we are! Thank You Abba for loving us enough to change us for the better. Thank You for continued growth and wisdom and thank You for increasing our faith each and every day. Thank You for the messages that You send, through other people, through the mail, through Your word, and through the whispers in our hearts. Thank You Abba for choosing to make our hearts Your home.
In Jesus name,
Amen