Sun 5 Nov

If you wanted to see the Holy Spirit at work in someone's life, what would you look for? If the Spirit is at work in your life, how would you know? They are interesting questions to ponder. Now some may say you would look for repentance and sorrow over sin. Others might say that you would look for the fruit of the Spirit that is how you would tell if the Spirit is at work. Others may say just look at how the spiritual gifts are being used. They speak in tongues therefore the Spirit must be at work. Others would look to see if the person is witnessing. If they are, then the Spirit must be at work. Now all of the above are correct. The Spirit is at work if those things are happening. Paul in Romans 15 says to the young in the faith Roman Christians. If you want to know if someone is Spirit filled or empowered, then watch their lives. Are they putting the interests of others ahead of their own? How accepting are they of one another, particularly of Christians who come from a very different background? Both of these actions are challenging. There is a tendency to want to be first and put ourselves first ahead of others. Yet what example did Christ show for us. He put our needs ahead of His own as he was nailed to the cross. He was thinking of your needs when the nails driven in. Christ was accepting of others. In God's marvellous grace, He accepted us into His family. What response have we given to the Christ who saw our needs first?