Do We Trust the Holy Spirit—Totally?
For from days of old they have not
(Isaiah 64: 4 & 8 NASB)
heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a
God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one
who waits for Him. . . .
“But now, LORD, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the work
of Your hand.”
- Have we ever asked ourselves the question: Now what?
- Have we ever attempted to hide from God?
- Have we ever wondered just exactly what am I doing here?
- Have we ever?
Trust is really a word that we speak with such ease but one we struggle to give. Consider a new relationship, we often say about the one we have just met, “Well, he’ll just have to earn my trust,” because we know the scorching pain of being burnt. Sometimes, the said person DOES earn our trust and a beautiful relationship ensues, and sometimes, the said person FAILS miserably to gain or to earn our trust, and we part ways, having learned a valuable lesson.
God is not like us—mankind!
He is faithful—all the time!
God will do just exactly as He proclaims!
He will never send us to a place, to a person—who He has not prepared for us to meet!
God’s promises ALWAYS can be fully trusted—Eternally So!
He promises His presence in a place He has prepared for each one who accepts Him as Lord!
God’s prophet Isaiah spoke in God’s Word of this truth.
God’s man Paul spoke in God’s Word of this truth.
“but just as it is written:
(1 Corinthians 2: 9 NASB)
THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN
AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED
THE HUMAN HEART,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
God searches for us, a search that began way back in time when He created Adam and Eve.
God searched for them, called out for them, even though God knew exactly where He would find them hiding. Still He called. Still He searched. Still He calls. Still He searches for those who are His children, and still He sends those who are His to trust His leading—Totally!
God’s man Peter was a man whom God called through a vision, one that scared Peter, one that made him decide: Do I Trust the Holy Spirit—Totally?
God’s man Peter was led to go to a man, Cornelius, a man who Peter did not know, but one who God had predestined and prepared for Peter’s visit.
“Again a voice came to him a second time,
(Acts 10: 15-22 NASB)
“What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”
This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken into the sky.
Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate;
and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.
But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”
Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”
They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by the holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”
- Do we really believe that God ordains our steps?
- Do we really believe that God calls us for future actions which He has already prepared?
- Do we trust God in all things?
- Do we rely upon our own knowledge and “gut-feeling” more than we rely upon our God?
Are we praying continually?
Are we constantly seeking God’s will?
Cornelius was a leader, a man who commanded many others, and a man who trusted God fully?
- Cornelius was a praying man, one who had led his entire family to know God.
- Cornelius was a giving man, one who was led by the Holy Spirit.
- Cornelius was a listening man, one who listened for God to speak, to direct his daily steps.
This child of God was an obedient man who trusted God—totally!
“Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what
(Acts 10: 1-5 NASB)
was called the Italian cohort,
a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.
About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come and said to him, “Cornelius!”
And he looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;”
Christmastime is a perfect time for others (who do not know Jesus as Savior) to see God Incarnate.
May we not lose the message found in the Christmas season by placing our focus upon the gifts we can give to another but let us place our focus where it must always be—On Jesus.
May we not be overcome by the fiction found within this world where we live but let us be compelled and obedient to the truth found in the Incarnate God.
May we be praying.
May we be listening.
May we be obedient (without question) to God’s will.
May we point others to God, to the “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN
AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART, . . .”
May we help others see God even we are not even sure why or where God is sending us.
May we proclaim Jesus and “ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
(1 Corinthians 2: 9 NASB)
May we help those without Jesus the True Reason for this Holy Season!