Recently, at our local Gathering of believing friends, my brother, Jacob Yohannan spoke about the Holy Spirit. This was his planned topic of discussion, yet the spiritual stage was set during the worship time when Pastor Richard Bragg asked for testimonies and sang a song specifically about the Holy Spirit. Neither man coordinated in advance, yet everything “fit” perfectly together to encourage everyone in the room. Some might suggest this was a happy coincidence, but it was actually a perfect example of HOW the Holy Spirit works in the lives of God’s children. Amen?
I have grown to greatly respect Jacob Yohannan. He is of Indian descent and currently serves as a Chaplain at Jackson Madison County General Hospital. Even though we are from very different cultures, we have a common bond in the love of Christ Jesus. We are brothers in the Spirit of God. Jacob has a quiet, yet confident demeanor and always has a smile for his brothers and sisters. I must say that he has been a powerful addition to our Gathering group of believing friends.
Now, let me see if I can summarize the discussions we had about the Holy Spirit. During worship, when Pastor Richard asked for a testimony, someone (I don’t recall who) spoke about how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a believer. Others chimed in and added to the discussion. This was a good, respectful dialog and we covered a lot of ground, so to speak. This Gathering is made up of many different cultures, personalities, and denominational distinctives. Yet, we generally share our individual perspectives in love. On this topic, you can imagine there are many views represented. Certainly, a Pentecostal brother might have a different leaning that a Baptist brother. However, we try to learn from each other and listen to the views of all with respect.
Personally, as I mentioned to the group that night, I feel that the Holy Spirit works differently within each of us. It doesn’t matter if you are a “pew-walker” or a “silent-contemplative,” He is the same Spirit and works with us as He chooses. As believers, we need to guard against judging our brothers and sisters because he or she may not manifest the Spirit as we do. Just as we are unique creatures, made in His image, our Creator God establishes us as He chooses in the Body. Romans 12:3-5 teaches us that we have different functions in the Body, so it seems logical to me that he equips us uniquely to carry out those functions. So, the Trinity, which includes the Holy Spirit, may need to work within me much differently than He does within you to equip each of us to fulfill the specific job that He has tasked us with. Make sense?
Before you huff and puff and try to start a spiritual fight, I fully understand that there are some elements of the faith that are common and do not change from believer to believer. I hope we ALL agree on that. For the sake of this topic of discussion, I am attempting to drill down to individual experience. AND, to make it even more individualistic, I believe the Holy Spirit manifests Himself differently within each of us – at times – to meet specific needs. In my life, there are times when He prompts me to be completely quiet and contemplative in a room of believers. Other times, He springs up within me to take on a bold, some might say boisterous, demeanor. More than likely, you too have experienced the same thing and possibly everything in between.
So, let’s wrap this up for now. We could move about within this topic for a long while. I would just encourage you to open your mind to the working of the Holy Spirit as He chooses to direct YOU as an individual. Don’t try to manipulate circumstances or pretend to do what others do. Be yourself. Be that special, unique believer that He created and empowers. Amen.
Now, here are a few photos taken from the other night. Shoot, I even appear in a couple of them as my sister Angela Okoth asked to take a couple of snapshots so I could actually appear in one of my own posts. Thanks Angela for doing that.
