Feeding the Lambs - Holy Spirit's Ways

 

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness."
-The Apostle Paul, writing to the early believers in Rome
Romans 8:25-26a

[30th message of the New Believer Series]

In the preceding message, we talked about how believers could grieve (and not grieve) the Holy Spirit.

Today we will continue this mini series (on the Holy Spirit) within this series (New Believers), as we read an excerpt from the letter of Paul to the first believers in Rome.

In this passage Paul was reaffirming that the Holy Spirit is our Helper.

Weakness

What is intetesting is that Paul wrote to the first believers in Rome that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Society looks down on any kind of weakness. Institutions have programmed us to downplay, hide and not to admit to our weaknesses. But since the beginning, Christianity has always gone against the flow of  this world.

Christ came so as to open our eyes to show us our weaknesses and to open our hearts to know that we needed a Savior. 

Greatness

But once saved, some believers tend to feel a sense of greatness or superiority, as if they had a hand in saving themselves. But the Holy Spirt keeps us in check so as to avoid this from happening (well that is if we cooperate with Him).

Help When Needed

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, helping us in our weakness. Now if we believe we do not need help and act accordingly -- all strong, stubborn and with our "we can do it without anyone's help" attitude, then the Holy Spirit will defer and let us be.

We discussed previously that the Holy Spirit is not One to force Himself and He is not One to help if His help is not being sought after or needed.

Still Small Voice

He will surely let us do our own thing.  Although He will  try to nudge us to the right direction. But much like Waze, Google Maps or any other GPS navigation app, He will impress on us to "go straight", "keep going", "turn right", "keep left" or "turn around". But if we constantly act like we know where we're going or we know what we're doing and we don't need a guide or directions then He will allow us this freedom of choice.

Holy Spirit Ways

The Apostle Paul in his Christian walk found out that our weakness is the open door to the Holy Spirit's help. It is in the times when we are weak that He is strong. Being hard headed, stubborn or independent is closing that open door on Him.

When we feel and act strong, smart and do not need Him, is when we are at our weakest and also our most vulnerable state. 

Let us not learn this the hard way. The Holy Spirit is a believer's internal Waze App but like the App, we need to listen and believe that He knows more than us and can "see" what's coming up ahead way before we can, and trust that what He is telling us is what is really best for us.

God Our Father knows how to give good gifts to His children. The Holy Spirit is One such gift -- He is the evidence of our salvation. He is the proof of why we believe in Christ. The One that separates believers from non-believers. In our quiet time, let us pray (meaning simply set time to communicate with Him), read Scriptures, sing God praises and then be still. And in the stillness, listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say, that still small voice, that Holy Spirit nudge...

Christian Singer & Songwriter Don Moen Answering A Question From One of His Viewers*

*I found this video online and was amazed that what Don said in it was almost exactly the same as what I wrote here. Pretty hard not to think that this is not a coincidence and it is not by chance that I happen to just stumble upon this video and even hard not to realize that we didn't both "hear" the same nudge from the Holy Spirit.

New Believer Series