How to Soar 1 - Reliance on the Holy Spirit

On Sunday we talked about the difference between hummingbirds and eagles.  Hummingbirds flap insanely working to stay afloat and flitting about from place to place.  And soaring eagles spread their wings and and allow themselves to be carried by the wind.  And the wind lifts them high into the sky above the flitting wings of the hummingbirds below.

The Holy Spirit of God wants us to soar above the situations and struggles that seem to hold us down.  And He wants to lift us there.

I'm gonna post some scripture reflections throughout the week to help us put on wings for soaring.

Today I want to look at Luke 3:16.  (Yes that's right Luke, not John)

John said, "I baptize with water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

It is often overlooked that giving the Holy Spirit was a primary emphasis of Christ's life.  But at the close of His life, Jesus said, "it is good for you that I will go away, because when I go the Holy Spirit will come."  Now the Holy Spirit has not been absent in the history of the world.  He was there above the waters before God made order of our world.  Isaiah recognized that the Holy Spirit had anointed him and was on him.  David was so overcome with joy in the Spirit that he danced before the Lord.  Jesus was not talking about the arrival the Holy Spirit.  He was talking about a new relationship with the Holy Spirit.  A relationship of baptism.

The work baptize in its origin simply means "to dunk under."  It was not a religious word prior to its use in the NT.  It was simply a common verb used for the mundane things of life like dunking the clothes in the rive to wash them.  The idea of the word is immersion.  Completely covered and filled.

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit made Himself known to the disciples in the upper room, He came with the sound of wind and the appearance of fire.  (This is a good time to reread our verse, listed above.)

The primary resource in our lives for soaring is the Holy Spirit.  In fact the only resource.

To soar on the wind, we must be engulfed in the Spirit.  We must learn to recognize His movement, sense His inspiration, identify His gentle nudging, know His care and direction.

An immersion in the Holy Spirit begins with an invitation.  An immersion is cultivated by continual seeking through prayer, worship, and obedience.  And an immersion is nurtured by reliance.  Turn to the Holy Spirit for your information, your transformation, your inspiration, your confidence, your strength, guidance, and direction.

As soon as we choose other sources for our lives, we find ourselves flitting on the small overused wings of a hummingbird instead of the wide-spread wings of a soaring eagle.

Most of us choose the hummingbird because we don't want to slow down long enough to sense the Holy Spirit.  So we get busy on our own strength and then we find ourselves worn out and discouraged because our own strength is waning.

Slow down at the beginning instead of dying out at the end.