November 17

During his many work related travels overseas a gentleman once had as a seat partner aboard a plane returning home from a European capital a young woman who had been searching through the archives of the churches of that continent to find information for her doctoral thesis at an Ivy League school on the move of the Holy Spirit in the early church.

By her account as she discussed her findings with him, there was invariably, in all the churches she investigated, an account of rich evidence of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ when these churches were established. Their histories indicated, too, that there was invariably a falling away from implementation of the gifts or fruits of the Spirit as the churches grew and became more established.

The clear indication is that churches, people who believe in Christ, tend at the onset of their walk to be totally surrendered to the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is a cognizance of the fact that without Jesus we are helpless to be of use to the outworking of His purposes—within the community, within the church or within ourselves!

At the onset, we seem to grasp the magnitude of His Word which assures, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses…to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8. If we could maintain our determination to be the instruments through whom He stretches Himself over our circumstances rather than become self reliant, we could always serve Him fully!