Daily Devotions

We continue with the next lines in our Pentecost hymn

O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, your holy flame bestowing.,

Here we find the hymn writer using Jesus words to describe the Holy Spirit, Comforter.

The Amplified Bible translates John 14:26 But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counsellor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name to represent Me and act on My behalf, He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.

In ancient Greek culture, a "paraklétos" was someone who provided legal assistance or advocacy, akin to a modern-day lawyer or legal counsellor. This role extended beyond legal matters to include any form of support or encouragement. In the context of the New Testament, the term takes on a spiritual dimension, emphasising the Holy Spirit's role in guiding, comforting, and advocating for believers in their spiritual journey.

You might not know the name Angelo Dundee, but you've undoubtedly heard of Muhammad Ali, probably the most famous professional boxer of all time. For more than two decades, Angelo Dundee was in Muhammad Ali's corner, literally. He was Ali's cornerman! He's the one who made Ali float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. He also trained fifteen other world boxing champions. Angelo Dundee described his job as a cornerman this way: "When you're working with a fighter, you're a surgeon, an engineer, and a psychologist.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have something even better than a surgeon-engineer-psychologist in our corner—the Holy Spirit.

Spirit Divine help us travel in the comfort and peace

of the One who gave birth to us.

May we journey in the assurance

that the Comforter is with us always.

Help us to give comfort and peace to others.

Divine Wisdom guide us as we go forth

on your paths of peace.

May You give us blessings more precious

than silver or gold.

May we find joy in sharing these blessings with others.

May Wisdom empower us to change our world! Amen.

Daily Devotions

I remember coming across a book in the 1970s by Michael Harper called “None Can Tell”, in which he tells of his deep experience of the Holy Spirit which changed his ministry and his life. He took the title from the 14th century poet Bianco da Siena’s poem, a 14th centurlater translated into the much loved hymn “Come down O love divine”. As we move towards Pentecost, we will explore the promise of the Holy Spirit expressed in this hymn through the lens of scripture. We start with:-

Come down, O Love divine!
seek out this soul of mine
and visit it with your own ardour glowing;

In Romans 5:5 we read “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”. Hear Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Divine Love, and we need the Spirit in our heart to fulfil the command of love Jesus gives us. The fact is that otherwise, divinely loving in our own strength humanly impossible.

The term "Ardor glowing" means a strong, intense, and passionate expression, often associated with enthusiasm or love, that is radiating or shining brightly. 

Peter A. Fraille, a Jesuit priest and founder of the “Divine and Human Institute,” tells of a letter he once received from a sixteen-year-old girl. In the letter, she said she was having a problem with another girl who was trying to steal her friend. She wrote about the jealousy and anger, and frustration she was feeling and how she was trying to deal with it. She went on to say that even though she now disliked her, the friend is still as lovable and valuable as she is herself. Then she ended the letter with these beautiful words:

“As I was finishing this letter, something hit me like a ton of bricks. I have seen my father’s library, and he has many books that I want to read. I have lots of time ahead of me to read and to learn, but I just realised one thing. No matter how much I learn, no matter how much I experience, no matter how much I write, if I don’t love, I don’t know anything!”

In our journey towards Pentecost may we truly pray, “Come down, O Love divine! seek out this soul of mine, and visit it with your own ardour glowing.” Amen

Daily Devotions

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit uses our circumstances to show us how we should utilise our discipleship. 

Throughout Paul’s life we see him interpret open and closed doors as evidence of the Spirit’s leadership. In his first letter to the Corinthians he explains he will stay in Ephesus to preach because a “wide door for effective work” has been opened, which he evidently took as the Spirit’s leadership. The whole verse reads “I shall stay here in Ephesus until the feast of Pentecost, for there is a great opportunity of doing useful work, and there are many people against me.” (1 Cor. 16:8). 

Again, no special prophetic word, no handwriting in the sky, just an open door.

However, using circumstances as a the method of spiritual guidance can be tricky, because an open door doesn’t always mean something is God’s will. Jonah happened on a ship to Tarshish, but God’s will for him was 180 degrees the opposite direction. Likewise, a closed door doesn’t always mean something is not God’s will. In Paul’s explanation to the Corinthians of why he would stay in Ephesus (mentioned above), he notes many difficulties lay ahead of him. He didn’t interpret these difficulties as evidence God wanted him to leave, but to stay.

Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World's Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, "That man is really pumping water." But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man connected to a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water, the water was pumping him.

Almighty God,

author of my life,

help me learn to read 

what you have written on my heart.

Give me discerning eyes

and an untiring spirit

to look within me

in order to understand 

how to reach outside of me.

And once I have begun to read you aright,

give me the generosity to help others to read you,

to sound you out one letter,

one word of radical giving at a time. Amen

Daily Devotions

Throughout Scripture we see that God guides his people in mission by putting special burdens into their spirits. When Nehemiah left for Jerusalem to rebuild its walls, he didn’t have a command from God. He simply said that God had “put it into his heart” to do it (Nehemiah. 2:12). When Paul came to Athens, Luke records his spirit was “provoked” within him about the idolatry in Athens (Acts 17:16). 

He evidently took this provocation as a direction to stay and preach the gospel there. Later in his ministry he would identify a holy “ambition” that God had put in his heart to preach Christ only where he had never been named.   He says, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation." This verse reflects Paul's missionary strategy of prioritising reaching areas where the gospel had not yet been proclaimed, avoiding the duplication of effort and potentially building on the work of others. 

How do we  journey to discover our holy ambition as disciples.? One of the greatest benefits is the humility it cultivates in our exploring our holy ambition. We can easily make an ambitious plan to leverage our lives for the kingdom—without really consulting the God who rules and empowers that kingdom. Seeking a holy ambition through the lens of Scripture demands submission to the Spirit who reveals God’s plan, not ours. 

And the benefit of this unfolding holy ambition is the development within us of spiritual clarity, focus and spiritual ambition.

Lord, may my spirit, heart and mind be like yours to make carrying out the will of the Father greater than my own will based in my humanity. By your Spirit, empower me to make the spiritual and personal transformation to prepare to walk in my calling. Fill me with confidence based in who You are and help me to trust you with the outcome so I can have courage to step out into what You are calling me to do. Amen

Daily Devotions

Paul tells us “The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church.” (1 Cor. 12:7, The Living Bible). This becomes a primary vehicle of Godly guidance in our lives. 

There is a scene in C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in which Father Christmas gives each of the Pevensie children a mysterious gift. They don’t realise it at the time, but these gifts prove essential in their coming battle with the White Witch. Peter suddenly sees that his sword was given to lead an assault; Lucy recognises that her gift—a healing ointment—was given to bind up the wounded in battle. Lewis’s imagery mirrors Paul’s claim in 1 Corinthians: we perceive what God wants by looking at the gifts he has placed within us.

Elsewhere, 1 Corinthians 12:7 is translated as “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each of us for the common good," This means that God's spiritual gifts are not for personal gain or to make one person seem more spiritual than another, but rather for the benefit of the whole church community. These gifts, which are supernatural abilities to serve, are given to each believer to help build up and serve the church. The primary focus is on using these gifts to bless others and contribute to the collective good.

However, there is a danger that we need to note when considering the Spirit's gifting. As  Lisa Bedrick, speaking of  the Charismatic Movement. “Some people are only “believers” because they want God to give them things; a thrill, money, spiritual gifts etc. but they never think twice about what THEY can give to God. They are Christian parasites, always wanting more, rather than Christian servants, who are always willing to give.”

Spirit of the living God, we praise and adore you for empowering us to claim membership of the body of Christ, a gift received through the fullness of your grace. Empower us anew, we pray, with tongues of fire and hearts of love to proclaim the reconciling word among people. Remind us that we are all members of the one body and if one member suffers, we all suffer. May we, as the body of Christ in this place, be the best evidence of your love by declaring and witnessing to this as the year of the Lord’s favour for all people. We give thanks that all of us are Christ’s body, and rejoice in each one being a part of it. Accept our adoration and praise for these great gifts, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Daily Devotions

The most common way the Spirit speaks in the book of Acts (other than in and through Scripture) is through the church. For instance, Acts 13:2 records, “While [the church was] worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” 

God gave the church specific insight into what Saul and Barnabas were to do. Throughout his life Paul received instructions about where to go and what to do through members of the church, and he gave similar words of instruction to Timothy. Perhaps we need to find afresh that indicates that God still  speaks in this way—to us, his children through the church.

In Christian theology, the Holy Spirit is seen as a source of guidance and power, working within the church to lead its members and direct its activities. Christians also believe that they can learn to hear God's voice, often through the Holy Spirit's guidance. This process of discernment involves prayer, listening, and seeking to understand the Holy Spirit's leading.

David Platt in his book, Radical, has a chapter entitled, "Beginning at the End of Ourselves -- The Importance of Relying on God's Power.  He explores the idea of “Dependent on Ourselves or Desperate for His Spirit?”. He writes, “This is where I am most convicted as a pastor that I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God. I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities never realising that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture.”

Come Holy Spirit,

fill the hearts of your faithful

and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,

did instruct the hearts of the faithful,

grant that by the same Holy Spirit

we may be truly wise 

and ever enjoy His consolations,

Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Daily Devotions

One of the Spirit’s primary vehicles for moving and speaking in our lives is the Scriptures. The Spirit works in us to shape us into being the kind of people God wants us to be, because then we will be and do who  God wants us to be and do. 

Almost every time we see the phrase “will of God” in the Bible it refers to shaping our moral character in response to the gospel. I’m not sure this is the kind of blessing you can put a percentage on, but so often God’s direction for us can be found in the Bible. 

This is the way the  Spirit transforms us to Christ’s character as we see in Romans 12:1-2 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.” (The Message)

Samuel Logan Brengle the great holiness teacher speaks of such Spirit transformation as, “Holiness is not some lofty experience, unattainable except to those who can leap the stars, but it is rather a lowly experience, which lowly people in the lowly walks of life can share with Jesus, by letting His mind be in them.”

God of Grace, 

you call us to be different from the world,

but the world is seductive, 

and so we come here to be strengthened.

God of Vision, 

you hold before us an alternate way of life,

different priorities, 

different loyalties, 

different values.

But we know that the world 

is not only seductive but powerful,

and so we are drawn in 

to following its priorities, 

accepting its values, 

showing loyalty to its gods.

God who blesses the meek, 

the peacemakers, the merciful,

forgive us when we lose sight of these qualities, 

when we misunderstand their role in the world. Amen

Daily Devotions

One of the most surprising discoveries found in the New Testament is how often Paul equates fullness of the Spirit with going deeper into the gospel. For example, in Ephesians 3:14–18, the apostle prays that the Ephesian Church would have the strength to comprehend the love of Christ—its breadth and length and height and depth—so that they may be “filled with all the fullness of God.” According to Paul, those two things—knowing the love of Christ in the gospel and being filled with “all the fullness of God”—are synonymous.

Puritan Thomas Goodwin compared this experience to that of a toddler son when his father sweeps him up into his arms, spins him around, and tells him, “You are my son and I love you!” In that moment, the boy has become no more his father’s son, legally speaking, than he was the moment before. But being caught up in his father’s arms he feels his sonship more intimately. When God’s Spirit fills us, he sheds abroad God’s love in our heart, making our spirit rise up to say, “Abba, Father”. In fact Paul writes, “God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children.”  (Romans 8:15-16)

During the time that the New Testament was written, when a family adopted a child, there was no immediate big celebration of that adoption. But, when that child reached the proper age, there was a celebration, and at that time, the child was given every single legal standing as every other member of that family. In other words, once adopted, that child became a full member of that family along with inheritable rights.

God has adopted us, and now we have every legal right to the kingdom of Heaven – if we would only know it. Most Christians do not have a clue as to how much they really have through Christ Jesus. And if they do not know it, they certainly cannot use it for their good or for God’s good.

Well might we pray with St Augustine, “O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” Amen

Daily Devotions

John 16:13 states: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." 

The great 19th century British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, made a wonderful analogy about the Holy Spirit’s role in leading us into God’s truth:

"Truth may be compared to a cave or grotto, with wondrous stalactites reaching from the roof, and others reaching from the floor, a cavern glittering with spar and abounding in marvels. Before entering the cavern you enquire for a guide, who comes with his lighted torch. He conducts you down to a considerable depth, and you find yourself in the midst of the cave. He leads you through different chambers. Here he points you to a little stream rushing from amid the rocks and indicates its rise and progress. There he points to some peculiar rock and tells you its name, then takes you into a large natural hall, tells you how many persons once feasted in it, and so on.

"Truth is a grand series of caverns, it is our glory to have so great and wise a conductor as the Holy Spirit. Imagine that we are coming to the darkness of it. He is a light shining in the midst of us to guide us. And by the light he shows us wonderful things. He teaches us by suggestion, direction, and illumination.”

Holy Spirit, I am open to the truths you are ready to reveal. First, give me a deep appreciation for the honour it is to be a human being made in the image of God. As I open my heart, let me learn the truths of God in ever-increasing measure. Let the elementary teachings become a strong foundation for deeper things. Let me spend the rest of my earthly journey growing in spiritual insight, wisdom, and understanding. Each day, I will wait with great anticipation for the truths you will reveal, and with each learning, I will return praise to you in worship. Amen

Daily Devotions

John 3:6-8 “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Here. Jesus is saying something simple: Be born of the Spirit. Love God and love your neighbour.

The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us, and who makes us children of God. Lord, may I heed your spirit, and live by the spirit.

I recently read that prayer moments are moments 'to be born from above'. In prayer we can allow cares, no matter how important to ourselves and others, to drift off for a while. We can leave aside the phone and messages, and allow God become real in our lives, for God already lives in our hearts. We can be born strong with God, and with God's grace being born in us, love is born too. Prayer is our daily time to rekindle love in our lives.

In this passage Jesus is saying that it is God's part to give, ours to receive. We need to ask how receptive am I as a learner? Is my heart open? What are my limits and conditions?

D. L. Moody, a famous American preacher of the nineteenth century, was once asked if he had been filled with the Spirit. ‘Yes’, he replied, ‘but I leak!’ He’s not the only one – we all do! We need to keep asking God to fill us with himself.

David Watson used to tell the story of the Sunday school class that had been learning the Creed and then one morning they came into church to recite it in front of the whole congregation. The teacher motioned to the first child who walked up to the microphone and said in a confident voice: ‘I believe in God the Father.’ The second child continued, ‘I believe in God the Son.’ Then there was an awkward and prolonged silence until eventually a small voice piped up from the back, ‘Please Miss, the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit isn’t here today.’ – This story sums up the current problem in many of our churches… the person who believes in the ministry of the Holy Spirit isn’t here today!

Blow, wind of God,

Blow away the tight rules that hold me back from trusting, risking, loving

Blow away my sin that stands in the way of encountering my neighbours

Ready me for birth

Prepare me for risk

Equip me with courage and vision for the new thing that waits around the corner

We cannot choose the stories we have inherited

But we can choose the stories that we become.

Amen