Have you been overcome by a seemingly uncontrollable feeling? Have you felt pushed to do something good for someone you would not normally do? Did you chalk it up to a sudden urge? Or did you consider it could be something more powerful than you?
Sometimes we act on impulses. Those impulses can drive some to buy things they don’t need. For others, it may drive them to eat when they are not hungry. Still others may experience an impulse take a walk in the woods. These are examples of our preferences or desires surfacing.
For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, there is someone else at work in our lives. The Holy Spirit can, and does, work within us. He may provide guidance in a situation we are facing. He may help us better understand the Word of God. He definitely intercedes on our behalf when we pray and do not know what to pray for.
The Holy Spirit also can overtake us and cause us to do something we would not normally do. We see examples in Scripture of him gifting people to speak in languages they did not know. He has given some people prophecy of the future. He caused Paul to go to certain places during his missionary trips.
The Holy Spirit can cause us to step in to pay for a lunch for a stranger. We never know how he will act in our lives. We do know he has been given to us as Jesus promised. We know the Holy Spirit is active in this world and active in believers. As Luke explains it in the book of Acts, we are full of the Spirit, and we may experience an overwhelming dose of him temporarily.
I pray we all know the Holy Spirit is at work in this world. I pray we know he was given as Jesus promised. I pray each one of us increase our awareness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Be guided by the Holy Spirit. Listen for him to speak. Know that he intercedes for us. Be aware of the Holy Spirit. Know that he is always with you.
Acts 10:44-45 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
Marty Pressey 