A Few Thoughts About the Spirit - Pt. 4

Today we'll be continuing our exploration of the Holy Spirit of God through the Daily Devos. 

I went on a cruise to Alaska a few years ago.  While on the cruise my wife and I joined some new friends for an evening of karaoke and drinks.  Actually drinks and then karaoke.  Trust me, the order is important.

For the final number my friend Stuart was asked by the DJ to come up and sing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."  As the first strands of the song played over the speakers, every woman in the crowd it seemed was on her feet singing along, "At first I was afraid, I was petrified...." 

And then they came to the dance floor.  Young women in the twenties.  Teenagers.  Single moms.  Middle-aged women in super high heels.  An elegant woman in her mid-seventies.  Two lesbian couples.  A couple of old ladies who couldn't walk very well...

And Stuart. 

They sang at the top of their lungs.  In unison.  Triumphant, proud, hopeful and full of unbelievable joy. 

It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. 

There is something about that song that speaks to so many women, isn't there?   A universal tug on their collective spirit.  And their infectious joy landed on us all.  At one point, I found myself dancing like John Travolta---literally. 

The Spirit moves among us collectively sometimes, joining our hearts together as we share all of the things we have in common, and let all the things that divide us fall by the wayside.  

And in those moments, the Spirit reveals something true and real about God and God's relationship with us.  

God is not angry.

You don't have to work so hard to please God, and get in God's good graces.

What God wants is simply for you to be who you are created to be, and to be aware of the Spirit of God in, through and all around you.  

The Spirit urges you to worship with all that you are.  To respond in joy to God's grace and goodness. 

And to realize that you are made of what you value... So, value what is true, and good and beautiful.  And remember that true worship in the Spirit just doesn't go through the motions. 

Jesus told a Samaritan woman once that one day people would worship God "in spirit and in truth."  Far too often Christians spend so much time worrying about the truth part of that statement that they neglect the spirit. 

True worship is an authentic response to a loving God, who through Jesus has already saved the world.  You can analyze faith, you can debate it, you can spend all of your time studying it so you can defend it...  

Or you can learn to dance when the Spirit is blowing, singing and moving you to channel your inner John Travolta, and belt your lifesong  at the top of your lungs.  

May you listen for the music of the Spirit today.  Let it wash over you, and move you to dance, to be filled with joy and hope.  May your encounter with the Spirit connect you with others, as you experience the Spirit moving within them.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.