TOC Devo: Moved By the Spirit to Bless

If you've ever had to make a call to Scott's office you may have had the good fortune to speak with Kim Fender.  Kim is the administrative assistant for Scott and Lillian.  Yes, she gets to work in the world of missions, evangelism, and children's ministry!  It's always a wild storm of some sort in our office between the various seasonal activities and ongoing day-to-day administrative tasks, phone calls, and collections we always seem to be doing.  But whether the call is related to VBS or children's Sunday School, a mission trip or committee meeting, or the monstrous tasks related to the seasonal Children's Consignment Sale, Kim always offers gracious, knowledgeable, faith filled replies.

 

Recall the Scriptures:

 

Galatians 5:16 “So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves”.

James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

In October, I went to visit my mom’s sister in Columbus, Ohio. She had been recently diagnosed with aggressive thoracic cancer. Eighteen members of her family descended upon a hotel in Columbus to enjoy a weekend with her. There was lots of laughing, reminiscing, looking at old photos, eating, & watching college football (namely Ohio State! My aunt is a HUGE buckeye fan!)  While in the hotel lobby restroom on Saturday, a young woman prayed for my aunt immediately upon hearing that she had lots of family visiting her because she had an aggressive cancer. The young woman mentioned that she felt the Holy Spirit prompting her to pray.  My cousin witnessed this as it was taking place.  The brief exchange between strangers at a bathroom sink, brought my aunt to tears. She immediately came out of the restroom, telling everyone what happened to her. I had never heard my aunt speak of anything spiritual in the 50 plus years I have known her until that moment.   But because someone was immediately obedient to the Spirit, a life was blessed in a special way.

I have to admit that I haven’t always listened to the prompting of the Spirit. Sometimes, I have even doubted that the Spirit was speaking to me. Other times, I have been fearful of what the obedience might cost. It seems that I am not alone when it comes to these reactions.  C.S. Lewis once shared this about the Spirit speaking to him. "You go outside and you get a breath of fresh air and you see a car pass or a bus pass and then you say to yourself, "That was a silly idea I had. For a moment, I thought that was God speaking to me."  No matter how much we have gotten it wrong in the past, today is a good day to start obeying the prompting of the Spirit.  Ask Jesus to give you ‘real listening ears ‘ for the voice of His Spirit. See how God might use you if you are willing to listen, trust and obey.

Are we “in tune” to the prompting of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis? Are we willing to put our own agenda aside (and sometimes comfort), and be obedient to what God is calling us to today? Can HE turn the world upside down with one person who is obedient to God’s will?

Kim Fender