Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Monday, July 31, 2017

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-07-31-2017

This is devotional thought number 38 in our devotional series, “Essentials of Faith.” Our subject is: The New Me

Here’s the question for consideration: If I am unable to trace each step that led to my conversion, does this mean that I am not truly converted?

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8).

Nope!

One of the cool things about the wind (pun very much intended) is that while there’s no question in anyone’s minds that it exists, nobody can see it. Tell that to your atheist friends. It takes faith to say that wind exists. Yes, you can feel it, see its effects, hear it passing through various corridors in nature, etc., but you cannot see it. Meteorologists and scientists can use instruments to measure its speed and direction. They can create all sorts of weather models based on observable data, but they cannot see it. There are even times, with all our technology, that extreme surges and rotations of wind energy seem to appear out of absolutely nowhere. And as quickly as these baffling events occur, they often disappear, leaving destruction in their wake.

Now obviously, the effects of wind are not always negative. Who doesn’t enjoy cool breezes blowing off the sea on a remote sandy beach? Who does not benefit from the wind blowing various seeds and pollens that eventually produce fruit and other beneficial vegetation? What allergy sufferer is upset when the same wind finally takes away their allergen? I used to especially love watching the millions of leaves that fell on our former rural home’s massive lot blow violently away in late fall. No raking here!

In the same way we can experience the effects of the wind with no doubt of its existence despite the fact we know so little about it, the Holy Spirit moves in the lives of every follower of God. There are many times He gives us ideas that we only recognize came from Him after the fact. Think of the first time you prayed sincerely (if you can recall). Think about the time you accepted that you needed to apologize to someone. Think of the time you finally realized you were all wrong about serving God; that it is much sweeter than you had supposed. Think about the time you were able to finally kick that smoking or porn watching habit. It is so true when they say, “God works in mysterious ways.” The evil you used to enjoy heartily, you now find repulsive. That’s the SPirit’s work. You now choose your words carefully. That’s the Spirit’s work. You now treat your body like the temple God purchased with the blood of Jesus. That’s the Spirit’s work.

So, rather than being concerned with the nuances of exactly when and where you “found the Lord,” ask Him to show you how to give thanks that He is obviously at work in your life. Ask Him to increase your faith. Ask Him to move so mightily on your behalf that those around you will experience the effects and say, “Surely, there must be a God in heaven.”

If I am unable to trace each step that led to my conversion, does this mean that I am not truly converted? If you daily surrender your will to God by faith, let me say it again, in case you missed my profound answer the first time. I’m feeling extra brilliant today. “Nope!”—L. David Harris (www.DavidWritesaLot.com)