Sometimes I forget about the Holy Spirit for some reason. I try to do things myself, in my own strength. I suppose I’m a bit like that woman that Matthew talked about on Sunday. The woman received ‘pictures’ from her son who lived away but he never sent her money so she lived in poverty. It was only when a friend pointed out that the ‘pictures’ that her son had been sending were in fact bank notes and she had a huge amount of money from over the years but had never used it. She didn’t realise what she had. Sometimes I forget that the Holy Spirit – the power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to me.

 

To me.

 

But who am I?

 

The two verses that Matthew spoke about: ‘be filled with the Spirit’ from Ephesians 5 and then the verses about asking God for things in 1 John 5, have stuck with me. That God says that we should and can be filled with the Holy Spirit and that when he says that – it is true.

 

Why do I try to live life my own way or in my own strength when I have an abundant source available to me?  A guide, an enabler, a comforter. When I try to do evangelism/ share my faith in my own strength – it is not about God – it is about me. I need to pray and ask God to help and enable. To pray that I am filled with the Holy Spirit all the time – now, this afternoon, tomorrow….

 

So next time you or I are talking to someone, may we pray and ask the God of this universe, the Lord of Lords for the strength, the words and the compassion to share the good news.