Wednesday, December 27, 2006

How many different ways would I be sinning?

We had a ton of garbage out front by the road and it was chewed open and scattered all over the yard two or three times by the neighbors' dogs. If I went to these neighbors' homes and ripped open their garbage bags and scattered the garbage all over the yard, how many different ways would I be sinning? Would it totally ruin any opportunities for sharing the gospel with them?

Friday, December 15, 2006

The Creative Spirit

Early this morning I was reading from Luke 1 in The Message. Mary asked the angel exactly how she was going to give birth to one called "Son of the Highest", seeing as how she had "never slept with a man". The angel responded, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you." When I read that I immediately thought of Genesis 1:2, and how the Spirit of God was "brooding" or "hovering" over the formless, dark world. Then God spoke light and the Word made light. So when the Father sent the Word into the world as flesh, He did so by the brooding/hovering power of the Holy Spirit. I began to think, not only is God the Creator, He is also amazingly creative. I tend to be a little more comfortable with His role as Creator, since that seems to be mostly past tense. When I think of Him as creative, I realize that He is not going to work according to my tame script and is going to do "more than I ask or imagine." That can be a bit scary, but I find myself praying, "Father, may the Holy Spirit brood over my life and may Your Word creatively transform my heart as only You in Your expansive wisdom and power can!"