25 Touched by the Spirit
TOUCHED BY THE SPIRIT
The Carpenter must have paused in the conversation, feeling a cool evening breeze touch His face, tug at His robe. He may have gestured toward the dark shape of a nearby tree, listening to a murmur of leaves.
“The wind,” He told the Pharisee, “blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
I’ve always loved that illustration. Maybe it’s because I’ve always loved the wind.
I think of a summer afternoon … relaxing underneath an old, wide-armed maple, watching the wind gently bend the branches and rustle the leaves.
I think of camping in a grove of pine trees … listening to the wind whistle and whisper through the forest.
I think of a November nor’easter … roaring across rain-wet fields in wild and wonderful fury.
I think of the smell of wind … bearing the fragrance of distant blossoms; the aroma of a cherrywood fire; the sharp, salt tang of the sea.
Little wonder Jesus likened the wind to the Spirit. Wind, by its very nature, moves. Just so, the Spirit never lies dormant, never stays within the soul. He’s always moving, always making His presence known. And if this Holy One truly lives at the center of our lives, we will see … feel … at times almost smell and hear the effects of His activity. The Spirit will constantly be doing something within us, something others will be able to observe.
Although we cannot see the wind with our eyes, we know it moves among us by the effect it has on trees, flowers, ocean waves, smoke from fires, ripples on a pool, waving wheat—and by its touch on our faces.
In the same way, you will know the Spirit lives in you or a fellow Christian by the effect He produces in character, conduct—and on our very countenance.
It’s absurd to suppose you can have the Spirit of Christ within you and not see, feel, and experience His presence. The Holy Spirit will produce holy living. Paul says in Galatians 5:22 that “the fruit [or evidence] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
The wind marks its movement by what it touches. And in its wake it leaves freshness and cleansing. As you allow the Spirit to fill and empower your life, others will mark His presence, breathe deeply of His fragrance, and give thanks.
A Step Closer
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
GALATIANS 4:6
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
PHILIPPIANS 2:1–2
Jesus said that the Father delights to give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:11–13).
Being filled to overflowing with God’s
Spirit isn’t all that complicated.
You just have to ask—and then keep on asking,
with all your heart, every day of your life,
to be filled afresh. And you can start right now.