The Spirit Brings Gifts and Suffering

Devotional Classics, John Bunyan, Excerpts from Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

Some of the saints who had good judgment and holiness of life seemed to feel that God had counted me worthy to understand the blessed Word and that he had given me some measure of ability to express helpfully to others what I saw in it.

I could not rest unless I was exercising this gift of preaching, and I was pressed forward into it.  I began to see that the Holy Spirit never intended that people who had gifts and abilities should bury them in the earth, but rather, he commanded and stirred up such people to the exercise of their gift and sent out to work those who were able and ready.

And when I saw that [those who were quickened by my preaching] were beginning to live differently, and that their hearts were eagerly pressing after the knowledge of Christ and rejoicing that God sent me to them, then I began to conclude that God had blessed his work through me.  And so I rejoiced.

I preached what I felt, even under which my own poor soul groaned and trembled.  Indeed, I was as one sent to them from the dead.  I went myself in chains, preached to them in chains, and had in my own conscience that fire which I pleaded with them to beware of.

In my preaching I have actually been in real pain, travailing to bring forth children of God, and I have never been satisfied unless there has been some fruit.  If not, it made no difference who complimented me, but if it were fruitful I did not care who might condemn me.

Sometimes I would suffer from discouragement, fearing that I would not be of any help to anyone and that I would not even be able to speak sense to the people.  At such times I have had a strange faintness seize me.

Gifts are desireable, but great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.  The Bible does not say that the Lord gives gifts and glory, but that he gives grace and glory.  Blessed is everyone to whom the Lord gives true grace, for that is the forerunner of glory.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, and peace.  I long after these as feelings mostly, but I have also learned to seek after them as qualities and parts of my own character as well.  All this is well and good.  It makes me glad that God has promised this Spirit to me for all time.

However, as much as Jesus experienced love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit in his life, he also experienced that this same Spirit led him to and through the cross.  "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"  (Hebrews 9:14)  Although Jesus' death is entirely unique and cannot be replaced by any other act in its necessity and effectiveness, I too am to expect the Spirit to lead me to death: " If you live according to the [flesh, your natural talents and abilities and accomplishments], you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."  (Romans 8:13)

Only in this apparent dichotomy can I make sense of John Bunyan's exercise of his gift of preaching.  On the one hand he says, "Gifts are desirable," but on the other hand he writes, "In my preaching, I have actually been in real pain."  It seems a strange "gift" from someone that would bring pain.  I might rather call it medicine at best.

The misunderstanding about the work of the Holy Spirit has led me astray, I fear.  I have understood that spiritual gifts would be something that I want to do and things that I would find that I have a special talent for.  I think this points to one side of experience.  John Bunyan did desire to preach and have God work through him.  Actually, the fact that he went through pain indicates how much he desired to preach.

Gifts from the Holy Spirit are also described as manifestations, work, and exercise in 1 Corinthians 12.  Also, the primary motivation for using them is building other people up in their relationship with God.  Without this motivation, gifts are not useful at all (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).  So in many ways such "gift-giving" is bound to bring pain and suffering because not everyone will receive such gifts that I want to give or use them well.

For myself, I have assumed if something was unpleasant for me to do, it could not be a spiritual gift.  I don't think that I assumed it would always be easy, but I was surprised that Bunyan would actually experience pain when exercising his gift.  What hit me about this is that suffering may be normal when exercising a gift.

This would explain why grace is so important when using gifts of the Spirit.  Without grace, I would have no hope of dealing with the suffering involved.  If I only exercise my spiritual gifts when I am certain they will be received and when I am certain I will "feel good" about exercising them, then I will find I practice them rarely.  Actually, I have found that I avoid using them.

One of the greatest pains of using a gift from the Spirit is that it hurts my pride.  If I use such gifts with any frequency, I find that I what I put in do not match what the Spirit accomplishes.  Gifts certainly take exercise, meaning work and effort, but not usually in a direct sense.  What I mean is that the more the gift and the work are submitted to God and his Spirit, the more effective it becomes.

I may study and pour over the Bible in order to prepare to teach.  Such effort can drive me to despair if I believe that the power of the teaching depends upon how much I study.  I become frantic as I prepare because I take in all on my own shoulders, that is, I work in the flesh.

Instead, I need to find a way to submit my preparation and the teaching to God through his Spirit.  This involves a regular and constant death of that frantic, worried work in the flesh.  I have to let go of the results and allow room for God's grace to work in and through me.  The suffering I experience is normal because it is directed at my pride.

Lord, I need to learn the practice of humble study and humble teaching.  I long to direct my efforts appropriately, otherwise I get frantic and hurried.  Please teach me and create in me a new heart.  Amen.


I find John Bunyan must be right in saying that small gifts and great grace are preferable to great gifts and no grace.  For gifts to be from the Spirit, they must have grace or they cannot be from the Spirit of grace.  It is grace that makes such gifts spiritual or of the Spirit.  Otherwise, they are not workings of grace, but expressions of my own talents and abilities.  I believe I may suffer less as I learn to accept and anticipate grace and let go of my own pride when serving other people.

Experiencing the Holy Spirit in Life's Moments

Devotional Classics, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Excerpts from The Sacrament of the Present Moment

God's order, his pleasure, his will, his action and grace; all these are one and the same.  The purpose on earth of this divine power is perfection.

God's order and his divine will, humbly obeyed by the faithful, accomplishes this divine purpose in them without their knowledge in the same way as medicine obediently swallowed cures invalids who neither know nor care how.  Just as it is fire and not the philosophy or science of that element and its effects that heats, so it is God's order and his will which sanctify and not curious speculations about its origin and purpose.

To quench thirst it is necessary to drink.  Reading books about it only makes it worse.  Thus, when you long for sanctity, speculation only drives it further from our grasp.  We must humbly accept all that God's order requires us to do and suffer.

All we need to know is how to recognize his will in the present moment.  Grace is the will of God and his order acting in the center of of our hearts when we read or are occupied in other ways; theories and studies, without regard for the refreshing virtue of God's order, are mere dead letters, emptying the heart by filling the mind. 

Without God's direction, all is void, emptiness, vanity, words, superficiality, death.

Every moment, and in respect of everything, they must say, like St. Paul, "Lord, what should I do?"

It is by being united to the will of God that we enjoy and possess him, and it is a delusion to seek this divine possession by any other means.  Being united to God is the only way, not in any specific manner or style, but in a thousand different ways, and one he chooses for us is the best.

I must not, like the quietists, reduce all religion to a denial of any specific action, despising all means, since what makes perfection is God's order, and the means he ordains is the best for the soul.  No, we must set no bounds or limits or shape to the will of God.  (pp.200-203)

After these things God tested Abraham.  He said to him, "Abraham!"  And he said, ""Here I am."  He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you."  (Genesis 22:1-2)

 One of my first experiences of walking in the Spirit of God came at work.  Up to that point, I had found myself resisting work by trying to do other things that I considered better.  Some of them were better because they were more entertaining, some of the them more religious.  I was not seeking to be faithful in my work.

I began praying for my supervisors and praying Ephesians 5 about treating those over me as I would treat the Lord.  I began to see that I was not working only for my supervisors and employer, but primarily for God.  I realized that when I worked to please God, I could easily please my supervisors as well.

The change is not easy,  At first, I was convinced that God wanted me to be miserable.  I was willing to be miserable, however, if it pleased him.  However, I began to find that I could have joy in my work because it was work for him.  Also, such attention to the details of my work have developed my skills, increased my endurance, brought joy to my coworkers (some) and supervisors, and made me care about my work and its outcome.  Joy in work seems to be fairly rare as is evident from the constant complaints and job hatred I run into all the time.

I am not all the way there.  I have many habits that come easily and automatically that I have to work out of.  One of my recent struggles has been with looking for ways to obey and submit rather than looking for ways to escape and dodge the rules and expectations of my employers.  I found that generally  it is harder to disobey and be ever concerned about being "caught" or having to justify my actions than it is to just obey.

I also found that if I submit to everything except the things that are against God, my true employer, then I have very little that I can rightfully complain about or object to.  There may be many things that are inconvenient or even silly, but they are not really bad, just not what I want.

This is where walking in the Spirit is so essential.  It cannot be a mere "mind trick."  Just thinking that God is my boss and having him really direct and guide me in work and life are completely different.  One is delusional, the other practical.  I write a lot about "my end" of the work, but without God's end of it - his grace- all of my work means nothing and should earn me nothing by scorn.

I think think is one of the things that Jean-Pierre is criticizing.  Talking about fire will never warm me.  Thinking  there is fire when there isn't is mental illness.  Warmth comes from experiencing fire.  For some reason, I do like to content myself talking about God rather than seeking and finding him.  Probably this has to do with the ever-present idea that God will spoil what I want and what I want is what is most important.

Further, Jean-Pierre attacks the idea that I must try to get out of things that I am dealing with to be happy or even to find God.  Instead, I need to try to get into the things that are happening in my life, because that is where the Spirit is at work.  Instead of trying to escape many of the moments I am faced with - whether boredom or pain or frustration or sadness - I need to find what the will of God is in that situation and do it.

Many times I escape dealing with my life by worrying about things that I have little to do with.  This is where the Serenity prayer comes in handy: "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."  The special relationship each person has with God is embedded in the life they lead.  Each life provides the perfect blocks and experiences to find God and live in his will, his kingdom, which is full of love, joy, and peace.  Each experience can bring such movements of grace if I realize that God has a purpose for each moment.

The Holy Spirit, then, is present in my life as I live it  So easily I am tempted to try to obtain guidance, power, or joy in the Spirit by changing my life rather than living it.  There are changes that need to be made, but this is not what I talking about.  I am talking about the things that Are set before usually on a daily basis: working at my joy and at home, loving my wife and kids, serving at church and in the community, dealing with frustrations and having celebrations, etc.  All of these things are the doorways in which the Spirit can enter and transform me.  I guess that I the reason I avoid living these mundane aspects of life is that I want change that will be faster, greater, or more noticeable to myself and others.  Jean-Pierre says this is not only a possible way to walk with the Spirit, but really it is the only way to walk in the Spirit.

 Lord, the life you have given to me is a blessing.  Certainly many things have gone "well" for me, but even more my life, like everyone else's, is a place in which I can walk with you in the Spirit and receive specific training and growth toward the destiny you have for me.  May I be found useful.  I depend on you each moment to show me how to live this life.  Amen.


I find myself seeking God's will in each situation.  I find myself asking, "What should I do, Lord?"  I find that I have resistance to asking and seeking because I hope somehow to live my life as I please.  This is disaster.  I am not made to live my live by myself for myself any more than I am made to live my whole life in a cave.  I have been made with a dependency on the Lord, to be filled with his Spirit as a jar is filled with treasure or wine.  I need to be filled each moment as God guides me in each moment until I do what he wants without thinking about it.

Spiritual Movements, Both Holy and Unholy

Devotional Classics, Ignatius of Loyola, Excerpts from The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

The following are some rules for perceiving and understanding the different movements that are produced in the soul - the good that should be accepted; the bad that should be rejected.

I call it consolation when the soul is aroused by an interior movement which causes it to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord and consequently can love no created thing in this world for its own sake.

I call desolation all that is contrary to [consolation], as darkness of the soul, turmoil of the mind, inclination to low and earthly things, restlessness resulting from many disturbances and temptations which leads to loss of faith, loss of hope, loss of love.

For just as consolation is contrary to desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

In time of desolation one should never make a change. . . .  Although in desolation we should not change our earlier resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against desolation.

A person who is in consolation ought to think of how he will conduct himself during a future desolation and thus build up a new strength for that time.  A person who is in consolation would also take care to humble and abase himself as much as possible.

The enemy will lose courage and take flight as soon as a person who is following the spiritual life stands courageously against his temptations and does exactly the opposite of what the enemy suggests.  On the contrary, if a person begins to take flight and loses courage in the midst of  fighting temptation, no wild beast on earth is more fierce than the enemy as he pursues his evil intention with ever increasing malice.

The enemy behaves like a false lover who wishes to remain hidden and does not want to be revealed. . . .  In like manner, when the enemy tempts a just soul with his wiles and deceits, he wishes and desires that they be received in secret.

Also, it is characteristic of the evil one to transform himself into an angel of light, to work with the soul in the beginning, but in the end work for himself. . . .  It is well for a person show has been tempted to examine the course of the good thoughts that were suggested to him.

In those who are making spiritual progress, the action of the good angel is gentle, light, and sweet, as a drop of water entering a sponge.  The action of the evil spirit is sharp, noisy, and disturbing, like a drop of water falling upon a rock.  In those souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of these two spirits is the reverse. . . .  When the disposition of the soul and that of the spirits are similar, they enter silently as one coming into his own house through an open door.  (pp. 193-197)

Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, steadfast in your faith.  (1 Peter 5:4)

One of the most important aspects to walking with the Spirit is discernment.  The spiritual realm is surprisingly full and active.  The seemingly "empty space" that surrounds me is full of such activity.  I become aware of it as I start swimming against the stream of the world.

Ignatius writes so clearly, I feel at home with him immediately.  He has very concrete and distinct descriptions of spiritual activity and the warfare I face.  What is striking is that all the thoughts and feelings associated with them that I sense do not originate within myself.  This is a great comfort and gives room for discernment.

It may be that the miracle of coherence that exists between people as they speak and communicate may be based on this similarity of the thoughts and feelings they encounter from outside themselves.  The connection between two people as they talk about "water" or a "chair" exists not only in the similarity of the objects, but in the similarity of their comprehension of the objects.  Such similarity has something to do with how they are made, but perhaps also has to do with a continual  common sea of thoughts and feelings that they float in in the spiritual realm.  Just a thought.

I love the simplicity that Ignatius uses to define these movements within my spirit.  I find his ideas helpful in the realm of everyday spiritual warfare.  Rather than being stories from The Exorcist, he speaks of daily battles in which the war is won or lost.

The three fronts he mentions in these passages are my weakness, my spiritual progress, my hidden thoughts, and good things that distract me from God.  In these fronts he is quite plain in dealing with evil spirits.  Resist them.  In weakness, stand and oppose.  With spiritual progress, intensify and do not waver.  With shameful hidden thoughts, reveal them as temptations.  With good things that take me away from God, resist and review them so that I am not fooled again.

One other thing I have become aware of is how certain people seem to show up on these fronts to encourage or discourage me.  They almost seem to know what I am going through and make it harder or easier.  What is really strange is that some people I would think would be on the good side are not and some of the most unlikely people come to encourage me out of the blue that I would not even know were my allies.  Such is the nature of spiritual warfare.

I struggle with opposing and resisting because of these people who come.  I do not want to oppose certain people, but I must.  I cry out to God, Why them?  This may be the thickest fighting I have to go through.  Rejection from people I may know and love who oppose God's work in and around me hurts terribly.  But really, even strangers who oppose such things and pick on my weaknesses still hurt.  I need to remember resisting is what is best for myself and for them.

 Father, let your Spirit be a guide and a shield to me as I face temptation and trial.  Let me take the times of peace as times in which I can prepare for battle even as I enjoy the consolations.  Forgive me when I stay too long and run from difficulties instead of resisting them.  Amen.


Spiritual warfare is so spiritual.  It may keep under the radar because it deals with things that are unseen and because opportunities for such resistance are everywhere.  Really all I need to do is start swimming against the current to feel the resistance.  As long as I float down the stream, I won't notice the strength of the current.  Spiritual warfare takes place when I resist, not when I'm being conformed to the lies and ideals of this present age.  The more I resist, the more I know of warfare.

The Spirit and Walking in Power

Devotional Classics, George Fox, Excerpts from The Letters of George Fox

He is the living God that gives you breath, life, and strength and gives you beasts and cattle whereby you may be fed and clothed.  He is the living God, and he is to be worshiped.  This is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whose hand is the breath of all mankind.

Walk in the power of the Truth that the name of the Lord God may be glorified among you, his renown may be seen in you and among you, and all the world may be astonished, and the Lord admired in the ordering of his people who are guided by his wisdom.

Now Friends, who have denied the world's songs and singing, sing you in the Spirit and with grace, making melody in your hearts to the Lord.  You that have denied the world's formal praying, pray always in the Spirit.  You that have denied the world's giving thanks and their saying grace and living out of it, do you in everything give thanks to the Lord through Jesus Christ.  And you that have denied the world's praising God with their lips, while their hearts are far off, do you always praise the Lord night and day.

Wherever you are, in prison, or out of prison, where two of three are gathered together in his name, there is a Church, and Christ the living Head in the midst of them.

Whatever your calling [vocation], live in the power of Truth and wisdom of God to answer that just principle of God in all people upon the earth.  So, let your lives preach, let your light shine, that your works may be seen, that your Father may be glorified.  (George Fox, pp.186-188)

 Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:3-4)

 I am amazed at how quickly I forget things.  I feel like a child needing constant reminders to stay "on task."  Yet the reminders here are not the nagging I am used to receiving and giving.  They are reminders of inspiration and hope, encouragement and passion.  Such reminders come from the Spirit, who knows my weakness yet loves me well.

"He is the living God."  Can any phrase seem simpler?  Yet I still forget.  He not only created everything in the universe, he sustains it.  Without the Spirit, there is no life to what I do, be it ever so noble.  The sustaining hand of God works by the Spirit in my spirit, giving life and breath to what I may do with him.

I find it hard to "walk in the power" of the Lord.  I prefer to rely on what power I have and accept what results I get.  I fear walking in the power because I do not control it so much as it has a hold on me.  I fear the power may ask of me.  This power is power that works for God's glory, not mine.  I suppose I am afraid to give up my glory and "look bad" for God's sake.

What if I pray for someone's healing and it doesn't happen?  What if I express my worship in passion and praise?  What if I share the God-given gifts and miracles with other people to show God's great and good power?  They may not like it.  They may not like me.  But walking in the power is not for me do direct and decide about, it is taking the hand of the Spirit of power and going with him, and at times being carried away by him.

I have disdained religion that is like a "dull habit" rather than a "fever," but do I merely point out such lifelessness without partaking in life myself?  It is easy to criticize, but hard to change.  Only by the Spirit does such change occur.  Only he can put truth, passion, power, and joy into the things that I do for the Lord and for others.  I can assist and accept his work and must do so, but I cannot do it alone.

Criticism is what comes out of my effort to change relying solely on my flesh, my natural abilities.  I may refuse to take part in "dead rituals" or "hypocritical gatherings" and point out the "traditionalism" that keeps people from really finding God.  But criticism is like spectators in sports: they don't really play the game.  Humility and transformation come from my cooperation and surrender to the Spirit and his ways.  Humility because of my bumbling and neediness through it all.  Transformation because the Spirit works wonders according to God's mercy.

He lives!  And I am to walk in that reality of living power, not just point out where it lacks.  And so it comes to my vocation and my religion.  The power can be present as I work and as I am present at services and meetings.  Without the living power of God in me and beside me, I cannot "expect [my] voice to be heard on high."  Rather such efforts will result in prayers that do not make it "past the ceiling" and works that will be just part of the "grind."

So I must pray and then pray some more.  Nothing else will avail but asking God to help and learning how to wait on his aid.  The Spirit of God is with me.  I just need to open my hands to receive his gifts and most importantly, his hand.

Lord God of heaven, you are everywhere.  I cannot escape you except by forgetting you.  You have poured out your Spirit on all people.  The blessing, the power, the goodness, the love, the joy that you have are available to us.  Give me the grace to accept your gift and not be afraid for myself.  Let me walk in your living power and not stand on the sidelines in criticism.  Amen.


One of the most important part of walking in the power of the living Spirit of God is the joy of salvation.  As I walk, I see where I've been, what I would be without God's mercy and grace, and how he continues to overcome sin in my life.  This perseverance given through the Spirit brings good character to my life and I find hope in his salvation (Romans 5).  But even with these favors he has given, I will always find the joy of salvation to be this: "I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see."  I will always be first and foremost a sinner saved by grace.

The Everyday-ness of the Spirit

Devotional Classics, Catherine of Genoa, Excerpts from Life and Teachings

The creature is incapable of knowing anything except what God gives to it from day to day.  If it knew what God intends for it, it would never be at peace.

We end up doing our own will under many covers - of charity, of necessity, or of justice.  But God's love wills to stand naked and without any cover since it has nothing to hide.  I have seen this love.  Indeed, every day I feel myself more occupied with him, and I feel a greater fire within.

I find my mind more restricted upon God every day.  It is like a man who at first is free to roam the city, and then is confined to a house, and then to a room, then to a smaller room, and finally bound and blind-folded until there is no way of escape.  With no comfort except in God who was doing this all along through love and great mercy, I came to a place of great contentment.

If we are to see properly, we must pluck out of our eyes our own presumption.  If we gaze too long at the sun, we go blind; in this manner, I think, does pride blind many of us who want to know too much.

He knows that we are the kind who will not leave our one little toy unless we are offered four!
As I think about you, my spiritual children, I see that God's pure love is attentive to all of you needs.  It is because of this tender love that I need not ask anything of God for you.  All I need to do is lift you up before his face. (Catherine of Genoa, pp. 180-183)

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
"He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ” (Luke 16:29-31)

The "everyday-ness" of the Holy Spirit makes him go unnoticed.  This is an irony, really, since the Spirit is holy, that is, set apart, and not mundane.  He is unique and not meant to be neglected any more than any other holy thing, and yet he moves around almost secretly in my existence.

I think one reason for this everyday-ness is that the Spirit works with me little by little.  He gives me what I need for the day, mostly, and no more.  Revelations have to do with work and raising my kids and loving my wife more than what the nations of the earth are about.  Like a little child I am often distracted by the big things, the bright colors, and the loud noises produced by the world, leaving the small voice of the Spirit behind.

Another reason I miss the voice of the Spirit is that he moves me in the direction of greater concentration and appreciation of God that blocks out much of the world's persistent invitations to taste, eat, drink, and feel.  This is unpleasant at first.  It is not that Spirit wants to keep me away from experiencing such pleasures because God doesn't like them.  He made them!  No, the Spirit "restricts," as Catherine puts it, in order to bring my full attention upon the Father, the giver of all good things.  People consider a child spoiled if he loves gifts more than the giver of the gifts.  So the Spirit seeks to wean me from inordinate pleasure-seeking (what is called greed or lust.)

Although I may seek my pleasure under the guise "of charity, of necessity, or of justice," the Spirit takes away these "covers" and reveals that the only true motivation that can stand on its own is the love of God.  It is self-authenticating and can stand "naked" without any other cover or justification.  The Spirit reveals this seemingly plain statement of love toward God is the basis for all true power, for all things that will last, and for all pleasure.

The Spirit does not take away without giving.  Much has been made of this characteristic abundance of the Holy Spirit.  In one sense, such giving and generosity needs to be emphasized.  We are encouraged to ask God for our wants and needs, and above all, he gives us his Spirit as his greatest gift (Luke 11:13).  We are made to seek pleasure in that goodness has pleasures associated with it.  It is good and pleasurable to have love, joy, and peace in my life.  In this way, the restriction of the Spirit enables me to receive the true gifts from the Spirit.  Because I find that "God alone is good" and enjoy the gifts of this life as indications and revelations of his goodness, the intensity of the pleasure is determined by the love and enjoyment I have in God himself.  The gifts themselves can be distracting from this single-mindedness of enjoying God and him alone, and the Spirit will never detract from my love and focus on the Father and the Son.

Also, the everyday-ness of the Spirit slips my attention because of his constant provision for all my needs.  So many things are provided that I fail to take note of without special attention.  The Spirit enables and encourages such special attention either by emphasizing such gifts in their intensity, place, or timing in my life.  The words, "Thank you" can be as common as air around me, but when spoken is a certain way or at a certain time, they can be powerfully life-giving and significant.  I believe this is a lot of what the Spirit can do, if I am attentive to his voice and his work.

One of the masterpieces of the Holy Spirit is the Bible.  Because of its everyday-ness in much of its content and the constant insistence of the world that it is just like any other book, this great work goes unnoticed by many people.  The lack of notice or the wrong kind of attention show just how easy it is to ignore or misunderstand the Holy Spirit.  He authored the Bible through the hearts and lives of people seeking God and his ways.  For those who cannot see this, more dramatic works of the Spirit, even up to resurrection, will be misunderstood or even just missed.

So I find that I miss the Spirit because he works often little by little instead of through obvious means.  I miss him because he directs my heart and mind toward God with increasing "restriction" so that I might find true pleasure in him.  I miss him because of his constant provision.  The Bible shows one great example of the how the Spirit can seem so ordinary and everyday like words just written on a page taken in little by little directing my heart to love God and yet, also change myself and those around me with the great knowledge and power stored in that book.

Lord, allow me to walk in the Spirit.  I am impressed with how I am told to walk with him.  I may be carried and transported at times, but those are not what you command.  You say simply to walk.  In the Spirit I pray, "Give us this day our daily bread."  I rejoice in your care in staying with me in ordinary days, Holy Spirit.  May your power be evident in such times to all who seek the Father.  Amen.


The Spirit says to me, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.  While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."  (John 17:2)  There is no loss, no cut, no wound, no disappointment that the Spirit will not take and bring back more goodness, grace, and gift than what was taken away.  This is the gospel.  This is the power of the Spirit.


He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,

Our God ever yearns His resources to share;

Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;

The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again. (Annie J. Flint)

Walking with the Spirit in This Present Age

A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly, The Eternal Now and Social Concern

What is the Eternal Now? We live our lives at two levels simultaneously, the level of time and the level of the Timeless. They form one sequence, with a fluctuating border between them. Sometimes the glorious Eternal is in the ascendancy, but still we are aware of our daily temporal routine. Sometimes the clouds settle low and we are chiefly in the world of time, yet we are haunted by a smaller sense of Presence, in the margin of consciousness.

Instead of anxiety lest the future never yield all we have hoped, lest we fail to contribute our full stint before the shadows of the evening fall upon our lives, we only breathe a quiet prayer to the Now and say, "Stay, thou art so sweet." Instead of anxiety lest our past, our past defects, our long-standing deficiencies blight our well-intentioned future efforts, all our past sense of weakness falls away and we stand erect, in this holy Now, joyous, serene, assured, unafraid.

I am persuaded that religious people do not with sufficient seriousness count on God as an active factor in the affairs of the world. "Behold, I stand at the door hand knock," but too many well-intentioned people are so preoccupied with the clatter of effort to do something for God that they don't hear Him asking that He might do something through them.

Heaven's eternal Now within us makes us speak blasphemous things, for we seem to assume the prerogatives of God.

The fellowship is not founded upon a common subjective experience, like the fellowship of hay-fever sufferers! It is founded upon a common Object, who is known by them all to be the very Life within them. This is Reality which removes Quakerism from pure individualism and from pure subjectivism, as it is so commonly and so mistakenly interpreted.

Speaking of his openings Fox said he found that "they answered one another and answered the scriptures." There is a unity and coherence and rational continuity in the out-cropping guidances of Spirit-led men.

But in the sense of Presence some of the past nows of our time-now change their character entirely. Our old failures are so apt to paralyze us. The Eternal Now many counsel: "Undertake this." Our time-now says: "See what a weakling you proved yourself to be in an earlier case. Better not try it now." But the assurance of the Eternal Now is enough, as it should have been for Moses: "Surely I shall be with thee." Submit yourself to the Eternal Now and in peace serene, in the boldness of perfect faith, you can advance into miraculous living. Or, in the opposite direction, our time-now may say: "Do this. You are well prepared for it. Your education and training fit you, perhaps to teach, to preach, to counsel, to guide an enterprise. And if you don't , nobody will." But the Eternal Now in us may say: "Stay. Wait. Don't rely upon yourself. Don't think you can reason yourself into your obligation. Know you not I can raise up of these stones men better able to do this?"

The fluctuation between the Timeless and timed, the Eternal Now and the ribbon of temporal time seems to confuse many people. Really, I believe that when we are oriented toward the world as Kelly has said earlier, both hating it and loving it, when we see that nothing matters and everything matters, we can navigate the fluctuation between the Eternal Now and our normal ribbon of time.

Practically speaking, I have only surfed that wave on occasion when God was right with me and the winds were favorable. I think I learn much from Ignatius who instructed us to just do the opposite of what the devil wants and thus you will find God. Loving the world in the wrong way leads to lust and pride. Hating the world in the wrong way leads to pride and anger. Humility may be the only way to despise what I should despise and have compassion for the world.

Truly, such navigation keeps me in the guiding light of God. Without the humility to seek justice and love mercy, that is, to justly avoid and restrain what is evil and embrace and show kindness to what is needy, I will not hear God when he speaks or follow his light where it leads.

Some important anchors to hold me in the Eternal Now: God stands before me now and always, I will know wisdom and companionship by its similarity to the Life inside me, sometimes I will think myself presumptuous as I follow, and such occasions will answer each other and answer the scriptures.

Lord, may your Spirit be always present, always now to me.  Help me to walk with humility and kindness in this world, guided by your Spirit alone.  Without your Spirit, I am lost.  Amen.

The Spirit and Community

A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly, The Blessed Community

In wonder and awe we find ourselves already interknit within unofficial groups of kindred souls.  A "chance" conversation comes, and in a few moments we know that we have been found by another member of the Blessed Community. Sometimes we are thus suddenly knit together in the bonds of love far faster than those of many years' acquaintance.

Where the Fellowship is lacking the Church invisible is lacking and the Kingdom of God has not yet come. For these bonds of divine love and "carrying" are the stuff of Kingdom of God. He who is in the Fellowship is in the Kingdom.

For me this experience of community is both exciting and worrisome. Exciting because the Community stands as a potential anywhere and at any time. Worrisome because I have so little control over finding such community.

At least, the control is not one that I want to exercise. I need to become what I hope to find.

Such community is the heart of the invisible Church and the Kingdom of God according to Kelly. I can see this since God's desire is that I would not only find him and be with him, but find his family and be with them as well.

God has set it up so that only when I seek him with all my heart will I find this hidden community. One cannot seek it directly, but only in joining with others who are seeking to follow Jesus.

As I live in this world with all its problems and short-comings let me seek the family you have here by seeking you, Father.  The bonds of love are tied by your Holy Spirit.  Amen.