Leroy Eims shares this memorable true story in his wonderful book, “The Lost Art of Disciple Making”.
One spring our family was driving from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida. As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit. When we stopped for breakfast, I ordered orange juice with my eggs.
“I’m sorry,” the waitress said. “I can’t bring you orange juice. Our machine is broken.”
At first I was dumbfounded. We were surrounded by millions of oranges, and I knew they had oranges in the kitchen – orange slices garnished our plates.
What was the problem? No juice? Hardly. We were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice. The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it.
Christians are sometimes like that. They may be surrounded by Bibles in their homes but, if something should happen to the Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls. The problem is not a lack of spiritual food – but that many Christians have not grown enough to know how to get it for themselves.
Thank the Lord for the Bible, God’s precious and powerful Word that brings us life! But how does it happen? As we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts and minds to be able to understand, receive, and apply it. Without His intervention, we will not be able to know or understand what God wants us to learn and apply. We must not only be hearers (and readers) of the Word, but Doers also (James 1:22). The Holy Spirit is the One who equips and empowers us to be able to apply to our lives what we are learning.
A Spirit-empowered disciple continually surrenders to the ongoing work of the Spirit and seeks the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Have you been baptized in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? If not, this wonderful gift is available to you (Acts 2:38-39; 1:8). If you have been baptized in the Spirit, are you current in your experience with Him? More important than being baptized in the Spirit 10, 20 or 30 years ago is whether we are living in the power of the Holy Spirit today!
Are you currently filled to overflowing with the Spirit? Are you daily being empowered by the Holy Spirit? Are you yielding your life each and every day to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus (John 16:14-15) and helps us become more like Him (Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Are you more like Jesus today than you were yesterday? I pray the answer to each of these questions for each of us – you and me – is Yes.
What does the Lord want to happen in and through your life today? The Holy Spirit is the One who can help make it happen. Surrender to Him and let Him fill your life with His power and fire!
This Sunday, February 27, we will continue our new teaching series entitled, “Markers along the Discipleship Pathway”, featuring Seven Practices of a Spirit-Empowered Disciple. Last week we started with the Bible. This week we will learn the value and necessity of the Holy Spirit. Please join us at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream to both locations every Sunday.
If you have not yet been able to join us for in-person worship, I invite you to do so this Sunday. Mahalo nui loa for those who are joining us online. But if you can join us in person, please do so. We need one another!
Coming Up: We are hosting Oahu’s 2022 Connect East fun gathering for women and teen girls this Saturday, February 26. If you are not yet registered, but would like to come, please contact Shirley (808-741-5434) asap.
Aloha ke Akua!