John 3:5-8
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where is wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Being the true southern belle that I am I could not help but title this post Gone with the Wind. Don't worry, I will not be talking about North and South conflicts of the 1800's (although if you'd like to meet one on one I can show you my history nerd side). This post is about our dependence on God and the Holy Spirit.
In our culture, we are born dependent on our parents for everything. They feed us, change us, teach us everything, but as we grow they slowly help us become more independent. The goal is that we will eventually be adult enough to take care of ourselves. However, when we are born again with the Spirit, Jesus does not want us to mature as Christians and become independent from Him. He wants us to do the opposite. As a mature Christian in our faith Christ wants us to become more and more dependent on Him. In Romans 7 Paul talks about his struggle with the flesh and that he "has the desire to do what is right, but no the ability to carry it out." (verse 18) In chapter 8 he goes on to talk about life in the Spirit and how doing right is only possible with the Spirit. No matter how long we've been Christians, no matter how educated you are on the word of God, you still must depend on the Holy Spirit to guide your actions.
Now that we've established our need for the Spirit, lets touch quickly on John 3:8 and the power of the Spirit. In John 3:8 Jesus compares the spirit to the wind in that you can't tell where it is coming from or where exactly it is going. The Spirit will sometimes lead us to do crazy things (i.e. The World Race) and we can either fight it or ride it like a sailboat in the wind. So we need to be prepared as Christians to allow the Spirit to guide us and then let us make disciples wherever that may be, in Tallahassee, Fl., in New York City, in Peru, or in Uganda. We need throw out our independent mindset and F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God).
This is God something trying to show me in my World Race preparation. I tend to be a very independent person and like to have control over situations. Not knowing where I will be 11 months from now (although exciting) is very nerve racking for me. Also, not know how God is going to provide the financial aspect of this trip has me freaking out a little. However, at church the other night the pastor mentioned if you're NOT doing something you CANNOT do, then you don't need the power of the Spirit. This trip is defiantly is something that I cannot do, cannot afford, and cannot be prepared for with out the power of the Spirit. This is me publicly announcing that I am calling on God to work a miracle in me so I can complete this journey. So in the words of my friend Michelle, "Jesus, it's your reputation on the line!"
