John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Romans 8:15-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
I am a different person than I was 12 days ago.
Training Camp for the World Race was incredible and challenging. I laughed, cried, and felt every emotion in between. We experienced field scenarios, ate BBQ crickets, and slept under the stars night after night. My squad of 50 people came together in a way that I can only describe as supernatural unity; unity created by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was as if the gears and inner workings of our community were coated in oil to create a smoothly running and successful machine. I saw the body of Christ reflected in a way that I haven’t experienced before, and this is only the beginning!
My biggest takeaway from training camp would have to be the realization of the fact that I can have true intimacy with the Holy Spirit. God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the early church in the Bible, and we still possess this gift to this day! How incredible! Over the span of 10 days, God used this time to gently reveal Himself to me – because He is gentle – in a deep and more personal way than I have ever experienced.
For the past 3 years, I have walked with God while possessing a level of unhealthy fear and believing lies from the enemy about His character. Although I have grown in love and intimacy with Him, My view of Him has been a form of extreme tunnel vision, and He blasted the tunnel away this past week. He has transformed the inner workings of my mind. God is not distant. His wrath is not upon me, because I am His. These are elements of head knowledge that I was already aware of, but the Lord completely rocked my world and blew my mind and connected me to Himself at a heart level I didn’t even know existed. I can converse with Him as a dad and a friend. I can pray BOLDLY and EXPECTANTLY. I have a new level of trust for Him. And this is by the power of the Holy Spirit who connects us to the Father and intercedes on our behalf. This is because of the beautiful truth of the Gospel; that when Christ died for us He imputed His perfect record onto us. So when God sees me, all He sees is His perfect Son with whom He is well pleased.
What I realized is that I don’t have to treat God like an unaffectionate Father. I can know Him in a deep and intimate way. All we have to do is ask!!!
I am full of gratefulness for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I can boldly cry “Abba, Father” and He will come to my rescue. We as Christians can all possess this intimacy!
And this is only the beginning. This is only the first seed planted in a long life of communing with the Father in a new way. The World Race will be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It will be stretching, uncomfortable, and challenging. But because of His love for me, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I can have confidence that He will sustain me. And my life begins to matter less and less, and His life begins to matter more and more.
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
