Come, Holy Spirit!

 "A Choice"by  Lauren Wright Pittman, in the  Vanderbilt University Divinity Library.
The artist has granted permission for the non-commercial use of this image.

"When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted." (John 16:8-11, The Message)  

Tomorrow is Pentecost, the day we mark to remember that God kept his promise to pour out the Holy Spirit in power and fullness. In this series of blog posts we have tried to provide daily reminders of reasons to ask the Holy Spirit to come into the situations and circumstances of our lives. Even as we do that, of course, we know that the Holy Spirit is already present; what we are asking for is a change in ourselves. 

 That is especially true as we consider today’s Scripture, above.  Jesus talks specifically about the work the Holy Spirit will be doing in the world.  The Spirit’s work is all about producing faith in Jesus.  The Spirit is quite capable of doing this work apart from you and me.  But because this is also our task—believing in Jesus and giving other people reason to believe in Jesus—we join the Holy Spirit in this work.  

Jesus came as the solution to the problem of sin, bringing righteousness from above since we cannot achieve righteousness on our own. The ruler of this world tried to entrap us in our own sin, but Jesus provides the release.  Hear then the invitation of the Spirit to believe in Jesus, receive God’s righteousness, and be free from the trap of sin. 

Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, the world needs the work you were sent to do!