Receive the Holy Spirit

Because of the importance of Israel and its people, and my personal love for The Land, I’m inviting you to join me through the key Old Testament book of Isaiah.  Each day I’m posting some simple thoughts about this complex prophet.

Isaiah 64.

Three mind-blowing reminders in today’s chapter, yet all three are one basic thought: We are created by God, in His image, and we can’t even imagine all the blessings that He has for us, nor the supernatural work He is doing in us and through us, for the sake of His glorious Kingdom.

One.

“Since before time began no one has ever imagined, no ear heard, no eye has seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for Him.” (v4, MSG).

Paul even quotes this passage in his first letter to the church in Corinth. “As it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love Him. These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor.2-9-10 CEV).

God works on our behalf via His Holy Spirit. And we, in our human form, can’t comprehend the amazing things God is doing for us and even through us. We can’t see it. We can’t hear it. Our minds can’t conceive it. But, we can trust that God works on our behalf. Every minute of every hour of every single day! Sometimes when I stand on the beach and look out into the vastness of the ocean, I just can’t imagine what is out there, below the surface of the water. Yet, we know there is an abundance of life and activity in the sea. The same is true in our lives. We can’t see what God is doing, but there is an abundance of spiritual life and activity all around us.

Two.

How do we know this is true? Because He has created us, He has formed us, in His image. Look at these three verses:

“God, you are our Father. We’re the clay and you’re the potter. All of us are what you made us.” (v8, MSG).

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, CEV)

“Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22, CEV).

We have been created by the Creator and then breathed into by the Son and we are offered the Holy Spirit! We are mere clay. But we are clay in His image and empowered by His Spirit!

Three.

Finally, Isaiah notes that we are all sinners. “We are unfit to worship you, each of our good deeds is merely a filthy rag.” (v6, CEV).

In our human condition, yes, this is true. But as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), because of Jesus, we can be molded into His likeness and filled with the life-giving breath of the Holy Spirit. As such, we can live holy lives, new lives, lives capable of working on behalf of the Kingdom. Even Jesus said “Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it.” (John 14:11-12, MSG).

Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 that God has given us assignments to accomplish. And James echoes that works are vitally important to the Kingdom. “You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe… Anyone who doesn’t breathe is dead, and faith that doesn’t do anything is just as dead!” (James 2:24,26, CEV).

Isaiah’s encouragement today is that God is amazing and we are loved more than we can ever imagine by this Creator. And as Christ-followers we get to do the incredible work of the Kingdom through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit!

If you’re new to this journey through Isaiah, you can start here.
(c) 2020. Rich Ronald.