Taking a break from writing for a few days between Christmas and New Years was nice. After the great shopping trip for post-Christmas sale items I have been reflecting on the role the Holy Spirit has in my life, faith, and believe system. The second angel holds a dove in her hands. The dove brings to mind, for me, the Holy Spirit. This is drawn from Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
The dove reminder of the Holy Spirit is an important element in my faith walk. I know that the faith I have been given is from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. This faith that I rely on in times of trial, sadness, and strife holds me together and keeps me on the path a follower of Jesus Christ needs to stay on. The temptation to deviate from that path out of anger, depression, or resentment can be strong and for some overwhelming. But the faith, all the faith we need to stand strong in the face of adversity is what we are given by the Holy Spirit. I have found an important part of that staying strong is staying closely connected to fellow believers, staying closely connected in the Word of God, and writing.
Staying connected in the word can come from a traditional bible reading plan. Many are freely available on the web or at your place of worship. Another is a great study guide I enjoy from Concordia Publishing House (cph.org) called "Treasury of Daily Prayer. It is a very good devotional and bible study tool. This book is also available as an app "Pray Now" for my iPhone & iPad. Sorry, but it is not yet available in the Android operating system. There is also an interesting tool available via social media on Twitter. A few Twitter sources for daily scripture posting are @Bible_Gateway, @BIBLE_Psalms, and @BIBLEHolySpirit. Each posts several versus daily to help keep Twitter followers connected in the word. One more than one occasion I have found these to be very timely in my life and faith walk. I also post links to this devotional and an occasional bit of scripture on Twitter @IDBoater. Social media is not the sole answer for keeping your faith, but it is a nice tool to add to your tool box. The bottom line to this whole devotional is when we set our minds on spiritual things by staying connected with fellow believers, in worship and in the word our ability to live by the Spirit is easier. It seems more nature to me. I hope that you will take the time to stay connected and explore the word today & everyday in your life.
PRAYER: Lord You have given us the faith we need to persevere when times are good and when times are tough. Your Holy Spirit fills us with the faith we need to stand firm in our walk with Jesus. We offer our humble thanks to You O God for the love You pour out upon us. Amen.
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