I attended the same church from first grade until I graduated from college. It was a very conservative church that taught me to love the bible and Sunday potlucks. Church grandmas can put anything together in a casserole and make it taste good!
I went on to attend a conservative Christian university where I got my degree in Youth and Family Ministry. While many others studied business or science, I studied people and scripture. My senior year arrived and I had a whole plan laid out for my future.
Little did I know what God had in store for me.
In December I went to a new church and that visit, my friends, would change my life forever. I saw the vision of this church lining up with the longing in my heart for people to be reached and a life lived more passionately for God. I began going to every class or training I could. It was at this point that many beliefs I held began to be challenged. My conservative roots had taught me very little about the Holy Spirit except to fear it.
I was intrigued, confused and even prideful at the same time. I had been a Christian for 14 years and was a few short months from having a degree in ministry. How was it possible that my beliefs of God and scripture could be so wrong? It was in that moment that I had a choice, to stand firm on what I believed for so long because that was what I had been taught or to choose to read the bible with a fresh set of eyes.
Armed with a new bible and a highlighter I set out to read, highlight and study every scripture in the New Testament about the Holy Spirit. By the time I was through Acts my highlighter was about worn out and I was in complete awe of what God had done in my heart. Page after colored up page was proof of God's plan for the Holy Spirit to be a much bigger part of my life than fit in the little box I put Him in.
Allowing myself to open my heart to truly learn to live by the Holy Spirit completely changed my life. God had to get me to this point in order to prepare me for the life He had planned. I could not possibly live the life I do without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. But learning to read the bible with new eyes- completely open to what God says- was even more life changing. The truth is, I would have never been open to this without being in a safe and healthy spiritual community that I trusted.
The first chapter in this book truly is life changing. Chan does an amazing job explaining the need to read God's word with new eyes. This is absolutely essential in being able to learn God's true plan for our lives. But why is this so important? Because without plugging into the power of God's Counselor, how will our lives look vastly different than non-believers?
Please share your thoughts on this post and Chapter 1 of Forgotten God.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post, Bri! Thank you for sharing your journey with the Holy Spirit. I'm only one chapter in and I am hooked. The part that really spoke to me was when Chan talked about what it would be like to live with Jesus Christ walking with us and functioning as our personal Counselor. He talked about how amazing that would be and the peace we would have through life. Then he dropped the bomb (to me at least) "why do we assume that this would be any better than the literal presence of the Holy Spirit?" As Christians we are walking through life in His presence. Chan talked about John 16:7 when Jesus pretty much told the disciples that it was better that He leave and the Holy Spirit come to them. I am just really excited to personally go deeper in my relationship with the Holy Spirit and experience more of His power in my life.
ReplyDeleteThis book is so powerful! I can feel the Holy Spirit moving in me already! Candice I to felt moved by his words when he spoke about having Jesus as our personal counselor. Why do we not see the Holy Spirit as this? Our personal counselor? Life so easily will get in the way and I feel like I am just going through the motions. I am excited to rejuvenate with this book! Brianna your words are so powerful and thank you so much for doing this! I am so excited to see the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life!
ReplyDeleteWow, the first chapter is so easy to follow and very powerful! My favorite part is " I want to consistently live with an awareness of his strength. I want to be diffferent today from what I was yesterday as the fruit of the spirit becomes more manifest in me." Now that's a prayer I need to pray daily!
ReplyDeleteI also came from a conservative southern baptist church with very little knowledge of the HS. Speaking in tongues etc. was very hush hush. I'm excited to grow and be more aware of His power in me!!
I am really enjoying this book so far! I can't imagine how the disciples felt when Jesus told them he was leaving and that another counselor would be with them forever. How could an invisible counselor be better than Jesus in the flesh?! I was thinking about this for a while...If we are fully surrendered to God and his Spirit is living and active in our lives then non-believers must see this in us, right? This is what sets us apart. To have the Spirit living IN you and guiding you would be better than Jesus in the flesh standing beside you telling you what to do. To think that there is no difference between believers and non-believers is really sad. Chan says " I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a DAILY basis." This is my prayer too. I want to awaken to the spiritual me! :)
ReplyDeleteBrianna, thanks for sharing your story! I liked when you said you had to read the Bible with "new eyes" and to put aside the things you thought were true. I went to a Baptist Church when I was younger and didn't really know anything about the Holy Spirit. We then attended a church in Amarillo and it was talked about but I never understood it. Honestly, I didn't know much about it until we came to Milestone and we took Foundations 201. This helped so much just by reading what God's Word says about it. I'm excited to grow in this area and to learn more with all of you! :)
I haven't been on in a while. I really love that you told your story. I recevied Holy Spirit when I was 19. I knew that I desperately needed Him, but not sure why. I didn't know then that Holy Spirit made us witnesses for the faith. It wasn't until Milestone did I learn why I wanted to be filled, why it that decision years before was so significant. My first year with our church sealed it for me. I have seen Holy Spirit do some amazing things in my life through me and others. I have to say that it is a constant need though to have him overflow in my life. After reading the first chapter, I was hooked. It was a good reminder as to why I received Holy Spirit in the first place. I am taking a fresh approach when reading the word. Looking at it by not trying to get something for me, but to hear God's voice and get his heart. I want to love like he loves and Holy Spirit helps me live this out. I want to learn more about who he is. This book is helping me see that.
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