stalagmite existence | John 16.7-15

TUESDAY
Reflection 192 of 240

 

REFLECT

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
John 16:7-15 | ESV

 

But I’m giving it to you straight: you want me to go – I mean, you really, really want me to go. If I don’t go, you’ll totally miss out on the ultimate download: the Helper / Encourager / Supporter / Ally / Advocate. But if I go, here he comes, direct from me to you. And when he shows, this is what he’ll do: he’ll expose the totally bankrupt understanding and practice of this present world system when it comes to wrong and right and justice.

How can this world system be so mired in their own wrongdoing? Because they don’t know how to release control and trust me.

What’s the key to moving on from the wrong and embracing what is right? It’s all wrapped up in the fact that I’m with the Father – which is why you won’t see me anymore; you’ll have so much more going for you then!

And what about justice in this world? No worries. It’s already in motion. The vaunted mover and shaker of this sick and messed up world system already bears his guilty verdict and he’s on his way out.

I have so much more to say! But there’s no way you could handle it now. But the time will come when you are ready, and when that time comes he will be here to fill in the blanks for you – the Spirit of Truth, the Breath of all Reality. He’ll be your Guide, He’ll show you the way into the full paths of truth, the full experience of God-reality.

He won’t be pushing his own ideas and nuances, you see; what he hears, he speaks, and from that attentive posture he will pull back the curtain on what is around the corner.

He won’t be about upstaging me; on the contrary, he’ll be putting the spotlight on what I give him, placing that on center stage before you – which means everything my Abba has and is will be on display, because that’s all I have to offer anyway.

I really can’t emphasize this too much: the Spirit’s specialty is putting the spotlight on me and on what I give him.  MAV (Mike’s Amplified Version)

 

RECEIVE

The Holy Spirit is the good news in the coming change in the disciples’ world. He would also be the major catalyst of the transitions that would continue to unfold.

I loved watching Bill Nye the Science Guy with my kids as they grew up (unpredictable, erratic, bow-tie wearing – imagine me liking him). Once he was inside a dark cavern explaining stalagmites and stalactites (and I’m still trying to remember which was which). What a perfect picture of status quo: the steady accumulation of deposits forming massive spikes of solidified chemicals, why? Because there is no wind.

No wind,
no change!

My evangelical ears perked up at that, knowing that wind=breath=Spirit. This is why so many of us believe in Father, Son and *cough cough*.

No wind,
no change.

It’s why when a sly north wind blew open the church doors in the opening scene of the film Chocolat, the village mayor gets up angrily and slams them shut again.

It’s why we meet Jesus at the border of our town, beholding the insane man suddenly sane and the herd of dead pigs floating in the water, we beg him to get right back in that boat and leave us in peace. We’re so busily pursuing peace by keeping all the pieces in place.

How slow are we to realize that peace is only truly discovered when we finally allow ourselves and our world to fall to pieces.

 

RELATE

In what areas of your life do you sense it’s a musty, windless cavern – a stalagmite existence? How can you invite God’s fresh breath into it?

 

RESPOND

Lord, come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe upon me, upon the dead, cavernous, closed off areas of my heart, mind, and soul – the closed areas of my life! Disturb these steadily accumulating deposits, and through your breath upon me fashion a new landscape of life. Through Jesus.