Under The Control

   Many believers have a picture of the “spiritual” person as an uncommon sort—placid face, eyes focused just above the horizon, plain clothes, soft voice and a simple, unhurried lifestyle.  Who really lives like that?!  Those who live by the Spirit are ordinary people engaged in the hustle and bustle of everyday life as the Holy Spirit fills and guides them to make an eternal impact for the Kingdom in the lives others.  Believers under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit can be found in many, many walks of life, as illustrated by the following story from a member of the LLC congregation.
    “I remember to this day a very special high school teacher named Dan.  Dan had and still has a passion for Christ and youth.  He taught three of my senior year classes.  One of the classes being Bible, I remember very distinctly that one day during Bible he got up in front of our class and with tears streaming down his face he said, ‘I want all of you to know that I don't know specifically why, but the Holy Spirit told me at the beginning of the year to get up at 4 a.m. every morning and pray for each one of you by name.’ He prayed for all twenty-two of us each day...by name.  I was touched and moved that he cared so much and was sensitive and obedient to the Spirit.  This would be the first among many examples of the Holy Spirit revealing himself.  Many times he would be told to pull a student aside because he knew they needed spiritual help.  God used him in many mighty ways!
   “What he didn't know is that beyond the obvious struggles, there were many broken and aching hearts in my class.  Abusive homes, parents wanting a divorce, a father's passing, an alcoholic father, an absent father, a suicidal best friend, and depression to name a few.  Soon after I graduated, I went through a very dark time of depression.  One day I almost decided to end my life.  I told my parents, and the first person they called was Dan.  He and another pastor counseled me for months and called me every night to pray for and over me.  I thank God over and over that this man of God's heart had been an open book to all of us.”
   The story about Dan shows what the Bible teaches: Living by the Spirit is a matter of submitting to His filling and responding to guidance and direction.
   How does the Holy Spirit guide and direct?
   More to come!