The Holy Spirit

The third great "Effective Structure", that God set up to restore this earth, is the Holy Spirit. It is God's way of connecting the first structure, the Word made flesh (Jesus), to the second structure, His church. The spirit applies the vast and precious blessings of Christ to our individual and church life.

In our little metaphor, if the church is the lamp and the Word made flesh is the oil in the lamp, then the Holy Spirit is the lighted wick. (see the picture above)

Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29) and Jesus is the true light, which gives light to everyone (John 1:9), so when the Holy Spirit effectively links the church to Christ, we become the light of the world (Matt 5:14).

A healthy church glows brightly with the power and presence of Christ through His Holy Spirit. Natural Church Development simply measures the strength of the church's connection to Jesus though the Holy Spirit. The minimum factor is the area of church life where the Spirit is given the least access.

So, unlike the first Effective Structure where God acted unilaterally, without input from us, except our great need, the third structure involves not just God's promise and gift (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:33) but our reception of it. It is possible to quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19).

The Father longs to give us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:11-13) but the third great Structure is Effective only when we remove the obstructions, when we love Christ and allow the Spirit to work.

He who loves Christ the most will do the greatest amount of good. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. If men will endure the necessary discipline, without complaining or fainting by the way, God will teach them hour by hour, and day by day. He longs to reveal His grace. If His people will remove the obstructions, He will pour forth the waters of salvation in abundant streams through the human channels. If men in humble life were encouraged to do all the good they could do, if restraining hands were not laid upon them to repress their zeal, there would be a hundred workers for Christ where now there is one. - The Desire of Ages pp 250,251

"Without complaining"... The foolish young women (unhealthy churches) made the complaint "Give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out." But the wise answered, saying, "Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves."(Matt 25:8,9)

To be ready for God's kingdom, to be a healthy Christian, and a healthy church, we must, individually, have "enough" of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Next week's Blessings is entitled "Enough Already!".