Spider Web Christians

Week Nineteen

Spider Web Christians

Believers of Christ are joined together in a unique way. It is our belief that Christ is the son of God, that he lived on earth as a sinless man, that he was crucified, sacrificed to take away the sins of the world, that he rose from the dead and that he will come back one day to take all those who believe in him to heaven to live eternally with him and with God. This belief in Christ connects believers to one another. It isn’t the believing that gives us power, but the promise Christ Jesus gave to the believers that he would send his Holy Spirit to empower his church.

Jesus told his disciples the night before he was crucified, “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement; in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:5-11

When Jesus appeared to his disciples after he had been resurrected, he told them. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Matthew 1:8.

The promised Holy Spirit entered the church on Pentecost and the believers who before had been followers of Christ, became leaders in a movement that is growing yet today. Not because of their power, but because the Holy Spirit of God indwells believers of Jesus the Christ. 

As believers of Christ we have a responsibility that accompanies this empowerment. We are to spread the good news around the world. But we are not in this alone, we are all connected because the Holy Spirit is one entity. He is not fragmented, he is not a bunch of little spirits, but one spirit. 

Therefore, each person who has accepted Christ and his sacrifice has God’s Spirit living inside. This Spirit is put there to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. As believers we have the power within us to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. We are also a network of fellow believers around the world who support one another in our efforts to spread the gospel message.

I may hear the Spirit of God ask me to pray for a missionary in Uganda one day and reach out to a non-believer in my home town the next day. Every person who becomes a believer is given a job within the universal church. The Holy Spirit wants to use us to spread the message of what Jesus has done. He waits for us to ask him what to do. 

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Romans 8:26-27.

It seems unbelievable that the God of the universe would be able to speak to us on a one on one basis, but the Holy Spirit makes the impossible possible. Jesus could only be in one place at a time while he walked on the earth as a man, but his spirit can live in every person on the face of the earth if they have a belief in him.

We, as believers, just don’t understand the magnitude of this power. We continue to live under our own power most of the time and the things we accomplish are done many times by our feeble minds and bodies. How much more could we do to advance the kingdom if we let God’s Holy Spirit direct us? The things done by the spirit have eternal lasting value that we may never know about on this earth. God’s ways are not our ways.

Every once in awhile we are permitted to see just how the Holy Spirit works. A few years ago I heard about a financial need some friends had. The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart to share this with another friend. She immediately put $100 in an envelope and asked me to give it to them. She didn’t want them to know where it came from. When I arrived at their home that day they couldn’t understand why I felt the need to do this. They said they didn’t have a financial need. But since they knew the Lord had asked me to do this, they accepted the gift.

Fast forward about two months. Those same friends used that money to purchase a ticket to Promise Keepers. They gave the ticket to a friend who had no idea what he was getting himself into. His wife had been going to their church and they wanted to include him in the event.  His life was transformed that day. He gave his life to Christ and today he is a mentor with the youth in his church and has served the local Chrysalis community for a number of years. He is totally sold out to Jesus. Why? Because the  Holy Spirit used me to mention a need, he prompted my friend to offer some money, and he directed the recipients of that gift to purchase a ticket to Promise Keepers for a friend.

How many times has the Spirit of God prompted you to do something that seemed odd or goofy? If we listen to God’s Spirit and let him lead us, it is hard telling what he can accomplish.

It is time for Christians world wide to make that connection with one another, to let God’s Spirit direct us and to act when directed. We will find people in our web without even knowing how they got there. The Spirit wants to use us to glorify God.

Holy, Righteous God,

You are Lord God Almighty, maker and sustainer of the universe. That you would entrust us as dwellings of your Holy Spirit is a mystery to us. We do not know what to do with that kind of power. We just don’t utilize your Spirit as Christ intended. 

Teach us how to ask for and hear your voice speaking to us. Help us to lose our timidity and to do the things your Spirit tells us to do. We know that you know each one of us, and that you would not ask us to do anything that we are not equipped to do. If you want us to do something for the kingdom, you will give us the grace to do it. Thank you for that promise. Forgive us for failing to listen to you, forgive us for falling short time and time again. We ask these things because we believe, help us in our unbelief. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.