Day 5: A different person
The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you... and you will be changed into a different person (1 Samuel 10:6).
Heavenly Father, You are Spirit—we worship You in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:24)
Throughout Scripture, we have seen the working of Your Holy Spirit in powerful, breath-taking ways. Before You gave us a new covenant through the Lord Jesus, Your Spirit came powerfully at specific times to equip Your people for battles, for special tasks and assignments, and for leadership—as with Saul, and later David.
But the Lord Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them the forever presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-21). Reiterating the promise right before His ascension to heaven, He told them, "I am going to send you what My Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
Then at Pentecost, You poured out Your Spirit on Your church just as You had promised (Acts 2:1-21). And since then, You have given Your church the ministry of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:8). The apostle Paul explained the difference between the old covenant and the glorious new covenant:
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).
So often, Father, as we try to obey Your call to be holy, we struggle and fail in our own strength. But You did not intend for us to be holy, or to work, or to minister or to live by our own power. You intend for us to be clothed with power from on high.
Paul told the Galatians, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). And we remember the promise of the Lord Jesus, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18). Thank You for these promises. Thank You that we do not have to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) on our own.
We think of Samuel's words to Saul, The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you... and you will be changed into a different person (1 Samuel 10:6). How much more so will we, now that You have given us Your surpassing glory (2 Corinthians 3:10)!
So, Lord, we give You our struggles today. Free us from shackles of striving. Teach us to continuously contemplate Your glory. Help us not to keep returning to the veil, the dullness, the bondage. Remind us that You are transforming us into Your image with ever increasing glory. Help us to simply gaze.
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