Decoder Rings

Remember those decoder rings?! Or at least the concept of decoding a secret, concealed message? Well, often the Holy Spirit reminds me of this ... He is infinitely more important, and I mean no disrespect to God, but often this is His role ...

Think of it ...

The whole concept of reading Scripture without His illumination becomes ink on a paper ...

Understanding His teachings becomes a futile exercise in morality ...

His parables seem confusing, empty, and shallow ...

Even prayer without Him is futile - a calling into the dark ...

To an unbeliever, it is no surprise that my beliefs seem like folly (as we read in 1 Corinthians).  Yet here I stand ... clinging not to some mystical, magical, force ... but in a living God ... to a God, that brings what is unfocused, in focus ... hidden, to being illuminated ...

Yet without the Holy Spirit, it just all seems crazy ... it did to me! I was the one not long ago rolling my eyes as "Jesus Freaks" ... I probably would be the one today responding to this with comments like "OK Boomer" or "Weird Flex, but OK" ...

But here I stand ... changed ...

Where do I go with this? I think all of this is just a reminder to me that not only is the Holy Spirit critical for revealing to me everything needed for the above things, but also for my day-to-day ... "The Practice of the Presence of God" like written by Brother Lawrence in his book ... just going about my day realizing that without the illumination of the Holy Spirit on my life, it's just me ... and while to some that may seem "freeing" ... to me it seems crippling ... oh how I don't want to be limited to what I can do ... Holy Spirit move in me ...