April 16: Relationship With the Holy Spirit = Empowered Life
♫ Music:
Day 51 - Thursday, April 16
Hymn of Ascension: Desiring to unveil the mystery hidden from all ages, You were led as a sheep to the slaughter, O Jesus, and as a lamb before its shearer. But as God, You rose from the dead and ascended with glory to Heaven, and along with Yourself, You raised all those who cry aloud: Alleluia to the Lamb that was slain!
Scripture: Acts 1: 6-11
So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Poetry:
Ascension
by Denise Levertov
Stretching Himself as if again,
through downpress of dust
upward, soul giving way
to thread of white, that reaches
for daylight, to open as green
leaf that it is...
Can Ascension
not have been
arduous, almost,
as the return
from Sheol, and
back through the tomb
into breath?
Matter reanimate
now must relinquish
itself, its
human cells,
molecules, five
senses, linear
vision endured
as Man -
the sole
all-encompassing gaze.
Eye of Eternity.
relinquished, earth's
broken Eden.
Expulsion,
liberation,
last
self-enjoined task
of Incarnation.
He again
Fathering Himself.
Seed-case
splitting.
He again
Mothering His birth:
torture and bliss.
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT = EMPOWERED LIFE
This last couple of weeks have taught us many lessons about proximity and human relationships. I have also asked myself, how is my relationship with the Holy Spirit, and do I sense his empowerment over my life? Before one can correctly understand empowerment of life and relationship with the Holy Spirit, let me propose we must first have a Biblical understanding of the personhood of the Holy Spirit. R.A. Torrey wrote, “It is of the highest importance from an experimental standpoint that we know the Holy Spirit as a person”[1]
In John 16:7 (AMP) and in the passage we read, Jesus advises his community that a time of distress, confusion, and persecution (sounds familiar) was at hand. “I’m sending the “Paracletos” …the Comforter (Counselor, Ayudador, Strengthener) …I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you]". Jesus knew that to live a thriving life amidst a Greco-Roman culture without the Holy Spirit would have been disastrous. Thus, the ascension of Jesus, and descension of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were divine actions to empower life, and fulfill the mission.
Yes, the Spirit of YAHWE came to empower life.
Yes, the life-giving Spirit dwells in your hearts through Christ who loves us.
How is our relationship with the Spirit? Seriously, are we intentionally developing profound “particularities” of relationship with the Spirit? The kind of relationship present in the Trinity that involves closeness, and intimacy with the Spirit. The kind of relationship Jesus demonstrated with the Spirit, his Father and disciples. That kind of relationship is the “substance” of life, attained through deep relationship with the Spirit. This premise is echoed in Leon Harris, Holy Spirit as Communion[2], and is exemplified by Ken Berding in Walking in the Spirit.[3] Yes! This invitation to consider my relationship with the Spirit needs to be resolved as we continue to do life amidst our context. A relationship with the Spirit results in life being led and empowered. A merely dialectical thinking about the Spirit results in the likes of a dry body, that as it stands up, knows it is missing the Spirit’s life like in the Ezequiel example.
When we develop a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit, life and reason are infused. Reflecting a similar experience as in Pentecost. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowered the life and minds of all the community. And they stood up empowered in love, wisdom, word, and in truth.
The descent was not a mystical power, it was the Person of the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus and commanded by the Father. Thus, one must decide “whether the Holy Spirit is merely some mysterious…power that we somehow get a hold of and use. Or, whether the Holy Spirit is a real Person, infinitely, wise, mighty and tender who is to get hold of us and use.”[4]
If, we think of the Holy Spirit is merely a power, our constant thought will be, “How can I get more…,” but if we think Biblically…. about the Person of the Holy Spirit, our thought will rather be, “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?”[5] The Holy Spirit came as real Person, just as real as Jesus Christ himself; an ever-present, loving friend and mighty helper, who is always by our side and ready to undertake every emergency of life.
Prayer:
Let us today grasp these thoughts, take this posture, and pray: “Holy Spirit, who in marvelous ways came into my life, make your dwelling place in me, empower my life. Be with me. Be my friend and lead me. Have my heart, my thoughts. Have me. I’m yours.”
Amen.
[1] Torrey, R. A. 1909. THE FUNDAMENTALS. Loc:1496-11497
[2] Harris, Leon. 2017. Holy Spirit as Communion, 38.
[3] Berding, Ken. 2011. Walking in the Spirit, 55.
[4] Torrey, R.A. 1898. What the Bible Teaches, 227.
[5] Torrey, R.A. 1898. What the Bible Teaches, 227-228.
Dr. Oscar Merlo
Director of The Center for the Study
of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today Center
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, poetry, and devotional writer selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab
About the Art:
Jacob’s Ladder
Gerry Judah
2017
480 lengths of square-sectional steel
34m x 8m
Gibbs Farm Sculpture Park, New Zealand
This sculptural rendition of Jacob’s Ladder soars skyward in joyful, spiraling ascent to link earth with heaven. It is 34 meters (112 feet) high and made out of square-sectioned steel tube weighing 46 tonnes. It is made from 480 lengths of steel, stacked one on top of each other. Each layer is slightly different in length and size, shifted and rotated relative to the layer below, ultimately producing the final gracefully curving shape – this despite the components themselves all being straight steel sections. Gibbs Farm is a thousand-acre open-air sculpture park in Kaipara Harbour, near Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand. It features over thirty monumental sculptures from a roll-call of top international contemporary artists including Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor and Andy Goldsworthy. All works are commissioned by Alan Gibbs, a New Zealand businessman, entrepreneur and art collector who has been assembling the Gibbs Farm Collection for twenty-six years.
http://www.judah.co.uk/works/jacobs-ladder/
About the Artist:
Gerry Judah (b. 1951) is a British artist and designer who has created settings for theatre, film, television, museums and public spaces. He was born in Calcutta and moved to London with his family when he was ten. His maternal and paternal grandparents came from Baghdad to settle in the already established Baghdadi Jewish community in India and Burma. He studied at Barnet College of Art before obtaining a degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London and postgraduate Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. After college, Judah set up his studio in London’s West End, the center of the theatre district where he worked as a stagehand, prop maker and scenic artist to finance his large-scale sculpture. Taken with the public nature of the theatre, Judah decided to find settings for his own art in more public arenas than conventional galleries. Work on a commission for the Holocaust Exhibition for the Imperial War Museum in London prompted him to begin to make art based on his reflections on historical and contemporary events and issues such as the devastations of war and environmental concerns.
http://www.judah.co.uk/biography/
About the Music:
“Blessing + Honor + Glory + Power” from the album The Kingdom Sessions
The Lyrics:
Shattered pieces of Your glory calling
Father, please, oh please restore our hearts now|
Gather us in Your arms
And together we'll raise a song to the Lamb
Look upon us and remember, Jesus
For Your glory You created us
And You were broken so we can shine and
By Your love, You said, "You are mine"
So we raise our praise
To Him who sits on the throne
Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him
Shattered pieces of Your glory calling (Calling)
Father, please, oh please restore our hearts now
Gather us in Your arms
Together we'll raise a song to the Lamb
Look upon us and remember, Jesus
For Your glory You created us
And You were broken so we can shine and (So we can shine)
By Your love, You said, "You are mine"
So we raise (Raise) our praise (Our praise)
To Him who sits on the throne
Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him
So we shout (We shout) and we bow (As we bow)
All nations will worship as one
(Singing) Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him
[Spoken: Dr. Eric Mason]
I wanna tell you today
In heaven, we gon' be, have on our white robes
And we gonna be singing,
"Glory and honor and dominion and power
To the Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world"
We bless You, God
Glory to the highest
So we raise (Raise) our praise (Our praise)
To Him who sits on the throne
Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him (Whoa-oa, yeah)
So we shout (We shout) and we bow (We bow)
All nations will worship as one
(Singing) Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him
Come on, sing it
(Make us one) Make us one
For Your glory
(We need You to make us one) Make us one
(For Your glory) For Your glory
Make us one (God, we need You to; God, we need You to)
For Your glory (Oh, for Your glory)
Make us one (Make us one for)
For Your glory
So we shout (We shout) and we bow (We bow before You)
All nations will worship as one (As one)
Singing blessing and honor and glory and power
Blessing and honor and glory and power
Blessing and honor and glory and power
To Him
To Him who sits on the throne
All blessing and honor
Glory and power
About the Composers/Lyricists:
Russ Mohr and Jeremiah Carr
After spending a dozen years of his early music career touring the U.S. as front man for two St. Louis-based bands (LP Outsiders and Fundamental Elements), Russ Mohr is back on the scene as a solo artist, writer, arranger, and producer. He released his first full-length studio album in June 2019, a soulful Gospel concept record entitled, “The Kingdom Sessions.” The music delivers a message that is both timely and timeless. The ingredients that make up the album are simple yet proven: love, unity, diversity, faith, community, beauty, truth. The project brings together more than 70 singers and musicians from several cities including St. Louis, New York City, Kansas City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Denver, Portland, Oregon, and Nashville, Tenn. Their work is spread across 14 songs and two interludes. “‘The Kingdom Sessions’ is about music and faith bringing people together to reflect God’s love to the world,” Mohr says. “It’s about putting faith into action. It’s about justice and reconciliation and compassion. It’s about imagining and praying and working for a better tomorrow.”
https://open.spotify.com/artist/383QZLAHjEUoA0Hbq31TI5/about
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P4-2236154000/russ-mohr-s-kingdom-sessions-album-puts-faith-into
As a vocal leader with DOXA, Jeremiah Carr has become known for his vibrant and energetic personality both on stage and off. He works to serve the family of Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia, PA, by pouring into other musicians and creatives who are passionate about sharing their gift to encourage, uplift, and spread the love of Christ in their families, communities, and the world. In addition to serving the local body, Jeremiah is passionate about seeing other churches supported, resourced, and equipped with the necessary tools that allow them to excel in worship through music. Through his collaborative consulting company, Aiyo Music Group, Jeremiah partners with other worship ministries to coach and train leaders and musicians in cross-cultural engagement, content structure and development, and other creative endeavors in order to help set teams on a strong trajectory towards sustainable, healthy musical excellence.
https://doxawts.com/
About the Performers:
Russ Mohr, Dozzy Daniel, Melissa T., and Brian Kilpatrick
Rap artist Dozzy Daniel has collaborated with artists such as Timothy Wellbeck (“The Souls of Black Folk”) and Russ Mohr (The Kingdom Sessions). He just released the single “Guard Up” at the beginning of 2020.
Philadelphia born and raised, Melissa T knows the meaning of soul, rhythm, and blues. Inspired by jazz, hip hop, gospel, and folk music, Melissa aims to combine these influences into a modern fusion that guides the listener through some of life’s joys, pains, mysteries, and musings. Melissa fell in love with music around the age of five. She was led by music’s compelling power to shape and convey the heart of the listener with mere words, harmonics, and emotion. Once she discovered her own vocal abilities, Melissa began to study what she heard on the radio from various Gospel singers. Melissa’s debut EP Where Is the Love? was released in 2016.
https://iammelissat.bandcamp.com/
Trumpet player Brian Kilpatrick is well-known in the jazz, rap, and hip hop recording world. Projects he has performed on include Trip Lee’s album Between Two Worlds and Mother’s Touch with the Captain Black Big Band.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/brian-kilpatrick-mn0002497571
About the Poet:
Priscilla Denise Levertov (1923–1997) was a British-born American poet. After Levertov moved to the United States, she was heavily influenced by the Black Mountain Poets, especially the mysticism of poet Charles Olson, the style of William Carlos Williams, and the Transcendentalism of Thoreau and Emerson. Levertov’s conversion to Christianity in 1984 was the impetus for her religious poetry. In 1997, she brought together 38 poems from seven of her earlier volumes in The Stream & the Sapphire, a collection intended, as Levertov explains in the foreword to the collection, “to trace my slow movement from agnosticism to Christian faith, a movement incorporating much doubt and questioning as well as affirmation." Levertov published more than twenty volumes of poetry and was also the author of four books of prose.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/denise-levertov
About the Devotion Writer:
Dr. Oscar Merlo
Director, Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Dr. Oscar Merlo is passionate about empowering new generations through the Holy Spirit and illuminating the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has served in executive leadership positions for profit and nonprofit multinational organizations. Merlo has traveled extensively to over 35 countries in five continents and has experienced how God’s Missio-Dei is at work in diverse places such as: Cuba, Tel Aviv, Bissau, Istanbul, Guatemala, local communities in Los Angeles, and other places in the global South. He leads global plans in Evangelism & Transformation initiatives and has participated in social justice advocacy, the Latin America Free of Corruption Initiative, and coordinated global leadership training programs. Merlo served as a co-founder of the OMEGA generation project; an initiative to mentor Latin-X millennials in the 21st century. He has developed EDEAM (School of Evangelists Alberto Mottesi) academic programs expanding to 136 international centers throughout Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Oscar is happily married to Lexa and they have two daughters.