10-29-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                CALLED TO CHRISTLIKENESS

On the Day of Pentecost, when Peter quoted God's words spoken by the prophet Joel—”I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28)—the people were “cut to the heart” as Peter preached. They cried out, “What shall we do?” Peter's answer: “Repent…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and… as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37—39). God has also called you. He has sent you. And He has given you the Holy Spirit because He has a purpose for your life. Remember again: it's the Lord's purpose, not yours. The Holy Spirit was sent to help you achieve God's purposes, not your dreams. And if you aren't willing to do His purposes, the Holy Spirit cannot work in you or through you. We'll look further at spiritual gifts, but first we need to talk about holy character. The Spirit is sent to equip us for an assignment, but assignment is always based upon character. If you have small character, you'll be given a small assignment. If you have great character, you'll be given a great assignment.

The Holy Spirit's first assignment is that of pointing you to the Lord Jesus. He's shaping your character to be like Christ's. He'll do whatever it takes to make you Christlike in all areas of your life. He'll take your childlike faith and stretch you to trust Him with your very life. He'll take your selfish heart and mold it to be sacrificial in every way. He'll take your pride and strip you down to absolute humility. He'll take your secret sins and expose them so you might be made holy. He'll take your life of ease and show you the hard road of complete and total dependence. The Holy Spirit wants to create within you holy character. Our challenge to you is this: let Him do His work! So often we want a great assignment, but we resist His work that can give us great character.