In and Upon

Early this morning I walked into my son's shared room to see Abel lying on his back, shivering in bed.  The air was chilly and the room dark.  Though Abel had thick blankets available for him to use, one had fallen off the bed and the other was at his feet in a ball.  His arms clung tightly to the thin flannel sheet as he slept.

My initial reaction was a cross between amusement, annoyance, and compassion.  It struck me funny that Abel clung to the thing which offered him least protection against the cold.  But if the bed had been completely made with the blanket tucked it could not have slid onto the floor!  The boy was cold and needed warmth.  The steps which precipitated the shivering was not as important as the cure:  lifting the blankets back onto the bed, smoothing out the blanket pile, and Abel laying underneath them.

In Australia, a thick bedspread is often called a "doona."  In the States where I was born, a common term is a "comforter."  The LORD impressed upon my heart that Abel's condition is not unlike many in the body of Christ in a spiritual sense.  The Holy Spirit is referred to as the "Comforter" who will guide us into all truth.  His role is to glorify Jesus Christ, teach us of the things of God, and lead us according to God's will.  There are many Christians who are shuddering in the cold because they have not embraced the Person of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit provides gifts to be used for the edification of the Body and the glorification of God.  In his sleep, Abel was blind and insensible.  He was cold when he could have been warm.

Christ baptized the disciples with the Holy Spirit and fire on the Day of Pentecost, and He baptizes people in like fashion today.  Many have kicked the idea of baptism with the Holy Spirit to the side of their Christian experience.  Satan has done much to warp perception of this baptism through excess, abuse, and confusion.  But the biblical precedent is clear and simple:  we receive this baptism through faith in Christ with the asking, even as a child receives a peeled egg from the hand of his father.  Eggs are to be ingested, and blankets are to be snuggled under.  Praise God for His compassion upon us, that He has not left us in the dark or in the cold!  Our heavenly Father has given us the Holy Spirit through Christ's intercession as Jesus says in John 14:16-17:  "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

Jesus affirms in Luke 11:13: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  Let us not be cold or settle for lukewarm, but fanned into a burning flame through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is like oil ignited:  when mixed with the Living Water which flows from our hearts the flame is not extinguished but spreads with great intensity!  The Holy Spirit is in all who repent and trust in Christ:  may He be upon us as well.