2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This episode is all about the Holy Spirit and how it brings Freedom. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is, There Is Freedom
2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
I saw this verse on Facebook today and thought it was a great one. I have been helping to lead a Life in the Spirit Seminar and each week we learn a little bit more about the Holy Spirit and about the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. There is a video teaching about different subjects and then one of our prayer group members gives a witness about how they have seen God working in their lives. I have really been learning a lot. Not just from the talks, but also from other people’s experience of how they have seen God in their life.
The first week’s topic was God’s Love. The witness was about a woman who was told she couldn’t have children and yet had two healthy children. She was a woman who married the love of her life and even though the marriage ended, God was there with her through it all. He provided miracles all throughout her life small ones and big ones, like giving birth to her children when she was told she couldn’t have kids. This woman experienced a baptism of the Holy Spirit and she talks about how her life was changed after that. She had this love and closeness with the Lord that she never had before. She was filled with this sense of peace that although things weren’t always easy, she would be ok. God would be there with her through it all. The verse above says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. This woman definitely experienced freedom for her worries.
The second week the topic was salvation. The witness was about a woman who lost her father at a young age. He was only about 60 years old when he was hit be a teenager and killed. There was some speculation that the teen had been drinking but could not be proven. This woman could not forgive the teen. She was so angry that he took her father from his children and his grandchildren. She harbored this anger for 20 years. Forgiveness wasn’t even something she could think about. She went to grief counseling, and they recommended she write the teen a letter, but not send it. She couldn’t even think of doing this.
Many years later a former coworker of hers lost her husband to a teen driving accident. My friend attended this wake and asked her former coworker how she was doing. The former coworker said she thought she was ready to write the teenage a letter of forgiveness, as it had been four months. My friend burst into tears and asked how she could forgive so soon as it had only been four months. My friend’s dad died 20 years ago and she still harbored feelings of unforgiveness. Her former coworker told her she needed to forgive him, for herself as much as for the boy. How could she expect God to forgive her if she didn’t forgive others.
The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. If my friend hadn’t have ran into her former co-worker at this wake, who knows if she would have forgiven that young man. My friend didn’t even notice how much her unforgiveness had blocked her relationship with the lord. It took her another year to write the letter. When she read it out loud to her husband she felt so free. It was as if a huge weight she didn’t know she had been carrying had been lifted. It enabled her to have a closer and intimate relationship with God. She was finally free of the unforgiveness.
Last night’s topic was New Life. It talked about how we have a new life when we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives and give Him permission to work in our lives. When we surrender to God, amazing things happen. For some, it is so hard to surrender everything. For others, it is easy to surrender everything to God, and yet, when things get tough they take it back and try to do it on their own. The witness for last night was about a member who was doing her best to be a good Catholic. She attended mass and her kids went to Catholic school. She talked about how her priorities once she got married were her husband, her kids and God. However, about 14 years ago her husband had heart trouble and was give 3-5 years to live. She was told his heart would just stop and it would be sudden death. She didn’t know what to do with this. He was her best friend and her whole world. How could she think about a future without him?
She was upset with God and questioned what she did to deserve this. She allowed fear and anxiety to take over life. She begged God to save them from this medical prognosis. She cried out why have you forsaken me. There were many more years of hospital stays and ER visits. She felt as though God was waiting on her, but she didn’t know what to do. She started to go to daily mass and spent hours in the adoration chapel. One day she saw an advertisement for a Catholic Healing Service. She begged her husband to take her and he did. At this service she was taught about the power of the Holy Spirit and what can block us from the healing power of God and from hearing His voice. They were lead through prayers of forgiveness, renunciation of sickness, sin, diseases, and negative emotions. At this service her eyes were open to what had been blocking her. The Holy Spirit showed her that even though she had been praying all those years, she hadn’t truly believed that God was hearing her prayers and that He would take care of them. She realized that God had been suffering with her and He just wanted her to trust that He would take care of them. At this service everyone was invited to come up one at a time to be prayed over. When she went up she surrendered all to God and asked for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Suddenly she felt a gust of wind push her back, she was swept off her feet and knocked to the ground. The Holy Spirit came upon her and she was filled with tremendous peace, love and joy. Her sadness and stress were gone and she felt light as a feather. She was free, from all her worries, sadness, anxieties, and stress. She definitely was feeling the freedom that comes with the Holy Spirit.
The reason I wanted to share these three witnesses with you today is because I don’t think we talk about the Holy Spirit enough. We talk a lot about God and we hear a lot about Jesus and yet, the Holy Spirit remains a mystery to many of us. We don’t know a lot about Him and so we tend to stick to what we know. The Holy Spirit is available to all. It is not something that you need to do certain things for. It is not as if you earn the Holy Spirit by being extra Holy, or by jumping through all the hoops. The Holy Spirit is available to anyone that wants it. You can call upon the Holy Spirit at any time and it only takes a second. “Come Holy Spirit come” are among the most powerful words you could say. There are many prayers to the Holy Spirit. There is one that I used to say often, although I must say I have gotten away from it and I want to get back to it. I will end with that prayer today. If you are looking for a way to invite the Holy Spirit into your life, say this prayer daily and then buckle up and enjoy the ride. If you invite Him in, He will do amazing things in your life. He will give you a freedom that you have never experienced before. The power of the Holy Spirit will surprise you. Wouldn’t it be great if you knew what God wanted you to do? When you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit you will be able to hear God’s words more clearly. There is so much I could say about the Holy Spirit and the benefits of getting to know more about Him and inviting Him into your life. However, I don’t want to go on all day, so maybe I will do another episode later about this very important topic. I am sure I will do many over the years. I hope you enjoyed the witnesses. They were condensed, but I am hoping to bring you their full story in upcoming episodes. I will leave you with a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
Oh, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul…I adore you.
Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me.
Tell me what I should do; give me your orders. I
Promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me
And to accept all that You permit to happen to me.
Let me only know your will.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!