“Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God…not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give us an endless supply of life ‘that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.’” (Ephesians 3:19) Oswald Chambers (emphasis mine)

Possessing the Holy Spirit inside us is like being a horse at the starting gate of a race. The horse cannot run the race until the gate is opened. Because we believe, we have this amazing power inside us. Yet, many of us think, speak and act just like someone who isn’t blessed with this mysterious gift. We’re a horse who looks like any other horse. How could this be?

Some of us spend our entire lives without ever allowing the Spirit to come alive in us. He lies dormant, abiding uninvited to participate in our family life, business life, social life, financial life,  emotional life or our spiritual life.

Ah, but once we open the gate and extend an invitation to the Spirit, we will begin to detect the abundant love, the copious grace and extensive power infusing us. As we allow the Spirit to dissolve the blinders from our eyes and the plugs from our ears, we will see and hear clearly the signs of His voice. We will, day by day, grow in the harmonious cadence of our relationship with the One who created us.

When that occurs, we will desire to do nothing less than let Him have His way with us. We will find strength in the surrender. We will seek Him out in every circumstance. We will comprehend the deep and abiding truth that it takes tremendous courage to love, and we can only do it with the Spirit’s infrastructure and tenderness.

As we imagine ourselves bolstered daily by the Spirit, we are able to awaken every day with a new perspective. Yes, we will walk at first, but think how it will feel as we are then able to skip and run. Furthermore, walking with the Spirit allows us to accomplish so much more than if we walked alone. Because it’s not all about us. Until we embrace the Living Water Spirit and begin to live out our lives on the bedrock of His love, we’re unable to offer that love and compassion to someone else – someone who may well be crying out for the life-affirming hope the salvation of Jesus brings.

When a horse picks up speed, he trots, then canters, then gallops, and in each stride of his gallop, his four-beat gait then allows all four feet to lift from the ground at once. Think then, of walking with the Spirit, our Divine Impulsion, as He helps us lift our feet off the ground.

“I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—a glorious inner strength—that Christ will come alive in you as you allow his Spirit to be stirred in you. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, saturated in the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)