soaked in the spirit
The Lord “does not ration His gift of the Holy Spirit.” —John 3:34
Many years ago, as a young adult, I was scheduled to give a talk on prayer at a youth retreat. On the morning of the teaching, I arose an hour before dawn to pray to the Holy Spirit for the talk and for all who would hear it. As I walked the grounds of the retreat center, I was struck by the vivid stars in the predawn sky. The Big Dipper constellation was directly overhead, turned upside down in such a way that it appeared the contents of the Dipper were being poured out upon the entire retreat center. I was awestruck at the thought of countless trillions of gallons of grace being poured out directly upon us.
“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rm 5:5). “He does not ration His gift of the Spirit” (Jn 3:34). God lavishes the Spirit upon us (Ti 3:6). The gifts of the Spirit are poured out without measure, but it’s up to us to receive and use them. The more we use the gifts of the Spirit, the more we receive (Mk 4:25). The Spirit leads us to obey God, and the more we obey, the more we receive the Spirit (Acts 5:32). But if we don’t obey God and refuse to use the gifts of the Spirit, we in effect put up a “spiritual umbrella” and remain dry under the flood of the Spirit.
Take down any spiritual umbrella. Drink deeply of the Spirit. “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22). “Since we live by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s lead” (Gal 5:25).
Prayer: Holy Spirit, drench my soul that I may help You drench others with Your grace.
Promise: “...the Holy Spirit, Whom God gives to those that obey Him.” —Acts 5:32
Praise: St. Joseph yielded to the Holy Spirit’s gift of discernment through his instant recognition of and obedience to multiple dreams from God (see Mt 1:20-21; 2:13-14, 19-22).
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
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