Module 1

I took the initiative to share the gospel, leaving the results to God, and ...
I was overjoyed. After I shared the gospel with my sister, Jess, I couldn't help praising God for how he used me to connect with her. I was definitely on a spiritual high.

After the 80 minute conversation I reflected on how I felt and what we talked about. I noticed that the question-and-answer dynamic flowed incredibly smoothly. I came out of that conversation knowing that the Holy Spirit was alive and thriving within me. The Spirit really helped me to word things in a way that Jess could understand while nudging her to gain a new perspective - God's perspective on human life, His plan of grace, etc... I pray that there will be more opportunities for me to speak with other individuals about these questions and concerns, and that I can rely and trust in the Holy Spirit in the same way.


My walk with God has been...
an exhilarating journey, but one that hasn't captured my complete attention. Let's just say that if the Lord and I were walking side by side along a forest trail (or down the road, or aside the ocean on a beach for that matter), I am too often distracted by my surroundings. I would step off the path to check out a leaf, to keep up some dirt, or to jump in the water. I wouldn't be fully captivated by His presence, as if that's all I needed.

I'm saying this because since I've become a Christian in October of 2008, I've had God in my sight every single day. We initially started walking together with arms around each other's shoulders. Then, by the summertime, I was still walking forward with the Lord, but He wasn't getting the full attention he deserved. Only recently do I feel that I'm back by God's side. The greatest difference in between now and when I felt farther away was how often I prayed. For me, prayer is like a phone call to God. I'm excited to renew my heavenly phone call for each and every day!


Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is...
something I don't do every day, and something I need to practice.

I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to come up with an analogy that would perfectly convey what walking in the Holy Spirit is "like." At first, I wanted to say that walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is like learning to ride a bike, and I have training wheels. But I'm under the impression that you never forget how to ride a bike, and riding a bike requires a lot of pedaling on my part. So instead, I wanted to compare walking in the power of the Holy Spirit to driving a car. I thought that all you do is turn the ignition and push the pedal, and the car, like the Holy Spirit, is the vehicle that gets you to your destination. However, I'd still be the one behind the wheel, the roads are laid out clearly, and I don't drive a car very often.

I guess the best analogies I heard emphasize the agency of the Holy Spirit. Our actions take a back seat - we're not in complete control, but we're not sitting around waiting for something to happen either. Like the sailboat, for example. Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is like guiding a sailboat through the waters. We have no control over the wind, but we can harness the wind to our advantage. The only thing I don't like about this analogy is that I don't hop on a boat and sail the seas too often. I wish I could compared the Holy Spirit to an energy source you tap into - whether it's a light switch to flick on, or a plug to push into an outlet.