Mind Over Bladder-- I mean, Matter

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."
- John 7:37-39

Today a revolutionary observation was shared with me by way of a question. (The Socratic method might be eternal; I actually think God invented it. Go figure). It was this: What is the Holy Spirit's role? A few words came to mind, like relationship, comfort, intercessor, etc. Isn't it to make us look more like Jesus? I thought about it a moment or two, "It is. It really is." If His job description is to make us look like Jesus, why would He come when Jesus was still bound by humanity? Does it not seem like Holy Spirit would wait until Jesus was seated next to Father, looking like Father, exercising His authority, living His role--- being glorified?

We were originally created to be in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26) Jesus came to restore a Kingdom and us to our rightful roles. (Luke 22:28-30) Holy Spirit is welcome when we live in the faith-knowledge that Jesus is Lord; He is risen; He is the Son of God.

Chew on that for awhile. Yeah, that's how I have felt all week.

My mailbox is my happy place. I've received a few letters over the past couple of weeks and have enjoyed it immensely. Some made me laugh out loud, others drew tears, and all have made me so grateful. I cannot even express how blessed I am to have the family and friends that I do. It is not normal, it is not flippant or common; it is blessing and extravagance: as simple as that. I do not by any means deserve it but that is the "extravagant" part. Thank you, all of you, for your prayers, your letters, or whatever method of support you employ. I pray the blessing lavishly returned to you.

The first week of school is finished. Finished is an odd word. But there is very much a clash of birth and death, beginning and ending, crucifixion and resurrection in this revival-stirring. I get the feeling that I am learning how much I do not know and that is probably the best thing for me ever. There just seems like some Kingdom paradoxical principle in the wisdom of knowing that I know nothing. I know that sounds insane and much sounds crazy to me but the crazier spiritual stuff sounds, the more insane living in my own reason comes to be as well. Even "spiritual" can be a misleading word if you do not know the Spirit as real as I am coming to realize He is (very much still grasping, by the way). My head is completely turned on; I did not check my brain at the door going into class. In fact, my reason still gets in the way, my brain still says "potty break!" right when it's getting good, and my unbelief clouds my vision far too frequently. But let me tell you this: I tell my reason to go to the feet of Jesus and be purified, I remind my brain that it controls my bladder and not vice versa, and I tell unbelief to go to the feet of Jesus never to return because I will not partner with anything even whispering against my Love.

In other news, an undeniable miracle occurred today. Money multiplied, or rather appeared from nothing. Literally. One of my roommates prayed during service to God that she wanted to give an offering to bless the speaker, but she had emptied her wallet for tithe this morning. Fervently praying for God to multiply everything in the bags, she felt the nudge to check her wallet again (that she absolutely knew was empty). When she unfolded it, there was $90. She has not had that much cash in her wallet in over a month. She put it all in the offering.

Um--- HOW COOL!

That's all.

Prayer requests: the spirit of revelation, a genuine heart, genuine growth, and a genuine Holy Spirit encounter