Saturday, January 21, 2012
1 Corinthians 2:12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
EPIPHANY MOMENT
You can't manufacture epiphany moments. You can put yourself in the right place to receive one, but you can't make it happen. If you want to figure out something about the atom, a laboratory is probably a better place to be than a bakery. But even if you put yourself in the right place, an epiphany still has to be given to you.
The ancient Greeks used to talk about the nine muses who supplied poets and artists their inspiration. While modern author Stephen King may not believe in muses, he would be the first to tell you that his stories come from outside himself.
In his book "On Writing," King compares writing fiction to unearthing a fossil. At first there's just a little bone sticking up out of the ground. King says the challenge is to see how much of the fossil he can get out intact. If he tries to force it, it's like using a jack-hammer and he'll destroy the fragile story. But if he works too slowly, the ground will harden and lock the story away for good.
What a fascinating thing to hear from an author who has written so many different books, and who continues to write new ones. "Where do your ideas come from?" "Oh, I don't know, they're just plopped into my head!?"
The Holy Spirit has an epiphany moment that He wants to give you. He gives this epiphany moment through the story of Jesus. The story of Jesus, sometimes called the Gospel or the Good News, has the power to change the direction and quality of your life forever.
Like the passage above says, the Good News is all about what "God has freely given us" -- namely, forgiveness because Jesus suffered our sin's punishment already.
The Holy Spirit doesn't just want you to HAVE this epiphany moment, He wants you to LIVE in it.
