Wind

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Wind blows where it chooses and that you don't know from where it comes or where it goes...you can only hear the sound of it. Then he says that this is true for all who have been born of the Spirit. Wind. Spirit. Holy Ghost. Ruach. (Hebrew). Do we know when we have been touched by the Spirit? Do we even know what that would look like?
I think most of us would equate anything to do with the Holy Spirit with a Pentecostal experience. Maybe you have experienced something like that, whether it be the laying on of hands to receive the gift of tongues or some sort of miraculous healing. Still, that's not really what I'm interested in talking about. The experience of the Spirit shouldn't be a one-time thing, nor should it have to look frightening and foreign. I dread to think that people stay away from the idea of the Holy Spirit because they think it has to look like a Benny Hinn conference. It doesn't! The third party of the Trinity is and can be exactly what YOU need it to be- for healing, for peace, for patience, for strength, for love.
Imagine a spring evening. You're walking on a path somewhere distant and slightly remote from city or suburban life. You close your eyes and feel the last bit of the sun's warmth on the bridge of your nose and across your cheeks. Suddenly a slight breeze. Your hair picks up at the tendrils. Your shirt ripples across your back and gives you chills. The sweet scent of warmed earth wafts up to your nose. Tension releases. A smile plays on the corners of your mouth. "The Wind", you think to yourself. Yes; the Wind. The Spirit.

The Four Elements of Faith

If God the Creator brought into existence the earth and all of her glory, then why do we fear a spirituality that has anything to do with "tree-hugging" or creation-serving? Isn't care for the earth just good stewardship of what man and woman were given care over? What I am afraid that our churches are doing through our teaching is simplifying God down to only one or two aspects of his nature. God is Lord, Provider, Savior, Almighty, Redeemer,...and Creator! But I don't think we get good, solid preaching on what it means to humanity that God is the Creator.

Meditate if you will on what it means to you to have a creative God. First things that come to my mind: God values beauty, color, and variety! There is genius expressed in the workings of our human bodies and in the bodies of the animals. God loves when WE create. And there is something else: When the 7 days of creating were over, God took nothing away. Nothing that he created is bad- every living thing is PRECIOUS in his site. Every part of the created order was intentional. We are precious, the animals are precious, the green earth is precious.

Spiritual literature, poetry, prayer, and song are all entrenched with earth symbolism. The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew language shares the word with "wind" (ruach). The Holy Spirit is also given as a tongue of fire. We are baptized in water, our faith is rooted, Jesus is the vine, etc. For now simply reflect on what these symbols mean to you and stay tuned for a series built around the 4 elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. My prayer is that something unique will be revealed to each of us and that our understanding of God's character will become a little but clearer.

Peace, and God Bless