Different Person

1 Samuel 10:6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.
1 Samuel 11:6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

As I walked through these chapters this a.m., I was struck that the Spirit of God, came upon Saul. Not that I didn’t think that Holy Spirit was an old testament thing, but that I had never drawn the correlation between the above scriptures.

I like the fact that 1 Samuel 10 says that you will become a different person.

This is really true. The leanings and promptings of the Spirit, aren’t necessarily the ‘things’ the old you would do, in our flesh. I really think that we open ourselves more to the Holy Spirit, as we seek his Kingdom in service, others, and His Word.

I cannot think of a scenario when I would give another person, group or whatever, a car (or van). But the Holy Spirit prompted Pete, a friend of Brandon’s and mine, to do just that for ANC. The crazy thing about it is…..Pete was so in tuned with the Holy Spirit, that he bought the van without a good reason, sensing God was telling him to do it.
Brandon and I have been talking for months about a van, and how cool it would be to pick up homeless guys and bring them to church. Brandon one day emailed Pete to get his phone number, and Pete told me later that he wondered as he read the email….”I wonder if Brandon needs a 15 passenger van”.

I think the Holy Spirit also opens our eyes, both physically and spiritually. I have been aware of the homeless populations existence, but not aware of the crisis. Now, it seems, God places these folks in my way….and I am constantly stretched to help, aid and love these people.

Benjamin, walked up to me at Starbucks in Corpus last week…..and made his crisis known. The Holy Spirit led me to meet a couple of practical needs and I spent a couple of hours (I had not scheduled) hanging out with, buying prescriptions for, and making phone calls and getting him to the best shelter.

I pray the Holy Spirit continues to make into a new person. I want to be the guy who hears the Spirit and responds. The person I am today, is different from the person who came to Austin a year ago….and I know it’s all about the journey…and what a journey it is!