Week five flew by in the If:Equip Nicene Creed study.  This week we were studying the Holy Spirit (and this extended some to my Titus Precepts study I do on Mondays!  I love how God  helps us learn!)   I feel like in the the Western church, as a whole, we’ve made the Holy Spirit something we either fear, or, at the other end, embrace for a display of power.  I’ve seen the absence of the Holy Spirit evident in both of these extremes: either completely abandoned and squelched, or absent but man mustering up some type of display and calling it God and the Holy Spirit, yet it is just hoopla.  All in all, we see very little welcoming of the Holy Spirit, yet He is the third person in the Triune God.  And I’m pretty sure, that  welcoming Him, and worshiping Him, would make a remarkable difference in the message of both salvation and transformation today.  But rather than thinking about the entirety of the Church, I’m going to bring it way in, and simply make it personal.

So I’ve been praying and thinking throughout the week on a piece of Worship Art.  And this was the line I kept hearing.  “Holy Spirit You are welcome here…”  I love worshipping with this song.  And whenever it is sung in a group setting I’m often worshipping and interceding in prayer that the Holy Spirit really would come and fill the room or building or gathering I’m in and subsequently the people.  Then I had this little revelation this week, although it is probably not new to everyone, but was to me.  I realized that the lyric: “Holy Spirit You are welcome here, come flood this place fill the atmosphere,” isn’t just a physical place (like the church or gathering) BUT the place is meant also to be my heart.  My heart!  What if I prayed that my heart, in emptying of my selfishness and sin, would be filled with the Holy Spirit?  That my soul would be flooded with the Holy Spirit.  What would happen?  I will keep interceding for those around me, but I think it is time to personalize this song a little bit more.

So as a reminder to embrace the Holy Spirit as my Advocate, Helper and Comforter and the One who gives me power, I created this worship art piece.

Captured in creation: photographed on Maui, A.K.A. “the best island in the world.”

Song in the heart: “Holy Spirit” written by Katie and Bryan Torwalt.  Also performed by Francesca Battistelli and Kim Walker-Smith

Anchored in Scripture: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

And a few notes…

The waves are both reflective of the sun and also misty and soft as if the Holy Spirit was once again hovering over the water. 

Sitting on the H is the reminder of the tongues of fire that came down.  

The invitation to come is to the hard and even dark places, to the very places that need a washing and regeneration (Titus 3:5) of that renewing; and Jesus has poured out His Spirit on us. (Titus 3:6)

There is almost the shape of a cross in the green moss/algae on the lower right, reminding me that we grow in freedom when we lay down our burdens and bondage at the cross.

And there, in the middle of the darker rocks, is a small pool of water, reflecting the sun.  Some of the transformation has taken place, and the moment has reflection of the light.  Just as we transform more and more into the likeness of the Light of the World.

Finally, there is rock jettied out that looks almost like a sculpture of a man climbing out of the water, to the shore.  Whether struggle or triumph— a perfect moment for the Holy Spirit to be the Comforter or the Advocate.  

Available at the www.worshipart.gallery store or go directly here.