The Hills Church, Fort Worth, Texas

Prayer + Faith - Taylor Walling (1 September 2019) by The Hills Church

Justice. Mercy. Humility. Repeat! What God wants is not complicated, but it is not easy either. That's because we do not live in a world that focuses first on others.

It is easy to drift towards blurred vision, including in the arena of faith. The pursuit of clarity must be intentional to keep focusing on the values God has said we should focus on.

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8. Focusing on justice is what God does every day.

Clarity and alignment are absolutely critical for any church. No amount of effort can overcome a lack of clarity.

In the beginning, God was personally present with the people He created. The rest of the story of God and His people carries the theme of presence, from the tabernacle to the temple to Jesus and now to the church. The question is, where is God personally present now?

Fire is a consistent sign of God's presence in the Old Testament. The burning bush. The fire on Mt. Sinai. The fire of the Lord on Mt. Carmel. And then on the day of Pentecost, tongues of fire symbolizing the presence of God's Spirit.

At the Feast of Tabernacles, water was ceremonially poured out in remembrance of God's faithfulness and in expectation of His Spirit bringing renewal to Israel. That is the very moment Jesus chooses to make an open invitation and a bold claim.

The Hebrew word ruach can be translated "spirit, breath or wind". And throughout the Old Testament ruach is used for all three. God's Spirit inspired (which, by the way, means breathed life into) the Scriptures to make a connection between the Spirit of God and the very breath we need to live.

The Holy Spirit can be hard to understand. So when the Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible, He included self-portraits - visual portrayals of the invisible Spirit of God. Understanding these visuals - a dove, water, fire and others -can provide insight into how God's Spirits works in and transforms Christians today.