 Genesis 1:2 says, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
The word ‘hovering’ is used in the New King James Version, but the Hebrew word used here means ‘brooding’. When a bird is brooding it is sitting on its eggs waiting for them to hatch. The purpose behind the Holy Spirit’s ‘brooding’ is the creation. Furthermore, when you look at the particular Hebrew word used here, we see something very interesting. The way a word is used tells us whether it is descriptive, a name, an action, a future tense, past tense and so on. The word here when describing brooding implies not only action, but intention. The Holy Spirit was working; He was brooding with intention; He had a plan. The Holy Spirit was present at the day of creation and there was purpose and intention in what he was doing. He wasn’t just ‘hanging around’ there with nothing to do, and He does not ‘hang around’ today. He wants to partner with us for something bigger. In Matt 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church”. That is a phrase of intention, and the Holy Spirit is partnering with Jesus and the Father to bring that to pass. He is still intentionally brooding with the purpose of bringing life and building the church that Jesus said He would build. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit empowers us so that we can be the hands, feet and mouthpiece of Jesus. We have that power on us even today. Our commission is to go into all the world and make disciples. We are part of Jesus vision and strategy to build His church, and the Holy Spirit is there intentionally helping us to our part in the great commission. Let’s partner with Jesus, and join the Holy Spirit to work with intention, and grow the church Jesus wants to grow. Have an amazing week, Adrian Nyhuis
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 In Luke 2:21-40, we read about Jesus dedication. I love the words used in the New Living Translation in that it says, “His parents took him to Jerusalem to PRESENT Him to the Lord, but consider what that involved. They weren’t able to just get in the car and drive for a few minutes across town to the nearest temple - they had to walk, and Bethlehem was almost 9km away from Jerusalem.
I wonder how serious we would be about the things of God today, if we had to walk everywhere. Today we take so many things for granted. We live in a fast-paced, instant-gratification world, where if I can’t get it now, then I don’t want to wait for it. Is there a possibility that our relationship with God is lived in the same way? What would be different if our response was, “God, not matter what, I will serve you; no matter how long it takes to see break though, I will stand believing; no matter what the cost, I will do what you want me to do.” Not only would that be a powerful response, we would be powerful individuals. Consider Joseph and Mary. The committed to bring their Child up in the ways of God, but there also came a time when Jesus had to choose for Himself that He would see this through. People may say, “Yeah, well He was God. It was easy for Him”. Well, Jesus was still human. He still had to make choices to obey His Father. He had to stir Himself; and He had to get up and pray when he was tired; He had to deal with people (some had tempers, some were thieves, and yes, some were just like you and I). We have that same responsibility. As parents we are required to bring our children up in the ways of God and as adults, we are required to live this out in our own lives. We see baby dedications (or presentations) in church, Why not present yourselves again to the Lord? Go again. Pray this: “God, today I surrender to You again. No matter where I've come from, as of today, I choose to give you my best.” Then determine to live it out and see what He will do. Have an amazing week, Adrian Nyhuis |
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