Drawn by the Spirit

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” John 16:7

Although He knew that it was not the news they wanted to hear, Jesus was assuring His disciples that it was necessary for Him to leave them for the great plan of salvation to be fulfilled. Jesus must fulfill His mission, shedding His blood to provide salvation. Only then, could the Holy Spirit apply this message to the world. Earlier in His teaching, He had told them: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” John 6:44

As we look at the various aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit in our world today, we see that drawing people to the Lord is one of the most important. Let’s look at a couple of examples in the Scriptures of how this happened.

• Cornelius – In Acts 10 we read the story of this Gentile man who had a hunger and a desire for God. As he prayed, God sent an angel to him, advising him to send for Peter who would tell him what he needed to do. In the meantime, God gave Peter a vision and told him to go with the men to Cornelius’ house. We see how the Holy Spirit worked on both Peter and Cornelius to fulfill His plan.
• Ethiopian Eunuch – This man was reading the scriptures as he went on his journey, not understanding them, but with a hunger in his heart to know what they meant. In the meantime, Philip was having a great revival in Samaria, when the Holy Spirit spoke to him to leave and go into the desert.

In both these incidents, we see how the Holy Spirit put a hunger in one person’s heart for the Lord, and then spoke to someone to go to them with the message. We might say that the Lord “worked on both ends.”

In the same way, the Lord wants to use those of us today who are filled with the Holy Spirit. He may put someone on our hearts to pray for, and as we pray, He will in some way reveal Himself to that person. He may impress upon us to reach out to them, or He may send them a message in some other way.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit that is at work in our world today. Lord, we bring our friends and family that are unsaved to you today, asking that you will hear our prayers and that your Spirit will draw them to yourself.

Devotion by Anne Johnston