When God Is Already at Work
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.'” John 4:24
The teenage years can be difficult. It is a season where children begin to think of themselves as adults without the mental development to think like adults. It is a season when parental rules often seem restrictive and unnecessary to the teenager. It is a season when emotions run high and low, and may change from hour to hour. Being a teenager is not easy. But the Spirit of God can impact a teenager in profound ways.
In recent years there have been reports of amazing God moments among young people. One high school near where I live had up to 400 teens attending a weekly worship service on campus. In the USA some football teams have sponsored worship services and baptisms.
These incidents remind me there is much more going on in the spiritual realm than we realize.
"God is Spirit" - God working through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is unrestricted by time, space, structures or any other obstacles. His presence can bring peace even in the storms of life. It is so beautiful and encouraging that the message of Jesus is breaking through all the media that often does not point people to Jesus.
"Those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" - As we worship Jesus Christ we often experience His presence with us. As we worship, the presence of the Spirit of Christ is often manifest in our physical bodies by tears, raised hands, falling to our knees or other expressions. Times of worship in the Spirit can be powerful and life changing.
As disciple-makers it is important for us to remember the Spirit of Christ is always many steps ahead of us. He is always at work before we get there and join Him in His work. Sometimes we get to guide a person who has been impacted by the Spirit of God to become a disciple of Jesus. As we guide new disciples to be disciple makers it is critical that we lead them to understand that God is Spirit and, we meet Him, experience peace, and grow in our walk with Him as we learn how to worship Him in spirt and in truth.
