Good morning. Today is Monday, August 10th!

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— John 3:8

You can’t see the wind itself. You can hear it. You can feel it. You can watch trees bend because of it. But if someone asked you to point at the wind itself, you couldn’t.

Jesus used that everyday picture to explain something much bigger about the Holy Spirit.

In John 3, a Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Nicodemus knows Jesus must have come from God because of the miracles He has performed. But Jesus quickly takes the conversation somewhere Nicodemus apparently wasn’t expecting.

Jesus tells him, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3, NIV)

Nicodemus is confused. How can someone be born when they are old?

Jesus isn’t talking about being physically born a second time. He explains that a person must be “born of the Spirit.” Then He gives Nicodemus an illustration:

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8, NIV)

Jesus’ point becomes easier to understand when you think about wind.

Nicodemus couldn’t control the wind. He couldn’t see where it began or command where it went. Yet he couldn’t deny that it was real. He could hear it and see its effects.

Jesus says the Spirit’s work is like that.

There’s even something interesting happening in the language. The Greek word pneuma can mean spirit, wind, or breath depending on the context. So Jesus is using a word picture that works especially well in Greek.

The same imagery appears again in Acts 2. At Pentecost, the disciples heard “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind” before they were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:2–4, NIV)

So how do we recognize the Holy Spirit at work if we cannot physically see Him?

Look for the effects.

Galatians 5:22–23 describes the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

You don’t have to see the wind to know a strong wind is blowing. You can look at what it moves.

In the same way, Jesus teaches that the Spirit’s work is mysterious and beyond human control, but that doesn’t make it unreal.

The wind is known by what it does.

And a life being transformed can point to the work of the Holy Spirit.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: Holy Spirit, You are powerful, present, and at work.

Confession: Forgive me for resisting Your work in my life.

Thanksgiving: Thank You for guiding me and changing me.

Supplication: Help me follow Your leading and bear good fruit.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

“Maker’s Mark” by Drew Baldridge & Anne Wilson

Go like, comment, and share!

Thanks for letting us be a part of how you start your day with God.

See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God