branded

"Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit"

- Ephesians 1:13

The Holy Spirit is God in us; what a beautiful brand. 

A tattoo on our souls. 

A mark of eternal belongingness.

An internal comfort, like sipping hot chocolate.

A loud nudge, like a racing heartbeat.

A quiet calm that gives us chills.

A guiding light that allows us to see.

A gentle wind that makes us still.

"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

The greek word for wind is the same for spirit and is also used for breath. Since these are synonymous, we should use them as interchangeable reminders. My immediate reaction to wind is usually to feel cold or wish it would stop messing up my hair.. kind of makes me sound like a diva. Or sometimes my reaction is different, like if i have all the windows down and a good song on in the car. Then the wind adds to my happy mood and makes me feel alive.

So then that's also the Spirit making me feel alive. Why can't i always see it this way? It's easy to mistake the Spirit in us as just our own thoughts or a guilty conscious. i wish i was better at obeying the Spirit, because that would mean more windows-down-and-fresh-air joy. The Holy Spirit is promised to us, it's a gift. It's a part of the Trinity, aka 

GOD our Father who became flesh and now lives in us. 

"For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." 

- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Earlier i said the Holy Spirit is a guiding light that allows us to see. This verse puts it perfectly! We have a veil over our heads (or i see it as a lens covering our eyes) and the Spirit is what has the power to remove that and allow us to see God's glory. It shines so bright that when we finally see it, it reflects off of us and that's how we are changed into his glorious image. 

Another cool reference that comes to mind when i think about the Holy Spirit is Sarayu's portrayal in William P. Young's, The Shack.

"'Speaking of Sarayu, is she the Holy Spirit?'

'Yes. She is Creativity; she is Action; she is the Breathing of Life; she is much more. She is my [Jesus'] Spirit.'

'And her name, Sarayu?'

'That is a simple name from one of our human languages. It means, 'Wind,' a common wind actually. She loves that name.'" (pg. 110)

Creativity, Action, Breathing of Life. All God-like, yet within our capabilities. This is what we are promised when we choose Jesus and his Freedom. We get branded– like my Bible which wears the brand of Wilderness Ranch, a Young Life camp, so i will never forget my amazing week spent there with Jesus in the mountains. We get branded with the breathing of abundant life, and we should never forget it.