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It is "that time of year" once again -- the time of year where everything is going to be new and different. Students and teachers and administrators are going back to school for another academic year. Churches are preparing for Rally Sunday or some similar type of return to worship and Christian education for everyone.
In the midst of the Delta variant of COVID-19, everyone is trying to start new and fresh this fall. We don't know what's going to happen in the coming weeks and months, but we do know that God continues to be in control of our lives.
When Ezekiel talks about putting a new spirit within them, I am (of course) reminded of a song that was written nearly sixty years ago. That hardly makes it "new" but I think some of the thoughts and sentiments expressed in this hymn could have been written fairly recently.
The first stanza of "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" goes like this:
There's a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it's the Spirit of the Lord;
There are sweet expressions on each face, and I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
The refrain follows each stanza:
Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet heavenly Dove, stay right here with us, filling us with your love;
And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise;
Without a doubt we'll know that we have been revived when we shall leave this place.
Here is stanza two:
There are blessings you cannot receive 'til you know Him in His fullness and believe;
You're the one to profit when you say, "I am going to walk with Jesus all the way."
And this is stanza three:
If you say He saved you from your sin; now you're weak, you're bound and cannot enter in;
You can make it right if you will yield -- you'll enjoy the Holy Spirit that we feel.
I must admit that I had forgotten all the words of the last line of the refrain of this hymn:
WITHOUT A DOUBT we'll know that we have been REVIVED when we shall leave this place.
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