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Summer 2026: ‘Wildfires’ – The Holy Spirit, from Genesis to Revelation
This summer, we’ll immerse ourselves in the person and work of the Holy Spirit: from the first verses of Genesis, to the last verses of Revelation. Often the ‘forgotten’ part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is there at Creation, and also at the climax of the New Creation, throughout history revealing the reality of God’s presence and power to the world. So, let’s celebrate the Wildfire of the Holy Spirit, and continue to welcome His presence in our lives today!
- Monday 27th July – 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 ‘Ever increasing glory’
When I was a student, I used to earn my money in the long summers working for a builder. Sometimes the work would be nice and easy – glossing outdoor window frames in the sunshine, with factor 15 and the radio on. Other times the work would be much harder. My least favourite job of all was fitting plasterboard ceilings. As the labourer, my job was to hold the board in position above my head while the fitter screwed in the fixings. Even now, I can still remember that feeling of a great weight above my head push, push, pushing down on me, while the muscles in my arms burned. I earned my minimum wage that day!
This idea of a weight pushing down on us is unexpectedly relevant for today’s passage. You’ll have noticed that the key word is ‘glory’, or its variant ‘glorious’ – in Greek, it’s doxa and it appears 11 times. But what is glory?
The original Old Testament word which doxa copies is ‘kabod’ and it literally means ‘weight’. So when we talk about glory, what we mean is literally the ‘weight’ of God falling on us. Obviously, a spiritual being doesn’t weigh anything, but the sense is that when God’s glory appears it feels like a presence pushing down on us, you could say pushing us to our knees in worship and adoration. On many occasions, when the glory of God ‘fell’ (significant word that), people often went further and fell on their faces in awe (e.g. Leviticus 9:23-24, 2 Chronicles 7:1-3). The weight of God has that effect.
In fact, the reference from Leviticus is helpful, as this was the occasion when Moses dedicated the original tabernacle, and Paul here in this passage describes how Moses had to wear a veil in the presence of God. But now – and what amazing news this is! – because of Christ and His indwelling Spirit, our access to God is no longer veiled. We can experience His manifest presence directly (v16) and not just occasionally, but on an ongoing basis (v11).
The tangible sense of God’s presence, or by extension anything that points to God’s presence, is how we use the word ‘glory’ now. And this is available to us! No wonder Paul gets excited and indicates the sort of effect this kind of realisation can have on us. It makes us bold (v12), we can approach God with confidence, knowing the Spirit of His Son is with us. It brings us freedom (v17), as we live with the truth in our hearts and with eternity as our future. And ultimately it transforms us (v18) – this ‘weight’ of God does not crush us, but shapes us.
Our task? Contemplation. To give our attention to what the Spirit reveals to us, to seek God’s presence – His glory – day by day. As we do that, we slowly become more and more the people we were made to be (v18) – with ‘ever-increasing glory’!
May God grant us grace to contemplate the Lord’s glory today.
- Tuesday 16th June – 1 Samuel 16:1-13 ‘The heart of the matter’Read more...
For much of our driving lives, we’ve driven old cars. For ten years, that was a pair of first-generation Nissan Micras. Fantastically well-made, almost indestructible cars. In fact, we only moved on to something marginally less old because it was getting hard to find replacement parts. Woody (as we knew our previous car) was just too ancient to fit the ...
- Monday 15th June – 1 Samuel 10:1,6-16 ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’Read more...
Poor old Saul. One of the notorious tragic-comic figures of the bible. A man who never really knew who he was. Chosen to be king for his physical attributes – as if being tall and handsome was the best qualification for leadership! – we first encounter him wandering around the desert searching for his father’s lost donkeys. One senses that ...
- Saturday 13th June – Judges 11:1-6,29-35 ‘Blessing versus bargaining’Read more...
In the lists of people’s ‘favourite stories of the bible’, the story of Jephthah is not likely to be one of them. And with good reason – it is a story of human brokenness from start to finish. Broken families, broken promises; and with tragic irony the one thing that apparently can’t be broken is Jephthah’s hubristic promise to sacrifice the ...
- Friday 12th June – Judges 6:11-14,34-35 ‘Mighty warrior? Who, me?’Read more...
History is full of unlikely heroes. Read the following paragraph: who is this?
At the age of 7 he was the worst in his class. His school report declared that he ‘seems unable to learn anything.’ He was denied the secondary school of his choice by his father who considered him ‘such a stupid boy’. His father later ...
- Thursday 11th June – Numbers 11:16-17,24-29 ‘Spread it around’Read more...
Leadership is a spiritual task. For all that there is a whole secular industry nowadays teaching leadership and management principles, the essence of good leadership – wisdom, humility, service, vision, empowerment – are things which reside in the nature and heart of God. It stands to reason, then, that the calling of true leadership is amplified and empowered by the Spirit ...