The feather or the whole bird, sir?

Why settle for a feather - a remnant - when the whole bird is offered? Why be happy hearing the occasional coo when the dove wants to come and roost?


It beats me. Why my heart so often misses the impulses of the Spirit. Why I do things that make an agency fly away, which is also the only agency that can stop me doing those things. 


Has a western world surrogate emerged in creating centres where we can go and find a whole load of cowbell...sorry, I mean dove, dove feathers and much cooing? Is it that why we now need the power gifts and the prophetic conferences - being hogged by saints at the expense of sinners on the streets - just to remind us that He exists and to experience some down-time-dove-time, before the humdrum and hooting set in again? 


Surely the idea of the Dove abiding, the presence remaining, is pretty strong in God's mind for us?


Or is it that we too often only associate the Dove with our experiences and the feather with our thoughts? So many of us have experienced the power of God in healing and deliverance and tinglings. I have (I am sorry, but I can never not be 'charismatic' in that sense) - we serve the living God who is lively! But what happens when the dunamis power is not manifest in the time-space world? Does that mean that the dove has flown, and we must keep a feather for good luck? Is not the first seal of the dove found in an ease, a peace and an inner fellowship through a conscience with wide-open windows? Is it not a knowing, a conviction even, that I am a child of God and - just as our own children experience this imperfectly - an unworried walk in this world under God's umbrella of love?


Surely there are "more evidences of the Dove" than healed or falling bodies, shakedowns and take-downs? What about...

• in conversations with God: “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)
• in truthful speech with others: “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—” (Romans 9:1)
• in stepping out in faith: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
  (Romans 15:13)
• in keeping an even keel in dangerous times: “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside meand said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’” (Acts 27:22–24)
• in holding strong views that are not carnal: "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim 1:5)
• in believing the invisible with visible joy: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9)
• in fruitful characters that can only spring from a roosting Dove: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23)

Methinks this list is as endless. I hope this boosts your roost quotient somehow.


Nick