In January I had to leave my family for five weeks in order to travel to Illinois for work. It was the hardest time I've had in a while, but not all in vain. God taught me a lot in my time in that dank, tiny hotel room.
The second big thing that I learned was how much the Holy Spirit is involved in the relationships between His people. I met several brothers and sisters throughout my trip, and it astounded me how easy it was to feel at home with them. I attended a few different churches while I was there, and even though, from a worldly perspective, I had little or nothing in common with the people there, I had an immediate bond with them. Before I was saved, I would have never hung out with people twice my age, or that grew up in the midwest, and liked different music than I did. I never would have gone to lunch with computer programmers or Air Force Commanders, or pastors, or insurance agents. The only thing that I had in common with the people I met was a common relationship with Jesus Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The commonality that I held with these brothers and sisters, caused me to love them immediately with a love that I had never even thought possible with my closest friend, before regeneration! A pastor that I met while in St. Louis, Jeremy Jessen, providentially preached a series on the Holy Spirit while I was visiting his church. He talked aout this very issue, and really drove it home for me. I realized that the love for one another that Jesus spoke about in John 13:34 is a work of the Spirit, and without that work, the love for one another cannot possibly manifest. So the Holy Spirit is evident in a believer when the supernatural love for people (with whom there is no reason for earthly love), is seen.
Just my two cents.
SDG
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