Invisible yet seen.

Mighty yet personal.

Mysterious yet known.

The Holy Spirit embodies these paradoxes. According to the Book of Ephesians, all believers are sealed for eternity with the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In the same book, Christians are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). But how?

When Jesus wanted to help His disciples understand spiritual truths, He pointed to the physical world around them. Artist and Campus Crusade for Christ staff member Phyllis Thomas recently set about with a similar goal: to use her art to explain how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

While reading the story of Pentecost in the Book of Acts, Phyllis reflected upon the scriptural imagery—what the apostle Luke described as rushing wind and tongues of fire.

Inspiration struck. So the 58-year-old sat down to paint.

"I drew just a few light lines on my paper indicating flames," she says, her hand slightly recalling the motion. "Then I wet the paper and started applying the brilliant colors." Bold, transparent strokes of crimson and gold flowed from artist's brush to paper, freely blending into shades of orange on the surface before her.

"To me," she says, "it looked like the flames were moving and alive."

These words recall the dramatic transformation among the disciples in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit turned fearful men into radical witnesses for Christ.

Phyllis also points out how the flames in her artwork extend to the edge of the paper. She sought to illustrate a life ablaze with God's presence, a life controlled by the Spirit.

In his book The Holy Spirit, Billy Graham acknowledges this constant state of leaving our lives in the Holy Spirit's control. "We must surrender ourselves to Him daily," he writes, "and everyday we must choose to remain surrendered."

Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, describes this regular act of surrender as "spiritual breathing." By faith, we confess our sins to God, agreeing that we have missed the mark of His perfection. This, Bill explains, is like exhaling. The next step is to accept God's forgiveness and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His power; Bill compares that to inhaling.

The weaving of golden thread into Phyllis' painting represents this process of spiritual breathing. In and out she added stitching to her creation, allowing the thread to weave through the painted flames.

"The stitching expresses walking moment by moment in the Spirit," she explains. "When my natural self tries to take up space in my life—with bad attitudes, selfishness, worry, rudeness or anger—I have to stop. I confess, or, breathe out; next I accept God's love and forgiveness, or breathe in. Then I can walk in fullness of the Spirit's power again."

Bill Bright reminds us that "the average person, not understanding how to live by faith, lives on a spiritual roller coaster, rising and falling from one emotional experience to another." But we can have stability in our relationship with Christ when we offer ourselves completely to Him, day after day.

"I've been known to get angry when my goals are blocked and things don't happen the way I'd like them to," admits Phyllis, the mother of two grown children. "Sometimes I sulk and worry. If I had my way, I'd stay in my studio and paint or read all day, and not even be concerned about others. But then I would stagnate and become foul."

Though God abhors our sin, He is not surprised by it. And so He gave us the Holy Spirit to battle what comes naturally. Apart from His power, we cannot live a successful Christian life. However, when we plug into God's power instead of our own, His love overflows in us. As we choose to surrender our emotions, our will, our whole life to Him, God begins to work through us, even in spite of us.

In her mixed-media piece, Phyllis used ribbons to show the overflow of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. The strips tumble to the floor in bright curls and pile up on the floor beneath the painting.

"When I'm filled with the Spirit," Phyllis explains, "I'm overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. There's no room for my natural self to get in the way. I can live supernaturally."

Phyllis discovered that when we give the Holy Spirit control of our lives, we are filled up to overflowing with the living, holy presence of Christ. It requires repentance and submission, but we can be sure that God is pleased.

"When I'm filled up with the Holy Spirit," says Phyllis, "I'm content, not looking for more. My words are affirming, my attitude is helpful and kind. I do things I wouldn't 'normally' do, like going the extra mile when it seems no one cares about what I do, or praying for and encouraging people, or finding the time to be quiet and listen to God's Word and be obedient."

Phyllis sums it up in three simple words. "I live supernaturally," she says. "My life is not perfect and I have struggles, but when I acknowledge His power and His presence, He just takes control. The only way that happens is by faith."

Faith? That's subject matter for another painting altogether.