Then Saul---also known as Paul---was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician
-Acts 13:9

Have you ever been stared at by the Holy Spirit? It is an experience not soon forgotten. The dividing edge of the Holy Spirit's gaze comes from grandmothers, spouses, preachers, children, the rich, the poor and whomever God chooses. In such a swath of holiness will be found no guile and no element of falsehood whatsoever.

In the above scripture, Paul turned those holy flashlights on a magician named Bar-Jesus who had been a friend of the governor of the island of Cyprus.

Bar-Jesus had told everyone that he was a prophet.

Here's the thing: the governor wanted to hear Paul and Barnabas preach the word of God. Bar-Jesus would hear nothing of it. He opposed them. So, Paul and the Holy Spirit let him have it. Paul's words went like this:

"You son of the Devil! You are the enemy of everything that is good. You are full of all kinds of evil tricks, and you always keep trying to turn the Lord's truths into lies! The Lord's hand will come down on you now; you will be blind and will not see the light of day for a time."

Now, that's what I call a burn.

What I would draw attention to in this story, however, is not so much the events themselves, but rather how they started. Take a look back a bit in Acts 13:4 and we see that it was the Holy Spirit who sent them to Cyprus in the first place. It is almost as if they were just going about their business when the Holy Spirit paged their holy beepers like a couple of Navy SEALS.

They were, literally, sent to Cyprus to deal with Bar-Jesus and to perhaps curtail the potential damage that his spiritual poison was about to do. Remember, Bar-jesus had the ear of the governor. Do you know any other "prophets" who have influence on our world leaders today?

I'm not saying its a good idea to go call everyone the devil. But I am saying that letting the Holy Spirit speak through you is good.

The Holy Spirit, full in the personage and the totality of God, not only convicts and discerns, but also directs and delivers. He calls us out to send his regards; to confront Bar-Jesus and those like him; to make God's truth known without possibility of question. It is the stare that changes minds and melts hearts. It refines and rebuilds. It destroys and creates in a single moment.

We were built for this.