THE ACTIVITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A GREAT PART OF THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF THE BELIEVER. HE IS VERY ACTIVE IN ALL WE DO OR SAY IF WE WELCOME HIM. HE WANTS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED, FOR HE IS THE THIRD PERSON OF THE GODHEAD: GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE TRINITY. HE WAS ALWAYS GOD.

WHEN HE WAS ACTIVE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT WAS FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION.

THIS IS ALSO TRUE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, BUT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM THE OLD, IS THAT WHEN JESUS CAME TO EARTH AND COMPLETED HIS WORK HERE, HE THEN WENT BACK TO THE FATHER AND SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT TO ABIDE (LIVE) WITH US FOREVER, AS HE PROMISED IN JOHN 14.

CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE REALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT PERVADES (SATURATES) THE ENTIRE BIBLE FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION.

MANY OLD TESTAMENT WRITERS REFER TO THE SPIRIT, AND ONLY THREE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS DO NOT ALUDE TO HIM (AND THESE ARE VERY SHORT – PHILEMON AND 2ND AND 3RD JOHN).

IT IS TRUE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE KEY FIGURE OF ALL GOD’S PLAN. THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF FOCUSES ATTENTION ON CHRIST AND SEEKS TO GLORIFY HIM (JN. 15:26; 16:14). BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS EVER IGNORED IN THE BIBLE OR THAT HE IS EVER TREATED AS SOME VAGUE INFLUENCE OR IN PERCEPTABLE ENERGY. HE IS RECOGNIZED AS A REAL PERSON WITH INTELLIGENCE, FEELING, AND WILL.   1

1. What The Bible Says About The Holy Spirit, p.10.

Share

REVELATION

I CORINTHIANS 2:9-10

BUT AS IT IS WRITTEN, EYE HATH NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO: THE HEART OF MAN, THE THINGS WHICH GOD HATH PRPARED FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM.

BUT GOD HATH REVEALED THEM UNTO US BY HIS SPIRIT; FOR THE SPIRIT SEARCHETH ALL THINGS, YEA, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD.

THE BIBLE SAYS THE NATURAL MAN CANNOT RECEIVE  THE THINGS OF GOD . IF A PERSON RECEIVES JESUS INTO THEIR HEART BY FAITH, THEY  CAN BE LED BY GOD THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, AND THE INNER VOICE OF GOD.  AS A CHRISTIAIN  GOD PUTS WITHIN MY SPIRIT A HUNGER AND THIRST FOR HIM. AS I AM FILLED WITH HIS SPIRIT EVERDAY HE REVEALS THE PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE. I HAVE A PURPOSE; A DETERMINED END.  OUR GREATEST DESIRE AS A CHRISTIAN  IS TO KNOW GOD AND LOVE HIM. HE DIED FOR US ON THE CROSS. WE MUST DIE DAILY FOR HIM, TO OUR OWN DESIRES,  AND JESUS WILL GIVE US HIS DESIRES. WE CAN DO ANY THING OR HAVE ANYTHING THAT IS HIS WILL.

PERSONALLY I DESIRE A HARVEST LIKE JONAH.

PERSONALLY I WANT MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

PERSONALLY I WANT TO SEE THE SICK HEALED.

PERSONALLY I  WANT MY NEEDS MET.

HERE WE HAVE SOME DESIRES THAT ARE GOD’S WILL FOR US. THE HOLY SPIRIT  HAS SAID, YES AND AMEN. GOD WANTS TO BLESS US  WITH REVELATION AND POWER . WE CHRISTIANS HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.

EPHESIANS  3:20

NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE CAN ASK  OR THINK,  ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US.

THAT POWER OF GOD IS WORKING IN US,  TO DO MIGHTY THINGS IN US ,THROUGH US, AND FOR US. GOD HAS PREPARED THINGS FOR US THAT IS BIGGER THAN US. ONLY THROUGH OUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM CAN WE EVEN HAVE THE FAITH TO ASK HIM FOR THESE THINGS.

MY FAITH HAS GROWN SO MUCH AND HAS BEEN STRETCHED. SOMETIMES I GO THROUGH DRY SPELLS WHERE  I DON,T FEEL GODS PRESENCE, MY PRAYERS SEEM TO NOT GO ABOVE TTHE CEILING, BUT I HAVE LEARNED THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. FEELING IS WONDERFUL  BUT  WE DON’T LIVE BY FEELING, BUT BY FAITH. GOD IS STILL THE SAME IF WE FEEL HIM OR NOT, HIS PROMISES ARE STILL YES AND AMEN. THE FEELING WILL R ETURN, BUT FAITH WILL ALWAYS BE THERE.           

BUT GOD HATH REVEALED THEM UNTO US BY HIS SPIRIT.

Share

WE SEE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

MANY TIMES WE HAVE A MIND-SET ABOUT WHAT WE WANT TO SEE WHEN WE LOOK. IF WE ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO SEES EVIL IN EVERYTHING, WE WILL FIND IT; ON THE OTHER HAND, IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR GOOD, WE WILL FIND IT. OUR GAS TANK CAN BE HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY.

IF WE FEEL INSECURE AROUND PEOPLE, WHEN WE ARE WITH MORE THAN ONE, WE FEEL INTIMIDATED, THAT THEY ARE TOGETHER AGAINST US EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT. WE CAN SAY TO OURSELVES, “THEY ARE FRIENDS, BUT THEY DON’T LIKE ME,” OR WE COULD TELL OURSELVES, “I DON’T LIKE THEM, THEY ARE ALWAYS TOGETHER.

THESE FEELINGS USUSALLY COME FROM A BAD PAST EXPERIENCE, OR THEY COME FROM A COMPETITIVE NATURE YOU HAVE DEVELOPED BY WANTING TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION.

THIS TYPE OF PERSON IS MISERABLE AND DOESN’T EVEN LIKE BEING AROUND THEMSELVES. THIS KIND OF THINKING USUALLY COMES FROM CHILDHOOD, WHERE WE WERE AT ONE POINT, THE CENTER OF ATTENTION; AND WHEN SOMEONE ELSE STEPPED INTO THE SPOTLIGHT, WE FELT LEFT OUT. I CALL THESE PEOPLE “CENTER-STAGE” PEOPLE. THEY ARE MISERABLE WITHIN AND WE DON’T LIKE BEING IN THEIR COMPANY, BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO “POUT”; OR IF THEY ARE GOING TO TRY TO TARE DOWN THAT PERSON THEY FEEL COMPETITIVE WITH. OR MAYBE THEY WILL EVEN CAUSE A SCENE JUST TO GET YOUR ATTENTION.

SOMETIMES THAY WILL JUST AVOID YOU SO YOU WILL SEEK THEM OUT TO FIND OUT WHAT’S WRONG. THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU OR THEM.

I HEARD A PASTOR SAY ON TV TODAY, THAT AFTER HE WAS BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, HE LOST THAT FEELING OF HAVING TO BE RECOGNIZED.

WHEN THIS TYPE OF ATTITUDE IS DEVELOPED IN US, IT IS HARD TO BREAK. MOST OF THE TIME, THE WAY YOU SEE IT, IS THE PROBLEM. THIS MUST HAVE BEEN OF CONCERN ALSO IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES.

PHILIPPIANS 2:4 – LOOK NOT EVERY MAN ON HIS OWN THINGS, BUT EVERY MAN ALSO ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS. THE WAY THE WORLD IS——“PUSH YOURSELF FORWARD. BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION.” BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT JESUS TAUGHT, NOR LIVED. VERSES 5-8 – LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS: WHO BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, THOUGHT IT NOT ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD: BUT MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION AND TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT, AND WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN: AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF…

PAUL POINTS OUT HERE THE CAUSES OF DIVISIONS WHICH EXISTS AMONG CHRISTIANS, ONE OF WHICH IS VAIN GLORY: PERSONAL VANITY; THE DESIRE TO BE NOTICED, AND THE HATRED OF OWNING-UP TO BEING WRONG. WE CALL THIS SELFISHNESS OR SELF-CENTEREDNESS. A SELF-CENTERED PERSON IS THE WORSE OF THE TWO. A SELFISH PERSON IS ONE WHO WANT EVERYTHING FOR HIMSELF: BUT A SELF-CENTERED PERSON THINKS OF NO ONE BUT HIMSELF; AND THINKS THE WORLD SHOULD REVOLVE AROUND HIM. 

SELF-CENTEREDNESS MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THOUGHT, FEELINGS, AND ACTIONS.

ALL OF US ARE A LITTLE SELFISH BY NATURE. WE ARE THE ONE THAT LIVES IN OUR BODY. IT’S INTERESTING TO ME, THOUGH, THAT WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES IN, HE BEGINS TO REVEAL TO US ALL TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES AND OUR MOTIVES: IN ALL WE SAY AND DO.

WHY NOT ALLOW SOMEONE ELSE TO BE RIGHT FOR A CHANGE?

WHY DO WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING?

IT’S BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO BE COUNTED WRONG. THERE IS A SAYING THAT BARES REPEATING: “I COULD BE WRONG, BUT I THINK I’M RIGHT.”

THIS WOULD STOP A LOT OF BICKERING BACK AND FORTH IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. WHO KNOWS? IN SOME THINGS THEY COULD BE RIGHT!

THE REASON WE HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM OF LOOKING ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS MORE THAN OUR OWN, IS BECAUSE WE WERE BORN WITH A SIN-NATURE. WE HAVE TO ALLOW GOD TO CHANGE US. WE NEED THE MIND OF CHRIST TO PUT-ON TRUE CHRISTIANITY. THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

IT’S EASY FOR US AS MORE MATURE CHRISTIANS TO DEVELOPE A DISLIKE AND DISTRUST FOR A CERTAIN PERSON; AND WHEN THEY COME INTO THE ROOM WHERE WE ARE, WE FREEZE-UP ON THEM, SOMETIMES WE JUST MOVE TO ANOTHER AREA BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T STAND BEING AROUND THEM. 

I FIND THIS MORE IN SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE, WHO DISCERN DEMONIC OPERATION IN THAT PERSON.

THEY JUDGE THE PERSON, AND NEVER PRAY FOR THEM OR TRY TO FIND SOME GOOD IN THEM.

IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US TO ASK GOD FOR WHAT IS IN OPERATION THERE AND GO OUR KNEES IN PRAYER AND BIND UP THAT SPIRIT INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO WILL LISTEN TO WHAT WE HAVE FOUND OUT, —– OR THINK WE SUSPICIOUSLY KNOW ABOUT THEM.

WE SHOULD GO TO OUR KNEES AND BIND UP THAT SPIRIT SO THAT PERSON CAN BE FREE.

THEN, WE NEED TO CHECK OURSELVES WITH THE BOOK OF JAMES TO SEE IF THERE IS SOMETHING IN US WE NEED TO BE FREED FROM.

PAUL GAVE GREST ADVICE IN PHILLIPPIANS 2:2, WHERE HE SAYS, —-THEN MAKE ME TRUELY HAPPY BY LOVING EACH OTHER, WORKING TOGETHER, WITH ONE HEART, ONE MIND, ONE PURPOSE.

Share