The Holy Spirit

The Spirit-filled life

The Holy Spirit is a person Jesus sent to indwell all believers after He rose from the dead.  Many people think the Holy Spirit is some abstract being that is something of a conscience but never cultivate that relationship and interact with that being to their full potential.

The life lived for Jesus is the most exciting, adventurous and thrilling experience known to mankind, however, many Christians display boring, rigid, sad, defeated lives that are not at all attractive to the unbeliever.  This is because they have not unlocked the power and love of a cultivated relationship with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said greater works than He did would we also do because he would go to the father.  He also sent his disciples forth commanding them in Matthew 10:7-8 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.  And again in Mark 16:17 17And these signs will accompany those who believe:In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 

So how can the believer walk in these signs and this authority that Christ walked in?  The key is the power of the Holy Spirit.  Before the disciples encountered the Holy Spirit, they were hiding in their homes afraid to go out, but afterwards they had a revival and 3,000 people got saved in one day!  We must have the power of the spirit to do the works of Christ to seek and save the lost and destroy the works of the enemy, so first we must receive.

How to Receive the Holy Spirit

Receiving the Holy Spirit comes from spending time in united prayer and seeking God.  Jesus said to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high.  

In Acts 2 it says 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues^a as the Spirit enabled them.

The initial physical sign of receiving the Holy Spirit is speaking in a new language.  These are spiritual words that you utter in a heavenly prayer that goes straight to God and confuses the enemy who cannot decode the words.  It is how we pray when we do not know how to pray because it is letting God pray through us.  This language bypasses the mind (logical reasoning) and is straight from the Spirit.  This is for divine empowerment to fulfill the Great Commission in Christ's authority and power so that it becomes a supernatural mission not a religious or human effort.  Other Holy Spirit signs of infilling can include manifestations of oil, fire, wind, a cloud, and shaking.

Yielding to the Holy Spirit means giving Him complete control, repenting of pride and religion and letting Him take over to use your faculties (mind, body, feet, hands,).  It is very humbling and requiring complete submission to His directives and letting go of personal agenda, personal reputation, and personal ambitions.  The rich young ruler came to a place where he wanted to follow Jesus but he only wanted to go half-way with him.  There is nothing more miserable than tasting of the things of God but not being willing to fully surrender.  Mark 10 says 21Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  

Christ today is bidding us leave all for Him--we cannot let anything stand between us and the call He has for us through the wooing of the Spirit.  As the Steven Curtis Chapman song asks "Who will abandon it all for the sake of the call?"

Purpose--Preach the Gospel

Once we receive the Holy Spirit and begin to yield to His voice, we not only begin to pray and intercede with His language, but we also are empowered to do the works of Christ.  The primary job of the disciples was to make disciples through preaching the gospel.  Matthew 28:19 says Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus ordained that the foolishness of preaching the message of Christ would be the means of bringing salvation to souls.  1 Corinthians 1:18 says The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

God wants to set us up to preach the gospel like Peter on the day of Pentecost so that we can bring truth to people about who Jesus is and what He did, so they too can receive salvation.  The Holy Spirit will direct us to people throughout our day who need to hear about Jesus.  He will give us life-giving words when we open our mouth to bring people to Christ.  This is our primary mission and an exciting one!  Luke 12 says the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say.  It says When youare brought before the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say. 12For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”…

In Acts 8 the Holy Spirit even transported Philip to the desert to reach one man for Jesus.  It says 34The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37]^c 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.  

God will also lead us to people in near and far places who are seeking truth.  The Holy Spirit will give us the words to unlock revelation to their hearts so they too can receive Christ as their Savior and become His disciple.

Purpose-Intercession

Another purpose of the Holy Spirit is intercession.  The Bible says we should pray always with all prayer and intercession for all saints.  And also, Romans 8 instructs: 6In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Sometimes in the middle of the day, God will bring some one to mind out of the blue.  Often a prayer burden will come to those sensitive to the Holy Spirit, where they will "pray through" until they feel a release for that person.  Praying in tongues as ones' prayer language is a way to lift up the needs of  a person when they are not fully known, but the Spirit knows.  

David Hogan, a popular evangelist, tells of how his mother's journal entry's of prayer for him directly correlated with times God was rescuing him from dangerous situations on the mission field.  We too can be a prayer shield and covering for our family, friends and loved ones by applying the shed blood of Jesus to their protection.  Billy Brimm has prayed this way for years for her loved ones and has seen all her children and grandchildren go on to be successful and serve the Lord.  Revelation 12 says the key ways we overcome the enemy is through the the blood of the Lamb, word of our testimony, and a life laid down (we love not our life to death).  God wants a warrior elite that knows how to skillfully take out the enemy and his works (sickness, disease, defeat) around them (1 John 3:8.)  

Purpose--Confirm the Gospel through Gifts

The Holy Spirit will also use us in a variety of spiritual gifts as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12 including the gift of healing and prophecy.  These are not gifts that have to be worked up or faked.  All one needs is simple faith and yielding to obey.   The purpose of these gifts is to confirm the validity of the gospel of Christ and to show the lost that Jesus is Who He said He is and He can do what He said he can do.  Mark 16:20 shows this pattern: And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

The Gift of Healing

In Acts 3:6 when Peter and John went into the temple to pray, they met a lame man who wanted alms but they had something better to give.  The Holy Spirit used them to bring healing as Peter said: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”7Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were strengthened.…Signs convince the unbeliever that Jesus is God and the true way, especially when their prayers to their false gods and false religions have yielded no results.  Many leaders of other religions have turned to Christ and become Christ followers by the convincing proof of healing miracles displaying the wonder and the glory of Jesus Christ and the power in His name.  To God be all the glory!!!  Pray for opportunities in this area as well.  The Holy Spirit may lead you to lay hands on someone who has a diseased or defective body part to command the healing to come forth in the name of Jesus and watch to see what God will do! 

The Gift of Prophesy

The Holy Spirit makes His church so beautiful and powerful, never for the church to take the glory for themselves but always and only for them to magnify Jesus and draw the hearts of lost people to Him.  Another gift that does so is the word of knowledge or prophecy.  This is when the Holy Spirit gives you the thoughts of God about another person including knowledge of their thoughts and situation in order to bring them comfort and clarity at their point of need.  Jesus displayed this gift when he told Nathaniel he had seen him under the fig tree in John 1:48.  Also when he told the woman at the well of her true history.  She came to belief in Christ and became an evangelist.  John 4 says Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”  The gift of prophecy is further explained in 1 Corinthians 14 24But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all,25as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

In conclusion, if you feel your Christian life has become stale and lifeless, perhaps you need to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit and live the God-kind of life that God created you to have.  The Spirit will take you places you never dreamed!  You may be hated by many, because they hated Christ, they will also hate us but it will be counted as a privilege and a light thing compared to the glory and the power He will reveal in and through you.  So take heart Christian soldier and set your sword to war.  There is much ground to be won for Christ's kingdom and a very short time to do so.  Let this prayer of the early disciples also become our own (from Acts 4):  29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.