First of all let us go through who the Holy Spirit (Spirit) is. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity (Triune God), and has the job of being Christ’s representative on earth. In Luke 24:49 Jesus says “I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high”. From this we can gather that the Holy Spirit is a gift from Jesus to believers (His children). The Holy Spirit has the function of ministering to us by revealing what Jesus has obtained from the Father. This is made clear in John 16:14-15 ‘He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you’.
The Holy Spirit is also known as a helper, guide, teacher, comforter and the Spirit of grace(Hebrews 10:29). One of the fruits of the Spirit is gentleness (Galatians 5:23), God cannot ask us to be gentle if He Himself is not gentle. With that said this would mean that the Holy Spirit will never force Himself on someone as He is gentle in nature. If you do not make the effort to deepen your relationship with God, the Holy Spirit will not in any way force you to do so. Ever heard the saying that ‘you cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit’ which is a very valid point as Zechariah 4:6 reads ‘So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty”. Well now why don’t we look at the other side of the coin ‘The Holy Spirit will not do anything without the believer’. We need to understand that are bodies are the temple of God and that God requires people who will surrender their life to Him. This is so that God can use us as vessels in order for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The Holy Spirit gives us the boldness to preach the gospel to others, and also empowers us to pray and carry out miraculous signs and wonders. Where the Spirit is, is where the presences and glory of God can be manifested. There are many cases in the bible which show this, for example Genesis 1:2-3 ‘The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light’. So as we can see, where the Spirit was, the power of God was also. Life was brought into existence, from a lifeless situation. There are many scriptures which point out that the Spirit brings life for example 2 Corinthians 3:6 ‘He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life’. And John 6:63 ‘The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you, they are full of the Spirit and life’.
We as believers have the responsibility to press on in their faith, to ask God for more. Just as a baby grows we should aspire to grow and develop in Christ. We should not be content with there being no advancement in our spiritual life, we shouldn’t be satisfied with staying in the same place all our lives. We should desire to explore our wonderful potential, or else we will end up living a life of defeat.
The topic of the Triune God can be very confusing, and you also have varying doctrines regarding the Holy Spirit. This is because some people believe that we have the Spirit at the point of our conversion, whilst others believe that we should seek to encounter the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is not a straight forward topic of discussion, and I intend to discussion this subject in future posts to come by Gods grace. The point I’m trying to make here is that it is impossible to live a full, triumphant and fruitful Christian life without the Holy Spirit.
Enjoy your week women of God!!!
