The focus of so much of my life and Bible study these days is on the Holy Spirit. This has happened to me, I believe, in answer to prayer that I could know more than I do, being better prepared as a pastor.
God is the giver of good gifts. He has told us that in Luke 11:13. The answer that I received was not the directive to “learn about the Holy Spirit.” Rather, the Holy Spirit Himself began to show me more of who He is. He opened my eyes to an aspect of the Christian life that I have only touched upon briefly, here and there, in sermons over the past 25 years. I was teaching as much as I knew, and frankly, all that I thought we could know. I have taught deeply and passionately about God’s grace for salvation and that we can know without a doubt that we are saved, born again, sinless, and already heirs to the kingdom of heaven. Beyond that, however, I believed that your Christian life is hidden in the will of God and we cannot know any further details. We have the God-given ability and right to pray and be heard, and praise the Lord in Spirit and in truth as often as we want, but the rest is up to Him. I was wrong.
The Holy Spirit takes knowledge and makes it deeply personal and real. For it is one thing to know by faith that you are saved, it is yet a completely different thing to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit with you. I cannot explain it other than to say it is a level of comfort I have never known, and an overwhelming love that is surprising and humbling. “Who am I that You would want to dwell here and make your presence known to me?” I think.
I have known the love of God for years. I have shared it with all of you. Most often, my message of love stems from the cross, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. God showed His love for us through His Son. He loves you now—today—because of what was accomplished by Jesus 2000 years ago. Love is the reason Jesus did what He did.
While those messages were all true, there is so much more to know about the love of God. Jesus promised that we would do greater things because He was going to the Father. Yes, by the power of the Holy Spirit’s love, we will do these things. And the only way they will be possible is because you will be living in the love of the Holy Spirit as they happen. His presence will carry you along and be known to you as they happen. This is not something I have been able to share with you in the past.
The Holy Spirit does not want His presence to be a mystery to you. He wants us to experience a level of intimacy and awareness all the time.
The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was like us in every way. He had flesh, blood, and a soul. He wept and was full of compassion. The Holy Spirit may not have flesh and blood, but He has a soul, is filled with compassion, weeps and mourns with us, brings comfort and peace, teaches and protects us. The devil has been working qfor years to discredit the Holy Spirit. He wants us to dismiss the Spirit as “weird” or too mysterious to consider. Many Christians are comfortable talking about the Father and the Son, but not Spirit. Many pastors never preach about Him; some have been tossed out of churches for doing so. Makes sense. The Holy Spirit terrifies Satan.
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