How to begin….Let’s touch on what started this venture: the desire to share the joy and the power of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now let it be said that this will be an ongoing in-depth journal entry. Today we will start with some food for thought items.
Who or what is the Holy Spirit?
John 14:6,15-17, 25-26
Here Jesus is telling the disciples – I am the way the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. vs 15 If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father:, and He will give you another Advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit:, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. vs 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit– He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
John 3:5-8
Jesus speaking to Nicodemus – “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life; So don’t be surprised when I say, “You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Romans 8 – Life in the Spirit – I recommend reading verses 1-18
Vs 2 And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the body we as sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Vs 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spiritliving within you.
vs 14 for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Reflection. The Lord sent the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate or Helper. One of the important roles of the Holy Spirit is to draw us to Christ and to lead us into relationship with Him. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a separate experience since we receive the Holy Spirit at salvation.
What an interesting and compelling subject. We are so happy you are willing to discover and study with us.