A profound appreciation or a prolonged love is acquired only after careful contemplation. We only truly understand something after we have studied it, thought about it and reflected on it.
This happens with our salvation. The more we see the density of our depravity, the more satisfying the gospel becomes to us. This happens with our spouses. The more we study them, pursue them, love them and think about them, the more we want to be with them, see them, talk to them and talk about them. This should also happen with the Holy Spirit (HS hereafter).
The more we understand the unattainable nature of the Spirit, the thirstier we get to have it free-flowing in our life. We cannot create it or catch it but we can be captured by it.
God desires that His Spirit would dominate our life, direct our choices and declare to the world that we are His heirs. The HS is Our Helper. He is Our Comforter. He is Our Advocate. He is our power source.
It is important for us to understand his uniqueness in order for us to harness his power. My prayer is that this will encourage us, inspire us, comfort us, help us cope with the present, help us rejoice in the future, help us be satisfied in Jesus and help us be comforted by the Spirit.
Here are five things you probably did not know about the Holy Spirit:
1. He is Active. The HS is not a passive spectator but rather an active member in our life. The HS does not pull a passive prayer warrior trick on us. He doesn’t say to us that he will pray for us when he sees that we have nothing to eat, no money to buy food with and a roof is desperately lacking over our heads. He does not offer polite pleasantries such as “be warmed and filled” all the while neglecting our tangible needs. The HS is actively engaged in our life and produces fruit to show for it. The HS actively is teaching us all that we need to know and all that needs to be known by us. He actively enables us to recollect and remember all that Jesus has taught. The HS comforts us, gives grace to us and makes intercession on behalf of us along with Jesus.
2. He is Faithful. The HS promises what he will do and does what he promised. The HS will never leave you, forsake you, deny you or shy away from you. In our deepest distress, we can rely upon him. When we are under serious duress, we can take comfort in him. In a time of mourning, we can be consoled by him. He provides incessant joy during celebration. He prescribes a medicated balm to cure an injury from our life journey. He remains faithful to us despite our sin. He provides comfort when we crave it. He continues to be faithful, even we are not. The HS enables us to see truth we can trust. Jesus sends the HS so that we would not become spiritual orphans (Jn. 14:18). The HS is faithful by providing to us a perpetual parental support.
3. He is Loving. It was toward our advantage that Jesus would leave earth (Jn. 16:7). By leaving from earth, Jesus sent the HS to earth. Jesus went and the HS came, loving. Is the HS not a loyal counselor who loves? He provides to us a peace that surpasses all human understanding. The love of the HS cannot be measured. It cannot be calculated. But, it can be felt, experienced, lived through and lived for. The most convincing of counselors and the friendliest of friends cannot love or provide love in the way that the HS can. The spirit is keenly aware of what our needs and requests are. The spirit loves the saints and intercedes on their behalf, according to the will of God. The spirit is so obsessed with loving us that he conducts an exhaustive search of us, comprehends our thoughts and prescribes the loving remedy we desperately desire.
4. He is Relentless. The HS is persistent in pursuing us. He does not grow weary. He does not get tired. It is impossible for him to get exhausted from working overtime. He does not experience fatigue or weakness. He works well under pressure. He is consistent in his creative work. He is visibly vigilante in his tertiary office. He maintains sobriety in the most extreme of situations. He envisions hope in the most desolate of days. The counsel that he prescribes is always perfect. It has no error. It is flawless. It has no ill motive. He is patient with our resistance. He persists upon our resistance. He irresistibly pursues us even when we demonstrate a lack of faith. He does not get irritated because of our murmuring. He does not get agitated because of our lack of understanding. He is tolerantly relentless.
5. He is Wise. Jesus refers to the HS as the spirit of truth. The HS knows the truth. The HS is the teacher of truth. The HS can enable us to practice the truth in life. Until we have been instructed by this master-teacher, all of our efforts are vacant vanity. We would be wise to relinquish our mind and replace it with a Spirit-led, Spirit-filled mind, Spirit-infused mind. The HS is able to convict us where we went wrong. The HS is able to convince us that we need to repent. The HS is able to teach us to walk carefully as the wise. The HS is the source that we not only need to tap into but have activated and in full effect every minute of our life. The bible encourages us to seek wisdom, to pursue it, to possess it, to obtain it. This wisdom comes from the HS and can be realized in our life. This becomes a reality when we put our faith and trust in the work of the Spirit for the glory of God and the joy of all people. When we summon the Spirit, He is able to lay bare for us the painful reality of our choices and the pleasurable reality of His grace.
Do we understand the unique nature of the Holy Spirit? Did we grasp these truths? Do these truths grip us?
Question: Is the Holy Spirit dormant or dominant in your life? What other unique qualities of the Spirit would you add to this list?
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