05.Dec.2008 An Introcution to the Holy Spirit
John 16: 12-15 (NLT): “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
The Holy Spirit, first and foremost, is a person. He is not a feeling. He is not mist. He is not goosebumps on your arms. He is a person with thoughts and feelings. The Holy Spirit manifests in whatever way He feels like–a dove, wind, fire–, and you may feel His near when the atmosphere is charged, but He is a person. He is always here because He is welcome. We create an atmosphere through worship and the reading of the Word, but before we even come to the meeting, He is here, walking around the room, connecting with us. The Holy Spirit does not go anywhere that He is not welcome or invited. He goes where He is welcome; He is the presence of God on the earth from the Book of Acts until now. We love the presence of God in this church. The Holy Spirit is welcome here at C3.
The Holy Spirit will go with you everywhere you go. He is the presence of God on earth, and He goes everywhere He is welcome. As He goes with you, He reveals TRUTH. God is truth. Everything He says is truth. We need not doubt anything that God says, for everything He says is truth. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of God to you. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s truth so it can be applied to your life. Jesus says in verse 13 that the Spirit will guide you into God’s truths.
Environment effects how we all act. Being raised in poverty or negativity or anger will train you to lean towards aspects of poverty, negativity, or anger. These and other aspects like this train people to live in error. The trouble with error is that people think it is truth. Even if you are a Christian, you can be in error. You live in error while assuming you are in the right, and then your life blows up. Why? Because you were deceived (and you never know you were in error, that is what it means to be deceived) into living in error. How do you get out of it? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides you out of error and into Truth.
The Holy Spirit will minister to you in the way you need. In “The Shack,” God manifests to the main character in the way that He needs. The ministration of the Spirit happens when the Spirit is welcomed. When you welcome Him, you begin to build a relationship with Him. Through time, intimacy is developed. You begin to know and understand the wants and needs of the Spirit. You go deeper than knowing about the Spirit; you go into knowing Him on a deeper level. You understand His nature, His character, and His desires. It is in this intimacy that healing comes, liberation comes, and change comes. There is a process; the Holy Spirit is always preparing things. He sets things up. He gets deep into everything. He gets in and around our lives and does things that we may never know about until we are in Heaven. Spend time with the Holy Spirit; develop that relationship; and see what happens!
The Will of God is found in Intimacy of the Spirit. The Spirit has no agenda. Everything He says is something He was told from God and Jesus. He is passing along their words to you. He will whisper God’s will into your life.
A relationship with the Holy Spirit means He is inside of you. It means that no matter where you go, He is with you! He goes where you go. The Presence of God goes into every place you go. And you will find yourself thinking differently. All the old thoughts will die away and be replaced with new, freeing thoughts born from the truths of God.
The Holy Spirit is the Creative Force of God! In the beginning, before the creation of the world, there was chaos. Over all of that, before God spoke into the chaos, before God spoke the world into life, the Holy Spirit was brooding over the chaos. He was dreaming the world before God spoke. And when God spoke, the Holy Spirit moved. God’s authoritative words were spoken, and the Holy Spirit began to create. We have the same authority. We can speak into our future; we combine our faith with the Holy Spirit and the truths He has told us, and we speak it into our lives, we will create our lives. Speak according to what God has spoken, and the Holy Spirit will move to see it done. That is why you need to get to know Him. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth, and when you are in truth, all that is left to do is for you to breath for all the Jesus wants to do in and through you.
