I have been reading and learning about the Holy Spirit in my weekly Bible study and I have truly enjoyed getting to know Him in a different light. I've really never given the Holy Spirit much thought, in fact I viewed Him as a thrown-in bonus when I accepted Christ. Kind of like when you purchase a car and they throw in the floor mats as a perk- that is the exact view I had of the Spirit. It was reassuring to hear similar perspectives from the other women in my study group. The Holy Spirit isn't taught much in our church circles, it seems there is a fear or a stigma and a lot of people simply don't know enough to talk about Him. If you approach Scripture with an open mind you will begin to see how the Spirit works and what His role is meant to be in our lives.
The first thing that completely amazed me and made me say "wow" was when I realized that the Spirit within me is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! The Holy Spirit IS God! It hit me like a ton of bricks -the Spirit is not any lower or less important than Jesus and the Father. He is an equal part of the Trinity. In I John 16:7 Jesus said to the disciples "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." Jesus, back in the day, was limited physically in how much he could be with the disciples and where he was able to go with them yet it would be an advantage for Him to leave and for the Spirit to be sent to them. The Spirit would dwell within each man and be with him wherever he went giving them individual counsel, comfort, strength, and wisdom. The Spirit would never leave them and that is true to this day! We have the Spirit who is equal to Jesus and the Father and gives each of us our individual strengths and counsel and comfort. Pretty cool.
There is so much more to the Spirit than we give Him credit for - I can't tell you how many years I pushed Him away and ignored His promptings. It had gotten to the point where I built a wall around my heart and I didn't let anyone in. I accredited all the guilt I was feeling to the Holy Spirit but that's all I was giving him "credit" for - it wasn't until God broke me that I began to understand and percieve Someone actually living within me. I Kings 19:11-12 says "Then He said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD'. And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice". I've come to realize that He is the still small voice within me and sometimes it is so hard to hear Him because of all the noise and distractions around me. I like this quote from the book I am reading "When we are at our wits' end for an answer, then the Holy Spirit can give us an answer. But how can He give us an answer when we are still well supplied with all sorts of answers of our own?" It has been so neat and such a unique experience for me to hear His voice, to feel His prompting, and to know that it is truly Him leading me and speaking to me.
One of the topics in our study group has been the will of God. How does the Holy Spirit fit in with the will of God and what does the popular statemtn "follow the will of God" really mean? It's been interesting because I had never thought of following His will on a daily basis. For some reason there is a rampant idea out there (which i followed faithfully) that we need to discover His will for our future and we need to be searching for it endlessly until we figure it out. The thing is that God never said He would disclose our future plans to us at any point - consider Abraham and Moses. They were two of the greatest leaders in history yet they never knew where they were headed or what they were going to do, God revealed His will to them on a daily basis. The Father does the same thing for us and it is done by and through the Holy Spirit. I think of the verse in I Cor 2:10 "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." This is such an awesome concept - the Spirit searches even the depths of God. In the next verse it says "....even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." The Holy Spirit is in continual conversation and fellowship with the Father and that is how He communicates to us. Another verse pops into my head and I can't remember where it is in the Word but I do know the concept of the verse is that we should not make plans without involving the Lord. Who are we to decide what we are going to do and where we are going to go for only He knows. His Sovereignty is the piece of His character that I have seen and come to know over the last couple of months and it is a beautiful thing. It is a blessing and a relief to know that I don't need to figure out the great mystery of His will for my life - all I'm expected to do is obey. Take each day as it comes and simply obey and His desire and His will for my life will be made known. Some days it feels as if I'm trying to make my way through a dense fog yet I know that My Savior sees clearly and He knows what lies ahead. He has only my best interests at heart. At this phase in my life I do not know what step to take next or where He is going to lead me but it's o.k. :) When the Spirit moves I will obey and I am excited to see where He is going to take me. I'm in it for the long haul and I'm looking forward to the ride.
