Come Holy Spirit!

I have recieved a few ideas, prayers and blessings on those pieces of paper that we are called to write those things. We still have many sheets left so I want to encourage you to write. There is one that I found that really touched me. Again, all the ones that we have recieved have been wonderful and spirit-filled! However, this one made me tear up a little! I don’t know who wrote it or when. In a way it is very uplifting and encouraging, yet also very challenging. As I read it, I could really tell that this was someones prayer for this church. I could just tell that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

You may ask, “How do you know that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit?” Because when I read it, I felt this uplifting in my soul, a deep part of me. It was not a head thing or even emotional. Again, it does make me feel good, tell me what I want to hear. So I know that it is not an emotional thing. It is challenging without being negative in the slightest. Yet, it is still a battle cry for us, a command that can only work with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is just one tiny example of how the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit works through all of us in this way. This is our gift from Christ right before He ascended.

Pray and Read John 14:15-31

John 14:15–31 NRSV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.

So who is the Holy Spirit?

He is another Advocate. Jesus was physically with the Apostles when He spoke these words. He was their Advocate. He tells them that they will have another Advocate sent to them that will be with His people forever! So what is an Advocate? This is someone who represents someone in legal, business or in personal affairs. The advocate speaks on behalf of someone who may not be able to fully speak for themselves in certain matters. So in spiritual terms, the Holy Spirit represents us in Spiritual matters. The Spirit knows our heart, soul, and mind. The Spirit can tell if we truly love God and are obedient to God’s commands. This is good news for us humans who do love God and do all we can to be obedient to God. Where we may not and cannot fully understand all spiritual matters, we have an Advocate that does and can help us in this case.

The Holy Spirit abides with us. The Holy Spirit is given to those who live as Christ. This is another proof of the Trinity in this passage. Therefore, the Spirit acts within us as a guide and counselor.

Jesus says that He must leave so that the Spirit can come and abide in the lives of the disciples. When the Spirit came, as we read in Acts chapter 2, the people where filled with heavenly wisdom, speaking words that they had never spoken before. The prophecy from Ezekiel 37 was fulfilled when Peter said

Acts 2:17–21 NRSV

‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

When the other Judas asked “How will you reveal yourself Jesus?” Jesus answered, “We will will come to them and make our home in them (verse 22-24) When the Triune God makes his home in the soul of the believers, the believer is given gifts beyond their human ability. We understand God, as in we have a conscience that helps us understand good vs evil and right from wrong. We are able to things that we would not have the courage to do with God. We see miracles and can witness God working through and around us.

So, for us today, we have the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ with us. That is if we declare our love and life to Christ. This is the gift of Sanctification. We have been Sanctified by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our sins are washed away and we are given the courage and the hope of new life in Christ. We are still human with human temptations, but we have a greater ability to resist temptations and way to come to God through Christ to be given Comfort and Guidance. It is through the Holy Spirit that we know God is alive and with us now and forever!

If you have given your life to Christ, then you shall see visions holy things. You have greater hope and blessings than you can ever dream. We have a front row seat to miracles of healing and deliverance. This world will pass away, but those who are in Christ Jesus will not pass away but will be saved. This world does not have the Holy Spirit, but the people of God have the Holy Spirit. While we wait for the return of Christ, we get a glimpse of Heaven on Earth in each other. That is how those who love Christ and keep His commandments are blessed and should work to be a blessing for others.

This is how the Kingdom of God is built and prepared for our King’s return. We work through the power of the Holy Spirit to spread His truth in love throughout the world.

In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit! Amen