Sunday, May 27, 2012

The Present of and the Presence of the Spirit

My Utmost For His Highest

‘The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.’ CHAMBERS

Do you understand that it is the presence of the Holy Spirit in you that is the enabler for your new life?  The Lord ascended and the Spirit descended and took up residence in every Believer.

‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.’ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

‘In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.’ (Ephesians 1:13-14)

‘But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He (God the Father) saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ (Titus 3:4-7)

‘This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.’ (1 John 5:6-7)

‘Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He (that would be God) who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He (That would be the Spirit)  makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ (Romans 8:26-27)

Sometimes I think that we treat the Spirit like we treat our appendix … we know we have one, but it doesn’t really do anything.  Some Christians are charisma-phoebes, meaning that they don’t want to talk about the Holy Spirit much for fear they will be thought of as emotional or charismatic.  But just a cursory reading of the scriptures I cited above shows you how important the Spirit is in our new life in Christ.  Leaving the appendix analogy aside for the moment .. think about your shoes .... but maybe you have some footwear on right now.  Until I mentioned it, I am 99% certain you could not feel your shoes on your feet .. but if you looked down .. there they are!  It is the same with the Spirit .. we may not ‘feel’ the Spirit .. but He is there … we were sealed by the Spirit .. He lives in us.  How do you know?  That is what the fruit of the Spirit is about (Galatians 5:22-23) … the Spirit connects us to the Vine … ‘Abide in Me (Jesus), and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.’(John 15:4-5)

Final Note.  Some years ago I was attending a Promise Keepers conference in Little Rock .. my last one as a PK staff member.  At the hotel I happened upon Dr. Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God).  He was a speaker at the conference.  We chatted for a while and I mentioned the challenge of not running out of ‘spiritual gas’  to which he said .. ‘Oh, we have the living water flowing out is us .. it will never run dry.” To which I added .. ‘but we can turn the tap off’.  The Word says ‘Do not quench the Spirit.’(1 Thessalonians 5:19)  That is the Spirit that is in you.  The Spirit gives life, but we must yield to His leading, His teaching, His rebuke, His correction …

Do it today ….

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

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