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Hey All,

Do y’all remember that praise song: Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me …..melt me, mold me, fill me move me?  I can’t really explain it, but whenever I first think about the Holy Spirit that song comes to mind. After that a picture of the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove as John the baptist is baptizing Jesus in the Jordan river. Now we know the Holy Spirit does descend upon us when we are baptized as a child of God, or if later in life when we accept Christ as our savior, but after that the Spirit is in us, it does not need to fall a fresh on us daily.  The lyrics do emphasize that we want more of the Holy Spirit and that is the part of the song that always gives me chill bumps. Yes by acknowledging the Holy Spirit’s presence, I believe you can feel Him there. Another example of this was when we sang Psalm 51 in the old red Lutheran hymnal: Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right Spirit with in me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore on to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your free Spirit.  Singing that song, was another point in growing my relationship with Christ, where I frequently felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look a little deeper at the the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit

Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to the disciples in John 14:16-18 He will give you another Helper that he may be with you forever…but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. In this verse we see that the Holy Spirit is a part of us for the rest of out lives! He is a helper that can warn us about danger but also prompts us to submit to God’s plan. In verse 26 it says: He will teach you all things, and bring you to remembrance all that I have said.   In other words, the Spirit will help us understand scripture. Paul speaks about the Spirit in 1 Cor 2:9-13 things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those you love HIM. Again in verse 10: For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things even the depths of God. Because the Spirit is in us, it knows us intimately and because He is God He is also apart of the Father. The unique relationship with God allows us to know and hear things that are for our good that God places on our heart.

Why is the Holy Spirit good for us?

As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we also know that God wants what is best for us.  John again shows us the nature of the Holy Spirit in John 16:13-15 He will guide you in all the truth; He will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  Jesus said the same thing in His ministry, that He came to speak what the Father had told Him. With the Holy Spirit, we have the same relationship with God! Because God is righteousness and righteousness is the truth, we will never hear or be lead to something the that is evil or bad from the the Spirit. In fact Galatians 5:16 says: walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh, and James 3:17 says the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. So when we abide in the Spirit that dwells within us it is clear that we will produce the fruit of the Spirit which is Galatians 5:22-23 love,  joy,  peace,  patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self control. All of this sounds really great but do we submit to and listen to the Spirit and how do we submit and listen to the Spirit? Let’s get practical.

But do we Listen and Submit to the Holy Spirit?

Have you ever had an uneasy feeling, a momentary random thought, a thought you keep coming back too, or a conviction you cannot seem to get past. All of these are promptings from the Holy Spirit. The real question is what do we do about it? Years ago I had a feeling to not pick up a stranger in Randall’s parking lot. During that same hour Brenda had a prompting to call me. Neither of us listened, and I was “pigeon dropped” for several hundred dollars, an experience I will never forget. Many times after I read scripture, or hear PJ’s message, a prevailing thought will just keep returning to me. That is the Holy Spirit convicting me to act upon what is being repeatedly placed on my heart. John 16:8  says: and He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.  The Holy Spirit is also a comforter. When we are at our lowest points, don’t know where to turn, what to say, or how to pray, the Holy Spirit knows because he lives inside of us and prays on our behalf.  Paul reminds us of this in Romans 8: 26-27 The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. Additionally, when we are faced with challenges and don’t know what to say we need to call upon the Holy Spirit and he will give us the words to speak as we see in Luke 12:12 do not worry about what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.

So to wrap up

We need to listen to that voice inside our head and be bold to step out to act on its prompting. We have seen the words in the bible reminding us that God will give us the words to speak, He will show us the direction to go, and if we choose not to listen He will continue to convict us until His message is clear. Every time we step out in faith and follow God’s prompting we will be blessed as we are blessing others. Father I pray this week that each of us will get up in the morning and pray: Lord lead me today! Let me hear your voice and follow your prompting because your ways are pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits. Amen? AMEN!

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