Let’s explore how the Holy Spirit ALWAYS provides us Jesus followers with fresh strength and purpose.
We can each greatly appreciate and strive to fully comprehend the concept of God the Father, although initially as a kid, quite often God seemed unfathomable. For my younger me, God as the Son Jesus Christ was more manageable to comprehend. By comparison, God as Spirit was challenging to fully wrap my head around and appreciate. It wasn’t until I fully jumped into reading the Bible did each of these become way more apparent to my young mind.
As an adult, I’m always amazed at the vastness of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and remain eternally grateful for them each. I’d like to summarize in just a brief overview aspect of the Holy Spirit, in case you’re like me and need these wonderful reminders.
As believers in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is our ally, strength, and guide, who provides each of us His peace, as our intercessor, our advocate, and is the giver of our spiritual gifts as believers. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of eternal life to come. None of us gets out of here alive…
John 14:15-17 says…
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you”.
In the business of life itself, it’s always a good reminder to contemplate the concept that the Holy Spirit did not just exist in the book of Acts and is certainly not some mysterious figure that we can never get to really know. The Holy Spirit instead is very much alive and well 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is always moving and breathing inside and through each of us Christians, and without fatigue.
John 14:26 says….
“but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”.
So, the cool thing as I ponder this passage of scripture, is that the Holy Spirit is here to teach us along the journey of life. That means we are each His students, and must study the word, pray, and communicate often and meaningfully with the Holy Spirit. I’ve been taught many lessons along the path of life by the Spirit.
Do you remember that wonderful picture of Jesus knocking at the door? It’s important to take note that there’s no doorknob on the door in that picture. And even better to ponder why there’s no doorknob on that door. There’s also no doorknob when contemplating Jesus knocking at each of our doors either. We each have free will and must choose to open that very door (or not…) that our Lord and Savior is knocking on before it to open. Jesus himself does not open that door in the picture of life. Each of us must get up and go to that door and choose to open it and keep it there.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 says…
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws”.
Wow. So, it’s terribly easy for each of us to hit the wall with burnout, stress, or anxiety, and then fall into the trap of believing we must always keep it all together…that everything is up to us. This idea just leads to more stress and is so not true. When in a difficult season, we can always find hope in the Holy Spirit. He’s our ally—someone who is always there to support each of us. He can help take the load off each of us Christians so we can rest and find peace and real joy again. When things start falling apart, it’s a great time to remind ourselves to call upon the Holy Spirit in times of need.
John 10:10 says…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”.
For me, the only way I can successfully render my life path to the Holy Spirit, is to stay in the word daily, being sure to prayerfully communicate throughout each day with the Holy Spirit.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” – Romans 15:13.“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” — Galatians 5: 22-25
I don’t know about you, but I find great comfort and peace in the guarantee offered by the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are each amazing gifts!
In closing John 14:27 TLB says…
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
So, in summary, it is the Holy Spirit who provides us each with genuine renewed strength and purpose, no matter what life brings, and is always here among and within each of us.
