I'll be honest, when I first started following Christ I really didn’t understand who the Holy Spirt was or what He did.
God the Father? Got it!
Jesus the Son? Makes sense.
But the Holy Spirit?
I wasn't sure what to think about Him and unfortunately didn’t recognize the power and strength He could offer me.
Maybe you can relate?
You hear people talk about the Holy Spirit and you're not really sure what to make of Him. It's simpler to just keep moving in your Christian life and not give Him much thought. However, Jesus made it clear that He would send us the Holy Spirit to help, guide, and comfort us on this Christian journey (John 24:16). And this is good news if you're like me and have learned that although this journey is totally worth it, it's not easy at all.
So if we want to be the women God is calling us to be, we simply can't afford to forfeit help, guidance, and comfort. We desperately need the Holy Spirit in our lives, like a fish needs water.
So today I want to share with you 3 things you need to know about the Holy Spirit.
1) The Holy Spirit Seals Us in the Family of God and Guarantees Our Salvation
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. - 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
My family and I love to go bowling. When we get to the bowling alley we place our order and tell the attendant our shoe sizes. In order to receive their bowling shoes we give them our regular shoes. Bowling alleys do this to ensure you will return their shoes and not walk out with them. They know that if they have something of yours you will come back to get it.
The Holy Spirit works in a similar way. Once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior God places His Spirit in us guaranteeing He will come back to get what is His. This means the Holy Spirt seals our salvation and takes away any fear that says otherwise.
2) The Holy Spirit Gives Power, Love and Self-Control, but Never Fear.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. - 2 Timothy 1:7
The Holy Spirit not only seals our salvation, He also guides and equips us as we journey this side of eternity. And this side, as you have experienced, is full of fear. Just turn on the news or look at the internet and you will be afraid to even leave your home or eat your dinner. However, the Bible tells us this fear is not from God. Instead the Holy Spirit gives us 3 incredible gifts to strengthen us in this journey: power, love, and self-control.
There is no opposition to fear when you are fighting with God's power and not your weakness. There is no opinion to fear when you know the God of the universe loves you like crazy. There is no sin to fear when God has freed you from the desires of your flesh.
Even with everything going on in the world, the Holy Spirt grants us 3:1 odds in our favor, which leads me to our next point.
3) The Holy Spirit is Greater than the Spirit of this World
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. - 1 John 4:4
My son came home excited to have yet another car toy given to him by his grandmother. He played with the car for most of the day pushing it across the floor. When my husband saw him playing with the car he picked it up to inspect what had his son's attention. Upon inspection he realized that the car had a slot for a battery. He took the car, placed in a battery, and gave it back to my son.
To my son's delight, the car was now moving on its own with speed and power like never before. In the same way the Holy Spirt empowers us to do more and be more than we could ever do and be on our own.
Unfortunately without recognition and understanding of the Holy Spirit we miss out on this great power. We then find ourselves thinking of the Holy Spirit as small when He is actually greater. Greater than your fears, sin, and struggles. The Holy Spirt is all around greater than all the darkness in this world. And to think all this capacity is in you!
As we change our perspective of the Holy Spirit to more accurately align with the truth of God's Word we open ourselves up to all He has to offer, and as we've learned from just 3 scriptures already, it's quite a lot. It's greater!
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