"Who is the Holy Spirit?"
"How do we receive the Holy Spirit?"
"How can we be born again?"
"What does it mean to keep in step with the Spirit?"
In today's episode, I'm going to be addressing and answering these common questions above about the Holy Spirit. I will be pairing this with prayer and scripture.
First I want to say a quick prayer: "LORD, I pray that you open up our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to you. Holy Spirit, please guide me and move me to do the will of God the Father. I pray that you help every person reading this to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. Use me as a vessel for your work LORD, and work through me to make an impact on other people's lives. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this episode, that they receive it and they implement it in their daily lives. I love You with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen."
So let's get into some scripture:
"If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you." -John 14:15-17
"I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you." -John 14:25-26
So who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the counselor that God the Father sent down after Jesus went back to heaven. God the Father sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us. He's the Spirit of truth. If you are a Christian, then you believe in the Trinity, which is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
So how do we receive the Holy Spirit? When do we get the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is within us. Whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ, we already have it. I know with the Holy Spirit, it's kind of controversial of when people receive the Holy Spirit, if it's right away or whatever. But whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit within us.
"Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you." -John 16:7-15
So the Holy Spirit counsels us. The Holy Spirit is our advocate and He shows us the truth. The truth that he shows us, He only speaks to us what he hears from God the Father. So we know that God the Father is good, holy, just, and righteous, and there's nothing bad about God the Father. Everything that the Holy Spirit speaks to us is from God the Father and he shows us the truth. It is so important for us to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. We have the Holy Spirit within us. We have access to the guidance and the truth from the Holy Spirit. We have to make sure that we are asking the Holy Spirit to guide us.
There are so many Christians who say they believe in Jesus Christ, that believe in God the Father, but they don't fully understand the Holy Spirit. Or they just think, "Okay, yeah, I understand it's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit," but they don't think there's power in the Holy Spirit or they just haven't been taught about the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, some people will think it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scriptures, like the power is in the scripture. We have God the Holy Spirit within us. We have that power. We have the Counselor within us. We have access to that. We have to make sure that we are using the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we're asking the Holy Spirit to guide us, to show us the truth, and to move us to do the will of God the Father, and we are submitting to the Holy Spirit. We have to make sure that we are not giving into our fleshly desires, we're not giving into this world, but we are asking the Holy Spirit to show us the truth, to show us where he wants us to go, what He wants us to do, and to move us to do the will of God the Father.
So the last episode I just did, which y'all would've seen last week, I had no idea what I was even going to say on there until I was driving to film this. I had asked the Lord to give me the words to speak and then I got an idea of what to say whenever I was driving. As soon as I got in the parking lot, I wrote a few scriptures down that I wanted to talk about and then I just talked about it. I just let the Holy Spirit guide me and that is what we can do. We can ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and let the Holy Spirit flow through us, to speak through us, and use us as that vessel. We are vessels of the Holy Spirit. Our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit and we can ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, to show us the truth, and to work through us. We can ask the Holy Spirit to speak through us and to help us make an impact in other people's lives. We have to be open to that and not get in our way. We can't just do whatever we want to do. We have to make sure we're submitting to the will of God the Father, and submitting to the Holy Spirit.
"Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:1-7
You guys, this is amazing if you think about it, this is incredible. God the Father sent his only Son to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins. Jesus Christ rose three days later, He went back up to heaven, and God the Father sent the Holy Spirit down to counsel us, to guide us, whoever is saved by Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit within them, and we have eternal life in heaven with Jesus and God the Father. That is the gospel and that is incredible.
"Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:5-8
So how can we be born again? How are we born of the Spirit? We can do this by asking Jesus Christ to come into our hearts, to forgive us of our sins, by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and by asking him to save us. Whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ, we are born again. We have the Holy Spirit within us and we have to make sure we are keeping in constant communication with the Holy Spirit. Not only should you be reading your Bible, studying, praying to God the Father, worshiping God and Jesus, seeing the life of Jesus Christ, and wanting to follow him, but you should also be constantly asking for that guidance of the Holy Spirit and having that relationship with the Holy Spirit. We have access to the power of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit gives each Christian different gifts. I'm not going to go into all the gifts of the Holy Spirit today, but if you want to go into 1 Corinthians chapter 12, it talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have an episode about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I'm not quite sure which episode it was because it has been a while, but I know I made one at some point.
"While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” -Acts 1:4-8
So as I mentioned earlier, after Jesus Christ went back to heaven, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit down. He sent the Holy Spirit down to the disciples of Jesus Christ, who became his apostles. We have the Holy Spirit whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ.
"In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groaning. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
-Romans 8:26-27
So when we don't know what to say, we're trying to pray and we can't even think of the words to speak, the Spirit intercedes for us, the Spirit groans for us. God the Father who searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit and He intercedes for us. We have to draw near to God and whenever we're drawing near to God and we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us, even whenever we don't have the words to speak, whenever we are too full of sorrow or we just don't even know what to do, the Spirit intercedes for us and He will speak to the Father for us.
"Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
-Isaiah 11:1-2
So Jesus Christ was from the bloodline of Jesse, that's who they're speaking of here. Jesus Christ was that righteous branch.
"And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
-John 1:32-34
So whenever Jesus Christ was baptized, he had the Holy Spirit rest on him in the form of a dove. After Jesus Christ went back to heaven, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to counsel us and we have the Holy Spirit within us whenever we are saved by Jesus. Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life. God the Father gave us the gift of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13
"When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them." -Acts 2:1-4
"I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." -Galatians 5:15-26
So we know that the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. I actually have episodes on each aspect of the fruit of the Spirit if you want to check those out. They were back a couple of years ago, so you may have to go down quite a bit to find those. So we have to make sure that we are living by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit. What does it mean to keep in step with the spirit? We're constantly asking the Holy Spirit to guide us and we're abiding by the Holy Spirit whenever we're getting that tug in our spirit of "Don't do that, that's not good," or "Go do that thing, help that person." Whenever the Spirit is telling us to do these things, we have to abide by the Spirit. We have to portray the fruit of the Spirit to others. We have to make sure that we're keeping in step with the Spirit. Just because we have the Holy Spirit within us doesn't mean we're keeping in step with the Spirit. That doesn't mean we're abiding by the Spirit and we are letting the Holy Spirit guide us. There's a big difference between just living our own life, having the Holy Spirit within us, being a Christian, loving Jesus, and abiding by what Jesus Christ says, abiding by the will of God the Father, and letting the Holy Spirit guide us and being in step with the Spirit. Trust me, I know sometimes it seems easier to just do whatever you want. A lot of the time whenever the Spirit tells you to do something, when you get that tug from the Spirit, it's not what you want to do. As we see in these verses here, what the flesh desires is contrary to what the Spirit desires. What our flesh wants and what our flesh desires is going to be a lot different from what the Holy Spirit desires and what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do.
We have to make sure we're denying our flesh. We have to pick up our cross, deny our flesh, and follow Jesus every single day. The way that we can do that is by living in step with the Spirit, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us, asking the Holy Spirit to show us the truth, and listening to what the Holy Spirit is telling us. The Holy Spirit is going to show us things. He's going to reveal things to us. He's going to convict us of certain things, and he's going to show us how to live for Christ and how to not conform to this world. We have to make sure we are listening to the Holy Spirit, we're not pushing down what He's telling us, and we're not letting our flesh control what we do. We have to make sure that we are making a point to ask the Holy Spirit, "What is it that you want me to do? Holy Spirit, please guide me. Please show me the truth. Please move me to do the will of God the Father. Please open up my eyes to see the world around me, to see the truth that you are speaking in my life, and help me to be able to implement that truth and give me the wisdom to not go back to things that are not good for me." The Holy Spirit is here to counsel us, to guide us, to show us the truth, to show us and speak to us from God the Father, and we have access to the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit within us. We just have to make sure that we are submitting to the Holy Spirit, we're asking the Holy Spirit to show us things, and we are having that constant communication and relationship with the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and Jesus Christ.
So I hope this episode helped you guys to realize who the Holy Spirit is, how we get the Holy Spirit, and the importance of making sure we are keeping in step with the Spirit. There are a lot of crazy things in this world. There's a lot of evil, destruction, and chaos. We are going through a spiritual battle and we have to make sure that we are keeping in step with the Holy Spirit because he will never lead us astray. He will guide us into truth. He will show us what is to come and He will help us along the way. We just have to make sure that we're asking for that guidance, we're keeping in step with the Spirit, and we're not giving into our fleshly desires. So that is it for today's episode. Come back next week for another episode.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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