Have you met the Holy Spirit?
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
1 Corinthians 2:10-13 …these are the things God has revealed to us, by his spirit, the spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but he Spirit who is from God, so that we may have understand what God has freely given us.
John 14:26 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.
John 16 :7-9, 13-14 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment; about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of the world now stands condemned . . . . But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on this own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Ephesians 1:17-18 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.
2 Timothy 1:7 for the Spirit God gave us power, love and self-discipline.
The Holy Spirit gave us great power if we believe in Jesus Christ, and what God has done so that we can be saved. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is sanctification, which is the process of stripping away our sinful habits by opening our eyes to recognize our sin, selfishness, etc. He then replaces our sinfulness with godly ways, including empowering us to witness. He admonishes us for sinfulness and empowers us to resist temptations. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realm.
For years I have read the bible. I have read the bible in a variety of the forms to read in a year. My least favorite is to do a chapter in the Old Testament, a few verses in Psalms, and in Proverbs, and then some in the New Testament. I have done chronological reading, and I like that, reading just Samuel or Kings at the same time, then we are repeating it in Chronicles. Regardless, there has been a wealth of information to me in the Books; and now that I have determined that much of what is in Kings is also in Chronicles; chronologies and genealogies are repeated. Finally, instead of feeling confused and cranky with repeated difficult names, I finally had my eyes opened (thank you, Holy Spirit)! These repeated names were just the same stories being told by different people inspired by God.
One of the duties of the Holy Spirit is to open our eyes to better understanding of the bible. At first, we start off ‘with the milk of babes’ (Hebrews 5:13-14).
Thankfully, God has assigned the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to His Words. The bible is ALL God inspired, and he sent His Son to live as a fully human and fully God man to have all the experiences of any human. Then after teaching, inspiring, healing, sending demons from people, He willingly died a horrific death to free us from sins and to offer eternal life with Him— if we believe in Him and offer repentance for our many sins. But God offered us a teacher to explain some things we may find difficult to understand within the bible’s bindings.
God has supplied it all for us. He spoke to the prophets, led many men and women to judge and teach the Israelites how to live for Him. He wants to be honored and respected and revered. He created EVERYTHING we see and experience in nature—whether we acknowledge and appreciate it daily or not—He shows us peeks of his grand miracles daily. He has blessed me with a painted bunting bird couple which come to my feeder twice daily—although that colorful male is a bit of a piglet and tends to be there several times daily. But what a blessing to see them! And I also enjoy sites of the Sound out my kitchen window and the ocean on the front side of the house. I’m always willing to share some of the blessings I have with my home.
My understanding of the bible started as a young adult, just before I turned 19. I was finally attending a teaching church. I was like a sponge, and I wanted more understanding. Unfortunately, life changed my circumstances, and I no longer attended a bible teaching church and although I read fairly regularly, I was baffled by much that was in the bible. I listed many of my questions and put them in my ‘God bag’ and continued reading, but also found some good bible teaching preachers on tv—Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, Joyce Meyer. I gained some knowledge listening to Joyce Meyer who explained that the 40 years in the wilderness was because they continued to complain about their circumstances. Epiphany! I can complain and whine and be STUCK! And then that is continuing my poor circumstances. Eye opening! Oh, is that what part of the OT is saying? I had a clue, an opening…there were connections. . . . I had hope I could get some understanding! That was so exciting. So simple, and oh, there was so much more to the OT, but I had an opening.
And then the Holy Spirit went to work and started leading me to thicker formula in my baby bottle, now on to pablum, and then to cereal and then on to chopped meat and potatoes. My understanding was expanding. A prayer was being processed, and I was growing in the Word, my knowledge, and understanding were expanding. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He was now leading and guiding me so I could actually see! Hooray!
Oh, my goodness! What a relief! I had believed I was stupid for not understanding what I read frequently. It was so much; and how was this important to me and my life now?
But the Holy Spirit guides steadily and easily. . . goes at the pace each of us needs. We need to advance in our knowledge of God and what He wants for us. Yes, He wants us to adore and love and honor Him, but He wants us to become more like His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Since the Holy Spirit works at my pace of learning and understanding, sometimes I feel my growth has been so SLOW. But I have absorbed things. I know verses—not particularly where each comes form, but I can quote them, and know the context they were in. Some I remember because they might be vital for others, but most, I can recognize the words and thoughts, but not the chapter.
I will live a long, long life since we are not perfected until death; and I am a mess. A mess I can trace a lot of progress, but still, it looks like a mess. But, no matter when He calls, I am ready to meet my Maker. I hope I can carry my list of questions! Haha, I will probably fall facedown and just revere Him. Heaven, really, truly, I am here! Praises and praises!
Lord, there is a reason for the trinity. The three of You created the world and all we have and see, and it has been set that this part of the Holy Trinity will lead and guide and teach us the Way. Jesus promised the Advocate would come and guide and direct us and teach us, and YES, He does!
Thank You, God for your trinity; each vital for us to know and love and revere. Thank You for all You have done for ‘me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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