The Holy Spirit

The Holy Trinity is made up of three beings: God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It seems that each member is talked about today, but the Holy Spirit is often just forgotten. Many Christians do not fully know the purpose or the power of the Holy Spirit, or how this being is still relevant today. If you research the Holy Spirit a little more closely, you will see just how important He truly is in our daily lives. He is mentioned 312 times in the New Testament. Those mentions are not there to just be ignored. Luke 12:10 states that anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. It even goes on to say that one can blaspheme the Son and be forgiven, but not the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28,29 & Matthew 12:22-32). He must be a pretty important being for this to be said of Him by Jesus Christ. 

So, what does He do for us today? 

Christians are filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Upon baptism the Spirit enters us, and gives us the access to His blessings (Acts 2:38 & Acts 11:16-18). From then on the Spirit stays with us daily. Romans 8:26,27 - "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows that mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will (NIV). The spirit is with us when we pray. He helps us to know what to pray for and searches our hearts to make our requests known of God. Wow! Its amazing to think that He is there to help us pray. Sometimes, even if we don't know what to say, I believe the Spirit is telling God without us even knowing that it is happening. 

This spirit knows our thoughts and our needs. 1 Corinthians 2:10b,11 - "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." The Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God. 

The Holy Spirit is not only with us during the times mentioned above, He is with us at every moment. He is with us and aids us in our repentance (Titus 3:4,5).He gives us each our own spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4). He helps us know what to say when we are speaking to someone about the will of God. Jesus tells his disciples that when they are charged by the councils, not to worry about what they are going to say because the Holy Spirit will be speaking through them (Matthew10:20). Ins't that comforting? To know that the Spirit speaks through us when we cannot decide what to say. I've seen this first hand before when replying to someone who had questions about salvation. My answer just came out. I didn't even think. I had answered spot on and I was proud of myself, but it wasn't me who answered. It was the Spirit through me. Other great examples of the Holy Spirit speaking through us are found in Mark 13:11 & John 14:26. 

Jesus had to go home, but it is so amazing that He left us with the Holy Spirit to help guide our steps. 1 Corinthians 6: 19,20 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Immediately after this verse, Chapter 7 goes into a discussion on marriage and sexual immorality. This leads me to believe that honoring God with your body is referring to honoring him by being sexually pure and not participating in sexual immorality. If the Holy Spirit is with us always and lives within our bodies, then He is also with us during those times as well. We need to be respectful of ourselves and of Him. Sexual immorality is a sin against our own bodies. 

Galatians 5:22 lists the fruits we are given by the Spirit. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of these character traits, as they are often called, come from the spirit. He gave them to us. If we live by the Spirit, we have these traits and please the Father. This proves that all Christians are capable of possessing these fruits. We have no excuse not to love, not to have joy, not to have peace, and so on. 

Isn't there comfort in knowing that someone so powerful is with us every step of our journey? Someone who stayed here on earth when Jesus went to Heaven? He is with us. He gives us the words to speak. He will also give us the words to speak on the day of judgement. He helps us give an answer. He helps us in our prayers. He gives us gifts and helps us live the life according to God's word. He is not just a Ghost people often fear. He is a living, dwelling being and He is here specifically for you. I don't know how I did not know all of these things about the Spirit my whole life. To me, he was another part of the Holy Trinity. I had no idea what he did or how to have a relationship with Him, but now I do. Through this study I have developed a new respect for the Spirit. I now know that He is there for me and with me all the way. We need to talk about Him more, and let others know the importance of his love. 


Thank you for reading and sharing,