Let us REVIEW...

Who is the Holy Spirit?
- Holy Spirit is a real person and not just a "POWER" but is also a DIVINE person - GOD
- He indwells people at the time of conversion-and wants to fill us so that He can work out God's (His) plan for our lives.

What does He Do?
we looked at a long but not exhaustive list of the Holy Spirits work in
-O.T.
- Jesus
- Scripture
- Lives of the born again

His REQUIREMENTS
Let us discuss what is required for Him to do His work through us. And the results that we can expect: FRUIT and GIFTS

Eph 5:18
- Imperative this is a command and NOT optional
- Present tense rules out a "once and for all" filling points to a continuous replenishment... Literally go on being "Filled" a daily hourly even process.
- Passive We can not do it for ourselves.  We can REJECT it, but we can not make it happen that is the Holy Spirit makes it happen.

SO, we are commanded to cooperate with the Spirit in a  continuous process where- in He fills our lives.

IMPORTANT to realize that GOD does not command something that is unimportant- or that is NOT possible. Yes, it is IMPORTANT that every child of God takes this command to heart.

Unfortunately there is little evidence of the majority of church members being filled with the Spirit at this time in history.  The question is what am I going to do about it.... (AH the reason for this blog...)

more to come...

What does the Holy Spirit do - Continued

We are taking a look at the person of the Holy Spirit and at this point going through a list of What does the Holy Spirit do for Christians. continued...

- Searches all things Rom 11:33
- Reveals the future Luke 2:26 and Acts 21:11

Now that we have a list and by no means is it exhaustive we can firmly see the the Christian life and experience depend on the Holy Spirit.  If I get nothing else from this study let me understand and be sensitive to the fact that the Holy Spirit is God and that unless He is directing our lives we are nothing.  Service that is not directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit is useless.  Any attempt to live a life that is victorious and pleasing to God is fruitless. Let us earnestly seek the control of the Holy Spirit every day of our lives - and then we will find our lives will be fruitful and Joyous.

I Corinthians 2:9-14
No eye has seen, No ear has heard, No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those that LOVE Him - But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things even the deepest 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, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is God that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing Spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Sure sounds like what the modern world is throwing at Christians today!

May God Bless all who seek to know Him TODAY!
AMEN

What does the Holy Spirit DO...

D. With respect to All Christians:

- Convicts of sin and righteousness n 16:7-11
- Bears a part in the salvation process Jn 3:5-8
- Baptises into the body of Christ 1Cor 12:13
- Indwells Christians Eph 5:18
- Fills Christians with secret power of JOY 1 Cor6:19-20
- Comforts Jn 14:16-17
- Sanctifies 2 Thes 2:13
- Strives with sinners Gen 6:3
- Strengthens Eph 3:16
- Power to witness Acts 1:8
- Guarantees our salvation Eph 1:13-14
- Brings forth fruit Gal5:22-23
- Reproves Jn 16:8
- Helps our infirmities Rom 8:26
- Teaches Jn  14:26
- Guides

More to come...

Our Connection to God

We pray to God the Father by virtue of the finished work of God the Son and in the POWER of God the Spirit! There are many more scriptures that point to the Divinity of the Holy Spirit - and to the unity of the God-head.

What does the Holy Spirit Do?

Well I am only going to cover some of the more prominent things as He is God and who can even fathom all that He does.

1. I won't spend a whole lot of time in the Old Testament as it is filled with references to the Spirits work.  He was involved in creation and he came upon filled and empowered individuals to do their work in God's plan.

2. Now in the New Testament - Which is directly relevant to our experience today?

A. With respect to Jesus:
- Birth was a miracle that was performed by the Holy Spirit (matt 1:20)
- In dwelt Jesus while Jesus was on earth (Lk 4:1)
- Bestowed on Jesus the power that He needed while on earth (Acts10:38)
- Empowered Jesus to offer Himself without sin as our saviour. (Heb 9:14)
- Glorifies Christ (Jn 16:12-14)
- Brings words of Jesus to our remembrance (Jn 14:26)

B. With Respect to scripture:
- Inspired scripture and gives wisdom and understanding of God's word. (1Cor 2:6-16) Eph 1:17,18, 2 Tim 3:16 2 Pet 1:21...

Rom 8:9 Says that, if He does not indwell in us, we are not a Christian! So He is an integral part of every Christians life.

C. With respect to ministers
- Gives the gift of service 1Cor 12
- Appoints and sends ministers Acts 13:2-9
Directs where the gospel should be preached Acts 16:6 ff
- Instructs what to preach 1 Cor 2:13 not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit

More to Follow...

Holy Spirit : Divinity

DIVINITY

The Holy Spirit is not only a person he is a Divine PERSON - He is GOD!

This of course raises the issue of the Trinity and we have all sorts of problems getting our limited minds around it.  I confess that I can not fully comprehend how there can be three distinct persons but one and the same God.  These three according to scripture are the same in substance and equal in power and glory - One God subsisting in three persons.  This is tough to grasp, because of our limited frame of reference and we are frequently accused of worshipping three Gods.  However, while we can not fully comprehend the idea of the trinity, we can do three things:
1. Find abundant scriptural reference to His Divinity
2. See that He is linked in an equal relationship with the father and the Son
3. Experience His presence and power in our lives.

Consider just a few of the scriptures MT 28:19 , Acts 5:3-4 , Heb 9:14 , Jn 3:5-6 , Matt 12:28 , Ps 139:7-13 , ICor 2:10 , Rom 15:19

Billy Graham put it this way: The Father is the source of all blessing, and the Son is the channel of and blessing and it is through the Holy Spirit at work in us that all truth becomes living and operative in our lives...

More to follow...

Holy Spirit is a Real Person

Old saying "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck then it probably is a duck"

So, If the H.S. has the characteristics and attributes of a person- then He is a person.  Here are some of the more prominent scriptures on this subject. Mt 28:19 , Acts 5:3-4 , Heb 9:14 , Jn 3:5-6 , Mt12:28 , Acts 7:51 , Acts 8:29 , 1 Cor 6:19-20 Jn 16:13 , Jn 14:26 , Rom 8:26 , Jn 16:8

1. When the Bible refers to the H.S. it always uses the personal pronoun.  Clearly the inspiried writers regard Him as a person (not an IT).
2. He has an intellet - He thinks and reasons: I Cor 9-14
3. He has feelings: can be grieved Eph 4:30, can be vexed Is 63:10, can be tempted and tested Acts 5:9
4. He has a will and makes decisions 1 Cor 12:11
5. He interacts with people in a personal way:Guides - jn 16:13, Teaches Jn 14:25, Comforts strengthens and encourages Acts 9:31, helps and interceeds Rom 8:26-27, Reproves convicts of sin Jn 16:8, can be resisted Acts 7:51, Instructs and directs ministries 1Cor 2:13, finally he dwells with the saints I Cor 619-20

He has intellect emotions and will- all characteristics of personality

More to follow...

Personality of the Holy Spiri

Personality of the Holy Spirit

It is critical that we be absolutely sure that the H.S. is a Divine Person and not an IT!  He is God!

Most of us acknowledge this but have you noticed that even mature Christians sometime slip into referring to Him as IT - or as some sort of power sent by God!  i know that I get confused and have referred to Him as the power of God sent to be with man.

This is a grave error and we must be sensitive to avoiding it.  An illustration of the problems associated with the wrong appreciation of His person hood is this: If the H.S. is only the power (an IT) the logical question is how can I get more of IT.  This does not sound bad on the surface but it is a fatal mistake.  Scripture makes it absolutely clear that the real question is "How can He have more of ME?"  The answer to this question will determine the quality and effectiveness of our entire Christian Experience.
A basic explanation for our lack of influence for Christ is that we don't seek to be owned by the Holy Spirit. See what takes place in Acts 8:9-24

More to follow...

The Person of the Holy Spirit

All Christians appear to know something about the Holy Spirit, but when we get down to the fundamentals too many of us don't have a really clear understanding.  We often hear references to the H.S. but we don't often spend much time in concentrated study about Him.  He does not receive nearly as much attention as the Father and the Son.

Why do I need to know this subject?  Here are three reasons!
1. Need to frequently review any subject to keep it fresh and vital in our experience, and not be buried in our minds.
2. Scripture is clear that we not only need to know what we believe but also why we believe it.
3. A correct relationship with the H.S. is the key to the quality and effectiveness of a christian experience.

 The Holy Spirit is a DIVINE Person, not an IT. He is GOD!
more to follow...

Table Talk

I enjoy the breakfast table visits with dad....

Here is a sample of a mornings talk at the table....

So.... say you're going to write a best seller it is going to have the good guy. It's also going to have the really evil guy... Yes there are going to be other villains that will be weaved in and out of the story but ultimately good defeats bad if you are to have a best seller.... (Good premise) So now you open the New Testament.... Here you have the birth of the GOOD guy Jesus.... then there is a villain Hared who chases Jesus to Egypt where the greatest library in the world is (himmmm would make for a good upbringing for a child prodigy that has a bucket full of gold frankincense and Mir.) Our hero lives a life of obscurity for 30 years and then shows up on the scene to pick followers. His band of merry men will carry on his teachings. He says things like 'if it were not so I would have told you.... and I have other flocks that you nothing about.... We see that he is especially hard on the Jewish church leaders who have found ways to live above the people that they are to serve. Who also were the rich at this time in Israel (mainly crooked tax collectors and the "clergy".) Jesus had a real hate for them, yes the Romans were villains and Jesus comment was 'give unto Caesar what is Caesars but give unto GOD what is Gods.' So...who was the true villain we would have to see that it was the purse holder of his own group. Judas had been looking after Jesus money for 3 years and he saw that it was disappearing. Jesus knew Gods plan and it did not include making Judas a wealthy man and when Judas was going to be exposed as a wealthy man he betrayed Jesus with a kiss... now doesn't that seal the deal. Today look around at the wealthy religious leaders who are the ones making bank on writing theological letters like Peter and Paul but they are charging for every letter or book they write today...or those that are running multi million dollar churches and organizations and have planes and mansions to live in.... Why some of the most perverse people in the world are the child molesting priests that are hidden in the cloth of the catholic church.... and now with the allowance of preachers to be homosexuals.... why the church in Africa is sending missionaries to the united states to tell us if that is our practice then we are no longer followers of Jesus' teachings and need to be saved.

Some things just need to be thought about....