I believe the most misunderstood and least discussed person in all of Christianity is The Holy Spirit. He is mentioned as an “it”. He is mentioned in passing, as an add on to the relationship with God, and in other ways. But there is a lack of detail and depth in what is written. In the 27 letters AKA the new testament, He is mentioned often. And there is a lot there to be aware of and comprehend. However, most “religions” shy away, as do their “preachers” and “Holy men and woman”, because their educational institutions and their creeds require a “hands off” and gently approach to discussing it or Him.
Mention The Holy Spirit in a sermon, and ears perk up a bit, and then the ,comparisons and criticism starts. There is arguing, debate, and a mysticism about Him that stirs the drink. And yet, no one drinks of it of Him. Tempers and words fade to tradition, and staying away from things that divide congregations and fellowships. Religious organizational leaders slap the hand of that preacher, and command no further sermons on that subject, or at least that all future sermons on the Holy Spirit have to be pre-aproved first.
And why is this? Well that is what this blog is all about. How did we get here, where are we now, and where should we be with The Holy Spirit in us. He is in me. When I discuss Him, I hear others say He is in the bible, you can be in His presence, He floats around us, He is with us, He is among us, or He is in this place or that. But what I don’t hear much of or at all, is that he is in them, in you, in me. A careful examination of the 27 letters, written by people who the Holy Spirit WAS IN, explains that experience and existence to be a vital part of their Relationship with Jesus and the Father. In fact it is essential that in order to be one with the Father, we have to Trust Jesus, and His Spirit, The Holy Spirit will come and make His home in us, in you, in me. We can know of Him, by learning, but we can Know Him, by Him being in us. The wind and the fire are part of that experience. This experience is intended and meant and designed for anyone and everyone would would place their complete Trust in Jesus. It isn’t earned, learned, deserved, or anything that you know. The best way I can explain it is this. Anyone who has had this experience needs no explanation. To those who have not had the experience, no explanation is possible.
You can call it whatever you want. Name it whatever you will. Pentecostal, Church of God, Assemblies of God, and a church or fellowship by any other name would be as fulfilled. For any church or fellowship or person that expects to have the Holy Spirit living in them, By faith, shall have Him. Why would Jesus have died for this purpose, just to one day say it isn’t necessary. Why, because we have scripture? Nope, that is what Jesus told the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin, and the religious leaders of the day. That is what he told his followers, by use of parables and sermons. But the distractions of the day, the world, the schools, the social and religious systems of the day distracted them from hearing His Truth. He knew He couldn’t argue, persuade, congole, or debate them into the truth. They simply didn’t have ears to hear or eyes to see what he came for. He had to die, to make all this possible. So the Father would send the Holy Spirit then, and He sends it now.
I know because He was sent into me, and lives there. I heard and received the mighty rushing wind. I did not know where it was coming from or where it was going, until it entered me at my feet, and flowed up through me, and came out of the top of my head. I was frightened at first, but half way through me I knew it was Jesus, and His Spirit in me. I simply surrendered to Him, to Jesus, and wrote this in my notes, “OK Jesus, you fight satan for me”. Then I heard the wind from directly above me, coming out of a clear blue sky, downward, through the oaks trees, and not rustling even one leaf. I was at work, taking a break, by the pool, as a maintenance man for a condominium association in Largo, Florida. I was 22 years old. At the same time He was filling me up with Him, I felt his Forgiveness and Love. It was total forgiveness for everything I had ever done wrong. It was total Love without conditions. It was complete, I was free.
The first thought in my mind was I had to tell someone. But I was alone. So I finished out my shift that day, headed home in my car. For some reason I picked up a hitchhiker, which I never do, or have done since. I just had to tell, someone what happened, so I told, him. He told me that he and Jesus had met and he threw away the key long ago. He and Jesus were mates ever since. I dropped him off, and I was thinking maybe he was an angel. But never sure.
When I got home I told my wife. She didn’t know what to make of it. She told me that was great or something like that and happy for me. I tried to tell others at church and friends, and they all had the same reaction. Great for me, but not necessarily for them. They didn’t understand it, or even know what to make of it. I told my religious leaders, and most said they thought I was trying to make them feel less, and actually ridiculed me, and told me to stuff it. Many debated even the expere4ince itself, and tried to convince me it was my imagination and tat it didn’t even happen. Or that something evil had deceived me. So over the years I have had pretty much these same reactions by just about everyone in my world. They have all said my experience wasn’t necessary for a Relationship with Jesus and to be “saved”. But I know it happened, and many other things have happened to me over the years of the Spirit. Amazing miracles, God working, and things I have actually seen.
So what do these words make rise up in you? Are you offended? Do you think I am a loon? Do you have so much time and energy and learning invested in being a disciple of Jesus that you don’t want all that to be meaningless, and a simple Trust in Jesus to be everything needed? Do you trust your knowledge of what you know of him to mean more and be more valuable than the Trust of the man Himself, that man Jesus? Or do you wonder of there is MORE to God than what you have been told, or made to believe? Are you offended that you have put a lifetime of study, obedience, humility, surrender (as much as you have been able) , worship, and time in prayer, and jealous of the experience of having Him in you to be so simple and pure? Everytime I have had this discussion among Christians and non Christians I get feed back that challenges the experience as not necessary, for that time and not this, jealousy, and the list of objections goes on almost forever.
What I write here is the Word of God, or it wouldn’t be posted. I have had a lifetime to live this, and I will not be silenced. I have witnessed every time the Holy Spirit has asked me to, or so I believe. But the simple fact is, there is far MORE to God than what most expect. There is MORE to God than just the scriptures and the 27 letters. He is Truth, and the Holy Spirit is our counselor, our friend, our comforter, our advocate to the Father, our Peace, our prophetic voice, our eyes and ears to the Truth. He is the LIVING WORD OF GOD. He is alive and speaks the Word of God every moment possible, fresh, new, for today, for you an d me, ion a trillion different ways, but with the same message. If Jesus was the Living Word of God, and if the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus in us, then how is the Holy Spirit not the Living Word of God? He is. And if the Living Word of God lives in me and in you, those of us who have received Him by the wind and the fire, how can we not speak the Living Word of God? We do. He is the power of God within us. Not to win a debate, our minds can do that. Not to convince someone to believe in Jesus, the demons do that and shudder. Not to sound like a great speaker, so that you can make any words spoken seem giant, mighty, wonderful, and from God Himself. Do not be deceived by false prophets, and those who speak as though they have the Holy Spirit and they do not. Flesh gives birth to flesh, and Spirit gives birth to Spirit. But do not be amazed that you cannot comprehend what I am saying here completely. Or that doubt creeps into your mind and heart. Some of that is good, since you should doubt what you have learned a bit, and lean not on that understanding. For our Father did not intend for us to have to understand Him, to Know Him. When you think about it, it sounds silly actually, doesn’t it? So how can anyone, young old, rich poor, educated and not, have this Relationship, become a child, and have those rights and have tat power of Him? Simple. He made it simple. Its only based on trust, something everyone has and can do. But not just any trust, a Trust that is worthy of God, one of complete honesty and surrender. One that pursue that oneness at all costs.
The Holy Spirit power cannot be silenced, He cannot be contained, He cannot speak something false, He knows when to speak and what to speak, and needs a willing servant of the Lord, in mind and heart, to do so. God waits to help those who ask, and the Holy Spirit serves the Father as each opportunity presents itself. Miracles are great, I have witnessed many of all kinds shapes and sizes. So much so that I have given up all pretense at predicting how God can and does work. Our journey to find God is constant and ongoing, and will never end until the day we are with Him in heaven. He draws us to Him, in ways we cannot comprehend or are aware. John 6:66 is a powerful and truthful teaching. Note the number 666. It is the only place in the bible I can see that his followers left Him, all but the few. Why, because of the hard teaching they could not accept. That being no one can Know God unless He draws them unto Him. Seek, knock, find. Search, with desire, not just curiosity or obligation. Want to Know Him more than anything else in your life. Talk to Him in that special way only you and He knows you mean it. Be as honest as you know how to be, and then be more honest with Him than you could have ever imagined. If you desire Him, He will draw you nearer to Him, and nearer, and nearer, and you will grow closer, and closer, and closer, no matter how distant you are now. During that process, when your heart is right before Him, expect it to happen, have faith, and it will happen, trusting Jesus and only Him. He will come and make his home IN YOU! Yes, you, it can and does happen.
And this Blog is dedicated to that purpose. To post the Truth, as the Holy Spirit within me asks me to post it. That each Word posted will meet you at your point of faith and search for God, and that it would draw you ever nearer to that moment when the two of you can be one. I can only be obedient to Him, and not to the world or people who would not believe He, The Holy Spirit, exists. Since He has been in me, I never grow tired of writing Him, sharing the Truths He gives me to share, never grow weary without Hope, because I know that He does not return void. That His Word does not return void. That means it always pursues, always perseveres, always accomplishes the task God has assigned to it, even though I have no idea what that is. The bottom line is this, He can exist within each and everyone of us, if we ask.