The Holy Spirit introduces Himself

Most of you may have heard about me and I suspect some of you have even read books about me and have thoroughly studied my actions. I am glad that you do not deny my existence and I am grateful for the special place that I have received in your life.

Strangely enough, the fact that I live in your house does not mean that you know me personally. For many people, I am unfortunately no more than a mystery guest. That saddens me because I want more. I want attention!

Simply, because it is the Father's plan that you and I develop a close relationship. Your pastor knows about this, because every week he sends you home with the blessing from 2 Corinthians 13:13, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. By that fellowship (unity) He means the community or intimacy that should be between the two of us and other believers. Perhaps your reluctance to have this intimate relationship with me stems from the fact that we do not communicate so often.

It has come to my attention that many of you have a somewhat distorted image of who I am. In fact, I have even heard that some spread rumors of me being a mystery, rather vague and somewhat elusive. I have no idea where such ideas come from, but I do think that people have developed a certain opinion about my personality based on metaphors.

Yes, on comparisons that describe me as a fire, wind, a dove, or heavenly power. Those comparisons are certainly true, but that is not who I am. That is just what I can be compared with. Just as Jesus is not a vine, piece of bread or water well, those are comparisons that say something about who He really is.

Even though I was personally sent to the earth by Jesus Christ, when He sat down at the right hand of our Father, that was not my first trip. I was here from the very beginning. You can read in the Bible how my presence affected creation, how I empowered people to do extraordinary things, and how I was present at the conception of the Son of Man. All those stories about the past are powerful of course, but to be honest, my current position is crucial for today's church.

I know about your difficulties and struggles and I know sometimes you wonder where it will end up with all those empty pews and church buildings. But let me encourage you: if you don't stop or restrain me, you'll see great things happen.

I am the helper, comforter and teacher and would appreciate it if you would come to me with your questions. I will show you the way to the complete truth. I will convince you of sin and justice. I will dare to tell you things about the future and will always honor Jesus in everything I do. Moreover, I will bring back to you every word that Jesus has ever spoken, for that reason alone you should desire to get to know me better.

To be honest, I don't know if it is necessary to entice you even further, but I would still like to give you some gifts, spiritual gifts. Those gifts are freely available and it is my desire that they will visibly work in you, for the benefit of the common good of course.

You can reach me by calling me by one of my beautiful names. Yes, I have many names, just like the Father and the Son. Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Christ, Holy Spirit of Promise and Eternal Spirit to name but a few. Let's agree that you no longer call me mysterious, foggy, or vague. On the basis of mutual respect, I am happy to enter into a close friendship with you. Listen, I am calling you by name!

Prayer for your area

In my previous blog post I wrote about Prayer for the Nations, a prayer group we set up years ago. Besides this group, where we focus on nations and people groups, we have also started a prayer meeting where we specifically focus on our region.

This group came into existence about two years ago when we were praying with a group of family and friends for my brother-in-law, who was very ill at the time. When He went home to be with the Lord, we decided to continue the prayer meetings and shift the focus to regional prayers.

We come together once a month and we pray for towns and villages, for the mayor and political parties, for the churches and healthy leadership.

We are small in number (10-16 per evening), but we pray with people from various denominations (such as Dutch Reformed, Evangelical, Pentecostal etc.). We share communion and we thank the Lord for what He is doing in our region: Alpha courses, prayer meetings, adding new believers, starting up new churches, vacation Bible schools and much, much more.

We thank Him for His healing and saving power and the testimonies we hear in our region. It is so encouraging to come together in this way and focus on His promises. We always get words and impressions from the Holy Spirit to share with each other. I write everything down in a special notebook, so we will know when certain prophetic words will come to pass!

Corporate prayer will not replace personal prayer, but it certainly strengthens the bond we have as believers.

Prayer WILL change this world.

If you're not involved in a specific group, may I encourage you to start a prayer group?

The Holy Spirit ABC (2)

In my previous post we have seen how the Holy Spirit came to replace Jesus here on earth because Jesus went back to the Father in heaven. It was better for the believers that it happened this way. If there is one thing we learn from this event, it is that God is one, yet three. The concept of the Trinity is hard to understand for many people, maybe due to our Western way of thinking. In the Hebrew language however, it is a common principle; the word echad (one) is being used  to describe a unity consisting of different parts.

As human beings we are made in the image and likeness of God, three and yet one. Spirit, soul and body and yet one human being. Think for instance about the following example. We can cry inwardly and feel depressed, but outwardly we can look cool. Soul and body work differently, but they cannot be separated. So it is with God. When Jesus was on earth He only did what He saw the Father doing, they talked with each other often. The Holy Spirit now lives inside the believers, but tells us only what He hears from the Father, they listen to each other. In this way they each do their own work , but they cannot be separated.

In John 14:26 Jesus says: 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. The Holy Spirit has specific functions here on earth. One of these functions is that He will teach us everything. He is our teacher. What good is it to have a teacher that we never talk with, that we never ask questions and that we do not know personally? That wouldn't work in any school or college. It would be difficult to attend  classes with interest and to learn from such a teacher. Communication is the key word, especially with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. If we never talk with Him, we will not get to know Him.

Getting to know Him better is what the Bible calls the 'fellowship with the Holy Spirit'. More about that in the next post. For now I would like to encourage you to ask the teacher some questions. I am sure we all have questions about the Bible, about certain scriptures or stories. Take a cup of coffee, sit down and ask the Holy Spirit (who lives in you if you are a child of God) to give you wisdom and insight. He will do this, He longs to do this. Let me know whether He helped you or not...