Holy Spirit

God, you are spirit. Spirit speaks with spirit. Thank you, Father, for your gift of the Holy Spirit. The Counselor, the Comforter, is essential in our walk with you. It is the Holy Spirit's ministry that leads us to discernment.

Countless are the believers' testimonies to a sudden rush of understanding upon praying to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior and LORD. As though night turns into day, the Bible takes on a meaning that was really always there but seemed shielded from awareness until the muddling veil is lifted by a confession of faith in Christ.

Father, the Holy Spirit is the one whom you spoke of from long ago:

"...I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you." (Proverbs 1:23)

"And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:27)

The LORD Jesus Christ himself, in the company of his disciples, spoke of the Holy Spirit:

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:16, 17)

"'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:38, 39)

The Holy Spirit serves as God's seal upon the believer, his deposit, his guarantee:

"He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Corinthians 1:21b, 22)

He fulfills an important role in God's grand scheme, in God's great redemptive plan:

"He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." (Galatians 3:14)

Great is the wisdom that the believer avails himself of through the ministry of the Holy Spirit:

"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him." (1 John 2:27)

Great is the joy that is revealed through the ministry of the Holy Spirit:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)

He ministers to the believer in prayer. He intercedes in the believer's behalf in dire times when it is difficult to express to the Father the innermost longings of the heart:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." (Romans 8:26, 27)

The Holy Spirit connects the believer to the heart and mind of God:

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."
(1 Corinthians 2:12)

The Holy Spirit is our spiritual "power outlet." We "plug into" him in order that we may rise above faintness of heart. He is the Spirit by whom we call God, "Daddy":

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." (Romans 8:15)

Hallelujah! Keep your children filled with the Holy Spirit, Father.

Let your children's worship rise to the heavens and fill your nostrils with the sweet aroma of our praises and thanksgiving.

For you alone are worthy.

In Jesus' Mighty Name, LORD, I pray. Amen.