Is being a Christian a real experience for you? Has it changed your life-style? Have you made the wonderful discovery of supernatural life? Or have you felt something is missing from your Christian life? Do you know the joy and power of the Holy Spirit? Are you a victorious, fruitful witness for Christ? If not, I have good news. You can be! Bill Bright
I had the blessing of spending an hour with Bill Bright in my office during the Billy Graham Crusade in San Diego./ My copy of his book, The Holy Spirit—The Key to Supernatural Living, has long been one of my favorites; I highly recommend it.
It was in his book that the questions in this quote caused me reflect on my relationship with the Holy Spirit. They made me ask myself if I was just living in the Holy Place, just one step past the Outer Court; at the foot of the Cross, just slightly beyond being saved. Have I failed to enter into His Rest?
God told the Israelites on many occasions that He would never leave them and those scriptures were a constant reminder to them of God’s promise. But how much more they mean to us in light of the incredible price Jesus paid on Calvary. The price that brought us His personal guarantee to dwell with each and every believer in the form of His Holy Spirit.
Heb 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Yes, God promised us that He would never leave us, but have we promised never to leave Him? Are we allowing the world with all its influences, temptations, and chaos to distract us from the very presence of the One who was sent to help us? If so, we’re taking a step in that direction. We need to read on to verse 6:
Heb 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is fully God, eternal, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is a person who is alive, has a will of His own, and can speak. But who, really, is He? For me, I discovered that He is far more than I ever realized or imagine. It all started when I began to make a list of who He is. Here are just a few to get you thinking:
- He is God – Gen 1:2
- He is eternal – Heb 9:14
- He is omnipresent – Ps 139:7-10
- He is a member of the Trinity – John 1:18
- He is the Spirit of God in man – John 16:7
After meeting Bill and reading his book I began to dig into God’s Word to discover just who He is. As a result, I wrote my book The Spirit-Filled Christian to open your eyes to the truth of who the One you invited to into your home.
To this day, the Holy Spirit continues to reveal Himself to me in new and exciting ways. I can’t express strongly enough that God’s power here on earth is embodied in His Spirit. Without the power of the Spirit we would be left in our own weakness to deal with the fallen world we find ourselves wandering through. But if we only view the Spirit in that capacity then we will never fully enjoy His presence.
We need to first and foremost understand that He is a “person,” and we have been invited to have a personal relationship with Him. This is the message of Revelation 2-3 that only the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia understood. Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea missed it completely and suffered as a result.
As you study the Word with an eye toward the Holy Spirit, I think you will discover that we have “greatly” underestimated the One we have been given.
Our first video is up on YouTube – Why Are There Storms in Life? Come and join us for a new challenge every Wednesday as we journey to spiritual maturity together.