Who is the Holy Spirit to you?

Who is the Holy Spirit to you?

John 16: 1-15

This essence of who God is and what He did must pour into us from Christ and then stream out of us so we can touch others with God’s love. This love is the definitive work of our God and the power we have as Christians. We are to be empowered by God’s love through all situations and circumstances. Then, we can practice the true love that we are given, which is the turning of our backs to what we want and our concerns and instead facing forward to others. This requires us to surrender our will to His.

Is He your Spirit of truth?

The Holy Spirit is the Supreme Interpreter of Scripture. He testifies about Jesus to us and to the world as real, authentic, true Truth—and nothing but the Truth! He even enables us to live out and perform Christ's teachings on His terms so we enabled to trust and understand Him and His call. He does not steer a true follower into interpretations that contradict His Word or fail to have logical consistency from the understanding, application and teaching of Scripture. The problem is our pride and will and lust for what we want that gets in the way. The good news is that His Word is here and available. God’s Truth is faith and reason that is intertwined and given to us and we are given the rational capacity to understand it and the ability to have faith and trust Him when we do not. He does not give us information or duty that we can’t understand or apply (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:12-15; Rom 1:21; 1 Cor. 2:9-12).

Is He your Guide?

This is not about science and knowledge; rather, it involves preparation for faith by His lead and command. We are to have a trusting and prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, for He inspired the Word in its inception and inspires us now in our understating and application of it. In fact, we can’t properly grasp or apply His Word without His guidance in it (John 14:26; 15:26; 2 Peter 1:21; Eph. 4:18; Rev. 1:19).

Is He your Truth?

This means the knowledge of who, why, and what concerning Christ, and it is true Truth. It is not bound to or by any human reason or tradition and can’t be corrupted; but we can misrepresent it (Psalm 25:5; 43:3; John 5:8; 14:6; 15:15; Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:1-8; 2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18).

Do you speak only what He hears?

The primary role of God the Spirit is to “showcase” Christ, never to point to Himself. The same goes for a servant of God; he/she is to point to Him, not to self. The distinction is pride. Does one point others to Christ wholly or to themselves? When a person or ministry emphasizes the Holy Spirit to the diminishment or exclusion of Christ, you will know they are false and not of God.

Do you bring glory to Christ?

The Holy Spirit will never ever draw attention to Himself; He only promotes the glory of Christ. If any preacher does or says otherwise, he is not of God! The plan and scope of creation and redemption center upon Christ as Creator, Savior, and LORD. Then the Holy Spirit brings Jesus’ teachings to us by the Bible and helps us understand it (John 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:4).

Our partnership with God though faith is demonstrated by substance and connection. It is confirmed in how we choose to live our lives and touch others for Christ. It shows how our character, from our spiritual formation, is applied. If we ignore our brothers and sisters in the Lord or those in the world who are in need while we boast we are in Him, what good is our faith? Our pious demonstrations would be ineffectual, and even detrimental to others. Faith is not a substance meant to stand unused; rather, it is to be employed and infused by Christ (Luke 3:21; John 1:32-34; 3:34; Acts 1-21 John 3:16-20)!

1. What would it mean to you to be more empowered by God’s love through all situations and circumstances?

2. How can you allow the essence of who God is pour into you, and then stream out so you can touch others with God’s love?