Chapter 4

The Holy Spirit

            The Holy Spirit is not some inanimate creation of God that floats about the universe doing whatever God dictates. He is God. However, He is the instrument through which God accomplishes His will in the universe. Without Him, nothing would happen in our lives despite all that Jesus bought and paid for. We would not see our destiny come to fruition. Now let’s look at some of the ways we discover and obtain our destiny through Him.

At Work in Salvation:

            Gift:

            Given without measure:  

Luke 11:13
13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

John 3:34
34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

            First notice that the Holy Spirit is a gift. We don’t have to earn His presence in our lives. If earthly fathers give good gifts, then surely our Heavenly Father gives the good gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, notice that we have to ask. Now some believe that we receive the Holy Spirit at rebirth, and others that we must have a second experience (the Baptism in the Holy Spirit) in order to have the indwelling of the Spirit. Remember, we’re not going to argue over this. We are assuming that we do have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, whether it happens the moment we are born again or during a later experience. Of course in the first instance, there is usually not an asking for the Holy Spirit to be given. It is assumed that He comes in at rebirth.

            Finally, notice that we don’t just get a little dab of the Holy Spirit. He is given without measure. We have all of Him that we will ever need.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "For I have given you more than any earthly treasure. I have given you of My Spirit. It is He who will bring you into all the truth. This is the truth that will set you free … not the truth of the world, but My truth. You cannot survive without this truth. You cannot succeed without My Spirit. For it is He who will bring justice upon the earth and no one can escape His wrath. He is the one who will show you the way to go. He is the one who will be with you in all circumstances. He will guide you into the path of light for My name sake. Do not refuse Him. Do not refuse to follow His guidance. I could have left you alone, but I desired that you experience My presence through His indwelling. You cannot fail as long as you obey Him.”

            41. I have been given the Holy Spirit without measure as a gift. I wasn’t given just a little “dab”; I received Him in full. Because He was a gift, I did not have to do anything to earn this privilege.

Chapter 4

The Holy Spirit

            The Holy Spirit is not some inanimate creation of God that floats about the universe doing whatever God dictates. He is God. However, He is the instrument through which God accomplishes His will in the universe. Without Him, nothing would happen in our lives despite all that Jesus bought and paid for. We would not see our destiny come to fruition. Now let’s look at some of the ways we discover and obtain our destiny through Him.

At Work in Salvation:

            Gift:

            Given without measure:  

Luke 11:13
13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

John 3:34
34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

            First notice that the Holy Spirit is a gift. We don’t have to earn His presence in our lives. If earthly fathers give good gifts, then surely our Heavenly Father gives the good gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, notice that we have to ask. Now some believe that we receive the Holy Spirit at rebirth, and others that we must have a second experience (the Baptism in the Holy Spirit) in order to have the indwelling of the Spirit. Remember, we’re not going to argue over this. We are assuming that we do have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, whether it happens the moment we are born again or during a later experience. Of course in the first instance, there is usually not an asking for the Holy Spirit to be given. It is assumed that He comes in at rebirth.

            Finally, notice that we don’t just get a little dab of the Holy Spirit. He is given without measure. We have all of Him that we will ever need.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "For I have given you more than any earthly treasure. I have given you of My Spirit. It is He who will bring you into all the truth. This is the truth that will set you free … not the truth of the world, but My truth. You cannot survive without this truth. You cannot succeed without My Spirit. For it is He who will bring justice upon the earth and no one can escape His wrath. He is the one who will show you the way to go. He is the one who will be with you in all circumstances. He will guide you into the path of light for My name sake. Do not refuse Him. Do not refuse to follow His guidance. I could have left you alone, but I desired that you experience My presence through His indwelling. You cannot fail as long as you obey Him.”

            41. I have been given the Holy Spirit without measure as a gift. I wasn’t given just a little “dab”; I received Him in full. Because He was a gift, I did not have to do anything to earn this privilege.

Kingdom – priests to His Father:

Revelation 1:5-6
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—
6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

            I know the King James reads that we are kings and priests, but this is the better translation. We are a kingdom … His Kingdom which He rules over. It is not some ordinary kingdom. It is a Kingdom of priests. We are ministers unto the Father. We are able to be this because He released us from our sins by His blood. The priests could not come before God to minister to Him unless they had made a sacrifice for their sins. Jesus was the only sacrifice needed for us to come unto the Father to minister to Him. We need only confess our sins and come before Him with a repentant heart.

           

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I have not chosen you to be slaves. I have chosen you to be My children. As such, you are not some lowly creature. You are My chosen and anointed ones. You shall minister unto Me as the priests of old did. Only those of Aaron’s descendants were privileged to minister unto Me, but you can all be ministers unto Me. For I have chosen you to be special priests unto Me. No one can overcome you for you are My chosen priest who will reign with Me eternally.”

40. He has made us to be a Kingdom of priests to His God and Father. We should therefore behave in a manner befitting such people.

            Jesus has done so much for us. He has accomplished a lot for our destiny. He paid the price for us to obtain our destiny in God. If it weren’t for this, we would have little to look forward to in this life. But because of Him, we can go boldly through life trusting in what He did to supply all we will ever need to do whatever God asks us to do.

Aid those tempted:

Hebrews 2:18
18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

            We are all tempted. Sometimes it’s easy to resist. Sometimes it’s impossible without help. It’s “tempting” to say, “You’re God. You don’t know what it’s like to be tempted.” However, this verse says differently. Jesus, God in the flesh, was tempted. He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. He was tempted through the words of Peter who said, “No way is anybody going to kill you!” He was tempted in the Garden to call on the angels to rescue Him. He knows what it’s like to be tempted. And yet He resisted. Thus, He is able to come to our aid when we are tempted. Corinthians says that God won’t let us be tempted beyond what we are able to resist. We know it is not God’s will that we sin and that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears and grants our requests. So, we know that when we are tempted, we can call upon Jesus who will hear and help us to resist the temptation.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You cannot succeed in life without Me. You cannot be an overcomer without Me. You will fail in life without Me. I know the way, for I have been there before you. You can never come upon anything that is too difficult for you; for I have been there and have succeeded. I will show you how to succeed if you follow Me. I did not fail, and neither will you provided you follow My example. I will guide you into the truth as you follow Me; for My Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.”

            39. When I am tempted, I am not alone in my struggle against that lure. He is there to aid me in not yielding to that enticement.

Not walk in darkness – light of life:

John 8:12
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

            Some people are afraid of the dark. They imagine all kinds of bad things are lurking there waiting for them. When we follow Him, we don’t have to be concerned about the darkness because where He is, there is light. This light is not just to show the way, it is the Light of life. We have life when we follow Him.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "Follow Me, My children and you will walk in the light of My Will. You will never stumble if you walk in My Will. It is the safest place for you. You cannot fall, and you cannot fail if you follow Me. I will guide you into all the places of safety if you walk in My light. There is a time of great darkness coming upon the world, and those who do not walk in My light will stumble and fall. As long as you walk in My light you will never fall.”

            38. Because I am in Him, I will no longer walk in the darkness of the world system, but will freely walk in the light of His life abiding in me.