One of the most convicting times of my life was years ago when I was teaching a group on Sunday mornings and we came to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I’m embarrassed to say that I was growing increasingly frustrated with this group because they were not putting into action what I was teaching. I’d teach them about the extent of God’s knowledge, but they’d remain anxious about what “comes next” in their lives. I’d expound on God’s power to overcome, but they’d fret about whether their situation was too dire for God.

I was stymied as to why things weren’t clicking. Then, as I prepared to teach about the Holy Spirit, it all became clear. In my prideful naivete, I assumed that if I just got the content in their heads, then everything would move forward biblically. But when had that ever worked in my own life?! No, I was not liberating this group in the freedom of the Gospel, rather I was putting them in bondage by giving them knowledge with no spiritual power. The missing power was an understanding and relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Just think: if you are a believer then you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit who convicts you of your sin, gives power for spiritual living, prays on your behalf, anoints your work for the kingdom, gives you a gift to equip/empower the local body of believers, and more. In the Old Testament, it seems the general thought was that if you wanted God’s presence, then you need to get to the temple or to a prophet. But now, you have a divine person of the Trinity dwelling in you always. You are, literally, the presence of God for those you interact with.

I pray you don’t wait decades like I did to get to know and interact with the Holy Spirit. I implore you to take some time to study the Bible regarding the person and work of the Holy Spirit. And I pray you develop those spiritual habits, daily, that keep you  “in tune” with the Holy Spirit’s action in your life.

Resources?

“Who is the Holy Spirit?” from gotquestions.org

“What does the Holy Spirit do?” from gotquestions.org

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster