Spirit, Soul & Body Part 4Օրինակ

Receive the Holy Spirit

Reflection

Now that you’ve read these passages through, get a piece of card or a notebook and write down from memory the things that stand out to you. Things that you were drawn to, as though someone was placing the magnifying glass on the message or amplifying the sound of the message.

Once you’ve done this, read them again and pray. Thank God for His Spirit, asking him to uncover more of what he is saying to you today.

Introspection

Some people have a view that God is like an evil headmaster with a cane, waiting to catch them out doing wrong. This is not who God is.

Some people have a view that God is like a distant relative who doesn’t have much of a relationship or impact on the wider family. This is not who God is.

Some people have a view that God is like the main man in Big Pharma who has a cure for an itch but is not willing to release the medicine to bring about relief. This is not who God is.

Who God is, is Love!

There is no other faith system on the planet whose God is a God of love!

This is significant. It sets Him apart as a personal, relational God as opposed to an abstract, distant, impersonal deity.

God loves you so much.

Jesus revealed who the Father is and when the time came, the Spirit of God - Holy Spirit - was poured into our hearts so that we could know him today: a God who empowers and is not looking to punish; a God who has made us one with him and has not left us distant from Him; a God who does not withhold his love or his presence from us but has made his home in us.

Jesus came and humbly brought the correct image of the Father and humanity to us. He did not act forcefully and arrogantly. He came as a servant-king, although he had every right to parade like a knight on a white horse.

Today, we have received the right, the invitation, and the liberty to ask God for the filling of the Holy Spirit, trusting in the One who gives good things to those who ask him, in order that heaven's touch is known through His baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Application

Join with millions of other believers who over the centuries have invited God’s Spirit to make Himself real to them. This is an invitation to receive God’s revelation and a greater awareness of His Spirit - present, near and at work in you.

Begin to pray prayers filled with thankfulness for who God is, who Jesus is, and ask for His Holy Spirit to overflow through you right now.

Know that there is no formula or ‘correct’ experience that you “should” have - just be expectant for God.

How might this look? You might know a deep peace. You may laugh with tears of joy. You might sense a weight lifted off you. You might cry. You might be drawn to lay down in the presence of Jesus the King. You might not feel any emotion and just a sense of calm.

There really is no formula.

Holy Spirit does not possess us. He touches us and speaks to our Spirit and always reveals the person of Jesus.

So, begin to pray prayers filled with thankfulness for who God is, who Jesus is, and ask for His Holy Spirit to overflow through you right now.

There is no formula or ‘correct’ experience that you “should” have - just be expectant for God.

Make a note in your diary of this God-instance, or mark in your calendar a recurring event to remind you next year of what happened on this day. Tell a friend, tell your leader, tell your pastor. Thank Father God. Tell your non-Christian friends about your experience and what has happened for you. Whatever you do, don’t see Holy Spirit as a moment-man; He is far more than ‘moments’. God uses moments, but God is constantly present in you.