Holy Spirit of God, Part 1

Holy Spirit, Francesca Battistelli
There's nothing worth more
That could ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your presence, Lord
I've tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone
Your presence, Lord

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence, Lord
Your presence, Lord

John 4:23-24: We strive to learn how to rightly divide God's Word into Truth, but, the majority of us do not walk, and worship God, in Spirit. Part of the reason we may have trouble worshiping in Spirit, is because we study about the Power of The Spirit, what it means to be filled with the Spirit, the Gifts of the Spirit, but, we hardly ever hear a sermon or study about the Spirit—Who He is? What He is like? We know the least about Him, of all the Trinity, and yet, it is The Holy Spirit we are supposed to be the closest to in this age; it is the Holy Spirit, that is in many ways, the most crucial to our Christian walk as Christ commanded us to walk. How do you give your heart, your life, your very soul to One that you know almost nothing about, and try to find intimacy and trust? Many churches, many Christians today, avoid talking about the Holy Spirit almost altogether, in any depth, often because we don't want to look and act fanatical, because there is so much error and hype around the Spirit today, and sometimes, because we just do not comprehend how closely and dependently we are supposed to be walking with the Spirit. We are going to take the time to learn all we can about Who the Spirit really is, about all He is supposed to be doing in our lives that We are not currently letting Him do, and we are going to try to look beyond all of the imbalanced views, and get a real picture of HOW we can Biblically have more of Him.
To truly understand who the Spirit is, our first realization needs to be this: The Holy Spirit is God. Many people see Him more like, "The Force" in Star Wars—here to do whatever we decide we need Him to do; like a Genie—we call when we need, heal when we need, info available upon request, like a smart phone, change people at our will. Herein lies much of the problem—when barking orders at the Spirit doesn't get us the results we feel it should, we give up, and question whether He still moves in us as He did in Scriptures. But Scriptures show that He is not a Force; He is God; every bit as much God as the rest of the Trinity; He was part of the Creation of our Universe from the beginning; He has moved in the hearts of prophets and kings of the Old Testament; He, is the author of the Scriptures that we are currently studying. Matthew 28:19, Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: the fact that God lives in us, does not give us access to a Genie; it rather, makes us the eyes, hands and feet of God on earth; so that we can listen for His leading, go where He chooses, do what He says, help where He needs. This is quite a different view from what most see as having the Spirit live inside us; and it is probably why, in our proud, self-sufficient state, there are few who are truly filled and controlled by the Spirit in them.
When Jesus came to earth, He was born as a Man, lived as a Man, and died as a Man; all God in Character, Righteousness, and Holiness, but His life was that of a Man, so that He may feel all we felt, be tempted, hungry, afraid, hurt, and suffer as one of us, yet, He did incredible things... How? Through the Power of The Holy Spirit, God, carrying Him through. Matthew 1:18, Matthew 3:16, Luke 4:18-19, Matthew 4:1, Matthew 12:27-28, Hebrews 9:14, Romans 8:11. So, in His earthly form, Jesus relied upon the Holy Spirit to be conceived, anointed, guided, empowered, and resurrected! He did this as an example to how we would be filled and used, saying we would do the same things when He was gone. If Jesus Christ, God Himself, relied upon the Spirit in His Earthly Ministry, why are we not completely dependent on the Spirit for our walk with Christ? Why do we live our lives only thinking about the Holy Spirit when we need something from God? He is not there as our servant, but as our God. Our total negligence of the most intimate, powerful, and purposeful Gift we could receive—God literally an intimate part of us is why we are walking in this world ruled by our sins, directionless, and having no real love for the lost or each other; and we will never live life with God as we see in Scriptures unless we begin to walk in the Power of Our God who has intimately joined with us. One of the biggest obstacles to being obedient to the Holy Spirit to trusting, listening, and following Him, rather than commanding Him is in truly accepting Him as a Person, and not a Force—a force can be manipulated, controlled, turned on and off.
John 14:15-17, 25-26: helper (comforter): The Holy Spirit is separate from the Father and the Son, and the Spirit is a Person, not a force; He is here to continue Jesus' ministry with us in an even deeper, more intimate way; that could not happen before Jesus made it possible with His sacrifice. John 16:7, 13-15: 1) The Spirit came and intimately shared every moment with Jesus Christ as He walked the earth, was crucified, and rose again 2) the Holy Spirit, though equal with God the Father and Son, is not into self-promotion at all. a) He prefers to remain nameless throughout Scriptures! (The Man behind the scenes, with no Glory) b) He gives His very existence in zeal and passion to lift up and Glorify Jesus Christ; out of total Love for Jesus and the Father, and the Unity they share. The Spirit knows that for us to love Christ and accept His sacrifice, is to love Him. As you draw close to, love, and know the Spirit more, He will simply push you to Glorify Jesus with more strength than you could on your own. 3) The Holy Spirit knows you more intimately than anyone on the earth—good, bad, and ugly. He has been with you in every good thing you've done. He has been with you every time you have said, done, and seen things you shouldn't. He has been with you in your pain, in your pity-parties, in your moments of worship. He knows you are flesh, knows your weaknesses, and loves who you are, no matter your failures; when you mess up in sin, it is The Spirit that longs jealously for your affection that has been given to something else. John 4:4-5.
It is not a mystical extended power from God that dwells in you; It is a Person; It is God Himself—with all the creativity, power, passion, love, imagination, grief, pain, and joy He has shown since the first day of Creation. He humbly, namelessly wants to comfort, guide and lead you to Christ, because the Spirit knows Jesus is the key to having you forever. He is in you, with all His hungry desire for those lost and hurting around you. In your sins, when you grieve Him, reject him, forget Him; He is still there in hope, with all His forgiveness and loyalty. It cost Jesus His life to make these vessels acceptable for His fellowship, and we have totally ignored Him; traded Him for a love of the world around us instead. When we think of the Spirit living in us, it is usually directed towards thoughts of Power, Knowledge, and Gifts of the ministry, but these gifts are all tools to be used for loving, helping and caring for others; for loving, worshiping, and serving God more perfectly—these things are only given if there is an overwhelming love and passion for God and others which brings a need for them naturally.
We can't even produce the desire or passion to love God more; only the Spirit can even do that. Turn yourself over to Him, and let Him do it through you; your only job is to yield to the Spirit that is in you. It is not a question of "How much of the Holy Spirit do you have?"; it is a question of "How much of you, does the Holy Spirit have?” If you claim to know and want Jesus Christ as your Savior, yielding your life to His Spirit which lives inside you is not an option, like so many of us consider it to be; it is a requirement—a command. 1 Kings 8:10-11, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The God that exists at the ends of this Universe, that He created with His own power and genius, literally has taken residence in you—to love, share, comfort, teach, lead and equip you.