Sunday, January 4, 2009

The Real Holy Spirit

Pastor Trent K. at Zion Baptist Church started a new series on the Holy Spirit this morning, & it had a real impact on me. More on that in a second...

I know that when I accepted Jesus as my Savior the Holy Spirit came to dwell within me, & he will never leave. God exists in 3 Persons: the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit, who each have distinct roles but are equally 1 God. Jesus, who is God's Son, & the Holy Spirit were both with God the Father at Creation. Before the day of Pentecost in the 2nd chapter of Acts, the Holy Spirit existed & filled certain people for certain tasks, but filling was only temporary. That's why David could write in Psalm 51:11 "...take not your Holy Spirit from me." Indwelling comes immediately upon receiving salvation through Christ, & it is permanent, at least for as long as we live on this Earth.

Pastor Trent pointed out that, as Jesus expressed in John 16:7, it is better that we are filled with the Holy Spirit than if Jesus were physically with us on Earth. When Jesus was physically on Earth he could only be in one place at one time doing his work, but when he ascended into heaven he could send the Holy Spirit, who is ever present with each believer & he works through us!
A most important thing to remember about the Holy Spirit is that he is here to point to Christ & to help Christians. When people claim to be performing miracles, etc. by the Holy Spirit, consider this: Who is getting the glory? When the Holy Spirit is at work the glory will always go straight to Jesus, not the person doing the miracle, not the place, not the miracle itself, not even the Holy Spirit--Jesus Christ alone is to receive the glory!
Satan masquerades as an angel of light, & sometimes he can heal people, too. He wants to distract glory from God, so don't be fooled.

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