Hosanna Restoration Church

I was reminded as I listened to a man speak of the Holy Spirit, that He is a person. The Holy Spirit is not an it or a thing; He is God. The word of God makes this very clear but there is still that tendency to make Him somewhat of a mystery. Jesus Himself spoke these words from the Gospel of John as He prepared the disciples for life after He was gone from their presence. Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would come and reveal all truth to them. We are foolish to think that we can know the truth without the Holy Spirit showing it to us. We may hear about and know about the truth, but we really do not know the truth until the Holy Spirit shows us.

Jesus also told them that it was in their best interest for Him to go away. He told them that they would do greater things than He did after He went to be with His Father. He explained that He would ask the Father and that the Father would send the comforter to be with them. Who was the Comforter? He was the same comforter that came upon Jesus and led Him into the wilderness. He is the same comforter that empowered Jesus through His ministry. That is why Jesus said that they would do greater things that He did. Jesus was a living example of what man could do empowered by the Holy Spirit and because He went to the Father, it is possible now for multitudes to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus could only be in one place at a time. When He left He told them to go throughout the world and do the mighty works of God. But first they were to wait until the Holy Spirit empowered them.

When you think of the comforter, what do you imagine? I heard a man who illustrated the comforter with a story about his wife buying a comforter for their bed. He said he was looking forward to enjoying that comforter, but when he went to bed it was not on the bed. When he asked his wife about it, she said it was not to sleep under it was for show! He said that many people do that same thing with the Holy Spirit. They never put to use what He was sent to the earth to do. The devil has done his best to convince people to leave the Holy Spirit on the shelf. But if we believe what Jesus said, we must receive the Holy Spirit and walk in His power. When Jesus breathed on the disciples and told them to receive the Holy Spirit, it was a command. He said that without Him they could do nothing. The Holy Spirit is God continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ in, around, and through, everyone who will walk in the truth. He is the Spirit of Truth. If we will allow Him, He will reveal the truth in all circumstances, and the truth will make us free. He will always remind us of all that Jesus promised. He is the one who will guide us and show us the way as we walk in this life. He is the one who will heal, deliver, protect, provide, and save all who call on the Name of Jesus. He is the one that draws people to the truth and bears witness that God forgives sin and that through Christ they can have life. May God do a new thing in all of our lives. Not by might or power but by His Spirit.