Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

 Ever wonder what the Holy Spirit looks like?

How acquainted are we with the Spirit of God?

 

 

Who is the Holy Spirit?

When I was young, we would say Holy Ghost.

My thoughts of ghost were always evil and bad.

Ghost and spirits are associated with Halloween;

scares and screams, haunted houses and graveyards.

None of these things could help me understand the Holy Spirit.

As I have gotten older (not old!),

I get a sense that most people don’t believe in spirits at all.

We have taken Biblical writings about spirits controlling people

and casting out of spirits as chemical imbalances and mental disorder.

I remember the bicentennial 1976;

we would talk of the “spirit of 76”.

The “spirit of 76” was a created feeling,

and it gave us energy and power

as we celebrated our freedom as Americans.

The word spirit is used in so many ways,

it is used to express pride at a pep rally

when we say they have “school spirit”.

Is a spirit something we create?

Is the Holy Spirit something we created in our minds

or is there more to it?

The study of the Holy Spirit is a very fascinating study;

one that will challenge any student in his or her thinking.

Jesus said, God is Spirit.  John 4:24

One of the largest theological debates

has centered around this matter of God and what He is like.

All agree that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The question is, the three in one?

Does God look like an egg where you can see

a shell, white and yellow yoke - the three makes one.

Or

God is like water.

Water can be seen as liquid, solid or vapor - 

one of three shapes.

No matter how you see God,

you have to recognize the Holy Spirit.

Although I can not answer the question today,

“Who is the Holy Spirit?”

I can hope to stimulate our thinking about the Spirit of God.

If the Old Testament revealed God the Father…

and the New Testament revealed God the Son…

and the Church age reveals God the Spirit….

We should give our attention to understanding

the work of the Holy Spirit that God had chosen

to accomplish His work in the day we live.

How well do you know the Holy Spirit?

What do you think He is like?   

Scripture Reading

John 4:21-24 NIV

21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman,

a time is coming when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;

we worship what we do know,

for salvation is from the Jews.

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers

will worship the Father in spirit and truth,

for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

24 God is spirit,

and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." 

Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV

14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Galatians 4:4-7 NIV

4 But when the time had fully come,

God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

5 to redeem those under law,

that we might receive the full rights of sons.

6 Because you are sons,

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

7 So you are no longer a slave,

but a son; and since you are a son,

God has made you also an heir.