The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost depending on which version of the Bible you use) is a part of what is often referred to as the Trinity. You will not find the actual word Trinity in the Bible; however you will discover that the concept of the Trinity runs throughout the Bible. Trinity meaning that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the 3rd Person of the Trinity (God being 1st, Jesus 2nd and the Holy Spirit 3rd.) God is The Triune God (meaning 3 - one God – with 3 distinct personalities, or deities). At the Baptism of Christ we see all 3 persons. Christ the one being baptized, the Holy Spirit, descending “like a dove” and lighting upon Jesus, and God, the voice from Heaven. (see Matthew 3:16-17 & Luke 3:22) Scripture commands us to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (see Matthew 28:19). All 3 separate and yet one! A mystery that will not be fully understood this side of Heaven.
“Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) If you are a born again believer (born again - signifying accepting Jesus, and being symbolically buried by immersion in water and symbolically raised to new life (new birth) do not doubt you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. And as we delve further into the Fruit you will see evidence of this indwelling. Let’s begin to discover, to come to know the 3rd person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 tells us that the Fruit we are to bear is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. In other words The Holy Spirit is the producer, or Farmer of the Fruit. To have a better understanding our focus this week will be on some of the roles, or characteristics of the Holy Spirit. Did you notice the word some? There is so much to be learned about the Holy Spirit, that to discover all would be a study in itself. What we learn this week will only be the tip of the iceberg! There are 3 things I hope you will discover:
1. The Holy Spirit had an integral and active part in the life of Jesus. Beginning with His birth, through His ministry on earth, and finally in His death.
2. That as a result of the Holy Spirits interaction we have been adopted as heirs and are God’s daughters
3. That the Holy Spirit is alive and active in you!
The Holy Spirit is often thought of as being a New Testament entity, but He was very active in the Old Testament. There are well over 30 references to the “Spirit of God” in the Old Testament (i.e.…the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit had an integral part in the creation of the World. We are told in Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. Hovering or moved (KJV) in Hebrew means to flutter, move, shake. I like the way Beth Moore says it in her book Living Beyond Yourself “the Holy Spirit is acting in His role as Energizer, applying the power and energy of the Godhead to the act of creation.” (Can’t you just picture the Energizer Bunny as he keeps on moving, and moving - and keeps us going, and going, and going?)
Prior to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit did not indwell the hearts of all children of God. Less than 100 people recorded in all of the Old Testament had been filled with, or empowered by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore the Holy Spirit came and went as He willed. Scripture records that the Holy Spirit not only anointed Saul, but also departed from him. Take a moment and read Psalm 51:10-12 here you will see the repentant, pleading words of David after his sin with Bathsheba. David knew God’s Spirit was indeed a gift. He knew from the experience of Saul that he could lose the Spirit’s powerful presence. That was then….
Today, 1 Corinthians 3:16, & 6:19, tells us that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in us. John 14:16-17 tells us the Counselor, (the Holy Spirit), will live with us - and in us forever. And that the world cannot accept him, because the world neither sees Him nor knows Him. But we know Him, for He lives with us and will be in us. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God who blesses us in many ways. The Holy Spirit is our “living connection” to our ongoing relationship with God, the Father.
Happy Studying,
Next week: Fruit Collecting – Love is _____________
Your questions have been sent via email Sunday morning, July 6th. If you did not receive them please let me know.
Side note: I recently learned I have not received some of your emails. If you have sent me an email and did not get an answer, please know I did not receive it. I respond to all emails. Please resend it.
I understand some of you have had some computer and technical challenges. Hang in there with me and we will get them all worked out. It is just the devil trying to defeat the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives… Let’s not let him win.
Be Encouraged... Sandra
You may contact me at anytime with questions, challenges or just to share at justbetweenfriends@cox.net or 623.546.7913
ReplyDeleteIngrid
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how your new job is going?
I have decided to do each day on its own. I am not looking ahead to see what the questions for the next day are and it is amazing what I am seeing. For that reason, I will probably be blogging every day or so just so that I can keep it all straight in my head.
ReplyDeleteHere are my observations over the last couple of days:
1) For my own personal sanity (because I have pondered the Trinity to the point of losing sleep and concentration on anything else), I have decided that the Trinity is like a puzzle with three pieces. Each is very independent and separate and yet interlinked with the other to form one body. I honestly do not know if that is accurate but it works in my little finite mind.
2) It wasn’t just the miracles that Jesus performed. In EVERYTHING He did, the Spirit was present and working. So if Jesus, who is a piece of the Trinity puzzle, HAD to have the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill the prophecies, we need Him oh so much more!
3) I believe that there were many things that Jesus did not fully know about what His life and death would become before He began His ministry. When Jesus was baptized, He was given the full knowledge of what He would endure. He had known the steps He would need to take and had been taught what would happen. But when the Spirit came upon Him at the baptism, His heart and eyes were fully opened to the magnitude of what He would endure, on the cross and shortly before. In the same way, I believe that we may know about Jesus and God, but it is not until the Holy Spirit has come to indwell that our eyes are fully open to the awesome power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God.
I guess that is about it for now. I love, love, love this study!
Thanks for sharing... I can hardly wait to see your comments for the rest of the days. So glad you are enjoying the study.... encouragement to my ears.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I am a late commer I just joined ya all. I am excited to learn more about the fruit. I will be catching up with ya all soon. I have some Bible knowlege but I am excited to learn more. Thank you
ReplyDeleteYa all have a blessed day.
I got registered!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Fruity Tootie and Mary... glad to have you join us! Happy Studying
ReplyDeleteLove is a wonderful, understanding connection.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I just finished the final day of study. To say that this has been an eye-opening experience for me would be a gross understatement.
ReplyDeleteHere are my answers for the blogging questions:
1. One new thing you discovered regarding the Holy Spirit this week.
I discovered who He really is. My walk has been so focused on Jesus that I lost the fact that there is another very crucial part that I had ignored. I did not do this purposely but I did it nonetheless. My eyes have been opened to the role that the Holy Spirit plays in the Trinity. Its not that I didn’t know that He played a part in the Trinity, it’s just that I never realized the full extent of that role and how it pertained so intimately with my walk, my relationship, my hope, my desires, my prayers. Just everything. It also never occurred to me that He had the full ability to walk away. He has the same free will that I have and He has never used it against me or anyone else (John 16:13). WOW!!
2. Do you see evidence of the Holy Spirit working in your life? Why or Why not.
Oh yes!! I have been renewed in my faith. I have known the sweetness of having the Spirit move within me but to be honest, I never acknowledged from whom it was coming. He allowed me to remove Him from the picture and still moved in my life. But now, I feel Him moving and breathing over my life and in my heart. I have a fresh, alive spurt of growth that I want to nourish!
Love is a slice of Pecan Pie
ReplyDeleteLove is sacrifice
Dear- thatsmelovingJesus
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your insights. It appears the Holy Spirit is alive and active in your life. There is one thing I want to be sure you did not misunderstand from our lesson. It was only in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit came upon people and left people. We are promised in the New Testament that as a result of Christ’s death on the cross, and His resurrection /ascension into heaven that the Holy Spirit would come and dwell, reside, live in Christian Believers. Once He indwells us He does not leave us he will dwell with us forever. John 14:16-17. However we can quench the work of the Spirit in our lives in such a way that He is not active. “Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit.” 1 Thess 5: 19 the Amplified Version. We quench the Spirit by ignoring Him, by not surrendering our lives daily to his leading and by our disobedience to the Word of Truth, the Bible. Of course He does have the power to walk away, but because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and because God’s Word does not change we can find comfort in knowing the Holy Spirit will not leave us, even though He has the power to do so.
Hi ya all,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share the one thing I learned from our study on the Holy Spirit. I learned that I have the Holy Spirit in me and that it is known by the fruit of love, joy and such...not by the speaking of tongues. This is freedom for me.