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I apologize in advance for the lack of sophistication as regards how to pose/frame this OP. Once again: any and all analogies are welcome. Subtleties are good; scriptural passages are okay; easy-to-understand answers are better! In particular, I guess I am wondering:
I apologize in advance for the lack of sophistication as regards how to pose/frame this OP. Once again: any and all analogies are welcome. Subtleties are good; scriptural passages are okay; easy-to-understand answers are better! In particular, I guess I am wondering:
-What is it?
-What does it do?
-What is it's purpose?
-How do you all "identify" it?
With gratitude in advance:
Take gentle care.
Great question!
Too early though to formulate a coherent response though.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. ( until it has a quart of coffee )
This is hard to articulate. Scripture can only be used to provide evidence of the existence of the Holy Spirit, not to prove it.
Most Atheists challenge it as the voice-in-your-head and in part that is true. The next challenge is why then do we see or cannot agree on certain things, ironically, that is exactly what the church tries to do, place it in a box.
As each one's revelation is unique aka born-again experience, so to is the revelation of the HS to each individual. Each of us are unique in God's eyes and thus it is fair to assume that God treats each of us as individuals.
In essence the HS is the one who reveals and teaches the deeper parts of scripture and reveals the Father to us. Even folk here that do not agree 100% with me, we can agree on much. There are times when the HS places stuff on your heart that if analysed is illogical yet when one is obedient to the prompting, later one does see the final outcome.
I can only share an example here.
A friend of mine left the town and moved to another city. His wife needed a hysterectomy I was unaware of despite numerous conversations. One day while travelling I distinctly remember the HS prompting me to give money to them, he was unemployed and she had a job that barely put food on the table. I phoned him and asked for his account number.
He related that they had prayed for help the previous night and the money I paid into their account covered the Op and there was enough left over to buy groceries for the month.
I apologize in advance for the lack of sophistication as regards how to pose/frame this OP. Once again: any and all analogies are welcome. Subtleties are good; scriptural passages are okay; easy-to-understand answers are better! In particular, I guess I am wondering:
-What is it?
-What does it do?
-What is it's purpose?
-How do you all "identify" it?
With gratitude in advance:
Take gentle care.
Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Galations 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
The Holy Spirit is the resurrected Spirit of Christ within us.
you mean WHO is it. well, I have a verse that will answer two of your questions at one time. this verse will tell you who and what his purpose is.
Jesus speaks to his disciples....John 14:16 - and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter,that he may abide with you forever.
Comforter is what he does among other things and this verse where Jesus is speaking Jesus calls the Holy Spirit he which tell us that the Holy Spirit is a person and not an "it" like most people refer to him as. also anything that the God head does, the God head IS, so the Holy Spirit is called also the Comforter and Comfort is also what he does.
What's His purpose?
John 16:13 - howbeit when he the Spirit of truth {also another name for the Holy Spirit} is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come.
in this verse we see more things he does. he guides us and is also called a guide, and whatever the God Head {The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit} speaks he speaks to us, because they are one therefore the Holy Spirit don't spend time talking about himself as an individual. also he will give us insight, same as discernment and this foreknowledge would be about something God wants us to know so we can walk upright before him.
how do we identify Him?
we recognize him always by our spirit first. what comes from the heart reaches the heart, and so it is with the Spirit. what flows from the Holy Spirit reaches our spirit. we establish that He is the Holy Spirit by examining what has been transfered to us. for example if it was evil it was obviously not the Holy Spirit, and if it is a lie then we know the Holy Spirit didn't send us that mail either. if what we recieved is whole love then Holy Love is also who He is and everything can be tested in the scale of GOD"S LOVE.
we are aware that an unholy spirit is busy tryin to send us mail as well so it pays to be filled with the Spirit of God {Holy Spirit} so that our life is occupied and only one God can sit on the throne of our lives. and unholy spirit can threaten but the evil spirit can't come in nor stay unless we first dethrone the Holy Spirit by welcoming a practice lifestyle of intentional sin. we also identify the Holy Spirit by finding His ways in the study of the word so that in our living we can know Him whenever the way before us matches who HE IS and all other ways can be ignored. ok well besides identifing him by his NAME, those are some other ways we are able to separate Him from so many other sources.
The Holy Spirit is the Christian's guide, the Christian's breath. He is a real being, yet part of God. Jesus was with the disciples, and taught them, but He promised a Comforter that would guide them when He left them. If we look at the inspiration that followed Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, we can see that it was real... and is very real in my life and other believer's lives today.
The purpose? To call mankind to God, (He is speaking to everyone) and when a person has been "born again", to remain as a constant guide.
In a sense, if God is the band, the Holy Spirit is the one conveying the music.
Hey June, the first thing I would say is the Holy Spirit is not an "it" but a He. He is part of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, encourager, comforter, and strengthens us and illuminates our mind with the truth in the Bible. John 15:26 "But I will send you the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell all about Me".
John 16:13 " When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting His own ideas, He will be telling you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring Me glory by revealing to you whatever He received from Me".
I apologize in advance for the lack of sophistication as regards how to pose/frame this OP. Once again: any and all analogies are welcome. Subtleties are good; scriptural passages are okay; easy-to-understand answers are better! In particular, I guess I am wondering:
-What is it?
-What does it do?
-What is it's purpose?
-How do you all "identify" it?
With gratitude in advance:
Take gentle care.
You are such a good seeker!!
June... quick question first. Have you ever been to a football game? you know... actually at the game? or baseball? or any sporting event involving a stadium?
Think of the game (God) as the center of our attention... and all the fans in the seats.
We all see the same game... so how come we see things different? Logic would say there's the facts... there's the proof... it's right there in front of our noses... and yet who agrees? Logic would say we all must come to the same conclusion if we observe the same truth.
So....... Does it matter to the game that your seat doesn't give a clear view? does it matter to the game you can't know everything during the game? Does our view of game in any way shape or form, alter anything on the field of play? The answer is always the same... and yet we all come to different conclusions about the game.
So there's June... in the "cheap" seats! She see's the game... but wants to see better... she wants to see clearer. She looks for the ref's to help her understand what's happening and why.
She has just felt the Holy Spirit. I love seekers!!
I apologize in advance for the lack of sophistication as regards how to pose/frame this OP. Once again: any and all analogies are welcome. Subtleties are good; scriptural passages are okay; easy-to-understand answers are better! In particular, I guess I am wondering:
-What is it?
-What does it do?
-What is it's purpose?
-How do you all "identify" it?
With gratitude in advance:
Take gentle care.
He is the light of Christ~ the truth sharer....the councilor...
It is first noticed by that wormy feeling when we do wrong, and that pat on the back when we do right.
Blasphemy against Him is the only unforgivable sin...He is pure wisdom and power...
Hi, I believe that the Holy Spirit is the power and presence of God. I don’t believe that it is a person. Luke 1:35:
"And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God…”
Jesus was begotten by the power of the Most High God. The Spirit of God glorifies Jesus who is the exact image of God. (John 1:14) (Colossians 1) The Holy Spirit resides in believers, helps, guides, strengthens, teaches, intercedes, convicts, changes believers, for example. Believers are to walk by the Spirit and its fruits are to be produced in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22) The Spirit of God gives life to believers:
"And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness, but if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who indwells you."Romans 8:10-11.
God bless.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 02-14-2008 at 10:28 AM..
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