It must have been remarkable to see Jesus after thinking He was not alive any longer. Witnessing the brutal treatment and crucifixion had to be devastating. The Bible tells us He appeared to His disciples and many others after He rose from the dead, but after forty days, He ascended into heaven. He left them – again. But this time, not without leaving them the promised Holy Spirit.
Jesus assured them, “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you.” (John 14.18)
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, but it seems I don’t hear much about the Holy Spirit. In fact, some others never heard of Him as I read Acts 19.2 – “…and he asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [on Jesus as the Christ]? And they said, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is a free gift – “If you … know how to give good gifts …to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!” (Luke 11.13)
What does the Holy Spirit help us with?
1. Hope and love – “Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us. (Romans 5.5)
2. Freedom from condemnation “For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8.2)
3. Comforter, Helper, Counselor, Intercessor, Advocate, Standby, Teacher – “but the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things.” (John 14.26)
4. Prayer Partner – “So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaninga too deep for utterance. (Romans 8.26)
5. Infuser of Power – “but you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses….to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” (Acts 1.8)
6. Gifts of faith and healing – “to another [wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit..” (1 Corinthians 12.9)
7. Allows us access to the Father – “For it is through Him that we …have ….access by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him]. (Ephesians 2.18)
8. Keeps us and guards us – “Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us. (2 Timothy 1.14)
and more!
The Holy Spirit is Great Gift to us by the Father Who wants to make His home in us. I always ask to see all Three in the Trinity more clearly and reap the benefits of the sacrifice of my Savior.
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