The Holy Spirit….. So how do we explain the Holy Spirit? As cadets we have been sitting in class learning about what the Holy Spirit is and during this I discovered that I am very very lucky.
Let me explain….Being a ‘grown up’ I can look back on things and see what was happening to me way back when……Now at school I was ok at maths, UNTIL we got to algebra! I just could not get it. It wasn’t clear; I couldn’t picture any reason around it or any purpose for it. So after a while I stopped doing maths and took another topic. That’s a bit of a shame in hindsight, because now I find myself with a 17 year old doing year 11 maths!
So given that I couldn’t get algebra I consider myself extremely blessed to have accepted – almost without thought – the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the essence of God, the cleansing of God. How wonderful is that, the essence of God.
I looked up Holy Spirit on Google (as you do) and from what I found I have made a list of what the Holy Spirit is and does
The Holy Spirit…. Works in us and for us, guides us, testifies and glorifies of Christ, leads us, fills us, teaches us, washes and renews, brings unity, sets us free, gives joy, moves us, comforts us and enables us to change.
Now the Holy Spirit does a whole lot more, but the strong point is that the Holy Spirit joins together our God for us. Without the Spirit we would not be able to make the changes in our lives that God wants us to make, that we need to make.
We are going to hand out some symbols of the Holy Spirit and during the next few minutes I ask you to pray to the Holy Spirit and write done what you feel you are being asked to change. This is private and just for you. It’s a personal time for you to talk with God and allow his presence to be with ...
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...st like we need to have someone work on our soul. The soul is too hard for us to fix alone you need expert, that expert is the Holy Spirit.
How, how does this happen? Today the Holy Spirit could come as it did all those years ago to Jesus’ Disciples, but in the Bible it tells us that He works in a different way. Today the Holy Spirit comes to you through the quiet, humble preaching of the Word. No flames, no wind…but inside you all kinds of changes are taking place.
Today the Holy Spirit works in you as you spend time with the Word, it enters your heart and burns away the timidness and confusion, it is there as you pray and as you share the Word with others. That fire becomes the fire of faith. That’s how the Holy Spirit changes. The fire is in each of us and with the Holy Spirit we can fan that fire, continue to change and fan the fire into flame. Flame for God.
In the film “The Holy Ghost People,” right away we get individual accounts of what the “Holy Spirit” is to certain individuals. One woman says the Holy Ghost guides her and keeps her going. The people are very intense about their beliefs, which comes from the religion Pentecostalism, which has a hyper focus on personal experience with God and baptism with the Holy Spirit. We see them in their church, we hear the sermon, and see the ritualistic dances and the way the prayer overcomes them, and causes seizure like motions. We see and hear the prayers for the healing of one woman’s eyesight, and another woman’s back pain. One man, seemingly the pastor, says that “if God is not doing what they ask, people aren’t believing hard enough.” Later we get an account from a woman of how she was nursed back to health as a little girl brought her nutrients, and she believes it was
...nity. The Holy Spirit allows human beings to become closer to God, and the relationship between the Father and the Son. After writing about both the Trinity and Salvation, I have learned that they are immensely interconnected. The Trinity allows human beings to find Salvation. All in all, the Trinity is not three separate parts, but one part with three different essences.
The Spirit helps us implore (Romans 8:26-27). He gives us new life (John 3:3-6). He is our consoler, and he helps us comprehend God's statement (John 14:26). He lifts up Christ (John 15:26). He convicts us of wrongdoing (John 16:7-11). He helps us to live holy lives (Romans 15:16). He gives us love, happiness, peace, tolerance, thoughtfulness, goodness, faithfulness, tenderness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). He helps us share our confidence (Acts 1:8). What's more, he lives inside us (Romans
The Holy Spirit unites all our Heavenly Friends and all the believers. As Catholics, we also believe and have faith that our Heavenly Friends will guide us in hard times and help us be faithful followers.
In conclusion, the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways! Sometimes we don't agree with Him and that is when we have to submit ourselves to His authority and just do what He says. Without the love of Christ and His Spirit, we are lost. He has a ministry in each of our lives and a ministry to the world. Once we learn to grow from Him, then we can help others and continue His work in the world.
The words of Jesus are quite clear. I presume some might want to read the Lucan account of the sending of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13) into this account given in John. This seems natural to equate the two, but when considering gospel narratives, we must seek to consider each on its own terms first, rather than initially reading one into the
In class we discussed that Judaism is a monotheistic religion and, as such, the idea of the holy trinity causes a serious problem. Contrary to this, Christian life is upheld by such an idea. The idea that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost operate independently from each other yet for the same purpose is what is found here. The Holy Spirit, in Christian life, is held in the sacraments. Spirit, thus, is central to Christian life because it is felt by the faithful, it is a way in which you can personally experience God.
The Holy Spirit often led Jesus to do some of the miracles that He worked, which often resulted in teaching us lessons or life principles, such as when Jesus healed the blind man in John 9:25. In Luke 10:20-21, we can learn several things of the Holy Spirit in Jesus's life. We can learn that spirits are subject to us, and that our names are written in the book of life (Luke 10:20) and sealed for redemption (John 6:27, Ephesians 4:30). c. Rejoicing.
The Charismatic debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or continue to be used in modern times divides the Christian church. There have been some extremes on both sides of the fence. One view believes that, if a person speaks tongues, the person is under some demonic control and the other says that, if a person does not speaks tongues as evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he or she is not saved. Both views use Scripture to defend their positions. The Scripture was not written to divide, but to bring us closer to God. The Apostle Paul states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). He also reminds Christians that, if “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5). Two views dominate the debate, on one side you have the Cessationists who believes the charismatic gift were intended to cease after the New Testament was completed and on the other side, you have the Continuationsts who believes the Charismatic gift were intended to continue throughout the church. Consider some of the central questions that will be answered in this paper. Are the gifts for today or have they ceased? What is the purpose of the sign gifts, and if they are being practiced today, are they being practiced in a biblical manner?
A debated issue throughout the Christian world since the early church has been the issue of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Questions of when does a follower of Christ actually receive God’s Spirit have been in dispute and scrutinized with very different understandings of the scriptural references to this splendid transformation that takes places in the life of a Christian. In both the Old and New Testaments, The Holy Spirit is a constant person that works in and amongst God’s people. In Numbers 11:24-25, the Spirit of God is displayed when “the Spirit rested on them”, referring to the seventy elders that were appointed to aid Moses. 1 Samuel 16:13 states that the mysterious Spirit of God rushed upon David during his coronation as the King of Israel. In Joel 2:28, the Spirit is promised by the prophet. “And it shall come to pass, afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” These are only a few of the references that appear in the Old Testament to the Spirit of God, but there is a very active present of the Spirit of God. John Stott writes, “In the Old Testament days, although all believers were indeed regenerate, the Holy Spirit came upon special people for special ministries at special times.” The differences in the Old and New Testament inner workings of the Spirit seems to be for temporary appointment in the Old Testament and permanent indwelling in the New Testament.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit begins with examining biblical witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the history of Israel, as well as the ministry of Jesus, and in the life of the church. During the creation account it was the breath of God that grave life to all creation. The Holy Spirit has been a primate actor sin the beginning of time. While the Spirit was present prior to the ministry of Christ, the New Testament speaks in greater detail of the Spirit because it empowered Jesus. From his conception to the day of Pentecost the Sprit was present and active in the life of Christ and the believers. We see in ...
...ed, but most mentioned worship, praise, prayer, intercession, singing in the Spirit and prophecy; helping the person to build up their faith and find the empowering of the Holy Spirit (Cartledge 45).As a Christian I agree and can relate to the author of Evaluating the Charismatic Movement when he says that we Christians claim to have the Spirit, but make most of our decision without referring to his guidance (Culpepper 75). One can criticize and argue as much possible on how glossolalia and the ecstatic gifts lack a good theological explanation or perhaps that they only exist because the human being lacks faith and needs evidence that God is near but that’s the beauty of the gifts of free will and a personal relationship with God. One can believe and experience whatever we please but at the same time knowing that one day we will be held accountable of our decisions.
At one point or another in one’s life you are faced with God, eye to eye and you know it. You can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence, like a humming sound that’s too low to hear, but it’s there and you can feel it, a feeling that you are not alone. For some, this feeling lasts for eternity, and for others God works within them again and again because the Lord’s love is persistent. The feeling I had came and went, for it was not strong enough as a child. But now, I am the strongest I have ever been.
When one fully gives himself to God, but has not receive the Holy Spirit, he must just keep trusting God that His word is true and that He will do the work. Also one can expect temptation just like Jesus did. When the Holy Spirit comes, He does not leave quickly. When one seeks the Holy Spirit when He is already there, it grieves Him. One should be prayerfully watchful and seek to be an open channel instead of seeking for more power.3
The Holy Spirit gives us power to make things possible. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The power enabled the apostles to heal the sick (3:1-10, 5:15-16, 9:32-35) and raise people from the dead (9:36-43). The power also enabled them to speak the truth boldly (4:1-14, 7:1-53,