The best way I can help you understand what the Holy Spirit
adds to your life is by using an example that I need your help with.
If
you were to take your right hand and cover up your right eye so you
couldn't see with it (or your left if you prefer) you would notice
something different. You can still see, but something happened. You lost your depth perception; you lost that third dimension. Now if
you take your hand off of the eye you covered up... Wow! Now you can see
three dimensionally. You have your depth perception back.
This is what
the Holy Spirit gives to those who have received the gift. He gives you
that depth perception. He gives you that "third dimension" view into the spirit
realm.You may be saved, you may be born of God, but if you are not
walking in the Spirit, if you haven't received the gift, then you don't have
that depth perception regarding your salvation. You can still see but
not perfectly. To see the beauty and the depths of what God has done for
us and what He is anxious to do for us, we need but look into that
dimension. This is what the Holy Spirit offers to those who accept His
friendship.
Imagine having a friend--the best friend that you ever had.
One you could trust your very life with, and this friend has the
ability to see into the future. He has the ability to lead you through
troubled waters without being harmed. A friend who somehow knows your
life from the beginning to the end, and has nothing but your best
interests at heart.
I have just described just a small portion of what the Holy Spirit is to us.
The illustration that I'm about to use you have probably
heard before, but at the risk of being redundant, I would like to use it
again because I feel it best describes what the Holy Spirit is to us.
I
used to love going to parades when I was little. I was very fascinated
with all the floats, with all those cartoon characters and everything about
it was just magic to me. I'm still probably just as fascinated with
parades as I was when I was little.
On New Year's Day, there is a parade
in Pasadena, California, called the Rose Parade. This is a fabulous
parade. What a grand event it is. The person who organizes this amazing
event, the one who orchestrates what happens from beginning to end, has a high and lofty view of the whole affair. He is sometimes discreetly
flying overhead in a helicopter; he can see the whole parade from
beginning to end. He can see where the problems are. He can even detect
problems before they even happen. With all the planning and all the
contingencies, there are things put in place to deal with SNAFU's and SNAFU's do happen.
So our beloved Holy Spirit knows our lives from beginning
to end. Just like the grand marshal of the parade, He knows all the stuff
that is going to be encountered on this parade route. Our awesome God
has given us everything that we need that pertains to life and Godliness
(2 Peter 1:3). Because He can see the beginning from the end and the
end from the beginning, He has already provided everything that we would
need to make it through this parade.
We just haven't known about this. We just haven't known how to access this. Maybe now we're beginning to see
the importance of the Holy Spirit.
We have been blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). Jesus said
that He, the Holy Spirit, would guide you into all truth, as He is the
Spirit of truth.
Jesus also said that He would show you things to come.
What a Friend! (Jn. 16:13). Jesus said that He would teach us all things and that He would bring to our remembrance all the things that we have been
taught. He will take the things and the mistakes we've made in the past and
remind us of them when we start to make them again. Of course we have
the option of listening, or not (Jn.14:26).
The Holy Spirit is also
known as the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, of counsel and might and
knowledge (Isa 11:2).
How can I involve the Holy Spirit in my life right away? (That would sure be the question I would ask!) Peter says, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).
If you have already done the three things that the Scripture has mentioned--repent, be baptized in the name of Christ and beceive, by faith, that your sins have been forgiven--then you have in fact received the
gift of the Holy Spirit.
We will go into this much deeper next
week!
To be continued
