“…you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NKJV).
We have many relationships while we are here on earth. Some matter more than others. The one that matters for all of eternity is your relationship to Jesus Christ. Your eternal soul hangs in the balance on your decision to accept His great gift of salvation bought with His own blood.
Salvation is a free gift, but unless you receive it, it doesn’t yet belong to you. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NKJV).
Before Jesus left to go to heaven, He told us about a wonderful gift the Father would send to us, and that gift is the Holy Spirit. Once we have established our relationship with Jesus, we can then begin our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Only God can take you higher than yourself. Jesus promised, “’He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39 NKJV).
For too many, the Holy Spirit is a concept they may have learned about, but the Holy Spirit is not yet a reality for them. They may want more of the Holy Spirit, but they have not yet experienced Him in a real and demonstrable way. They have not heard His voice.
Many people know the Holy Spirit by name but have never spoken with Him. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13 NKJV).
There are some who go to spiritual events, and they seek a spiritual high where they encounter the Holy Spirit to a greater degree. They rely upon someone else who is so filled with the Holy Spirit that they are spilling out onto those around them.
You don’t need to pray for a greater filling of the Spirit but a greater outpouring from the Spirit of Christ from you. It is not about getting more God in you, but more of God worked out of you to bless others. “…work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12 AMP).
There are a blessed few who have established a loving relationship with the Holy Spirit and have His leading in every area of their life. They are convicted more than they are commended, not because they fail more but because more is expected of them.
There are some things that only the Holy Spirit can do in our lives. God promised us, “I will put My Spirit in you” (Ezekiel 37:14 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit longs to have a deep and continual relationship with you. There is no requirement other than you must first be saved by Jesus, and then next, you will surrender to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead you in the way you should go.
When the Holy Spirit is your guide, you’ll be going in the right direction. “If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘You should go this way. Here is the right way’” (Isaiah 30:21 ERV).
Too many people try to negotiate a better agreement with the Holy Spirit, where they can do their own thing most of the time but then expect the Holy Spirit to come running to them when they need Him. It does not work like that; the Holy Spirit must lead you.
The question isn’t “Can the Holy Spirit lead you?” but “Will you let Him?” “For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14 AMP).
The most wonderful thing in the world is to find out that the Holy Spirit can help you with everything once you finally let Him. The degree to which the Holy Spirit can change your life is the degree to which you will let Him.
You don’t need more time to accomplish God’s will; you need more of the Holy Spirit. “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship” (Exodus 31:3 AMPC).
There is nothing that can stop the Holy Spirit from filling you to overflowing except all the things you are currently filled with. Until you let go of the old things, you cannot take hold of the new things. There is no greater decision you can make but to let go.
Sometimes, you have to reach the end of your rope before you will finally let go. Don’t let your past be an anchor but a stepping stone. “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV).
Do you know the Holy Spirit? Have you heard His voice? Has He taught you great and wonderful things? Has He convicted you of things that you should have given up years ago? The people you know on this earth will come and go, but the Holy Spirit is with you forever.
This is the anointed life: Jesus promised, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17 NKJV).
Pray to the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to you in greater degrees. Seek His leading in everything you do, and don’t budge until He guides you. Stop thinking God wants you to be stronger, and start believing that God sent His own Spirit to help you because He knows how weak you really are.
God will change you just as much as you let Him. “I will put my Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them” (Ezekiel 36:27 CJB).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius