The Lord Jesus promised us that we would receive the Holy Spirit, who would remain with us forever. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit has a beginning, but it will never have an end. We were meant to live in harmony with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper. He will give you this Helper to be with you forever. The Helper is the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it does not see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you and he will be in you.” (John 14:16-17 ICB).
The Lord Jesus taught that we can be His friend. We have an opportunity for something deeper and more significant than that of only a servant, but we can have a bond that runs deeper than the ocean and roots that burrow down further than we can ever know.
I have heard, “If you want to have a friend, then be a friend.” The same is true with Jesus. If you want Him to be a friend to you, then be a friend to Him. Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14 NKJV).
We are also meant to be friends with the Holy Spirit. Our relationship with Him can run deep as He fills our lives and directs us on what to do. The Holy Spirit knows you so intimately that He can hear your thoughts as clearly as He can hear your spoken words.
The surrendered life is a peaceful life filled with the Spirit of God. “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too” (Romans 14:17-18 NLT).
The Holy Spirit is here to help you and will go to the edges of the universe to draw you into a higher faith. Yet He never leaves you, even when the way you are living grieves Him more than you will ever know. He is with you through the good and the bad.
Stop grieving the Holy Spirit by the way you live your life. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:30-32 NIV).
There are a thousand ways that the Holy Spirit helps you, and in all those ways, you can always trust His leading. He wants you to be so sensitive to His leading that you will always know the soft yet persistent directions that He is giving you.
Do not worry about the decisions before you and instead trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Lord said, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21 NKJV).
If you want the Holy Spirit to be a friend to you, then you must be a friend to the Holy Spirit. Don’t ignore His presence, and don’t discount all that He should mean to you. The Holy Spirit is God with you, and you need to acknowledge Him.
We act differently when we acknowledge the presence of God. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6 NKJV).
We know the great value of having even one friend who will be with us for some time while we are here on this earth. How much greater it truly is for us to have the Holy Spirit as our friend who will be with us forever.
The closer someone is to us, the greater the pain when they hurt us. The same is true between you and the Lord. The greater filling you have of the Holy Spirit, the greater you grieve the Spirit in your failures. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” (Ephesians 4:30 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit in you is a new you. The more you let Him change you the more that He will. The closer you become to Him, the closer He will become to you. There is nothing that can compare to having the Holy Spirit as your friend.
The Holy Spirit will change you as much as you’re willing to let Him. “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes” (Romans 12:1-2 TPT).
If you want to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you, then you must first speak to Him. Then, you must wait quietly and allow the Holy Spirit’s voice to penetrate through your disbelief and your stubbornness so that you will just simply listen to Him.
The reason so few hear from the Holy Spirit is because so few believe that He will talk to them. Jesus taught, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13 NASB).
Make it your mission today to spend more time talking to the Holy Spirit and asking Him about what you should do and what you should say. Don’t squander the help that the Holy Spirit was sent here to give you.
God helps those who ask for His help. “So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD… Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel …and he said… ‘Thus says the LORD to you: Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s’” (2 Chronicles 20:4,14-15 NKJV).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius