This is part of our Freedom Journey 2 Study; Previous page: Honor God with Sacrifices

It is vital that we connect and stay connected with the Holy Spirit if we plan to live for God. The Holy Spirit is a “person” (yet fully God) who desires to have a relationship with us.   It is quite amazing to think that the God, who made the Universe, wants to have a relationship with us!  It is a bit of a mystery as to how this works, and too often people miss out on this wonderful opportunity because of fear. The result is that they feel distant and disconnected with God, and may never come to experience a close relationship with Him.

Knowing and understanding the Holy Spirit’s personality will help us recognize the various lies (rooted in fear) that keep us from embracing the Spirit.  Here are some key personality traits of the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit is Not Harsh:   A common fear is that the Holy Spirit will deal harshly with us.  Granted, in the Bible’s Old Testament there were often moments where God took decisive and spirited action against sin and the people who perpetrated it.  That was prior to Jesus’ arrival, who would lay down His life in order to bring peace between God and Man.  Jesus bore all of the punishment due for people’s sin, so that those who believe in Jesus may now approach God without fear of punishment.  The fact that our sin has been paid for should never serve as a blank check for us to continue in sin, and we should keep in mind that God still hates all sin and passionately desires that we abstain from it and live in righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve heard the Holy Spirit described as a gentleman- one who will not force His will on others, but invites us to yield our lives to His purposes.  The scriptures say that the Spirit reveals God’s wisdom to us with peace, gentleness and mercy (James 3:17). In fact, one of the Spirit’s names is “Comforter” (John 14:16) and one of His primary traits is peace (Romans 8:6; Romans 15:13).  I believe the Holy Spirit calls attention to sin issues in our lives (i.e. convicts us of sin) as we are ready to deal with them.

The Holy Spirit is Not a Controller:  Another fear people sometimes have is that the Holy Spirit will seize control of them and make them do things against their will. Demons have been known to do such things, but certainly not the Spirit of God! The Holy Spirit is not a controlling spirit. He will lead us when we yield our way to him. He will not shout at us or try to control us against our will. He will gently guide us and tell us what God wants us to do. If we do not heed his voice, he will usually let us do what we want, even though it may grieve God and “quench” the Spirit’s operation in us (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).

The Holy Spirit is Not Self-Seeking:  The Holy Spirit is not self-seeking. Every thing he does glorifies the Father and/or the Son (John 16:14).  Yes, it is a mystery as to how the three persons of the Trinity can be separate and yet one in the same God, and we see that the Spirit does indeed play a different role from that of the Father and Jesus.  The Spirit only speaks what he hears from the Father and He testifies to the truth concerning Jesus.  He is full of love – He loves us with perfect love, which is patient, kind, not envious, not bragging, humble, polite, not self-seeking, forgiving, rejoices in truth (not evil), bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Functions

The Spirit does many things to help us live for God in victory over sin and evil. Two of his primary functions are to:

  1. Be our source of new life: He is the power source that enables us to live as “new creations” while continually casting off our sinful desires and habits. Just as he raised Jesus from the dead, so he also raises us from our sinful ways to live for righteousness (Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 2:24).  An important aspect of our new life is its “fruitfulness” for God’s kingdom.  The Holy Spirit will grow “fruits” in us of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV), as we respond to him in obedience.
  2. Guide us in all truth: The Holy Spirit guides us in truth concerning every aspect of life. John wrote that the Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Our responsibility is to obey the Spirit’s convictions. He in turn will give us life and strength to subdue our sin nature and live in purity (Romans 8:9-14). He will also tell us about God’s plans for us and our inheritance as co-heirs in God’s kingdom (Romans 8:15-17).
    If we hope to live in victory over sin and serve in God’s kingdom, we must have the life and truth of the Spirit to withstand the trials and temptations that may come our way. Therefore, we should take steps to ensure we are “keeping in step” with the Spirit at all times (Galatians 5:25).

Getting in tune with the Holy Spirit

An analogy for connecting with the Holy Spirit is tuning a radio to the right frequency for the station we want to receive.  Often it takes time and attention to tune our minds and spirits to the Holy Spirit.  There are many distractions in our world that will compete for our attention and drown out the Spirit’s leadings.  Its possible to tune in to the wrong station in life, and connect with worldly influences instead of God’s Spirit.

Some actions we can take to ensure a good connection with the Spirit include:

  1. Continually cast off the old self and put on the new self (see Old Self New Self): Our “old self” will generate plenty of static that will hinder our tuning in to the Holy Spirit. The most basic way to keep our spiritual tuner clean is to have a daily quiet time with the Lord that includes Bible study. God’s word will purify and sharpen our minds spiritually.
  2. Practice continuous prayer: Maintain a prayerful attitude throughout the day and remember to be on the lookout for where God is working around you. Paul said, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV). This type of “open prayer” dialogue can be a challenge to master, as many distractions can vie for our attention. However, the more we practice it, the better we will become with it. As a result, we’ll be more sensitive to God and better able to recognize where he is working around us. (see Pray in the Spirit)
  3. Minimize the “Noise” in our lives:  Our modern devices and continual connection to the internet/social media greatly increase the amount of distractions in our lives.  This is like static noise on a radio, when there’s lots of static sound and no intelligible signal coming through.  We will do ourselves a great service by turning off the devices each day for some downtime in which to focus on God and listen for His Spirit.
  4. Yield to the Spirit: We need to heed the promptings and convictions that the Spirit gives us, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Often we’re tested in faithfulness with small things before bigger things will be entrusted to us.

The Spirit communicates with us in many different ways. He may speak through scripture, people, circumstances, thoughts or an audible voice. Once we’ve checked what we hear from the Spirit with the Bible, our response should then be to obey (Hebrews 12:25-29). Since the Spirit provides critical guidance for us in truth, we can’t afford to ignore his instruction!

When we resist the Spirit and disobey or ignore his promptings, we will stall our spiritual growth and may even start backsliding into sin. This is a very dangerous thing to do, because we risk being brought into greater deception by the enemy.

Paul wrote, “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14 NKJV). The challenge is to yield our will to the Spirit’s will. There will be many times when our flesh will not want to what the Spirit wants us to do. If we persevere and make our flesh submit to the Spirit’s will, we will truly move into our inheritance as sons of God. Thankfully the Spirit is gentle in working with us. He will give us tests for faithfulness as we are able to pass them and will not give up on us if we fail.

The issue of trust can be challenging for people who prefer to be in control of their lives. So often we like to know where we are going and what we will be doing. Jesus told Nicodemus that the Spirit moves like the wind, which we don’t know from where it comes from or where it goes (John 3:8). When we follow the Spirit, we may be asked to do things that we don’t understand. We may be asked to do things blindly with a leap of faith. Instead of leaning on our own understanding, we must lean on the Spirit, trust him and step out.

As we get to know the Holy Spirit and follow his guidance, we’ll discover God’s blessings filling our life (Psalm 103:2-5)!  We’ll begin to partake of our wonderful inheritance as sons of God through Christ (Galatians 4:7, Galatians 3:28-29, Ephesians 1:3).

Learning how to connect with the Spirit and walk with Him is something that God will show us as we invest time with Him. It would be great if each of us had a spiritual mentor who could help us learn the above disciplines and connect with God.  In fact, we do!  The Holy Spirit was intended as a type of mentor who would help us connect with God.

Personal Application Questions:

  • Please describe the personality of the Holy Spirit.
  • How has fear influenced your perception of the Holy Spirit and his ways?
  • What are two main functions of the Holy Spirit as it impacts our walk with Jesus?
  • What sin is highlighted when we resist the Holy Spirit’s convictions? How does this affect our relationship with God? (James 4:6)
  • How will daily Bible study help you “tune in” to the Holy Spirit? (John 14:26)
  • Approximately what percent of your day do you spend talking with God in prayer?  What steps can you take to make continuous prayer a reality in your life?
  • What are some areas which the Spirit has been convicting you to follow him in? Have you resisted him? If so, please take a moment to confess that resistance as sin (pride).  Next, ask God to forgive you and cleanse you from it. Finally, reaffirm your desire to follow God from this point forward. Here is a suggested prayer to accomplish this:
    “Heavenly Father, I confess that I have resisted you in the following areas of my life: _______(list). Please forgive me for ignoring your convictions and being rebellious. Please re-kindle the fire of the Holy Spirit in me and give me a passion for purity. Please give me a pliable heart that will follow you. I commit myself to heeding your voice and obeying your promptings from this point forward. Please empower me to obey in every instance by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, for not leaving me as an orphan. Thank you for giving me new life through Jesus! In his name I pray, Amen.”

Next page: Discovering the Gifts of the Spirit