John 14:26-27 (Amplified) says, "But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby) the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, (in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf) He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you." Verse 27 says, "Peace I leave with you; My (Own) peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled)."
According to this Word, the Holy Spirit is to take the place of Jesus as He was in His earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit is to represent Jesus and act on His behalf. To t Church, the Holy Spirit is to be what Jesus was in His earthly walk. Jesus said that it would be advantageous to us for Him to go away in John 16:7 (Amplified), "However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you (into close fellowship with you), but if I go away, I will send Him to you (to be in close fellowship with you)." Jesus continues in Verse 15 saying, "Everything that the Father has is Mine, That is what I meant when I said that He (the Spirit) will take the things that are mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you."
We have viewed the Holy Spirit in various ways since the time Jesus made these statements. He is to some, one thing and He is something else to others. Mostly, the Holy Spirit has been ignored and has even been a point of ridicule in the Church because of tongues, healings and other supernatural interventions. Yet, Jesus said we'd have an advantage even He couldn't provide while He was on earth, when the Holy Spirit was sent.
The Holy Spirit is God even as Jesus is God. We still struggle with the fact of God's being a tri-une Being. Even as He, the Father, is on His throne and Jesus is seated at His right hand, it is now the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and it's all in His hands. Few have thought of the Holy Spirit as a person. As the world has, we, the Church has viewed the Holy Spirit like some kind of presence (much like air or a great mind in the cosmos).
Unlike Jesus, the Holy Spirit wouldn't just be with us, but in us. The Holy Spirit will and has done so many things for us that we've failed to recognize as His presence. Romans 5:5 (Amplified) says that, "Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, For God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given us."
This love, is the love that God has for us and the love we are to share with others. We can never come to the knowledge of the depth of God's love without acknowledging the Holy Spirit. Many Christians are fearful of losing or of not always being in God's love. Only the Holy Spirit can truly reveal how much He loves us because God is love. The Holy Spirit is the love of God coming to live inside us. Even just acknowledging His presence in us, will strengthen us in His love.
We read in 1Corinthians 2:9-10 (Amplified), "But, on the contrary, as the scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man. (All that) God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him (who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed)." Verse 10 says, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the (Holy Spirit) searches diligently, exploring and examining everything even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the Divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)."
The deep and profound things of God will only be made known to man by the Holy Spirit. Things that man's wisdom and understanding cannot receive without the presence and acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit brings revelation knowledge to the Church, those who don't acknowledge Him have difficulty receiving the revelation. This causes many divisions among the Church and keeps the body of Christ divided.
Many times the "revelations" coming to the Church were not from the Holy Spirit, but from man's ideas. Those who do not acknowledge His presence, actually fight with the Holy Spirit and the true wisdom of God.
I recall a time of praying for an elderly woman whose hand were all twisted from arthritis. As I prayed and believed God to heal her, nothing happened. I went before the Lord and asked why nothing happened when I prayed for her. Afterall, James 1:5 (Amplified) say that, "If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (Who gives) to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and it will be given him."
The Holy Spirit spoke to Me, saying, "Son, there is a difference between healing and loosing. Luke 13:16 (Amplified) says, "And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" To me, everything was a matter of healing, but to Him it wasn't so. So, I returned to the lady the next day, laid my hands on her and said, "Sister, I loose you from this infirmity!" As I did this, I watched her hands uncurl and her fingers straighten.
Without the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to tell me, this woman would have remained how she was and I would never have known why. I have found Him, the Holy Spirit, to be my Guide in so many things ever since. We deal with things in generalities and God deals in specifics. Moses didn't build the tabernacle on generalities, but on specifics. Too many times, we miss the mark by simply not hearing the voice of the Spirit of God.
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