We've all heard of and have been used of the Holy Spirit, even before we knew Him. He's been sent by the Father in complete authority to build and strengthen the Church and to bring the world into a knowledge of His love for mankind. Many of us have learned and know Him in many separate ways and in many different manners.
The great thing about the Holy Spirit is that He is God in the Spirit , He is Jesus in the earth and He is the One Who will carry out God's plan in our lives. He is not, as some seem to believe, inferior to God or Jesus in any way. The Holy Spirit is the One Who reveals the Father and the Son to the world and without His presence in our lives, we simply know nothing about the Father's plan.
The entire plan of God for mankind was revealed from the beginning in Genesis. Some think that the fall of man was God's plan all along and that He purposely intended Adam's transgression, so that He could redeem mankind as a Savior. Others believe that it's our Father Who is responsible for all things that occur in our lives and in the earth today. Some believe that God continues dealing with man like He did in the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit has come to reveal God's true plan to the world and to the Church. He reveals to the world that Jesus is the savior Who can save us from sin and death and restore us back to into God's righteousness and favor. To those who have yielded to the truth of God's grace (the Church, God's heirs), He reveals the truth of God's great love for mankind and the revelation of His heart through Jesus.
One of the greatest verses in all the New Testament is Romans 5:5-6 (Amplified) which says, "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 to us." Verse 6 goes on, "While we were yet in weakness (powerless to help ourselves), at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly."
This is Who and what the Holy Spirit has come to reveal to the world. He reveals how even when we were sinners, God's love for us never ceased on our behalf. When we yield to His love and receive God's grace, we are "translated" by that love and grace to the place God intended for us to be from the beginning. Without the revelation of this great love, we still fail to understand the Father's heart. The above scripture means more than we can love others because of His love. Jesus taught us to "Love one another as He has loved us." This means that "Love Himself" is not only in us, but we can now understand the very heart of Love, Who is God.
1John 4:16-18 (Amplified) says, "And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love of God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him. In this (union and communion with Him) love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment (with assurance and boldness to face Him) because as He is so are we in this world."
We can know from these scriptures that, once we understand how much God truly loves us, we can become confident in His love for us and we can now learn to allow Him to love through us also. We can never love like we are told love, without His love being perfected in us. The greatest revelation the Holy Spirit can give the Church and the world, is this great Love.
Many of us are still living in the knowledge of the old covenant (the Law) and are striving to be "included" into the place of favor and right standing with God. Once the Holy Spirit reveals the fullness of the Father's love for us, all that working and futility to be accepted by God is gone. We learn that we're already accepted and have right standing with Him because of His love for us. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more than He already does.
Jesus said in John 17:23 (Amplified), "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me." The thing that should unite the Church isn't the denominational things we know, but the Love of God made to make us all become the same.
We've tried doing what Jesus instructed us so many times, but we've always failed and seemed to fall short of His instructions. We search for formulas and works and even self-debasement in order to please God and become close to Him. All these things appease the flesh and make us feel like we're doing some thing righteous for Him.
The greatest revelation one can ever receive from the Holy Spirit, is the depth of God's love for him. All the different things we learn, whether they come from "Word of faith" people or the main line denominations, is the very depth of God's love for you as an individual. If we fail to understand this, then nothing else works properly in our lives.
Many have tried walking in the Word of faith teachings and have returned to their old way of doing things. It's not that their old ways don't work or that the Word doesn't work, but Galatians 5:6 (Amplified) tells us, "For (if we are) in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only FAITH activated and energized and expressed and working through Love. Once you know and understand His love for you and the world, your faith in His Love will grow to the point where you no longer doubt anything in your life. And, because you know the greatness of God's Love, you're no longer afraid to lay hands on the sick because your faith says that God's Love will never leave the sick person in that condition. You no longer wonder "will this work" or "am I doing this correctly" or "I don't know if this works for everyone," but you will hold the confidence in His Love to set them free.
The reason we don't witness the power of God in our time is because we still haven't understood the power of His Love. Many truly believe that it's God's will which allows things to be like they are. They haven't reached the "perfection" that 1John 4:17 (Amplified) speaks about. "Perfection," it says, comes "by the understanding of this Love" and that "Love is God's will for mankind." We can never obtain what God's Love desires for the world through the natural kind of love man holds. The Holy Spirit is the Love of God, God Himself and the great revelation of this love. He is the Only One Who can bring this revelation to us today.
We must never put our faith in what you may know, but in Whom you know. Without the understanding of Who you know, what you know is only words. I know many people who've had very little teaching in God's Word and have worked great and mighty works. Their faith was only in the Love of God. I also know many people who hold a great knowledge of the Word and produce very little. This does not mean that we shouldn't study God's Word, but that we must also know the One Who wrote it.
Without the Spirit the Word is only words. Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it) the words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Without the Spirit the "word of faith" teachings and other such teachings are just words. The Holy Spirit didn't simply pour the Love of God in our hearts, He is the Love of God poured in our hearts. The Gifts of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit and the very Life of God, is His Love.
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