The Empowering Presence: Understanding the Role and Impact of the Holy Spirit Ep. 3

This episode dives deep into the personhood of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing His essential role in a believer's life. We explore His promise of empowerment, the gifts He provides, and how to cultivate a genuine relationship with Him to navigate life's challenges and fulfill our mission.

• Examine the significance of the Holy Spirit's empowerment 
• Discuss the importance of the Holy Spirit's personhood 
• Explore the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit 
• Understand why believers need the Holy Spirit 
• Learn ways to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit

Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding the Holy Spirit
• 9:17 Understanding the Holy Spirit's Role
• 19:38 The Role of the Holy Spirit
• 29:36 Relationship With the Holy Spirit
• 43:24 Power of the Holy Spirit

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What is up? Faith and Failures. Thank you for coming back and being here for another episode this week. I want to talk to you a little bit about some Bible knowledge. I want to talk to you about the person, personhood. We're going to go through some explanations and descriptions of the Holy Spirit. And descriptions of the Holy Spirit. So, whether you're in church, whether you're not, you may be in a certain denomination or whatever, and there's a lot of questions.

Speaker 1: 0:33

I don't feel there's enough talk around the Holy Spirit. So we're going to dive in today. We're going to base all of our knowledge, all of opinions, all of the facts, on Scripture, where it's found. So it'll be on your screen in just a second and I just want to let you know that there shouldn't be as much mystery around it as there is. Obviously, you're talking about God. You're talking about a spirit. The spirit is in the word. So it's going to be a little bit like we are fleshly beings, so the spiritual aspect of all of it. It's's going to be a little bit like we are fleshly being, so the spiritual aspect of all of it. It's not going to be a full, a hundred percent understanding, but I believe that God gives us enough, and so, yeah, you got to go a little bit on faith. Enough information, enough principles, enough stories uh, enough um stories, instances that um can really help us to have a better and fuller understanding of who is the holy spirit. So stick around.

Speaker 1: 1:35

Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the new subscribers. If you haven't yet consider subscribing, hit that bell notification so that you can see every time I put out a new video. A major portion of you that watch my videos haven't subscribed yet, so why not? It's free. You can also find a PayPal link below if you want to give a one-time or give a monthly to support the channel. Anything, great or small, is appreciated. Now let's get into the video. Great or small is appreciated.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Now let's get into the video, all right? So I want to start off with a. We're extra wide today. I don't know why I switched cameras up and this is like super wide and normally you can't see all my stuff and I didn't have time to clean anything, so it is what it is. I got a lot of things going on in the dark. I turned the light off, but over here is all nuts and you can actually see my screens that I always have here for me. So, that being said, let's dive into it.

Speaker 1: 2:32

I want you to look over in your Bible to Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. It'll be on your screen Acts, chapter 1. So Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. Now, this is a promise from Jesus. You need to be very clear on that. This is not something that is being made. So if you believe in Jesus, he has promises.

Speaker 1: 2:56

Okay, we're going to read from Acts, we're going to read from John, then we're going to jump back to our key text again in Acts, chapter 1. But let's read this this is a promise, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So one thing that is a key note that it wraps up that with first, to talk about power, and it's given the reasons why because we are meant to have power to propel us into being able to fully articulate and fully preach, not just pastors, people that have come to Christ. We are to duplicate what Christ has done in us, and so this is why it's very, very, very important for us, as Christians, to understand that we are not just getting saved to get fire insurance, to just get out of going to hell going to hell. We need to let that fire fill us so that we can be channels for the Holy Spirit to work through, so that we ourselves can then be a a not only a good steward, but a good reflection, a honest, true, real reflection of who Jesus Christ is and who he was. Christ is and who he was.

Speaker 1: 4:30

And if you think about this in a very real sense, like people who don't know God, they're not Bible scholars. You know some of the atheists. They go way off. They try to disprove. I was actually watching a I don't know what it was on, my wife was watching it the Case for Christ by Lee Strobel Excellent book. I'll try to remember to leave a link in the description if you want to pick it up. If you're skeptic, hey, what's it going to hurt? Are you going to be proven wrong? Are you going to be proven right? If you're so confident in being proven right, then why not read something from across the aisle? It shouldn't change anything except build your confidence in what you think you already know. So why be scared of that.

Speaker 1: 5:05

So we're going to dive into a subject. There's a lot of question marks around it the person of the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about that in just a minute, but he is a person. So let's walk through what the Holy Spirit's role is in the Trinity. So is in the Trinity. So John 14, 16 through 17. Now some people don't understand the Trinity part and I want to try to just. It's not a full episode on the Trinity, but I want to just barely touch it for you.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Jesus is so. God is not wearing different masks when he is interacting as the Holy Spirit or interacting as Jesus Omniscient, omnipresent, he can be anywhere, all-knowing. So, that being said, specifically in the Bible, jesus is called God's son. Matter of fact, in, I think, hebrews chapter one I texted my wife about it this morning, I was, I was doing some studying, anyways it says that no angel was ever told or called the son as Jesus was called the son. And in John 1, 1, it talks about the Word being the Son, and John is one that is trying to testify it's the most intentional on testifying that he was the Messiah, that he was the Christ, and so you have to understand that these conversations God wouldn't have with himself. They are one, but they are also individual.

Speaker 1: 6:54

Let me give you a real example. As the scripture says and as we actually do that the Bible says that a son will leave his mother and father and become one with his wife Two separate people, but they are one. They are joined together. Spiritually, physically, emotionally. They are to become one and two to become one. So in the kind of same sense as the Bible describes how we should get married and join together. So the Bible tries to lay out some hints and displays and examples, and John chapter 14 is one of those examples.

Speaker 1: 7:34

If the Holy Spirit and Jesus were the same, but just putting on different masks, he would not have had to leave for the Holy Spirit to come. He could have been here and the Holy Spirit still do its thing because it was the same person, right? That would make logical sense, but yet it's not that way. It's actually that he said I have to leave. So let's read it Verses 16 and 17. And I will ask the father. So he's right. Here is displaying three separate people, personhoods I talking about Jesus will ask the Father. So he's saying I will ask him to send the Spirit. So if he's having to send something, someone besides Jesus, then it's obvious, it's a clear separation of that person.

Speaker 1: 8:25

But all the news, and just as later in scripture it talks about and we'll talk about the gifts in a minute where one spirit testifies of the spirit being in you. The one spirit gives the gift of prophecy. The one spirit gives the gift of tongues. The one spirit it keeps mentioning again the one spirit, the one spirit, because all omnipresent, the one spirit has the same characteristics and capabilities, but a distinct role from Jesus, because the Holy Spirit didn't come to be sacrificed and live a perfect life. It didn't come in flesh form, but Jesus did. God didn't come in flesh form, although the deity and the holiness and the righteousness was in Jesus, but he laid off the glory so that he could come and live a life like us, to pay the price that we ourselves could never pay.

Speaker 1: 9:17

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, so key word, another. He's talking about himself and he's saying besides me, the Father will send another advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit. So he's being descriptive, he's giving a title, he's giving a name to the advocate that is going to replace Jesus to the advocate that is going to replace Jesus there would be no replacement, but Jesus said if they were the same. But Jesus said there's going to be a replacement, I must go, he will come. Who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives within you now and will later be in you.

Speaker 1: 10:13

In this scripture, jesus promises the Holy Spirit as an advocate, sometimes translated as comforter or counselor or helper. Notice, jesus calls the Holy Spirit a he. It is a descriptive and gender assigned quality, showing that he is a person, not an impersonal force. Okay, so let's read our key text again. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling all people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and the ends of the earth. So here Jesus explains that receiving the Holy Spirit includes receiving power, not just for our benefit, just like the gifts of the Spirit we're going to get into it in a minute but the power comes for the benefit of the body and spreading the gospel and also as a key ingredient to fulfilling our mission to go. The Great Commission. The last thing Jesus said was to go into all the world preach the good news. And you, I mean you, have to. You have to realize.

Speaker 1: 11:31

I gave this analogy. I don't know if I put it in my notes, I don't think I did. I gave this analogy Sunday when delivering this message. Is that yes? Well, let me ask you this.

Speaker 1: 11:45

So some of the older crowd, probably the younger like generation, whatever they're on now, they started over in the alphabet, their personal opinion. They're dumb for starting at the end, but whatever, like what is it or no, what is it? Have you ever had a vehicle, or your grandparents had a vehicle, mom and dad, whatever the steering wheel, did not have power steering. Okay, I was in my grandpa's truck and making a turn, I thought I would. I turned a mile, like I turned a 90 degree, and it was like maybe 10, 10 degrees, but it was just so hard. And obviously it's easier when you're moving, okay, and obviously it's easier when you're moving, okay, well, the same vehicle can get you from A to B. It'll still get you there, but the drive is much easier and more efficient with power in the steering.

Speaker 1: 12:39

So, speaking in tongues being filled with the Spirit, as the Acts 2 church when it broke out like it broke out in the way that it did, because it was, I believe, something new, something different. It wasn't dependent on man. It was completely, 100% dependent on God to make it happen. And that's how the church broke out in the way that it did. I think it was a very intentional move. Now, why? I have no clue. Why did God choose to do it that way and make it where? It's some weird thing and people speaking other languages?

Speaker 1: 13:08

And I have no honest answer for you, except that God can do whatever he wants and that's his business. Why does he heal some and not the other? Why does he restore some marriages and then others fall apart? I can't tell you that, but I can tell you this he is sovereign and whatever he chooses and decides I have to be okay with. If I trust him that much, like, for instance, my teenager and me with my parents when I was young. I didn't always have the reason behind or know the reason behind, but I had. I had to have a level of trust for my parents that they weren't doing it to harm me, they weren't doing it to just be mean, that sometimes things just work out that way and if I be patient and wait, it'll be okay.

Speaker 1: 13:51

Teaching my teenager that now he is waiting to get his. You have to schedule it now because of COVID. He's waiting to get his permit, and so we had a winter snap thing and it set ice on the road and here in Longview there was nothing. It drizzled a little bit and everybody freaks out, so everything shut down for like two days and then it was on that specific day where it's supposed to be bad weather and it wasn't. So he's upset about that, rescheduled it. So now it's like at the end of the actually it's this week. So he's kind of stressed out about that. But I'm trying to tell him hey, everything will be okay, it will be okay, it will be okay. And the same way with the Lord. We have to understand that God does love us and he understands and he knows exactly what is coming and we don't. His thoughts are above our thoughts. His wisdom is above ours. His wisdom is above ours. His knowledge is above ours. He can see backwards here and forwards all at the same time.

Speaker 1: 14:54

I don't think they did it on purpose, I'm not sure but one of the greatest examples of this would be. It was a men in black, maybe three, maybe two, I don't remember and this guy had this power that he could see not only the future but the past and the present. So he can, he could see everything at the same time. And I'm like. My first thought was that's exactly like God, cause he put his hands on on the guy's shoulder. They were in a baseball stadium. Because he put his hands on the guy's shoulder, they were in a baseball stadium, put his hands on the shoulder and they could immediately see, like a I think it was all the variables and everything. Or they're talking about baseball I'm not a fan, but like they were talking about all this stuff or they could see all the different things happening at the same time. And it was like dude, that's like God. That's pretty awesome. So just trust him because he cares for you that much so.

Speaker 1: 15:57

John 14, 16. I don't know if we read it all or not, but we'll read it again. I don't know if we read it all or not, but we'll read it again. The Father, advocate, representative, that is the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. So only a person can teach and remind. The Holy Spirit's not a force or an it. We can actually have a genuine relationship with the Holy Spirit. You can't do that with just a force or a power source, like you can't go out and grab the electric thing in the wall and have a relationship with it You'd be in a hospital and the ones with very comfortable padded walls. But we certainly can have this type of relationship with a person John 16, 13.

Speaker 1: 16:50

When the Holy Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. So, understanding and I think this is kind of a precursor to the coming gift of prophecy Understanding the Holy Spirit's personhood changes how we approach Him, how we pray to Him, how we listen for His guidance and how we cooperate with His leading, with his leading. So the Holy Spirit is a person. All right, check these, because this don't look right. Okay, I think I just gave you all the wrong slides. That's okay, we're moving on.

Speaker 1: 17:58

So the roles of the Holy Spirit. What does that look like? So the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and leads us into righteousness. So John 16, 8. 16, 8. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin and God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. So all of us, one day, are going to be judged. We're going to be before God. All the good, the bad, the ugly, every word is going to be accounted for and it's going to be presented in kind of a court of law, the way it's set up and the way it's described and the way the court system is set up today. And the way it's set up and the way it's described and the way the court system is set up today and the way it was in the Old Testament. This was given, I believe, blueprint from heavenly principles, heavenly examples and heavenly court, so to speak. So John 16, 8 tells us that the righteousness of we're going to be judged on our sin and God's against, against God's righteousness. We're going to be judged on our sin against God's righteousness. So of God's righteousness, not our own, but of God's.

Speaker 1: 19:01

And I want to tell you something that conviction is different from condemnation. Okay, conviction leads us to repentance and reconciliation with God, which is the point. That's what God desires for every person who has ever been born and is going to be born. He desires for reconciliation, but for us to be led to reconciliation, we first must embrace conviction. Conviction leads us to repentance and reconciliation. Condemnation leads us to hopelessness.

Speaker 1: 19:38

The Spirit's conviction is meant to help us turn back to the Father. So one of the roles of the Holy Spirit conviction of sin and point us to righteousness. He's also the helper and the advocate, as we read in John chapter 14, that he is our, our advocate sometimes, or someone called alongside to help. He empowers us to face challenges, counsels us when we lack wisdom and encourages us when we are weary. He is the sanctifier. He produces spiritual fruit out of us that shapes our character and reflects Jesus. So look at Galatians 5, 22 and 23. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things. And, if we're honest, we look at these on your screen and you read these and you're like, yeah, I think I would want those. And obviously every single one of these, every single one. Look at the list for a second, every single one. Look down the list, every single one.

Speaker 1: 20:52

The enemy tries to pervert and give you a version of it that will end up separating you from god. For instance, love. In the last I don't know how many years, there has been a intense perversion of what love is, for instance, just a simple dumb. They use it as a definition, but it not. That's not how you define things. Love is love.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Actually, god is love, and so what they're trying to do is the my truth nonsense, which is taking a truth, one of the fruit of the spirit, love, that is also named God, and making it as how we see things, how we want to love or experience sexual gratification is that's my love, and so now how I want things. So so think about this If God is love according to scripture, and I'm taking love and making it how I want, who now is my God? I have put myself in that seat. Now I am the God that decides what my love is and what it looks like, and no one else can say anything. Or now they're, they're hating and they're there's a phobia going behind the word or whatever, and that's not it. It's just the facts.

Speaker 1: 22:13

And so when the facts get twisted up and manipulated and the truth gets turned into something that's about me, it's no longer actual truth, it's just something that I want to twist to fit my narrative, and this is damaging not only to me, to my mind, but it's damaging to society and the culture. And now it has crept into the culture of the church and allowing things that should never be allowed, allowing leaders that should never be allowed into leadership positions. And so now we are not glorifying, but we're saying we love you, and really what you're doing is telling them it's okay, you can send however you want, as long as you pay your tithes here, as long as you come and serve in the church, you can do whatever you want, and that is not biblical. That's actually against the entire design of the church. We are called to go into the world, not the world into the church. So all of us would love these qualities, but we have to be careful. Are we receiving these things right here from God, from the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit produces these or are we partaking of the synthetic, the fake, what the world is offering and what the enemy is trying to offer? So another thing besides the sanctification, producing spiritual fruit out of our lives, the Holy Spirit gives us witnessing power. As we read in Acts 1.8,. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That's not just for the early disciples, it's for us today. There is no scripture, no scripture anywhere. You cannot cite the scripture that says that the acts to experience faded out or die with the apostles. It's not there. So anyone that makes it any preacher, that preaches that the holy spirit is changed, and if they believe that the Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity of God and God never changes, then they are lying and doing the enemy's work. That's just the bottom line.

Speaker 1: 24:26

So let's go to point number three. Why do we need the Holy Spirit? Why do we need the Holy Spirit? Well, first of all, to overcome sin and temptation. Apart from the Holy Spirit's work, we end up relying on our own strength, which fails us every time. You give enough room and it will fail you. Enough room and it will fail you when we allow the Spirit to lead us. He helps us to resist temptation and walk in victory. That is the heart of God. He desires that for us.

Speaker 1: 25:07

So, number one, to overcome sin and temptation. Number two, to discern God's will. Life is full of decisions, career paths, relationships, ministry opportunities. The Holy Spirit nudges us and leads us, gives us peace or caution and aligns our hearts with the will of God. Our heart and our will for our life should come in alignment with God, not trying to force God to put a stamp of approval on what we're wanting to do. That's not healthy and that's not biblical. Then you make yourself the God, you're the deciding factor, instead of the other way around and God being the one lead you and the Holy Spirit being the one that guides you.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Number three the genuine fellowship with God. The Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us. Look at Romans 8, 16. Real to us Look at Romans 8.16. For the Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. We can draw near to God because the Holy Spirit's presence within us. Number four we need to avoid quenching the Spirit. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5.19. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. We can stifle or grieve the Holy Spirit by persistent disobedience, neglecting prayer, ignoring God's word. The Holy Spirit is gentle and he invites but never forces. If we consistently push him away, we miss out on his power and the comfort he is the comforter.

Speaker 1: 26:46

So let's look at some gifts of the Holy Spirit. So I only have this on your screen because 7 to 11, there's a lot of meat here, so I'm just going to leave that there and you can screenshot it or you can look it up as you watch, but I will read it 1 Corinthians, 12, 7 through 11. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. If you notice, this consistent theme running throughout the New Testament is we are meant to help each other. It's not all about me, it's not what gifts. Can I Read what Paul wrote to the church of Corinth? They had some issues because they took what the Spirit gave them and made it about themselves. I don't want to be that church. I want to be the body that is pleasing to the Father, that is useful and does it right according to the Holy Spirit and the will of the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 27:42

So to one person, the Spirit gives the ability. Okay, first of all, let's back up. Actually, we're going to do it at the end, never mind, but just follow along as I read, if you don't mind. To another, the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit, you don't mind to another. The same spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same spirit gives I mentioned this earlier the same spirit. The same spirit. The same spirit Listen, it'll say it over and over again the same spirit gives great faith to another and to someone else. The one spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still, another person is given the ability to speak unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

Speaker 1: 28:30

It is the one Spirit, and only spirit, who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. So what's our takeaway from these passages? Is that every believer it starts it off right there on verse seven a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. Every believer receives at least one gift, but not one person, not one believer has every spiritual gift. It evens it out and makes it where nothing. No one can ever say they are better than the other, and actually Paul continues to write that very thing that nobody needs to try to pretend that they are better. The purpose of these gifts in the second sentence is to help each other. Gifts are meant to help each other and build up the church. The Holy Spirit distributes as he wills, which means no gift makes one person superior to anybody else.

Speaker 1: 29:36

Now we can go on to the 13th chapter of Corinthians, 1 through 3. Same thing. It's a little lengthy so I just put it up here for you, so you can screenshot or write it down. And so he describes all the gifts. And now he's going to the chapter 13. He's saying in verse 1 if I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clinging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy and if I understood all of god's secret plans and possessed all, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.

Speaker 1: 30:38

Love is the foundation from where every believer should lead from. It's the starting point of ministry. It's the starting point of sharing the gospel. It's the starting point of how we should be to other people's, both believers and non-believers. One thing that the church does really well is we act like we love new people. So and it's authentic, we love it. When new people come in, we'll hug their neck, we'll shake their hands, we'll be all nice to them, but you let them be there for a year, two years, three years. All of a sudden they're old hat and we don't have the same type of love, because the new wears off. This happens in relationships, this happens at jobs. It's the best thing ever, and then you're there for six months and you're like this sucks, it's the same thing, same principle, the news wearing off. So we have to work at being a loving church, a loving body that actually loves and takes care of itself. It's important for us to start every single conversation, start there with love, so we can remain in love, which is one of the fruit of the spirit. It's not about us. So we have to try and work at it and strive to be who God has called us to be.

Speaker 1: 31:58

1 Corinthians 14.1,. Let love be your highest goal, but you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially the ability to prophesy. So, yes, love is priority, but desire spiritual gifts, seek them earnestly, pray for them and let the Holy Spirit move through you to bless the church and to reach the lost. Now Paul goes on and he tells a little bit about why prophecy and I'll dive into it just for a second Because prophecy is there to correct, to lead, to guide, and it's in a form of communication that both non-believers and believers can understand. So he says this because he actually goes on and talks about like I pray in tongues more than all of you you know, but desire prophecy more for the benefit. It's not giving a blueprint to where this is how it has to be.

Speaker 1: 33:06

Every single time People do this, all the time. They cherry pick a couple of scriptures and they make it their entire theology and thought process. And they make it their entire theology and thought process and they say well, this is what I believe in. Anything outside of this is wrong. When you can give a book over here that is writing to a specific people that says to do this because you're acting like this, so I have to correct you and keep you in these parameters, but then over here they're not getting that same instruction because they don't have that same hangup or issue or drama or whatever the case may be, and so. So my point is stop cherry picking and using that as your theology and saying well, if he says you can only do this here and only prophecy, then you can't speak in tongues anymore, which is not the word of God. You're completely missing the point. He was writing not to you, but to a specific people. You may not know this, but the Bible was written for you, not to you. The Bible was written for you, not to you. Think about who the scripture, the letter from Paul, are written to. What was going on? Why did he have to come down so hard?

Speaker 1: 34:14

He describes himself as praying in tongues. Do you think, when he prayed in tongues in every scenario by himself, that he had an interpreter? No, there's a big difference in a message in tongues in a corporate setting, which is appropriate, and praying in tongues. Now, there's two sides to every coin. Some denominations, including mine, go. Now, if they're in a group of people that understand what's going on, say it like a.

Speaker 1: 34:39

In my denomination we have like pastors meetings and pastor stuff, uh, conferences and things. Everyone there is on the same page of speaking in tongues. They have an understanding. Most have been doing it for years. They've studied their well-learned men and women of God and not saying they're better than anybody else, but they have an understanding, and so praying in tongues out loud amongst other believers that has full knowledge of what's going on is completely appropriate, acceptable and biblical. But and I've done this you get worked up and it ends up flowing out of you. But it doesn't need to be a constant practice unless being prompted by the Spirit.

Speaker 1: 35:17

And so sometimes, as Pentecostal people, we base a lot of our stuff in Acts 2, but we forget about the prophecy. There's a lot of things we end up forgetting about and we make tongues our first priority. Not a bad thing, that's how the church broke out, but we end up taking speaking in tongues and wearing it as a badge of honor, as if we are the one that gifted it to ourselves and that we are the one that does the filling, and we're not. So be careful, be cautious, to not get cocky, because I guarantee you, if you pay attention to what the people were doing, the church of Corinth, when Paul had to write them some very corrective letters, it was them taking what God was doing, what the Holy Spirit was doing, and it made it all about them, and they were doing pretty much the same thing the Pharisees did with the law. They were making what a gift that God gave, like, for instance, the Sabbath and was making it completely about themselves, when really it was just a gift from God for us to enjoy, to not kill ourselves over it, to not kill ourselves over it. And so my point is this doesn't need to be a dividing factor and split churches. It's a bunch of nonsense, because we're not the one that gives the gifts, we're not the one that does the infilling. No person in Acts, chapter 2, chose to be filled. They were just hungry, they were desperate and they were broken people. And that is the ground that is cultivated and ready for the seed of the Spirit to be planted, so that the infilling can happen with the evidence of speaking in other languages, and so that good, healthy, spiritual fruit can be grown. And that's the Bible. Okay, so the prophecy? All right, we went down that one.

Speaker 1: 37:08

So how can you cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit? Number one prayer and surrender. Start by saying Holy Spirit, have your way, holy Spirit, lead me. Create space for listening as well as speaking. A lot of times we think prayer time should be where I'm talking all the time. Some of you need to learn just to shut up. Some of the most not most amazing, but some very deeply rooted good fruit out of my life has been when I've just learned to shut up and allow the spirit to lead or guide or do what he wants to do. Sometimes he speaks to a gentle impression. You can kind of get that in your heart. You kind of feel like you're supposed to do something.

Speaker 1: 37:57

A verse of scripture. So if you want God to speak to you, if you want the Holy Spirit to speak to you, start diving into his word or even a sense of peace where the anxiousness or the struggle or the pressure of a decision kind of fades away. You just feel at peace about it and there's not really a room for doubt. It's peace that passes, passes up the understanding that we have, because it's a godly peace. It's the Holy Spirit saying it's okay to either go or just be still and enjoy this.

Speaker 1: 38:30

Number two engage the word with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us interpret and apply Scripture. Before reading pray, lord, open my eyes. Holy Spirit, teach me your truth. As we read earlier, the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth. Number three is obedience. So number one prayer and surrender. Number two engaging the word with the spirit. Number three is obedience.

Speaker 1: 38:58

When we sense the Holy Spirit leading, whether to forgive someone, this is a big one in the church. When someone does something wrong to is a big one in the church. When someone does something wrong to you, you just write them off. That is so unbiblical and it is damaging because the word says if you don't forgive, the father will not forgive you. That is scripture. We have leaders in the church. We have church members who are great at tithing, they're great at showing up, they're great at serving, but they have unforgiveness in their heart and they will not let it go. God's desire and his mandate is for us to forgive. Say it again God is waiting for you to forgive or to serve, doing something specific in the church or to share the gospel with a friend. When he prompts us to do something, respond immediately when you feel that why? Because maybe not you, but me.

Speaker 1: 39:58

I am so gifted at talking myself out of doing what I feel like I'm supposed to do in a moment. So what I have done less of is thinking. I know that sounds exact opposite. Well, I want to pray about it more. I want to think about it more. By the time you pray and think about it, the opportunity of where God was trying to align you with could be gone. And here's the thing If you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and with the Father, you don't have to do a whole lot of praying because you've already been doing that. You don't have to say, well, I'm going to pray about it. You should have already been praying for the will of the Lord to happen in your life.

Speaker 1: 40:34

And so when something presents itself not always, sometimes it's the enemy trying to bait you. Sometimes it's God trying to mature you even more and take you further into obedience and submission to him. But oftentimes, if we wait too long, we will talk ourselves out of what God is actually trying to tell us to do. It's very easy to do that. I'm really good at it. Small acts of obedience builds sensitivity to his voice.

Speaker 1: 41:04

Number four live in community. So that was obedience. Live in community, fellowship with other believers who also seek the Spirit's guidance. Often God uses the insights and encouragement of fellow Christians to confirm what the Spirit is trying to lead us into. So you got. Number one is prayer and surrender. Number two engaging the word with the Holy Spirit. Number three is obedience. Number four live in community with other believers who believe the same way you do. Don't say you're trying to be led by the spirit and then go to a church that never even mentions the Holy Spirit and they shy away from many topics. If they won't ever discuss Acts 2 with you and they say it died out, they won't understand this and you're at the wrong church. But it's just the Bible. You either believe all of it or you believe none of it. There's no in between. So number five worship.

Speaker 1: 41:55

At Thanksgiving, an atmosphere of worship softens our hearts to His presence. Expressing gratitude draws us closer to him, and so worship and thanksgiving what does the word say? He inhabits the praises of his people. Even if you don't feel like it, praise him anyways. I have a challenge to my people at the church. It sounds simple, but it's not Five minutes of praise, five minutes of reading your word and five minutes of prayer every single day. So I want to challenge you.

Speaker 1: 42:32

Ask the Holy Spirit. He is a person. The Bible clearly describes. He is a person, not a thing, not it? Not some sort of force. It's not Star Wars. He is a person, not a thing, not it? Not some sort of force. It's not Star Wars. He is a person to be interacted with, to be engaged with, to seek after, to ask. So if you've never intentionally welcomed the Holy Spirit's leadership in your life, today, ask what do you have to lose? Today is an opportunity. The Bible consistently describes it as speaking in other languages.

Speaker 1: 43:24

This is not a denomination thing, this is a biblical thing, and so I mean, if you are a believer and maybe you've never heard really details of who the Holy Spirit is, it's kind of been like this mystical. Some people even say Holy Ghost, and that even makes it more like this mystical. Some people even say Holy Ghost, and that even makes it more like the Holy Spirit is not a weird topic or subject, but it is something that you need to read up on and discover for yourself. So, as you read the scripture, start in Acts, chapter one, and this is Jesus' words. That starts us off where you will receive power. So it's a continuation.

Speaker 1: 44:06

Jesus is about to leave the earth and he's saying listen, I'm going to go, but there's someone that's going to come. He didn't even tell him what it would be. He didn't tell him how it would happen. He said it would be a comforter. He was giving them these comforting, supportive, like descriptive qualities of the Holy Spirit, but he didn't say nothing about another tongue, and I think that's what the key was, because they weren't expecting specific things, and so it didn't skew or warp their receptiveness to it. They just received it as it happened.

Speaker 1: 44:44

And so, as you as a person, as a believer, ask the Holy Spirit, just have a quiet prayer time and say Holy Spirit, I don't know if this is real. I don't know if this whole thing is like, because, if you think about it logically, speaking in tongues would have to be the most singular, massive conspiracy ever to be in humankind, because so many people around the world are doing it in different languages and here in America, this is not an American thing. I mean, if you know anything about Scripture, the Bible is not American. So think of it in those terms and be like okay, lord, I don't understand it, but if it's something you would like to allow me to receive, I want what you want. So, holy Spirit, would you fill me, show your power to me, fill me up, give me a personal experience of Acts, to give me the power to do your work and to preach your word, as you have told us to do in Scripture.

Speaker 1: 46:13

I'm excited just to see the comments of what's going to happen. Open yourself up, ask the Lord. Lord, would you, if you want to, I'm available. Just make yourself available, and you have no clue. You have no clue the amazing things God can do through you and in you by just simple obedience and willingness to be a vessel. I love you, I'm praying for you. I hope you have an amazing week. Faith and failures podcast.