The Holy Spirit

Over the last few weeks, my church home has been really discussing the Holy Spirit.  It has really been a refresher course because sometimes I tend to not zoom in on His keen nature, as much as I should.  Here are some reminders I was presented with:

~The Holy Spirit is a gift
~God the Father speaks through the Holy Spirit
~The Holy Spirit is the voice of the Lord
~Let the Holy Spirit guide you and you won't walk in the flesh, nor can the flesh rule
~Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are all fruit of the Spirit
~The Holy Spirit has the power the break the back of the enemy, change the atmosphere in a dead situation
~It is our responsibility to exercise our own spirit so it is fit enough to receive the revelations from God the Father...ie, praying in tongues, this is what builds up and strengthens our spirit man

These are things that we should know, but sometimes need to really have it reiterated so it can really soak in our brains, hearts and spirits. And speaking of letting things soak in, we also had an awesome experience where I learned about a technique called "soaking".  One of our leaders gave this example as if you were trying to get a stain out a garment, how in the old days you would fill the sink with cold water and submerge the garment in water for a length of time.  If the stain wasn't removed, you would empty the water out and refill with fresh water and re-submerge the garment. Well of course this was just a figurative example as we were not physically being submerged with water as one would during a water baptism, however we were allowing and surrendering our bodies, minds and hearts to be submerged in the Holy Spirit.  This technique called for quietness and stillness in a chair, on the floor, or however you are being led to submit, in order to hear from God the Father. When we heard things, we were advised to write them down on butcher paper that was provided at various stations.  We were instructed to share what we heard because it may be God relaying a message of confirmation to someone else, as well as ourselves.

The things I heard and the order in which I heard them were mind blowing!!  Some of the things I heard in the first order were:

~I will restore
~Elevate
~Clarity
~Appointment
~Peace
~Lands
~I will do this swiftly
~Refinement
~I will make your name great
~It is well
~Remember this time
~Abundance

The second order, I heard:
~I Am that I Am
~Trust only me
~I do not fail

Again, the words and phrases themselves were overwhelming and amazing, so much so I became emotional after my natural mind processed what I had just heard and written down...because they all apply to me personally. But what really impressed me was the order in which God the Father chose to speak to me in.  I grew up in a southern baptist church and one of the most significant lessons I learned was God is GREAT...as in, big, mighty powerful, etc., and we are to always acknowledge Him for who He is, first and foremost. And then, celebrate and honor the things He does.  Which to me is the appropriate method, and never have I done it in any other way.  But, if you notice the order, He revealed to me what He would do FIRST, and THEN revealed who He is and His nature.  Interesting enough, what I finally understood is that God is a relational being, therefore He, Himself is not concerned about who He is, but wholly concerned about the other person.  For example, I've always heard that the best relationships between two people are the ones where each person concerns themselves with the other person and not themselves.  If both people are equally concerned about each other, then all needs will be met.  Usually, when relationships don't work, it is because one party has decided to neglect the other person because of their own personal desires...ie, selfishness.

God proved to me that He is not in the business of self promotion...because when He spoke to me, promoting who He is took a back seat. He spoke to my needs first and then confirmed who He is.  He is in the business of meeting needs and that is what is most important to Him.  Basically, if I could sum up part 1 and 2 in a tweet, He said, "Crystal, I got you...do you know who I am?" What an humble presentation!!!  One thing about us, because we do honor Him so much...as we should, we sometimes can get in the habit of believing that that is His goal as well, to promote and honor His own existence to us, first.  No, that is our job!!  For us to honor His existence to Him, FIRST!! And this is what meets His needs. Promoting and reiterating who He is to Him and other people.  Then petition for our personal needs.  But the funny thing is, if and when we do what's first, we won't have to ask for anything.  "Seek ye first...".  If you take care of God, He will take care of you. One final confirmation I received in my own time about this hours after was God showed me, and almost relayed it as if He said, but Crystal, don't you know I also did this in Genesis?  The very first scripture in the bible starts with, "In the beginning, God created..." not, God is.  And actually He didn't reveal who He is until later on, and His first reveal wasn't even His true name. WOW, how many missed that revelation?  I did, but I don't anymore...all because of the power of the Holy Spirit.  I believe when we can fully understand this for how it is truly supposed to work, then we can have a sincere reciprocated relationship with God the Father. And it be good.  The thing is, only the Holy Spirit can bring about this type of fellowship, because of and through Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is a person.  He is a gentleman, so He won't push himself off on you.  But if you receive Him for who He is,  He will be all you need and more.  He is your advocate, your helper, your counselor, your leader, your peacemaker, your friend and the ultimate pathway to understanding everything about God the Father.  It is impossible to hear from the Father, things concerning the Father, things in relation to you and the Father, without the Holy Spirit.  This is why Jesus was so adamant about Him, because He knew and understood that His whole purpose was so the Spirit can come upon us.  Poor Jesus would've been so tired trying to hang around in the flesh for us for 2000 sum odd years, and definitely would have eventually died on us, foreal.  But He understood that a threefold cord is not easily broken.  "God in three persons, blessed trinity".  We need the power of God the Father, God the Son AND God the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  It's time to get completely plugged in.  Is your power source complete?

I have the heart of the Father, the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Galatians 5:16
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
Hebrews 2:4
Acts 2: 1-21
1 Corinthians 14:1-17, 39-40