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What Does the Holy Ghost ACTUALLY Do?

March 30, 2012 by 4 Comments

Have you ever read everything the Bible says about the Holy Ghost?

Well, me neither, until recently.  I got to thinking about the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit as you may prefer to call it.  I knew some of the stories where the Holy Ghost has a key role, but I had never really checked out everything the Bible had to say about it.

So I got out the good old Strong’s Concordance.  Hey, I have an app on my iPhone with a Bible concordance, but I still like the weight of that big book in my lap.

As I looked up all the Bible verses where the Holy Ghost is mentioned I started to see a wonderful pattern.

As far as I could tell, the Holy Ghost always figured into a story or event that had to do with Christ: the prophecy of Jesus’ birth, the birth itself, Jesus’ ministry, spiritual baptism with the specific goal of preparing us for preaching Christ’s gospel, leading us to the truth that Jesus taught and lived and expected us to put into practice,  and on and on.

The thing that really struck me was that the Holy Ghost never really came to someone just to solve individual problems or meet personal needs.  It always came in relation to the appearing of Christ, his ministry and the preaching and acceptance of the Gospel.

So what does this mean to you and me?

Don’t try to invoke the Holy Ghost to solve your personal problems.  It comes to lead you and the church forward to promote the Cause of Christ.  If it seems that the Holy Ghost is solving your personal problems, it is actually preparing you to share the Gospel in a way that you have not yet done.

When does the Holy Ghost come upon us?

When we are of one mind.  When we let go of our pride and repent.  When we accept the revelation from God that Jesus is the Messiah (notice I didn’t say, “when we accept that Jesus is the Messiah because someone else told us we had to or should).  When God chooses us to do His will–either individually or collectively.  These are just a few examples.

Here are a few of the key activities of the Holy Ghost that I gleaned from that research.  You can look them up if you want.  (And of course, you could get out your concordance and read everything the Bible says about the Holy Ghost, and I totally recommend that at some point.)  There are more examples than the few verses I gave in each category.  But the main point is:  Look at all that ACTION.  The Holy Ghost is not passive.  It represents the activity of God with the overarching purpose of revealing Christ to the whole world.

What does the Holy Ghost do?

It reveals the Christ and announces its coming. Matt 1:18, Luke 2:25

Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Matt 3:11

It energizes. Luke 1:15

It fills us with inspiration. Luke 1:41,46-55,67-79

It leads into all truth and teaches all things. John14:26,

It abides with us forever. John 14:16

It speaks the words of God. Luke 3:22

It leads us into the wilderness not to tempt us but to make us face temptation head on. Luke 4:1

It puts the words of God in our mouth. Luke 12:2

It commands us to preach the Gospel.  Acts 1:2

It causes us to champion Christ’s cause, not our own.  Acts 4:31

It bears witness to the mission of Christ. Mark 12:36

It infuriates the carnal mind but gives us boldness.  Acts 7:54

It reveals heaven & shows relationship of Christ to God.   Acts 7:56

It multiplies the number of believers.  Acts 2:41, 9:31

It “falls” on those who hear the Gospel in their hearts. Acts 10:45-47

It assigns tasks to believers and sends them forth. Acts 13:2

It commands us what not to do.  Acts 16:6

It makes us overseers of the church.  Acts 20:28

It makes us prophets. II Peter 1:21

It enables us to heal through God’s power.

How has the Holy Ghost appeared to you?

Sometimes it comes quietly.  Sometimes it’s dramatic.  But the Holy Ghost never leaves us the way it found us.  It washes us from within.  It directs us to do things for God we would never have thought we were capable of.  It empowers us to let the Gospel light shine in our hearts so we can share it with others.

We don’t need more of the letter.  We need the Spirit.  We need the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  Individually.  Collectively.

We can pray to be receive the Holy Ghost.  But we can’t force it to appear.   We can be obedient when it does appear.  When we have the sincere desire to do God’s will, to further the Cause of Christ on Earth and are actively pursuing this desire, the Holy Ghost is more apt to “fall” upon us as it did upon those in the New Testament.  If you are just seeking personal gain in your preaching and practice of Christianity, the Holy Ghost will not help you down that path.

Be willing to be about your Father’s business.

How has the Holy Ghost has appeared to you?  How did you feel?  How did it change you? I’d love to hear your experiences.

Blessings,

James

 

 

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To Follow Christ Daily

August 24, 2010 by 3 Comments

“And [Jesus] said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”   Luke 9:23

Well there it is, Jesus’ simple plan for being a Christian.  It’s not some complicated theology of salvation.  It’s not some theoretical discussion or intellectual journey.

It’s a straightforward demand that is not complicated but takes commitment.  It is simple but profound.  And it is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world… to leave all for Christ and actually follow him.

There were people in Jesus’ day who professed loyalty and vowed to follow him where ever he went (see Matt 8:19,20).  But I don’t think Jesus was looking for the kind of loyalty to his personality that some folks then and now lavish on a celebrity.

He didn’t want people just to traipse around, doggedly following his every move.  He wanted his disciples not to copy his behavior and words but to accept and follow his teachings, to live his ideas in their own lives.

He wanted disciples who would live according to God’s will instead of their own.

The first step:  deny yourself.

What on earth does that mean—to deny yourself?  To say we don’t exist?  Of course not.  Among other things, I think it means that we put our own will aside and seek God’s will. To please God instead of earthly personalities—including ourselves.

It is no small feat to get yourself out of the way so you can honestly and sincerely desire to do God’s will before your own.  But you can’t stop there.  It’s not enough to tell God you’re willing to do whatever He says.  You have to follow through and actually DO it.

We usually tell God what we want instead of asking what He wants.  Or as my friend Jim says, “We pray for God’s will and then tell Him what it is.”

It takes a humble heart to set aside even our most cherished hopes and dreams and trust ourselves totally to God’s care and live our lives accordingly.

But this IS something we can do.  Jesus did not make any demands on us that we could not fulfill.

Step two:  take up your cross daily.

I’ve always wondered at this saying.  Jesus had not yet been on the cross.  His disciples were unaware that he would be.  What did they think this meant at the time?  I bet they thought about this demand in a whole new light after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

To take up your cross is to face the world’s opposition to the truth that Jesus preached.  It looked like Jesus was destroyed by this opposition.  But just the opposite is true.  He was the ultimate victor.

Jesus gave his disciples the authority and dominion to cast out evil spirits and heal the sick.  Christ gives you and me the same authority today.

We are to take up our cross.  Jesus did not say: Let the cross take you up.  In other words, we do not need to feel that by taking up our cross that we are being crucified—although sometimes it certainly feels like it.

Jesus is not telling us to be crucified.  He is commanding us—and giving us authority—to take up the cross, to deal with and defeat the material world’s resistance to and hatred of spiritual Truth.

And in case you didn’t notice, he says “daily.”  It is a daily process, a way of life.  Not just a one-time or occasional effort.  To be a Christian requires day by day, step by step consistency.

Step three:  “follow me.”

Whoa!!  That’s a tall order.  Thousands and thousands of books have been written about what it means to follow Jesus.  So I won’t try to say too much here.

What did Jesus mean when he said simply, “Follow me”?

Jesus expected his disciples then and now to follow him:  to think the thoughts he thought, to act the way he acted, to love with the Father’s love as he did, to seek and do God’s will in everything.

Christ calls to each of us today, “Follow me.”  There is no call more urgent.

How will you respond?

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