What’s the big deal of the Holy Spirit? Why do we need the Holy Ghost? Why should we be excited about the Spirit of God? I’ve collected here my big five reasons why the Holy Spirit is an essential part of spiritual life.

1) The Holy Spirit is a person. For real. The Holy Spirit is not just an abstract thought or impersonal wind. The Holy Spirit is a person who hears, speaks, feels and thinks. The Holy Spirit loves, rejoices, cares, and communicates.

And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will. (Romans 8:27, AMP)

2) We are saved by grace through Jesus Christ but right now we experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, our comforter, our strength. He protects, teaches, reminds. He is for us.

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. (John 14:26, AMP)

3) We need the Holy Spirit also for illuminating the Scriptures for us. Without the Holy Spirit we are unable to hear God’s voice through the Bible. Also the Holy Spirit prays with us and for us. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see God around us.

God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God.Who knows a person’s depths except their own spirit that lives in them? In the same way, no one has known the depths of God except God’s Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:10-12, CEB)

4) When we are God’s very own, the Holy Spirit is at work in us. The Holy Spirit is making us more Christ-like. He is also preparing us for God’s service. The Holy Spirit equips us to do God’s work. And it is the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in us in God’s time.

We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18, CEB)

5) We need the Holy Spirit for spirit-filled life. There is no way we can live according to God’s will without the Holy Spirit. When we need assurance, the Holy Spirit is right alongside us bearing us up. When we need encouragement, the Holy Spirit is there uplifting us. When we need reminders of God’s goodness, the Holy Spirit speaks into our heart.

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. (Romans 8:26, AMP)

All and all, the Holy Spirit makes us alive and keeps us alive. If we don’t get our refill of the Holy Spirit regularly, we are living under the privileges of God’s children. The Holy Spirit is a tremendous gift for us.

When filled with the Holy Spirit, we are able to live out of love.
When we are in the Spirit, we can do anything God asks us to do.
When filled with the Holy Ghost, we are joyful in every circumstance.

The Holy Spirit is the answer to our prayers to experience heaven on earth. In the Holy Spirit we know that God is real. In the Holy Spirit we know that we are saved by grace. In the Holy Spirit we know that Jesus will come back again. In the Holy Spirit we are not walking dead but very much alive. Thank you, God, for the Holy Spirit!

 

Let us pray with the words of John Baillie:

Holy Spirit of God,
visit now this soul of mine,
and tarry within it until the eventide.
Inspire all my thoughts.
Pervade all my imaginations.
Suggest all my decisions.
Lodge in my soul’s most inward citadel,
and order all my doings.
Be with me in silence and in my speech,
in my haste and in my leisure,
in company and in solitude,
in the freshness of the morning
and the weariness of the evening.
Give me grace at all times
to rejoice in Thy mysterious companionship.
Amen
John Baillie

Q4U: What is the most important thing of the Holy Spirit for you?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you live your live filled with the Holy Spirit!

Image courtesy of Brandon Cole. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursday, Faith-filled Fridays.