Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life. At the beginning of creation, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2), and gave life to every being that lives in the sea and on the dry land. At the beginning of creation God breathed life into Adam.
“The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7
Jesus explained,
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life! Yet some of you do not trust.”
John 6:63, 64
The Spirit of God knows us personally
The Scriptures tells us that the Holy Spirit knows each of us personally (Psalm 139:1). The Spirit breathed life into our very being when we were conceived and came forth from our mother’s womb. The Spirit knows our innermost thoughts, desires, fears, and aspirations.
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.For you created my inmost being;
Psalm 139:1,2,13-18 (NIV translation)
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand –
when I awake, I am still with you.
The Lord Jesus came to redeem us from the corrupting powers of sin, darkness, and deception and to bring us into his kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Jesus explained that we must be “born again” – a rebirth from above that makes us a new creation in Christ. This is a spiritual regeneration produced by the Spirit of God. Jesus explained to Nicodemus:
“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.“
John 3:5
The water refers to being “baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Jesus promised his followers nothing less than “abundant life” and the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter also explained,
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …”
1 Peter 1:3
We cannot physically live without water, food, and air to sustain us physically. In like manner the Lord Jesus offers us “rivers of living water” to sustain us in our daily lives here on earth.
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:37-39
Do you know the intimate presence of God in your life and his desire that you be in a personal relationship of love, unity, joy, and fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
Jesus taught his disciples to pray for the life-sustaining power and gift of the Holy Spirit.
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:9-13
“I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17
Do you pray with expectant faith for the “living waters” and grace of the Holy Spirit to sustain and renew you day-by-day?
Jesus gave his disciples this command:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:45
What is the connection between the Word of God and the Spirit of God?
“When the Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the Father is present in the Word.” … When we share in the Spirit, we possess the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Spirit himself.
St. Athanasius
What can we expect from the Holy Spirit?
- John 14:26: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
- John 16:13: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
The Holy Spirit guides, instructs, and gives us understanding of God’s Word for our daily lives.
- Isaiah 50:4-5: The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward.
The Spirit makes the Word of God come alive in us. God’s Word has power to change and transform us through the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Hebrews 4: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
- Luke 24:32: “They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Learning to read Scripture spiritually is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan charismatic preacher, wrote:
- “Reading the Scriptures without the Holy Spirit would be like opening a book in the dark.” (quote from The Mystery of God’s Word)
Walk in the Spirit day-by-day
How do we orient our lives to walk in the Holy Spirit day by day? Always pray daily and worship in the Spirit, and obey and meditate on God’s Word daily, and yield to the gifts and working of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you.
- Galatians 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step (walk) with the Spirit”
- Ephesians 6:18: “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”
- 2 Timothy 1:6-7: For this reason, I remind you to (stir up) fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
- Romans 6:13: Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19,20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you… So glorify God in your body.”
The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is life and abundance. His absence is death and barrenness. It is not enough simply to have information about the Spirit of God. We must believe in His existence and his power to transform us.
The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of eternal life and of our resurrection (Romans 8:11). “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
The Holy Spirit is our Teacher who enlightens us in the knowledge of God. The Spirit is also our Comforter who changes our sadness into joy. And the Holy Spirit is the Fountain of Life who conveys Jesus to our hearts.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”
John 14:15-17
The most effective weapon for resisting and overcoming sin, trials, fears and death is to walk in the Holy Spirit.
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”
Romans 8:26-30)
Unless the Spirit lives in us, we will not grow and mature in the character of Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-26).
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13,14
Some titles and descriptions of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, the Sanctifier, the Spirit of grace, the Fire of God’s love, The Fire of God’s purification, the Breath of God, The Paraclete (Advocate, Counselor, helper), Guide and Teacher, the Consoler and Comforter, the Power of God, the Finger of God, The Illuminator, the Spirit of Prophecy, Charisms, and Gifts of the Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God), the Bringer of joy, the Convictor of sin.
“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
Top image credit: Outpouring of the Holy Spirit with tongues of fire upon the first disciples of Jesus on the feast of Pentecost, painting by Juan Bautista Maino, Guadalajara, 1581 – Madrid, 1649. Image in the public domain.
Don Schwager is the editor of Living Bulwark and author of the Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation website. He is a lay religious brother and life-time member of the Servants of the Word.